ABC Gippsland

09/07/2026

CATHARTIC CABARET COMES TO LAKES ENTRANCE FRIDAY 17th JULY

Critically acclaimed spoken word poet, lyricist, singer and musician Amy Bodossian is set to mesmerise an East Gippsland Winter Festival audience at Ice-works studios next week, with her thought provoking, candid and entertaining cabaret show.

‘I’m talking about my life as a 47 year old woman with OCD and ADHD’, she said of a repertoire that explores the gritty truisms of everything from unrequited love and longing to nature, aging, doom scrolling and the neuroticisms of modern life.

‘It’s like being in my lounge room’, she said.

‘There’s no forth wall, I bear my soul and invite people to come with me on this human experience, come into my world and have a unique live music theatre experience that will definitely scratch an itch. Hopefully people will laugh and possibly cry.’

In an era of diagnosis declaration, where more people are publicly identifying as living with ADHD, Amy said it’s hard to distinguish where living as a neurodivergent artist begins, and living in an uncertain and unsettling world ends- a world where transactional encounters, artificial intelligence, social media feeds and goldfish attention spans are surely exacerbating the agonies of the human condition.

For Amy, performing and storytelling has been a life long means of emotional self-regulation, to process the hyper-vigilance that comes with childhood trauma.

Describing herself as a progressive person, with hypersensitive anarchist tendencies, she recalls how she would often get into trouble at school for pointing out uncomfortable truths.

‘I have to alchemize, because the saboteur in me is very front and centre’, she said of her need to analyse the shadows within - a natural talent which has ultimately gifted her a career of honest, poignant, funny and relatable material.

‘We all struggle have pain, have longing and fear, and life is absurd- people want to feel and hear those feelings’, she said.

In her stream of consciousness performance style, which slides between spoken word and songs, Amy takes the audience on a dynamic musical journey through blues, pop, folk, psychedelic songs.

Like many Gen X artists, she has had to re-navigate a changing culture where things have shifted at an alarming rate, where income, infrastructure and opportunity has largely evaporated for creatives.

‘Audiences have changed, Covid brought out the introvert in us all’, she said of Melbourne’s live music, theatre and performance scene which has struggled ever since.

But in describing herself ‘an aging female performer, now going through peri menopause’, she said that the adversity and limitations of the times have also galvanised her authenticity.

There is a sense of self-awareness, wisdom, focus and contentment that comes with age and experience, in keeping things meaningful.

‘It’s very healing for people to come together and have this experiences in this world’, Amy said.

‘People need medicine for life at the moment- I think people are struggling. Musical theatre is good for us. I just want to have as many beautiful experiences with as many people as I can.’

Amy Bodossian performs her cabaret show ‘Becoming (Again & Again) Songs Stories and Wildness’ on Friday 17th July, 7.30 pm at Iceworks Studios in Lakes Entrance, as part of the Wast Gippsland Winter Festival.

09/07/2026

POTHOLE STORIES: WHERE ARE THE WORST POTHOLES IN GIPPSLAND?

Where are the worst potholes in Gippsland? We are creating a map of pothole locations in Gippsland and need your help.

Have you experienced a flat tyre, car damage, or had an accident due to a pothole?

How did your pothole incident impact your time, finances and confidence in driving on our roads?

Share your pot hole stories and photos in the comments section below?

08/07/2026

Millions of Australians have been impacted by a major outage affecting the country's biggest national telco Telstra.

The outage left many people unable to make phone calls or access the internet since Wednesday morning.

How has the outages affected you? Tell us in the comments below

06/07/2026

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF NAIDOC WITH EMU EGG CARVING IN FOSTER

Prom Coast and South Gippsland school children ans creatives experienced the seemingly precarious art of emu egg carving on Monday, in a free workshop with Gunaikurnai, Latj Latj, Bidwell and Gudnitjmara artist Adrian 'Ringo' Morgan.

Organiser of the Manna Gum Community House event Kane Horvath, Aboriginal Liaison Officer with the South Gippsland Hospital, said that the emu eggs are more robust than they appear, with different surface layers of a shell enabling different depths of carving.

Delighted by the enthusiasm, creativity and diversity of participants, Kane said that the popular event was a great start NAIDOC week, which celebrates 50 years this year.

05/07/2026

SPICING THINGS UP IN LAKE TYERS

Originally from North India, Nikki and Manu Srivastava from Lakes Entrance, are making it their mission to enlighten Gippslanders on the medicinal properties of holistic Indian spices and the power of cooking with ghee (clarified butter).

Presenting the Spiceology -Art of Indian cooking session at the Lake Tyers Hall over the weekend as part of the East Gippsland Winter Festival, Nikki and Manu draw from the wisdom of ‘Ayurveda’, a 500 year old system of holistic medicine originating in India which focuses on balancing mind, body and spirit.

Through their boutique brand Himalayan Bliss, they produce ghee, chai, spiced chocolates and honey, and run classes on how to best prepare and cook spices for ‘’digestion and deep assimilation with the body.”

‘The Asian population, the Indian, Sri Lankan, Chinese, Japanese, have been able to stick their traditional methods of cooking and their traditional foods, so we don’t see as many food allergies in the Asian population- our guts are largely still intact’, said Nikki.

She observes that Indians tend to have fewer gut issues than people consuming western diets, which she attributes to their consumption of preservative, additive and pesticide free whole foods,and the use of antioxidant spices. But she said spices do need to be used and cooked correctly, not just thrown in the pan as an afterthought.

‘Spices work best when they work in harmony/ interact/ are mixed in proportion with other spices, some spices are heating, some spices are cooling’, she said.

Using the right oil with the right spices, and getting the temperature balance and cooking time right is also important.

Her top five spices? Number one is cumin, which she said calms the body, aids digestion, is anti-bloating, then cardamom, which helps counteract the ‘sluggishness’ of sugary foods, then turmeric, which is anti-inflammatory, and needs to be consumed with black pepper to be absorbed properly.

‘Tumeric is very heating and very drying and the mistake that people make with it is that they have it in water, they are having turmeric pills and the active compound of curcumin’.she said.

She said that tumeric needs to be consumed with the cooling agent of ghee, to avoid drying out the liver, creating acid in gut or promoting reactions like skin rashes.

Cinnamon, the spice of love is her fourth favourite spice, as it promotes calmness in the body and can help regulate blood pressure.

Lastly, Himalayan pink rock salt, which is not a spice, but is rich in minerals and has cooling properties, is an excellent electrolyte for the body.

When it comes to rice, Nikki prefers the low glycemic index and fibre profile of red rice, followed by basmati rice for digestion, and will season her rice with cashews, bay leaves, green and black cardamon, cumin, black pepper, Himalayan pink salt, bay leaves and even raisins.

She said that Indian households tend to remove the seeds from nightshade vegetables such tomatoes and eggplants as they are believed to cause inflammation.

‘If you cook your nightshades well with a lot of cumin, ghee, turmeric, a little chilli powder and garam masala, if you cook them properly with ghee, you get all the goodness of those vegetables, without the inflammation’, she said.

Cooking and storing food in uncoated metal pots and pans is also preferred, for the ‘prana’ or energy that is transferred to the food from the vessel.

Preserving the prana of food is also important with Ayurveda, so consuming food that is as fresh as optimal for good health.

She encourages Australians to experiment with legumes, pulses, beans and lentils as a low cost, nutritious source of protein for digestive health.

She also said that we should pay attention to any reoccurring allergies or reactions that we may have with certain foods and stop consuming them if they dont sit well with our constitution.

‘Start listening to your body, respect and honour your body and invest in your body with good food, because this is the only thing that will stay with you forever’, she said.

05/07/2026

EAST GIPPSLAND DESIGNERS AND BOUTIQUES TAKE TO THE FASHION RUNWAY

Talented East Gippsland Fashion designers with connections to East Gippsland were on show this afternoon at the Forge Theatre as part of the Runway Stories Fashion Parade event for the East Gippsland Winter Festival.

The East Gippsland fashion story is one of sustainability, with designers using natural fibres, repairing, repurposing and reimagining clothing that is easy to wear.

It's slow, relaxed fashion often with a backstory; it can be a little bit bohemian, a little bit punked up, a little bit earth mother- it can be made of unique printed or vintage fabrics, or hand stitched with bespoke embellishments.
With many of the pieces 'one off' designs, the East Gippsland Fashion story is symbolic of a broader fashion movement away from the fast imported fashion of department and chain stores, to more bespoke character pieces.

East Gippsland connected labels and boutiques featured in today's runway show were Kuwa//, Harmony Lane, Isle of Wild, Planet Fab, Pegs, Victoria 9, Foundry, Floating Threads, Potted Pear, Eleanor Margueritte, Dollygirl Vintage, The Archive, Frocksmith and Rachael Romona.

04/07/2026

A bit of scary ordeal for these 4WDers whose car went in the drink near Licola on Thursday night. Now Closed, Licola Caravan Park & General Store Victoria Police

Four people are rescued from floodwaters after their 4WD is swept into a river crossing.

04/07/2026

LINE DANCERS HIT LAKES ENTRANCE FOR 4th JULY HONKYTONK HOEDOWN

A flashmob of line dancers from across the region celebrated the 4th of July today at the Lakes Entrance Mechanics Hall, as part of the East Gippsland Winter Festival.

Dance instructor Belinda Crouch grew up in the small East Gippsland town of Flaggy Creek, where she started dancing at the local hall at age 14.

At 21, she moved to America, where she spent 10 years in Virginia, 10 years in Texas, where she met her American husband and developed her passion for line dancing.

Since returning to Australia with her husband and child, Belinda has been sharing that passion with Gippslanders, running classes and social events under the name East Gippy Line Dance and Events.

Keeping locals fit, mentally sharp and socially active, line dancing has become a popular with locals, bringing out the inner cowgirl and cowboy in everyone who tries it!

04/07/2026

CHILLY BUT CHEERFUL LAKES LIGHTS MAKES MID-WINTER MAGICAL

And the Lakes Lights are on...Thousands turn out for the night of nights in Lakes Entrance!

This year’s theme Galaxies of the Garden has produced a spectacular display of illuminated installations, wildflowers, insects and extra terrestrial wildlife!

See photos below and add your own in the comments section!

With over 40 events and two weeks left of the East Gippsland Winter Festival, there is still much to enjoy!

02/07/2026

Attention Gippsland Youth: How cool is this!

Remember Project Interrupt’s Samuel McLennan, the brave soul who built a raft from Tasmanian fish farm debris and sailed it across Bass Strait, capturing the imagination of the nation?

Well Sam’s efforts will be featured as part of a series of walk, talk and make workshop events happening next week in Lakes Entrance, inviting 15-25 year olds to collect and redesign marine debris into artworks, public installations and musical instruments!

WALK + IMAGINE + CREATE + Project Interrupt is a four day program Monday 06 July – Thursday 9 July as part of the East Gippsland Winter Festival, bringing like-minded young artists and inventors together to make friends, appreciate the beautiful Lakes Entrance environment, and create some wild and wonderful art for the local community.

Teenagers are particularly encouraged to join in this fun, low/no cost school holiday event for 1, 2, 3 or all 4 days, with Tuesday being the busiest day.

Monday 6th July 10am-3pm: The week begins with a film screening of ‘Imagine’at the GLaWAC in Kalimna as part of Naidoc WEEK, with former Australian of the year Jack Manning-Bancroft from AIME. Jack will deliver a regenerative design talk (open to everyone), encouraging Gippslanders to envision a future of positive-impact regenerative projects for Gippsland.

Tuesday 7th July 10-4pm: The 'Walk + Imagine + Create' walk leaves from the Slipway sheds in Lakes Entrance for Bullock Island, to see where volunteer scuba divers are recovering problematic crab net and cable tie debris from underneath the pier.

Participants will meet salvager extraordinaire Samuel McLennan, who will discuss how he built a raft out of rubbish to sail from Tasmania to the mainland.

Returning to Iceworks in the afternoon, participants will the create ideas and prototypes for making artworks and musical instruments out of the salvaged debris with local artists Nele & Sasha.

Wednesday 8th July 10am to 4pm: A Youth-led co-design workshop day to imagine and prototype solutions for a future walking and nature trail inspired by First Nations wisdom, imagination and collaboration.

Thursday 9th July: An extra workshop/ hang out day for those kids who want to dig a little deeper and keep creating stuff with artist + tech support.

For more information or to book tickets for the 'Imagine' film screening, or your place for the WALK + IMAGINE + CREATE + Project Interrupt, see the links below.

hhttps://egwinterfest.com.au/event/imagine-film-screening/
hhttps://egwinterfest.com.au/event/project_interrupt/