Third Time Lucky

It was a full classroom for our Fairtrade class on Tuesday. Dan Mackey from Fairtrade Australia enlightened us on what fair trade actually is, how it works, and where the whole idea started.

He also plied us with large amounts of Fairtrade chocolate.

In 1905 it was discovered that slave labour was used on cocoa plantations, which lead to a boycott movement. More than 100 years on, the practice of using slaves and child labour is unfortunately still a reality. Now the movement for fairly paid, empowered workers is Fairtrade. Find the logo on chocolate, coffee, rice, quinoa, sugar and it guarantees the locals producing the raw ingredients have been treated fairly. Although there’s much more to it than that. You can learn more on this website AND make sure you don’t miss the Fair Trade Fortnight, running from the 5th-20th May. More details here.

Our second class on cryptic crosswords was an intimate affair. Tom and Monday’s The Age cryptic crossword puzzled and frustrated (again), but between us we finished an entire crossword (!) within the hour. Pretty good for a bunch of amateurs. We then started on Tuesday’s crossword and solved some clues even Tom was stuck on. Seems the young grasshoppers are outgrowing the Master.

Some good clues included: ‘Sailors kiss and cuddle wearing this sort of top (4-4)’ and ‘Of course he can speak to the French Islander (8)’. If you were there you’d know why they were good clues and what the answers were. If not, there’s always next time. Meanwhile, hear what David Astley, one of The Age’s resident ‘cruciverbalists’, has to say about crosswords here.

And so. Now we are at our semester break. Tom, our founder, cryptic crossword magician and all-round LL Papa Bee is returning to his homeland of the UK for a couple of weeks. But don’t worry, we’ll be back in May with a full calendar of classes! For the moment we’ve got ‘Tea!’ and the ‘Science of Rollercoasters’, with many more to come. Check them out  and we’ll see you soon!!!