The help

2023 - 3 - 17

Help shape the redevelopment of Nightcliff Village | City of Darwin ... (City of Darwin)

Darwin residents are invited to have their say on a new draft masterplan for the Nightcliff Village.

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Image courtesy of "Lonely Planet Travel News"

Help me LP! Which ferry do I take for the best Sydney views? (Lonely Planet Travel News)

Question: There are so many ferry services in Sydney. Which boat offers the best views of the harbor? Tasmin Waby: We have good news for you, dear traveler: all ...

[Barangaroo](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/australia/sydney/darling-harbour-and-pyrmont/attractions/barangaroo-south/a/poi-sig/1548707/1324161) (particularly spectacular at night on your return journey, as the lights of [Darling Harbour](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/australia/sydney/darling-harbour-and-pyrmont) twinkle around you). [Cremorne](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/australia/sydney/sydney-harbour/attractions/cremorne-point/a/poi-sig/368069/362320) before catching the ferry back to Circular Quay. Another five-minute walk beyond Cremorne wharf is [Maccullum swimming pool](https://www.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-north/mosman/attractions/maccallum-pool), a small harbor pool perfect for summer dips (just bring your own swimsuit and towel). (You haven’t, and you aren’t.) [Manly is a worthy day trip](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/best-beaches-sydney) for either catching some surf, snorkeling at [Shelly Beach](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/australia/sydney/manly/attractions/shelly-beach/a/poi-sig/1507085/1004910) or taking a hike around [Sydney Harbour National Park](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/australia/sydney/sydney-harbour/attractions/sydney-harbour-national-park/a/poi-sig/1104299/362320). From the ferry terminal it’s a short riverside walk to First, you’ll head under the Sydney Harbour Bridge to Cockatoo Island via the terminal at [one of the best things to do](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/top-things-to-do-in-sydney) in town – leave from (and return to) Circular Quay. Then it’s on to Cockatoo Island, where you can alight and explore, and take in the harbor views over a picnic. As you pass under, look up to see the incredible engineering and steel work from the 1920s. (The waves around the heads can get a bit choppy – so if you get seasick take your medicine well before you depart.) You can walk the mile or so from Watsons Bay wharf to Hornby Lighthouse and its historic lighthouse-keeper’s cottage for views back to the spires of Sydney’s city skyline. [My Fast Ferry](https://www.myfastferry.com.au/) to Manly) or sightseeing with additional commentary.

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Image courtesy of "Psychology Today"

Clarifying Questions Will Help You Be a Better Listener (Psychology Today)

Good listening is not about being a passive observer but engaging in fruitful conversations. Questions turn the “speaker versus hearer” division into a dialogue ...

In summary, asking clarifying questions helps us become better listeners, encourages us to seek more information, and creates a culture of understanding. The quality of conversations is directly correlated to the questions people ask. Good listening is a choice to go beyond the superficial, engaging in fruitful conversations that amplify, energize, and clarify thinking. We want to encourage the former and avoid the latter. [attention](https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/basics/attention), not interrupting the speaker, and being able to repeat back what they said. Questions can help refine ideas and opinions and minimize any misunderstanding, confusion, or ambiguity.

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Five Great Reads: why some books are beyond help, plus ... (The Guardian)

Guardian Australia's weekend wrap of essential reads from the past seven days, selected by Imogen Dewey.

[bad one](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/16/the-first-twitter-fuelled-bank-run-how-social-media-compounded-svbs-collapse) for [banks](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/15/credit-suisse-what-is-happening-at-swiss-bank-and-should-we-be-worried)! [interesting instalment](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/mar/14/the-great-serotonin-debate-do-depression-treatments-work-by-boosting-the-happy-hormone) from our [How to have a healthy brain](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/series/how-to-have-a-healthy-brain) series looks at the hotly contested role of the chemical – sometimes labelled the “happy hormone” – in depression. [Gary Lineker](https://www.theguardian.com/football/gary-lineker) was. [Adrian Chiles](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/15/i-have-a-naked-lookalike-and-he-is-making-a-fortune-on-onlyfans-adrian-chiles)? (TLDR: beloved football presenter tweets reasonable thing about inhumane UK – [Oz-inspired!](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/08/stop-the-boats-sunaks-anti-asylum-slogan-echoes-australia-harsh-policy) – policy, huge backlash ensues as he is taken off-air then put back on again. A [ratpocalypse](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/15/the-ratpocalypse-why-paris-is-awash-with-vermin-and-the-mayor-isnt-stepping-in) for Paris! [Jonathan Liew’s piece](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2023/mar/13/gary-linekers-treatment-exposes-fact-that-image-of-warm-fuzzy-bbc-was-always-a-lie) took a pithy look at what the whole scuffle (re)exposes about “the chimera of impartiality” surrounding institutions like the BBC – why we buy in, locally or globally; why we might, one day, eventually stop doing that. A source of rich emotional material, and in fact one of the best subjects to evoke “the feeling of summer warmth on your skin”. To her claim that: “A banana has not fallen in love with other fruits; experienced joy or loss,” I would simply say she has clearly never been to a show where a mime makes several bananas act out a dramatic break-up scene and murder at the club – something I experienced earlier this year, weirdly compelling. Some [very expensive boats](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/ng-interactive/2023/mar/15/nuclear-subs-tax-cuts-or-money-to-raise-the-jobseeker-rate-how-would-you-spend-it) for Australia! An Oscar for [Paul Keating](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/15/the-worst-deal-in-history-and-an-albanese-snub-paul-keatings-most-memorable-calls-at-the-press-club)! Sydney, where I’m writing this from, is having a late, baking burst of summer: in the evenings, bats and rats flit across my back yard (by sky and fence, respectively), lazy shadows jagging towards the last of the light.

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