Former Echuca Moama resident Tekarie Albert has made an unbelievable start to her professional bodybuilding career at the Natural Bodybuilding Australia Oceania Championships on Sunday, May 12.
Albert, now living in Brisbane, qualified for the amateur portion of the event after scoring two first-place medals and third overall in the ‘figure international’ category, a discipline of bodybuilding that focuses on muscle symmetry, conditioning, and size, at the Queensland state show.
Albert’s goal was to win her pro card, a qualification that would allow her to compete in pro bodybuilding events, a goal she achieved and quickly surpassed moments later.
Albert expects her off-season to be as long as two years before she is prepared to go out and compete again.
Having already reached the highest honour within Natural Bodybuilding Australia, when she returns, she indicated that she is targeting the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation, the premier bodybuilding federation in the world.
Stranded local sails home with P&O
Yarrawonga resident Jenny Hooper flew out to Vanuatu on Sunday, May 5 and was unsure as to her return date because of the collapse of the Air Vanuatu airline.
But the 49-year-old accountant with GO TAFE Wangaratta will sail into Sydney this Thursday, May 23.
“P&O Cruises kindly offered to bring us home free of charge, from Port Vila,” Jenny told the Yarrawonga Chronicle.
“We were supported by the High Commission in Vanuatu which was working with all relevant parties to sort logistics to get us home.”
She flew out on May 5 as part of a team supporting a volunteer youth project run by Hive Rotary Club Australia which was stranded on the Vanuatu Island of Tanna.
The team travelled to Vanuatu for a two-week ‘Paying it Forward’ program in partnership with Bridging Health Incorporated running health clinics for wound care, basic medical assistance as well as presenting valuable training programs around Women’s Health to remote areas on the island of Tanna.
Air Vanuatu, the only airline that travels to Tanna, entered voluntary liquidation on Wednesday, May 8. Travelling under Rotary insurance, the team of 18 people, including 16 students, was informed that insolvency is not covered as part of the policy.
Plans to fix Koonoomoo ‘Bends’
The Victorian Department of Transport and Planning has offered some clarity regarding works undertaken around ‘the Bends’.
The section of the Goulburn Valley Hwy near Koonoomoo, called ‘the Bends’ locally, has caused frustration within the community after temporary measures were installed following a truck crash in 2023.
The accident, which involved a truck slamming into the roadside barrier, led to the closure of one lane and the installation of temporary traffic lights.
These measures are still in place as the department works on finding a permanent solution, infuriating a local resident who asked not to be named due to his job.
According to that person, VicRoads told him a new railing was being designed, and it could take three months to manufacture and install.
The resident said the temporary lights were prone to malfunctioning, and he feared there would be a disastrous accident if something wasn’t done sooner.
These traffic light malfunctions have since been confirmed by Cobram police.
The resident said something needed to be done to open up both lanes and prevent a crash along a busy stretch of road, which sees thousands of vehicles travel each day to and from NSW.
He said he couldn’t understand why it was taking so long to open up the two lanes.
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