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How one widow has changed how women solo travel

After Yvonne Vickers' husband passed away in 2014, she thought her opportunities to travel and see the world had slipped away. Yvonne had always been a keen traveller and went on trips with her married friends after becoming a widow, but she "got over being the third wheel", she admitted to <a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/cruising-solo-female-older-passengers/9553953c-84e8-418a-9c2b-8c9b847b9ba4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9Travel</a>. Still wanting to see the world on her own terms, Yvonne took to Facebook where she created a group seeking like-minded women who share her passion for adventure. Now, the Find A Female Cruise or Travel Buddy is an ever-growing group that has connected thousands of women looking for travel companions. Whether they're single, widowed, or just married to someone who doesn't want to travel, the group is open to women across the globe to join. Thanks to her newfound community, Yvonne has taken 41 cruises and dozens of land trips since her husband's death, all while making friends for life, and the rest of the group's members are in the same boat. "It's wonderful to get feedback from ladies saying that it's helped to change their life," Yvonne said. "That's the rewarding part of it for me." Members can make a post in the group, detailing a cruise sailing or trip that they have their eye on booking, to see if anyone else would like to join them. "We have a lot of widows in our group who are cashed up and want to travel but don't have anyone to travel with or share their experiences with," Yvonne said. "The group gives them the opportunity to be able to do that." "There are also a lot of ladies who are married but their husbands don't want to travel. It gives them the opportunity to be able to travel." Yvonne says that cruising is a perfect way for older females to travel, especially if they're on their own. "It's a really safe way to travel as a solo female," she says, also noting that it's an easy way to get around and see places. Recently, she did a 35-day trip around Hawaii with a group of women from the group. For the Find A Female Cruise or Travel Buddy group, there's even more fun trips on the horizon. Yvonne just came back from a trip to Japan with 14 group members, and is heading to Bali in August with a friend she made through the group. Image credits: Nine News \ Facebook

Cruising

Shane Dixon's heartbreaking posts before cruise plunge

Shane Dixon sadly <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/travel-trouble/sad-reason-why-sydney-dad-went-overboard" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plunged to his death</a> on May 6 on board a P&O cruise ship, after racking up a $9000 casino debt that he couldn't afford to pay. His family said that the debt, on top of series of personal tragedies and setbacks, including health issues, family deaths, and the breakdown of his marriage which led to him being estranged from his three children, was the last straw for Shane. "[After he lost the money] his brain would have been going 100 miles an hour. He probably thought, 'F*** it, I can't afford it,'" his brother Scott Dixon told Daily Mail Australia. Shane was the eldest of five children to parents Susan and Wilbur, and grew up in Campbelltown, Sydney's western suburbs. His youngest brother, Dylan who was a twin, tragically died at just three months old in 1993, leaving a mark on the family. In 2009, Shane lost his father at the age of 54, and the loss had a huge effect on Shane who described him as the "strength of the family" and "life of all parties". Adding to the pain, Shane was also experiencing heart problems and his brother Scott was diagnosed with a terminal illness, which he is still fighting. On top of that Shane was also struggling with the breakdown of his marriage, and now old Facebook posts about his struggles have re-emerged. "F***ing sucks.. Now over 12 years [and I have] not seen or herd [sic] from my kids," he wrote in September. "Not knowing how they [are] doing or if they [are] going through hard times just sucks." On December 31, 2022 he wrote: "The only happy [thing about] New Years is that hopefully 1 year will be happy for me when I meet my kids again." "12 years to not see or hear from you.. Breaks me every year but I stay strong, hoping one new year my dreams will come true," he wrote with a picture of his three young children. Sadly, he never got to fix his broken relationship with his children. In another eerie post obtained by <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13424493/Shane-Dixon-P-O-cruise-debt-suicide-eerie-post.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Mail Australia</a>, last year the truck driver described how May was his "hardest month". "My hardest month May is just around the corner," he wrote on April 2023. "[It's] not only my birthday, but my eldest girl turns 18 that I have not seen or heard from in over 12 years. My boy turns 15 and [it's] the same situation as my girl. [It's] my dad's birthday also who passed away in 2009 [at] only 54 years of age. "So yes, to me life is f***ed. [So] don't judge me or let's just swap shoes." His eldest daughter turned 19 this year, just three days after his death, and Shane would've been 46 in just one week. Several others have since spoken out on the enticing gambling tactics, and Shane's friend that he made on board the cruise even <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/cruising/it-seems-crazy-shane-dixon-s-gambling-friend-breaks-his-silence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recalled</a> how "full of energy and happy" Shane was just hours before his death. Earlier this week, a P&O spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia that it would be inappropriate to comment on Shane's death as the matter is under investigation from the coroner. In response to the other allegations and calls for a <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/cruising/these-are-people-s-lives-calls-for-gambling-reform-after-fatal-cruise-ship-plunge" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gambling reform</a>, she said: "P&O Cruises Australia appreciates the feedback from guests." "We have Responsible Gaming Conduct Policies on all P&O ships and take those policies seriously." "We encourage any guest with concerns to get in contact with us so that we can investigate." Images: Facebook

Cruising

"It seems crazy": Shane Dixon's gambling friend breaks his silence

The man who befriended Shane Dixon on a P&O Cruise before he plunged overboard has broken his silence, saying he too fell victim to seductive gambling tactics. The man, James, and his friends met Shane on the first day of the Elvis themed cruise and casually socialised throughout the entire trip. James, his friends, and Shane all spent time together in the onboard casino, where James was shocked by the blatant practices used by the cruise line to lure gamblers to the table. "We all got given free cruises to use in the next six months from the casino director and I myself racked up almost $2,000 gambling which was charged to my credit card, something I would never normally do in a million years," James told <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13415149/p-o-cruises-gambling-shane-dixon-suicide-pacific-adventure.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Mail Australia</a>. "He [Shane] was a great guy and it’s so wrong how the casinos push so hard to get you to gamble more.'" When onboard a P&O cruise, customers use their room key, or "cruise card", as a form of currency to pay for various items onboard the ships. Passengers can either pay "cash" by topping their cruise card up with set cash amounts using machines located around the vessel or by "card" by linking it to a credit or debit card. James said the same payment methods extend to the casino, as every time a passenger plays a game in the casino they need to scan their cruise card, regardless of which type of payment arrangement they have set up. When funds are depleted, players have the option to select "charge room" to add more money and the bill will be charged to the card associated with your room at the end of every day. James said paying with this method makes it difficult to track how much you have spent, particularly as there is no internet on board to monitor transactions through online banking. When James, luckily, won back most of his debt and chose to walk away from the table before any more damage occurred, he asked the cashier if he could enter a self-exclusion arrangement to bar him as he didn't trust himself to not spend the cash. However, James said the cashier told him self-exclusion was not an option. "They should have been able to [disable my room key] just like they do with minors, but the cashier said they don’t know how or if it’s even possible," he said. "It seems crazy!" According to P&O's website, self-exclusion is one of the initiatives punters can access under the company's "commitment to the responsible delivery of gaming on our ships". The last time James saw Shane was while they were all dancing together in a bar at midnight on Monday. While he left to go to a club, Shane went back to the casino and just four hours later, the father-of-three was dead. "We were all drinking heavily but he was full of energy and happy," James said, recalling their last encounter. "He had been saying how he had lost heaps at the casino but we didn't know his situation so didn’t know how much of a big deal it was. He didn’t seem overly upset about it at the time. He seemed fine." Shane had racked up over $4,000 in gambling debt, and went overboard while the ship was making its way into Sydney Harbour. Image credits: Facebook / Shutterstock

Cruising

“These are people’s lives”: Calls for gambling reform after fatal cruise ship plunge

The shocking death of a 50-year-old father who went overboard on a P&O Cruise has caused widespread outrage, with many questioning who is to blame for his untimely passing. Shane Dixon had racked up $5,000 of gambling debt while onboard the Elvis-themed voyage, which his mother, who was also travelling with him, helped him to repay. The next day, Dixon went back to the cruise ship's casino where he racked up another $4,000 in debt, before he plunged to his death while the vessel was on its way into Sydney Harbour. While questions have arisen about the circumstances surrounding his death, the CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform Carol Bennett said the cruise ship operator had failed to provide Shane with an adequate duty of care, and encouraged him to keep gambling. "It's really concerning that when a ship sails 12 nautical miles off the coast it can then allow anything and everything to happen," she told <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13414919/Anti-gambling-Shane-Dixon-cruise-ship-casino.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Daily Mail Australia</a>. "The rules that might apply on land no longer seem to apply and yet you would expect this cruise line would have some kind of duty of care to ensure that people are not plied with inducements, promotions and advertisements that are pushing them to gamble to extremely harmful levels." "It is just beyond belief that there is not an expectation that when a cruise ship leaves a dock that the rules of that jurisdiction apply." "But clearly that's not the case and we leave it all in the hands of the cruise line operator who may or may not apply the responsible service of gambling." Ms Bennett said it was "fundamental" that gamblers were able to set spend limits, self-exclude themselves and be in an environment free of inducements: all of which are required by law when it comes to casinos on Australian soil. "This is just basic harm reduction that any provider or organisation that is providing gambling services should be complying with," she said. "And if they're not, we need to really seriously think about what governments need to do to address this problem because you do wonder how widespread this is. This could be just the tip of the iceberg." Ms Bennett said Australia loses an estimated $25billion on legal forms of gambling each year, with the consequences spreading far beyond the impact on the economy. "It leads to everything from domestic and family violence to health and mental health issues, anxiety, depression, financial distress, right through to suicide," she said. "It is a huge and to some degree hidden problem in Australia, which is why we need stronger enforcement of safeguards and guardrails around gambling that don't see people led into a situation where they see no other way out but suicide." "These are peoples lives. For every person who gambles, there are six people around them who are going to be directly impacted." Labor backbencher Graham Perrett said the British cruise line most likely operated under the UK's gambling laws. "My understanding is that the UK gambling laws are not dissimilar to ours in terms of marketing and advertising," he said. "It's not just a gambling free-for-all, even if they are outside our territorial seas they still have to follow the laws of the UK." Image credits: Facebook / Shutterstock

Cruising

Woman dies after suspected mushroom poisoning at health retreat

A 53-year-old woman has died and two others have been rushed to hospital after allegedly ingesting poisonous mushrooms while at a holistic wellness retreat. Rachael Dixon became violently ill on Saturday night after she allegedly crushed up mushrooms and consumed them in a drink. Dixon and her two friends were at the Soul Barn Creative Wellbeing Centre, an "alternative health retreat" in Clunes, near Ballarat, when the incident occurred. An ambulance was called after reports she was in cardiac arrest and not breathing, and despite best efforts by paramedics, she died at the scene just after 12am. Her two friend were also rushed to hospital, but were released days later. Police are investigating her sudden death, and are expected to look into if the drink contained 'magic' mushrooms, which contain the hallucinogenic chemical psilocybin. Dixon's son Matthew paid tribute to his mother on Facebook, writing, "To the most loving, most caring person I've ever known can't thank you enough for everything you ever did for me and all the support you gave me." "Words can't begin to describe how much I will miss you, wish I could give you one last hug." Soul Barn has remained closed since the incident as local business owners and residents said the incident was "confronting" and "devastating". The death comes after Victorian authorities warned residents earlier this month that poisonous mushrooms were growing across the state. “Unless you are an expert, do not pick and eat wild mushrooms in Victoria,” acting chief health officer Evelyn Wong said. “There is no home test available to distinguish safe and edible mushrooms from poisonous mushrooms.” Image credits: Facebook

Caring

"They won't get away with it": Sylvia Jeffreys’ moving message

Sylvia Jeffreys delivered a moving message this morning, paying tribute to Eurydice Dixon whilst passionately urging for change to take place across the country. The Today show reporter delivered her emotional speech during a live cross from Princes Park in Carlton North, Melbourne, where the memorial for the 22-year-old rape and murder victim sits. Jeffreys returned to the site of last night’s candlelight vigil, to speak of the tragic incident that has struck a chord with hearts around Australia. “Once again this morning, I stand here 900 metres from Eurydice’s home, on the soccer pitch where her body was found last week as we, as a nation, search for answers,” Jeffreys said. <img width="499" height="375" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7819243/2_499x375.jpg" alt="2 (90)"/> “How did we let her down? How do we stop this from ever happening again? We can light more footpaths, we can mount more cameras, but there will always be shadows. We can, and we must, teach our sons and our brothers to respect women and to strive for gender equality. “But attitudes won’t change overnight. So for now, it’s on our leaders, our law makers, our law enforcers to hold perpetrators to account, to send a clear message that they will not get away with it, that there is zero tolerance for violence against women.” Jeffreys urged listeners to keep the dialogue alive about gendered violence. “It is also on every one of us to keep this dialogue going, to look out for one another and to continue to apply pressure on the men and the women we elect to end this crisis of gendered violence that is robbing mothers of their daughters, husbands of their wives, children of their mothers,” she said. “Last night, I learned a little bit more about Eurydice Dixon. She volunteered at a community kitchen and she was about to become an aunty. “She was on the verge of big beginnings, she was brave and she was smart. She was funny and just like every one of us, she thought ‘it won’t happen to me’.” The Channel Nine reporter’s passionate appeal for change was applauded by viewers and quickly shared on social media. “Long after these candles go out, we have to carry her flame,” Jeffreys said. “Eurydice, just like her name, will always and forever be a symbol of justice. And it's on us now to ensure that her life drives change to make our streets and our homes a safer place for every one of us.”

Caring

Discovering the wonders of Europe from London to Lille

Yvonne Dixon describes a trip from London to Lille with her husband, where she discovers the wonders of travelling through this beautiful part of Europe. On 26 September, we travelled by underground train from our base in West London into St Pancras-International Station in Central London. The check in for Eurostar closed half an hour before the 1pm departure. This allowed time for going through body and bag security checks and immigration control. We were amused to find that we “crossed the border” from UK into France before we boarded the train. The Eurostar train travels through outer East London, then through Kent countryside, down to Folkestone on the coast. There are some tunnels on the English side, including one under the Thames. It was difficult to tell when we entered the BIG tunnel. We realised when a tunnel seemed long. The train spent about 25 minutes under the Channel and emerged in France. A brief stop was made at Calais, with prior notice given in French and English. We eagerly looked out the train windows. Now we could see plastic wrapped bales of hay in French farm fields. Church spires in villages could be seen every few minutes. The impending arrival at “Gare Lille Europe” was announced, with warning to be quick. The train was going on to Brussels in Belgium. We grabbed our luggage and walked off the train. Lille station was big and busy. Many bi-lingual signs helped us find the way. We found a public toilet at the railway station but there was a charge of E0.70c, to be paid to the attendant. We needed to get some small change to use it. I remembered “spending a penny” for the toilets at the Wellington, NZ railway station, back in 1967. We walked down the stairs, and emerged, into a large plaza. We could see a dazzling contemporary flower sculpture, and old buildings in the distance. Lille is only 10 km from the French border with Belgium, so has Flemish elements in the culture. It was interesting to walk on narrow roughly cobbled streets. Many of the magnificent buildings were erected in the seventeenth century. Some old multi-storey structures have beautiful shining gilded trimmings on the top levels. There is a former stock exchange, built in 1652. We walked through the antique book market in the central courtyard, and looked up. Housing for workers was provided on the upper floors. Near to our apartment was a fortified citadel built in a star shape for defence when the King of France annexed Lille in 1667. We took photos of the fort’s heavy wooden doors and the drawbridge, over a moat. The small landscaped Lille zoo is in part of the surrounding green park. (The Entry cost 4 Euros.) I liked the owls, and the picture panels to read about the animals. In the central city we visited St Maurice’s church which has a 68 metre tower. There are intricate wood carvings on the interior fittings. The oldest part dates back to the 14th century. We were intrigued to read that at the time of the French Revolution, the church had been stripped of treasures and turned into a “temple of reason”. In the 19th century, the church was restored and again used for Christian worship. The “Liberte, Equalitie, Fraternitie” slogan of the French revolution was part of the signage on a Council building. The central areas of Lille are strongly oriented to pedestrians. Where there were lanes for cars, vehicles travelled slowly and deferred to pedestrians. Drivers on the motorway were polite and considerate to us and other vehicles. Lots of people whizz around on bicycles in central Lille, but few wear helmets. We observed some workmen repairing paving on the street. They did not have safety goggles or boots despite using an electric cutting saw. Safety rules seem to be different in France. We found that shop and office workers in Lille were polite and helpful, when they realised we did not have much French. Many people used their English to assist. First it was said “my English is not good” but functional English was spoken everywhere we went. We remembered our French numbers and a few words from high school classes. We had a French phrase book and dictionary. My husband went to buy bread in the little nearby bakery. I asked how he managed. “Oh I just pointed and then said “Trois croissants”, he replied. Fresh baguette slices were delicious with butter and jam for breakfast. The phrase “Je ne parle Francais” was useful to discourage hawkers and beggars who approached us in the street. When we left France early on Thursday evening, Eurostar Border bio security only seemed to concern water. We took fruit, breads and cheese back to the UK. There are restrictions so some items, such as knives can’t be carried on the Train. We liked the size and location of Lille. It is 30 minutes closer to London, and the train fares and accommodation are cheaper than going to Paris. We visited midweek during the UK and French school term so it did not seem crowded. We felt welcome as visitors. We were very pleased with our little taste of travel to France. We were glad of our walking shoes. It is easy to trip or stub toes on cobbles and pavers on the streets.

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How one widow has changed how women solo travel

Shane Dixon's heartbreaking posts before cruise plunge

"It seems crazy": Shane Dixon's gambling friend breaks his silence

“These are people’s lives”: Calls for gambling reform after fatal cruise ship plunge

Woman dies after suspected mushroom poisoning at health retreat

"They won't get away with it": Sylvia Jeffreys’ moving message

Discovering the wonders of Europe from London to Lille

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