Our Bloke – Shane Sallaway

How long have you lived in or around Forbes and what do you like about living here? I have lived here for eight years, I like the friendly people and the good community spirit.

Where do you work and what do you enjoy most about your work? I work for myself as a painter. I enjoy starting with something that doesn’t look too flash and ends up looking pretty good and doing work for nice people around Forbes.

What do you do to unwind after work or on weekends? Couple of cold beers, some golf and hanging out with the kids.

What are you really good at? Painting and golf.

What is your pet hate? People who talk behind other people’s backs.

If you could have any superpower what would it be and why? That’s a tough one, to be able to heal people when they’re sick.

Tell us about your best holiday ever? Taking the kids down the South Coast, where we go every year. It is a beautiful place with lots of other families like us down there enjoying themselves in the holidays.

What makes your day? Keeping my clients happy. Knowing I have done a good job and that they are happy with the finished product.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself? I can teach old dogs new tricks.

How long have you lived in or around Forbes and what do you like about living here? I have lived in Forbes for just over a year, I moved in September last year. I’m originally from Darwin in the Northern Territory. I love the Lake and old architecture in Forbes as well as the feel of the country.

Where do you work and what do you enjoy most about your work? Currently I’m a stay at home mum on leave from my job with the Department of Education in Dar- win.

What do you do to unwind after work on weekends? Looking after a toddler I rarely have time to unwind but I do enjoy eating ice cream and watching tv once he is in bed.

What are you really good at? Talking. I can talk my way through a wet paper bag. I am also athletic and competitive which makes me a good netball player.

What is your pet hate? Definitely unclean kitchen benches and dirty feet.

If you could have a super power what would it be and why? To be invisible so that I could play pranks on people and get away with it.

Tell us about your best holiday ever? My first trip to Bali, it was amazing to enjoy a drink on the beach and watch the action around you. I loved the food and relaxed culture of the place.

What makes your day? Picking up my son from daycare, playing with him and having fun.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself? Not many people know that I have really long and curly hair that reaches down to my legs.

How long have you lived in or around Forbes and what do you like about living here? I have lived in Forbes for 3 years. I like the friendly people, laidback atmosphere and the stunning lake around the town.

Where do you work and what do you enjoy most about your work? I work as a veterinary nurse for Lachlan Valley Vets. I enjoy caring for animals daily, regardless of the fact it’s not at all glamorous. I particularly enjoy all aspects of surgery and learning something new every day.

What do you do to unwind after work or on weekends? I enjoy spending time with family and my other half and love the quality time with my dogs and alpacas. I like to unwind by playing my guitar, cooking and playing music a little too loud.

What are you really good at? I’m awesome at halter training animals and making a pretty decent pork roast.

What is your pet hate? The many negative stigmas attached to mental health.

If you could have a super power what would it be and why? I would love super strength so shearing alpacas and moving heavy animals at work would be a lot easier.

Tell us about your best holiday ever? When I was 16, we snorkelled and spent a day on the water around Magnetic Island. It was so beautiful.

What makes your day? Coming home to my better half, playing with the dogs, listening to Post Malone and a cold beverage in my hand.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself? Although we are having a break from it at the moment, I have an alpaca stud with my father. We show, breed, train and shear alpacas in our spare time and I love it.

How long have you lived in or around Forbes and what do you like about living here? I grew up on my family’s property at Murga and I had visited Forbes frequently before moving here at the start of this year.

Where do you work and what do you enjoy most about your work? I work at JR Richards in Parkes and I enjoy every day being an adventure, being non-routine and getting to spend it in a truck and meeting other people.

What do you do to unwind after work or on weekends? I work 6 days a week, so my day off on Sunday is usually spent catching up on sleep, spending time with my girlfriend and the dogs. I also enjoy fishing and being outdoors.

What are you really good at? I enjoy fixing things and getting things running again as I’m pretty mechanically minded.

What is your pet hate? Tomatoes and bad drivers.

If you could have a super power what would it be and why? Time travel so I can get through the few long days at work.

Tell us about your best holiday ever? When I was young, I went to Tangalooma in Queensland and fed wild dolphins. I’m going on holidays next month so I hope it will be memorable as it’s my first holiday in years.

What makes your day? Coming home to a killer dinner from the missus, especially her spag bol and cold beer.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself? I can do 3 out of 4 skills a country bloke shouldn’t own up to because he’s more than likely to get stuck doing it, which is: shear a sheep, milk a cow and put up a fence. I’m still to learn how to shoe a horse.

Chloe Jayne Withers

How long have you lived in or around Forbes and what do you like about living here? I moved to Forbes when I was 5 and am now 22. I love that there isn’t heaps of traffic around because I’m always running late.

Where do you work and what do you enjoy most about your work? I work at the BP petrol station and also as a mobile makeup artist. I love helping people feel beautiful!

What do you do to unwind after work or on the weekends? I really love read- ing lately. Usually personal development books or financial books. I find it really relaxing.

What are you really good at? I’m pretty good at making people laugh. Sometimes with me and sometimes just at me.

What is your pet hate? I hate rude/sour people. It drives me crazy that some people find it so difficult to manage simple words like please and thank you.

If you could have a super power, what would it be and why? My super power would be to fly because I could travel anywhere I want at anytime and save heaps on flights.

Tell us about your best holiday ever? I really love going to the Gold Coast, even though I struggle with the heat. I love going to the theme parks, the beaches and seeing all the other cool attractions they have up there.

What makes your day? Unexpected kindness and my animals. It makes me so happy watching my dogs happily play around or seeing my cats enjoying a nap in the sun.

Tell us an interesting fact about yourself? I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie, I love doing things that get the blood rushing and heart pumping. Heights, speedways or screaming matches with my brother Matthew all do the trick.

Nina Hooper

How long have you lived in or around Forbes and what is the best thing about living here? About 7 years. Forbes is an amazing community with a beautiful natural landscape and rich heritage.

Where do you work or what do you do currently and what do you enjoy about it? I work at Forbes Shire Council and look after the Community and Tourism team. My favourite thing about work is my fantastic team and that we get to work with the community to do some great projects and events!

What is your favourite thing to do when you have free time? I love to read, garden and spend time with my family. I watch a lot of sport, dancing and horse riding and its great fun.

What makes you proud? My kids! For so many reasons. Not just because of their achievements but because of the wonderful humans they are becoming.

If you could be an animal which one would you choose and why? A bird would be pretty cool – imagine being able to fly!

What is your all-time favourite movie, song and/or book, and why? For books – Anything by Tim Winton. I like all kinds of music from Sting to the Grigoryan Brothers to Tim McGraw and the Hilltop Hoods.

What is on your bucket list? To travel more with the family. To find the time to be creative and it would be good to be fitter!

What are you really good at? Op shopping for clothes. I can pull some pretty good outfits together from the Vinnies racks. I’m a keen environmentalist so this appeals to me on both a fashion and a “looking after the planet” level.

Tell us about your best holiday ever? Summer holidays on the South Coast are always the best. It’s a time to swim every day, eat too much, watch the cricket, read all those books that have piled up and get to know everyone again.

What makes your day? A clever one liner. It’s always good to have a laugh.