It has been an emotional week for me personally, as since our last issue, I returned home to the western plains to bury my father, Paul Roe, in the red earth under the big sky that had been such a massive influence on his life. It was a fitting send-off, and my family were overwhelmed by the number of people who travelled long distances to say their farewells. I'd like to thank my colleagues here at OC Life for picking up the slack while I was away and apologise for any inconvenience caused to you, our readers and advertisers, due to our skeleton staffing.

We also apologise to the avid followers of our competitions for somehow reprinting the previous week's clues. With so many of you still entering and pointing out the clues referred to the previous week, we have decided to randomly draw winners from among all entries from the previous two weeks. Sorry for the confusion! However, as mentioned last week, we will no longer run our 'What am I Watching?' competition because the Odeon 5 Cinema has chosen to no longer include the movie schedule in our magazine. We will let you know in a future edition if we decide to replace it with a new competition.

Lots to look forward to this month. We have the Orange Farmers Markets this Saturday, where coordinator Holly Whitaker will be celebrating ten years at the helm - a top achievement, Holly! Then, on Friday, October 16, the Orange Wine Festival officially kicks off, as always, with the night market in Robertson Park. Last year, the event was blessed with truly magnificent weather, so here's hoping for a repeat of that next Friday. And make sure to check out the 40-plus other events on the Wine Festival calendar. There's sure to be something for every taste.

Until next week!