A very old tortoise, cold turkey, death and decay

I well remember taking the kids to the Mitchell Park Zoo and on seeing tortoise Admiral, thinking: “Gee, that’s old.” But at 113, Admiral is still young compared to Jonathan who, at 191, is one of the oldest creatures on the surface of the planet (Page 8).

Frank Chemaly goes Italian this week (Page 6), with mixed results, and on the same page are recipes for two different potato sides, both of which sound delicious and easy enough to make me think that even I might have a go.

Still at the table, we have two pieces to help you pick up the pieces after the festive season indulgences.

If you partied really hard and need to re-set, try Dry January (Lifestyle), and if you can’t go cold turkey, there’s always Damp January (Page 7).

On this page, two fitness influencers share practical advice.

Plus, there’s a piece on the many benefits of celery juice (don’t worry: we have two recipes to make it more palatable) and one on a woman’s miraculous recovery after 40 minutes of clinical death.

Turning to the more serious, on the Opinion page, Prof Saths Cooper lashes those in power for failing to deliver on their many promises 30 years into democracy, and education activist Hendrick Makaneta pleads with the NSFAS to fund students studying for critical skills, instead of adopting a fund-all approach.

And my pick for this week is a sad pictorial of the decay and ruin that has befallen St Elmo’s Convent on the South Coast. Turn to Page 4, where Lindsay Slogrove remembers passing it in its heyday pomp.