10/12/10 - Mildura Weekly
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A group of Melbourne-based botanical artists have set out on a mission to emulate a feat accomplished 150 years ago, following in the footsteps of German surgeon and botanical collector Hermann Beckler – a member of the Burke and Wills expedition. The group’s aim is to collect, preserve, document and paint 120 plant species – the same species Dr Beckler collected during the expedition in 1860 – in and around the Menindee Lakes. It’s a scientific expedition that could take years, with these artists…
Making science visible through art By VINNIE RODI IT’S been 150 years since Robert O’Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men on a daunting task, with their intent to cross Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria – a distance of some 3250 kilometres. At the time most of inland Australia was unexplored, and unknown to European settlers, with the group’s mission to discover exactly what the continent held, while also aiming to make history as the
first men to achieve the feat. The south to north leg of the trip was completed without serious incident, before poor leadership, and then bad luck, led to both of the expedition’s leaders perishing on the return journey, with seven men losing their lives, and only one man returning to Melbourne. And while the story of the Burke and Wills expedition is widely known, it’s the tale of one of the expedition’s lesser known members that’s attracted attention by a small group of Melbourne-
based botanical artists. Inspired by the efforts of Dr Hermann Beckler, a German man who acted not only as the expedition’s doctor, but also botanical collector, the group, led by renowned botanical artist Mali Moir, has set out on an expedition of their own. It was in 1860 – with the expedition failing under Burke’s leadership – that Dr Beckler made the decision to leave the group upon reaching Menindee. • Continued Page 59
Three limos! Now that’s stretching it! • From Page 21
• BRIDGING THE GAP: One of Vince Lamattina’s favourite shots of his latest stretch limo – he’s got three of them so far, and plans to add to the fleet to cope with demand. The photo was taken at the Mildura Marina site. INSET - This is how the car looked only a few months ago... Vince worked virtually around the clock to get it ready on time.
“We’re also adding some luxuries to the vehicles, things like a DVD player, big screens and a sub-woofer, and full champagne service.” Vince says that usually, all three of the cars are in use at some stage during the week, mainly at the weekends, with weddings the most prevalent, but the vehicles are also used for transport to parties or other special events, or even for joy-rides of a half-hour or an hour, so a group of friends can cruise the streets having a drink in comfort and safety. He admits the business keeps him busy, especially working virtually full-time running his own mechanical repair workshop in Etiwanda Avenue, but his wife Miranda helps with chauffeur duties, as does family friend Robert Meppem. Vince says he shudders to think what it would have cost him to buy all three cars new... the stretch limos are worth upwards of $150,000 each...and although he saved a lot of money doing all the work himself, if he had paid himself a wage for the time and effort he put in the cost would have been at least half the ‘off the floor’ cost.. He also said he couldn’t have achieved his goals so far with the help of Miranda, his children and Robert, along with his limo washing team of Adrian, Justin and Stephanie. Vince is not quite sure what the next step will be...but says there is a lot of interest in his limos, certainly an increasing demand, and more and more people asking for one that will hold 11 or more people. He says it’s in the pipeline.
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