Otway life spring14

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connecting communities across the ranges spring 2014 issue 4

INSIDE

Focus on Birregurra & Colac Colac Botanic Gardens Festivals, Events, Arts & Books Around the Neighbourhood Houses

Living and visiting... ...the Otways

Winchelsea

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O Cape

Birregurra

Colac

Deans Marsh

Geelong Melbourne

Rd tway

Anglesea

Barongarook Aireys Inlet Barwon Downs

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Forrest

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ea Gr Wye River Beech Forest Kennett River Lavers Hill Princetown

Skenes Creek Apollo Bay Hordern Vale

Visit Colac & Birregurra and enjoy... ...the choice A service centre with country charm, character and heritage.

Shopping, local arts, crafts, history and culture - it’s all here.

Buy your fresh produce direct from the farm gate or sit down to an award winning dining experience.

Everything you could want in a relaxed country setting and within a short drive to the spectacular scenery of the Otways and Great Ocean Road. Stay, play and explore.

Cape Otway

ad

Lorne

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Gellibrand

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Editor’s Note The Spring edition

Long. long time ago, approximately 65 million years, Australia was drifting away from Antarctica at rates of up to 6cm per year. Then 20 million years later, an uplift occurred from the Southern Ocean that formed the Otway Ranges. However the surrounding plains herald from a different, newer era. Known as the Otway Basin, these lands formed when Australia drifted completely away from Gondwana land (the southern supercontinent), and these volcanic plains are now the third largest on planet Earth. A major period of volcanic activity began about 2 million years ago when there were 40 active volcanos between Colac and Port Fairy. Lake Corangamite and Lake Colac developed when lava flows blocked the regional drainage. These remnant craters and lakes now all form part of the Kanawinka “Land of Tomorrow” Geopark. Red Rock is a wonderful example of scoria formation. This geological legacy also provided the rich, alluvial soils and bountiful

water catchment that sustained human and animal life for many tens of thousands of years. European settlement of a mere 200 years hence, was based on the sowing and harvesting of the arable land. The towns of Colac and Birregurra sit on the eastern edge of Kanawinka Geopark, and their histories illustrate a unique time when pastoralists, missionaries and local Aboriginal tribes began a shared history. Our Spring Issue is bursting with these tales of yesteryear. Today we still reap the bounty of these rich lands in many ways and our communities are vibrant with cultural celebration of all hues. So find your special place in the sun and please enjoy the read!

The Team

Contents

Editor Nettie Hulme Design Gillian Brew Sales Joyce Howcroft

Focus on Birregurra �������������������������� 4-5

Published September 2014

by Forrest & District Neighbourhood House 14 Grant Street Forrest Victoria 3236 P 03 5236 6591 E otwaylifemagazine@gmail.com F www.facebook.com/otwaylifemagazine B otwaylifemagazine.wordpress.com T twitter.com/otwaylifemag View Online issuu.com/otwaylife.magazine Aucpiced by Otway Health ABN 30 426 290 469 Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this magazine and the advertisements supplied do not necessarily represent those of Otway Health.

Cover image Princess Tree by Fred O’Donnell Next issue (Summer) deadline 10 November 2014

Contributers Nettie Hulme, Ami Hilleage, Suzanne Frydman, Robyn Perrin, Fiona Brandscheid, Sue Cauble, Nick Jenkin, Neal Drinnan.

Bunting Dale Mission ���������������������� 6-7 Birregurra Festival and Art Show �������������� 8-9 Focus on Colac ��������������������������� 10-11 Profile - Catherine Powell & Luis Ah Yee ������ 12-13 Regional Geology ����������������������� 14-16 Colac Botanic Gardens 150 years ����������� 18-20 Arts COPACC ������������������������������� 21 Birregurra Arts Group ����������������������� 22-23 Artist Profile - Deb Chant �������������������� 24-25 Red Rock Regional Theatre and Gallery ��������� 26-27 Musical Spheres in the Colac Region ���������� 28-29 Studio 92 ���������������������������������� 30

Otway Life Magazine acknowledges the Aboriginal Traditional Owners of Victoria - including its parks and reserves. Through their cultural traditions, Aboriginal people maintain their connection to their ancestral lands and waters.

Books and Writing ��������������������������� 31

Printed by: Arthur Reed Photos on 100% recycled stock

Around the Houses �������������������������� 36

Giddy Up - Horse riding is for everyone ����������� 32 The Good Life ������������������������������ 33

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Focus on Birregurra

Beautiful Birregurra Birregurra – a place to live and a place to visit; a township that is built around its character and heritage The charming town of Birregurra sits on the edge of the Otways where the ranges smooth out into the volcanic plains.

Birregurra is accessed by three distinct arterial roads, being the Princes Highway –Cape Otway Road – Dean’s Marsh-Lorne Road.

The beginnings During 1837 explorers Gellibrand and Hesse travelled through the area in search of “new lands” for settlement. In 1838 The Wesleyan Mission of London commissioned the setting up of a Mission Station with Rev. Tuckfield as the leader. (see article about Bunting Dale Aboriginal Mission in this Issue) Traditionally a “worker’s town”, it was a centre for the timber and farming sectors. From the late 19th century, the Birregurra Railway Station has been a crucial centrepoint for transporting timber, stock, and other rural goods from the Otway Region and local area.

Indeed, “Birregurra Butter” produced in a local factory (and transported by rail) was a well-known brand name in Melbourne. The stately railway station has been restored by the community, and is still functioning as an important transport link for residents travelling toand-from Warrnambool, Geelong, and Melbourne

The present The local industries now focus on dairying, cropping, beef production and wool production. Residents enjoy the convenience of easy-driving distances to Colac, Lorne, Ballarat, Geelong, and Melbourne whilst living in this charming and beautiful rural environment.

Having made the successful transition from timber to tourist town, farming to commuting, the community can now boast of many activities.

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

Firstly, the most obvious is the increased interest in tourism around the area thanks to Brae (formerly Sunny Brae, a renowed restaurant and cookery business) and a number of beautiful B&Bs opening up to help cater for the increase in visitors including Harvest Birregurra and Birregurra 1865 Bed & Breakfast. The latter was the historic Native Youth Hostel that has been completely restored – bringing back to life a much loved building and one that many people in the community and around the area have very fond memories of stories told by their parents and grandparents. Harvest B&B is a lovely restored Californian bungalow where the owners have retrofitted the old building to be an energy efficient passive solar style home as well as transformed their adjoining pony paddock into a beautiful self sustainable food forest and garden. Tarndwarncoort Homestead, now known as ‘Tarndie’, has also recently opened up a new kiosk and gallery adding to the tourism options in the area.

Secondly, there is a burgeoning art movement in Birregurra. Birregurra Arts Group started up last year and has grown from strength to strength – offering a range of art workshops including reduction print making, starting a gospel choir (currently 12 members),

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organising day trips to metro and regional areas to enjoy arts events, coordinating an Artist in Residence programs for Birre Primary School, and working with other groups in the area to introduce art into the community such as music, public art and theatre – including visiting programs as well as community based programs.

Lastly, the icing on the cake is the Birregurra Festival – check out the article in this issue.

The future The population of Birre has continued to grow from 400 in 1996 to 741 in 2011 and the community intends to manage this growth to ensure the town remains attractive for people to reside in, as well as interesting for people to visit. A place where local residents and visitors alike can enjoy and appreciate the charm of the mainstreet and the history and heritage contained therin.

So if you haven’t been there yet, make sure you include a trip to beautiful Birregurra on your next itinerary.

Reference : http://www.smh.com.au/travel/holiday-type/weekendsaway/weekend-away-harvest-birregurra-bed--breakfast-20140305-346kc. html http://www.birreartsgroup.com Birregurra Action Group Township Plan October 2000 Change Concepts P/L

It isn’t enough for a town to have good leadership. Communities also must have people –“community builders” – who vigorously encourage and support a wide range of activities which benefit the community.

These ‘builders’ aren’t self-serving.

They’re interested in improving their communities. Find a community with both leaders and ‘builders’ and you find a community that works.

Dr. Robert Manley

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The Bunting Dale Mission It began as a good news story of collaboration between Aborigines and European settlers….

The Bunting Dale story primarily concerns race relations during the contact period in the European settlement of Victoria. Wherever the British flag was raised upon the land of indigenous people in the world, the story of exploitation and dispossession is depressingly similar.

So begins the preface of Heather Le Griffon’s Campfires at the Cross, which is an account of the Bunting Dale Aboriginal Mission at Birregurra, near Colac 1838 – 1851. Victoria was not yet a state in its own right, but remained part of New South Wales. The English missionaries Hurst, Tuckfield and Orton recorded valuable eyewitness accounts of a historical drama as Europeans entered the estates of Aboriginal Australians who had held them for 40,000 years.

The Colonial Government in Sydney operated as an equal partner with the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in England to select, finance and maintain the Mission. Important decisions made in London or Sydney regarding the problems of racial conflict, frontier expansion and regulation were confounded by cumbersome communication and sparse personnel.

Months of delay ensured that crises were never properly addressed. The missionaries fought their battles for justice and equality before the law, together

with a passionate plea for Aboriginal land rights. They were interpreters for the Aborigines in court cases where the missionaries witnessed first hand the racism, injustice and ineptitude of the British legal system to fulfil the noble promises of British citizenship. The Colonial world was a small one. Many of the wellknown figures of the era such as Superintendent Charles La Trobe, John Batman, William Buckley, Dr Alexander Thompson, Captain Foster Fyans, Aboriginal Protectors Robinson and Sievewright & Dr. J.D. Lang all feature in the story. Most of them visited Bunting Dale to view the Great Experiment.

Through the influence of the Mission in their midst, the local settlers petitioned the Government to reserve suitable portions of land for Aboriginal groups within the territorial limits of the respective clans. They generously responded to appeals for donation of stock, money and goods for the Mission. Gradually, there became a certain pride that the Mission existed in the district. Every European neighbour of the Mission, without exception, willingly signed a further petition to the Wesleyan authorities in an effort to continue its operations when it was threatened with closure, the local Gulidjan clan also gathered to hold their own protest meeting, determined to retain the Mission lands. The fragile success of their claim for Mission land did not endure due to the intervention of other factors.

Heather Le Griffon has lived and worked as a secondary school teacher near Bunting Dale. The lack of an accessible, reliable account of the Mission prompted her to write one. She set out to write a local tale but soon discovered its national and international breadth and importance.

Campfires at the Cross

by Heather Le Griffon The fascinating story of Francis Tuckfield’s Bunting Dale Mission near Birregurra in western Victoria in the mid 1800s. An unusually enlightened treatment of aboriginals by Wesleyan missionaries..

by Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2006.

Image: http://wildeel.com/design/slideshow/bookscampfires.html

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

Focus on Birregurra

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Cairn at Birregurra Image: monumentaustralia.org.au photo by Nancy Alford

In 1848 the stock was sold, Reverend Tuckfield left for Geelong and the land was subdivided and sold in 1851.

In that same year the Mission buildings were destroyed in the ‘Black Thursday’ bush fires. The only reminders of the Mission today are its bell, which is held inside Christ Church, Birregurra, and a memorial cairn in the grounds of the McLennan Memorial Uniting Church. The site of the Mission is on private land and is not accessible to the public.

Reference: http://www.apollobay.com/arts/ww13.htm Reverend Francis Tuckfield http://www.portrait.gov.au/site/exhibition_subsite_moshow_portrait.

Although there was some activity by squatters from the mid 1830s, the first real white settlement in the Birregurra area was the establishment in 1839 of the Buntingdale Mission Station, some four miles upstream on the Barwon River from the site of the present township. The Mission was operated by the Wesleyan Missionary Society, a London-based organisation promoting Christian knowledge in foreign parts. It was named after the English preacher, Reverend Jabez Bunting. It was visited in 1841 by Protector of Aborigines, George Robinson, who amused the inhabitants with a fireworks display.

The Mission was run by the Reverend Francis Tuckfield and its location was carefully chosen to be at the junction of three or four tribal territories. It soon became clear however that the Coladjins were resentful because the missionaries were welcoming their enemies and the journeys the Aborigines were compelled to make to reach the Mission brought smaller tribes into contact with more aggressive rivals. Feuds flared continually, lives were lost and the Aborigines eventually resumed their nomadic existence. Numbers continued to fall as many succumbed to European diseases and some to poisoned sheep and flour.

Despite Tuckfield’s enlightened devotion, the Mission made little progress. Land was let and stock numbers built up with the help of local settlers. Captain Bowden was among those employed as an overseer and the present town site was known as Bowden’s Point in 1850s before it became known as Birregurra.

Letter to the Editor I have been tracing my heritage for many years and only of late have found my heritage, which I am so proud of.

I traced back to Buntingdale Mission. My forefather was there as much as I can research and he went to Tuckfield School, which was set up for Aborigines, he later became a native policeman then a stonemason.

If it was not for my grandmother telling me and my cousins, I would not know where I was from. After searching for so long always coming to dead ends until recently I found my heritage, which has now filled a hole in my spirit. I am so lucky my Grand Mother passed on her story to me because it explains so much about me, and my love for the land we step upon as well as our people. I have so much to learn and little time to pass on to my daughter who has taken up our culture and is passing it onto her children. She works in our culture ensuring family values live on in the future.

I do hope to hear from you I want so much to know about our people and their stories so I can pass them onto my grand children before I pass.

With Regards Mike Gray Hi Nettie I can’t thank you enough for passing on my information to Auntie Edna. Thank you also for what you are doing and now that you have supplied me with information about Forrest I will be heading down there to discover more of my ancestors.

Kindest Regards Mike Gray

Focus on Birregurra Section

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Birregurra Festival & Art Show - October 11-12 The 15th annual Birregurra Festival and Art Show on October 11-12 promises fun for all ages. Once again the streets of Birregurra will transform into a vibrant market place, rich with a diverse range of live music, art, produce and craft.

The weekend kicks off on Friday October 10 with the opening of the renowned art show. The award show, held in Birregurra’s Main Street Hall from 7:30pm, features about 300 entries from artists throughout Victoria. With all works for sale, this is a great opportunity to purchase an original work.

During the weekend the streets will be a buzz with market stalls. Weave your way through the crowds to explore a range of handcrafted goods and fresh produce. A dog jumping competition will run over both days. Get your pampered pooch in training to take part. Visit the Garden Hub showcasing plants and gardening advice. Then refuel by selecting from the array of food and drink on offer in the Otway Harvest Trail Food and Wine Precinct.

There is plenty for the kids with all sorts of carnival rides, the ever-popular animal nursery, as well as ‘Little Feet Music’ appearing on the main stage, a children’s music act that is sure to get your little one dancing on Sunday.

Be treated to a wide selection of live music performances throughout the festival. Saturday will see Melbourne duo The Pierce Brothers perform off the back of a new EP and multiple sell out shows around Australia. Also on Saturday will be Yirrmal and the Yolngu Boys, a group of inspiring indigenous artists performing songs about their homeland and culture.

Local lads The Fire Alive will take the stage on Sunday, along with Brother James and the 100-member community choir, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Marsh.

Other entertainers to lineup this year include Angie McMahon, Residual, The Stackshots, Rose Avenue plus many more.

There’s certain to be something to appeal at the Birregurra Festival and Art Show, October 11-12. Gold coin donation. To keep up to date with all the festival news, updates and program, follow us on facebook at www.facebook.com/birregurrafestival , on Twitter @ Birrefest and via the website www.birregurra.com/ festival/ . Enquiries phone Vicki Jeffrey 0419 367 994.

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Colac Living the Life

The plains around Colac are the third largest volcanic plains in the world. Consequently, the land is rich and fertile and, coupled with fresh water in the many lakes, this area has been perfect for animal and human habitation over many thousands of years.

Prior to European settlement, the area around Lake Colac was occupied by the Kolijon or Coladjin Aborigines and the town’s name is thought either to derive from this tribal name or from a Kolijon word referring to the ‘fresh water’ of Lake Colac. Accounts of the number of Aboriginal people living in the area when European people arrived vary, but there were most likely several hundred living in tribes camped around the resources offered by the lake. John Co-CocCoine, known as ‘King of the Warriors’, was the last chief of the local tribe and died in 1865.

‘Explorers’ meet their fate The first European to settle in the area was the pastoralist Hugh Murray, who arrived on The Gem at Geelong in 1837 after first trying Tasmania. It was also in 1837 that the explorers Joseph Gellibrand and George Hesse went missing in the area. Their bodies were never found and they were presumed to have been killed by Aborigines. Their names are commemorated in the township of Gellibrand, a river, and as Colac street names.

Send the rabbits back in cans!

With other pastoralists Murray headed west from Geelong. Thomas Austin stopped to establish Barwon Park near what is now Winchelsea. Twenty years later Austin would make the fatal mistake of releasing rabbits onto his estate. In a few years they reached plague proportions and prompted the construction of the stone walls which distinguish the area. A canning factory built in 1871 canned millions of rabbits for export to the United Kingdom.

The Duke of Edinburgh visited the Colac area in 1867, but left scars of resentment caused by his snubbing of Colac with an abbreviated visit cut short by extending a stopover with Thomas Austin at Winchelsea when hunting parties slaughtered thousands of rabbits. In 1880 the First Rabbit Act was passed, making landowners responsible for the destruction of rabbits on their own property.

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

With the first bridge over the Barongarook Creek built in 1855, business was booming. There were hotels, a wheelwright, blacksmith, carpenters, butchers, general stores, hotels, a brickmaking works and the first flourmill started in 1852 and the first bank in 1864.

Some enterprises failed to meet expectations, such as gold and coal mining, a salt works at Beeac, and an unsuccessful attempt in 1865 to extract sugar from grass-tree plants.

Colac, population 12,000, is now the key industrial, commercial and service centre for the Colac Otway Shire and supports a network of over 1200 businesses and over 800 farms. The main industries are dairy, beef, sheep, crops, specified pastures, horticulture and organic farming; timber, manufacturing and service, construction, retail and wholesale.

Tourism, centering on the Otway Ranges and the coastline, is growing every year.

Focus on Colac

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Image by Fred O’Donnell

References

ttp://www.otway.biz/history.html http://www.colacotway.vic.gov.au h http://www.communityindicators.net.au/wellbeing_reports/colac_otway

With

your comfort as our goal, we have created a restful retreat that you can think of as your home away from home when you’re in Colac. With three spacious bedrooms, lounge room complete with a cosy fire and your own fully equipped kitchen, you are sure to be enchanted by Inverary.

Phone: 0400 194 128 ~ Visit Stayz.com.au for bookings and information

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Catherine Powell & Luis Ah Yee There are many stories of women of strength and character, past and present, from the Colac area. The story of Catherine Ah Yee is an unusual story involving a cross cultural marriage during times that were less accepting of diversity. Mrs Ah Yee’s story was compiled

by Merrill O’Donnell and Stephen Brooks from the Colac & District Family History Group.

Catherine and Luis Ah Yee still have descendants connected to the area and they had a lasting affect on their family and community.

Here is their story: Catherine was born in 1859, at Barongarook, one of eleven children of English mother, Charlotte Vincent and Irish father John Powell. In 1878, aged 19, Catherine married 35 year old Luis Ah Yee. Luis was born in Canton, China and had come to Australia with two brothers to work in the goldfields. He was a first class cook and worked in that capacity in the Ballarat area. He later moved to Colac and established a market garden at Irrewillipe Rd Elliminyt. In 1886, after being married for eight years, Luis became a naturalised Australian.

Between 1879 and 1902 Catherine and Luis had eleven children, seven daughters and four sons.

Strong faith would have given the family comfort when the eldest child, Leo, died in 1888 aged just nine years old and later the second child, Ellen died in 1901 after a long illness.

The family experienced racism at times and there was even a petition against Luis being able to use the Elliminyt water pump to irrigate his garden. It was seen to be discriminatory and the councillors believed the Ah Yees should get “fair play”. There appears to have been ongoing issues but the family rose above them and seemed to gained the respect of the community, particularly through their commitment to the church and Luis generosity to the hospital and other charitable organisations.

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

The family kept pigs, cows, hens, and horses. They bought sheep and killed their own meat that was shared with neighbours. There was always plenty of fruit and vegetables, which Luis regularly donated to the Colac Hospital. Catherine made all of the family’s clothes, often from silk brought from Canton by their uncle.

An old camp oven was used for cooking and later the family became the proud owners of a Pullinger stove.

It had two wood doors and the oven door hung on chain. Neighbours came to look because it was the first one in the district. The large pantry had shelves laden with homemade jams and jellies and bottled fruit.

The girls were organised to do weekly chores turnabout – washing, ironing and shoes. The front veranda was scrubbed with sand soap every Saturday morning. Washing was hung on long lines supported by big props and all of the garments had to be hung together ranging in size from biggest to smallest!

Catherine was a devout Methodist and worked assiduously to establish a church in Elliminyt, holding fetes, making jams and cakes to sell to raise money to build a church and hall. Later as secretary of the Social Club, her youngest son Gordon, ran sports meetings to pay off the last 75 pounds.

Profile

(03) 5233 6241

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www.tarndie.com

37 Roseneath Rd, Warnco ort, Victoria 3243 Open Every Saturday and Sunday 10am – 4pm (closed February) coffee.

Country rustic fare with great

Cafe

style.

Embrace the rural life in

Acco mmodation

The Ah Yee family

Catherine Ah Yee and Way Ah Yee

the Old Ciderhouse.

Social lifefarm for the family revolvedart around of inspired inthe church; Sunday mornings toexhibitions church, the girls in spotless white Seasonal aprons.

Afterwards the Minister came to dinner, then Gallery back to church in the afternoon. Sunday tea was a specialty with table loads of homemade goodies for the minister and friends.

In 1908, Luis died of pneumonia after getting wet while washing vegetables. Catherine, aged 50, was left a widow with dependent children. Catherine, showing great strength and resilience, kept cows, sold milk to the factory, made butter that was sold at

4d a pound, broke in horses and took in washing to support her family.

When Catherine died in Colac in 1948, she had been a widow for forty years, had 25 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

She is buried and with Luis in the Colac hand-dyed yarn tops.

Naturally coloured and Cemetery.

Walk.

By Merrill O’Donnell & Stephen on Brooks Meet a Sheep the Farm Colac & District Family History Group Polwarth sheep.

The birthplace of

With assistance from notes compiled by Judith Ah Yee and Wool & Sheep Brian Dunt

Cafe – Galler y – Acco mmo dation Fa r mgate Wo olshop TarndwarncoortHistoric Historic Homestead Sheep Sheep & Fa r m Farm

Farmgate Woolshop  Cafe  Gallery  Accommodation Wool & Sheep The birthplace of Polwarth sheep. Meet a sheep on the Farm Walk.

Naturally coloured and hand-dyed yarn and tops.

Gallery

Accommodation

Seasonal exhibitions of farm inspired art in the Old Ciderhouse.

Cafe

Embrace the rural life in style.

Rustic country fare & great coffee.

Open EveryHistoric Saturday and Sunday 10am -Fa 4pmr(closed February) Sheep m 37 Roseneath Rd, Warncoort, VictoriaW 3243 5233 6241 www.tarndie.com Fa r mgate o(03) olshop Cafe – Galler y – Acco mmo dation

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Back to Home Soil

What Rock is That?

Old marine Palaeozoic rocks do not outcrop in the Glenelg region. They are found mainly 1,000 to 3,000 metres beneath the present day surface and are covered by Mesozoic and Cainozoic deposits as described below.

Mesozoic Sediments In the early Jurassic period Australia and Antarctica were joined together. By the early Cretaceous period Australia and Antarctica began to separate. As they moved apart a large basin or ‘rift valley’ formed as a result of subsidence. Extensive deposits up to 4 500 metres thick, of felspathic mudstones and sandstones were deposited under freshwater or estuarine conditions. Sedimentation was mainly confined to the Port Campbell Embayment and occurred within the sea gulf between both continents. Deposition occurred during two major cycles of sea level change during the late Cretaceous. Some 3 000 metres of Cretaceous sediments were deposited. At the end of the Cretaceous period significant uplift and erosion occurred. Fossilised bones of dinosaurs have been found in the cliff faces of the Otway Ranges e.g.

Dinosaur Cove, in Cretaceous period sediments.

Tertiary Period During the Tertiary period from approximately 65 million years ago, Australia continued to drift away from Antarctica at rates of up to 6 cm per year. In the middle Eocene age of the Tertiary period approximately 45 million years ago, uplift occurred that formed the Otway Ranges. In this period the rate of sea-floor spreading Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

between Australia and Antarctica increased. By the late Oligocene from 29 million years ago, the Southern Ocean had widened significantly. This created favourable conditions for the biological production of calcium carbonate e.g. shells, bryozoans and calcareous algae.

The sea level fluctuated significantly during the Tertiary period. When the sea advanced over former coastal plains, several hundred metres of limestone (Port Campbell Limestone) were laid down in the Port Campbell Embayment. An iron rich soil called laterite formed in areas above sea level. Port Campbell Limestone usually overlies Gellibrand Marl up to 400 m thick. Port Campbell Limestone is middle to late Miocene in age and was deposited in a continental shelf environment.

In the late Miocene approximately 5 million years ago, the sea retreated from the Port Campbell Embayment.

Uplift in the Pliocene resulted in the formation of mountains to the north of the Embayment. An alluvial out-wash fan resulted in the Hanson Plain Sand formation, and covered some areas of the Port Campbell Limestone usually less than 10 metres thick.

It formed a plain which was later lateritised and then uplifted and dissected. Laterite plateau remnants can be found today in some areas e.g. near Simpson.

A deeplateritic soil developed on the Hanson Plain Sand under warm and wet climatic conditions which prevailed in Victoria for much of the Tertiary period.

Temperate rainforest was widespread throughout the State at this time. In many areas these Tertiary deposits have been covered by subsequent volcanic material. At the end of the Tertiary period the Otway Ranges were uplifted to their present height.

Regional Geology

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Image: Panorama from Red Rock, Victoria by Sean O’Brien CC-BY-SA 3.0

Quaternary Period The most recent geological period is the Quaternary that extended from 1.6 million years ago to recent times. During this period extensive volcanic deposits were laid down over much of western Victoria. A major period of volcanic activity began about 2 million years ago and lasted till about 20 000 years ago. Extensive olivine basalt flows referred to as ‘newer volcanics’ erupted from about 400 volcanoes, fissures and vents. For example, flows from Mt Rouse east of Penshurst, extended about 60 km. Eruptions mostly occurred from 2 - 4 million years ago. Some activity also occurred in the Pleistocene. It is estimated that the youngest volcanic activity occurred from Mt Napier south of Hamilton, about 7 000 years ago.

During the Quaternary period, extensive lakes e.g. Lake Corangamite, developed when lava flows blocked the regional drainage.

The more recent of the volcanic deposits consist of scoria cones, maars (now crater lakes) and stony rise basalts. Scoria cones were active in the southern areas due to interactions between shallow groundwater and magma. Scoria deposits originated from eruption points such as Mt Warrnambool, Red Rock and Mount Leura. Lavas have weathered to a wide range of soils.

The youngest soils have formed on lava flows that now form ‘stony rises’ country.

There were about 40 maar type volcanos between Colac and Port Fairy. These volcanoes have very large craters up to 2 km across, which are often filled with lakes e.g. Tower Hill. They were formed after some

very explosive eruptions and resulted in deposition of volcanic ash, as well as some limestone from underlying deposits for several kilometres away.

During the Pleistocene period a number of ice ages occurred which resulted in fluctuating sea level changes. At the peak of an ice age, sea levels were significantly lower than present. Rivers flowed across what is now the continental shelf to a coastline which was located south-west of the present one. In interglacial periods the sea level rose to present day levels. During the most recent glacial period the icecap reached its maximum extent about 17,000 to 20,000 years ago. During this time the sea level along the Victorian coast was some 120 metres below present day levels. Consequently, carbonate rich sediments were exposed and provided the source material for calcareous coastal dunes to develop e.g. Bridgewater Formation consists of calcarenite dunes a mixture of shell fragments and quartz. During the glacial period, arid conditions prevailed and windblown silt and clay (loess) deposits mantled many areas.

References Cochrane, G.W., Quick, G.W. and Spencer-Jones, D (editors) (1991).

Introducing Victorian Geology. Geological Society of Australia (Victorian Division).

Land Conservation Council (1976). Report on the Corangamite Study Area.

Tickell, S.J., Edwards, J. and Abele, C (1992). Port Campbell Embayment.

1:100 000 Map Geological Report. Geological Survey Report 95.

Department of Energy and Minerals. http://www.nre.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/glenregn.nsf/pages/glenelg_soil_ glenormiston_reg_geology

SouthSouth WestWest Victoria Victoria & South & South East South East South Australia Australia

Lakes Lakes and and Craters Craters Precinct: Precinct: Red Red Rock Rock

LaKe CoranGamIte LaKe CoranGamIte

aLVIe aLVIe Red RockRed Rock CoraGULaC CoraGULaC Camperdown Camperdown CoLaC CoLaC pIrron YaLLoCK pIrron YaLLoCK

HowHow to get to there? get there?

Take the Take signposted the signposted left pastleft thepast Alvie thepicnic Alvie picnic area (which area (which has toilets, has toilets, a gas barbecue, a gas barbecue, water, water, a playground, a playground, a shelter a shelter with a fireplace, with a fireplace, picnic picnic tables and tables benches). and benches).

Adjacent Adjacent is the Old is the Shire Old Shire Pit - a scoria Pit - aquarry scoria quarry which reveals which reveals layers of layers ash of ash and lava and flow. lava flow.

Red Rock Red Rock features features a concentrated a concentrated cluster cluster of eruption of eruption points points with with well-preserved well-preserved maars, maars, tuff rings tuff rings and scoria and scoria cones. cones.

TheirTheir distinctive distinctive colour colour is dueisto due thetopresence the presence of iron. of iron.

Over 40 Over eruption 40 eruption centres centres have been have mapped been mapped in an area in anmeasuring area measuring 4 4 km bykm 3 km by just 3 kmsouth just south of theof township the township of Alvie, of Alvie, and there and are there several are several smallersmaller eruption eruption pointspoints just north just north of theof township. the township.

The eruption The eruption sequence sequence includes includes an initial an initial extended extended phasephase of maar of and maartuff andring tuffformation ring formation with with minorminor intervening intervening scoria scoria phasesphases when when phreatomagmatic phreatomagmatic activityactivity declined declined due todue depletion to depletion of groundwater. of groundwater.

Ash deposits Ash deposits formed formed around around the craters the craters and lava andjets lava shot jetshundreds shot hundreds of metres of metres into the into airthe creating air creating the hills theofhills Redof Red Rock Rock There There are nine areentire nine entire craterscraters up to up 75 to metres 75 metres deep, deep, some some containing containing lakes lakes including including Lakes Lakes Purdiguluc, Purdiguluc, Werewrap Werewrap and Coragulac. and Coragulac.

Lake Purdiguluc Lake Purdiguluc has been has formed been formed by at least by atfive leastcoalescing five coalescing eruption eruption points.points.

Following Following the maar the activity, maar activity, there was thereanwas extended an extended phasephase of scoria of scoria eruption eruption in the in north the north around around Lake Werowrap Lake Werowrap whichwhich buriedburied part ofpart theof the maarsmaars and tuff anddeposits. tuff deposits.

The feature The feature is approximately is approximately 27,000 27,000 years old. years old.

The Red TheRock Red lakes Rock have lakesbeen have dry been since dry 1999. since 1999.

Controversially Controversially this may thisbe may be a cyclica event cyclic event or dueortodue overtoextraction over extraction of groundwater. of groundwater.

The lakes The have lakes have been surveyed been surveyed to show to show that they thathave theyhistorically have historically matched matched groundwater groundwater levels.levels.

StoriesStories tell of tell dryof lakes dry in lakes times in times gone by. gone by.

The critically The critically endangered endangered Corangamite Corangamite WaterWater Skink Skink can becan found be found around around the lakes. the lakes.

BeforeBefore white white settlement, settlement, the scoria the scoria cones cones were covered were covered in predominantly in predominantly Casuarina Casuarina open woodland. open woodland.

There There is a detailed is a detailed sheet sheet on RedonRock Red available Rock available from the from Colac the Colac VisitorVisitor Information Information Centre.

Centre.

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

An intersection An intersection beyondbeyond the picnic thearea picnic area featuresfeatures a branch a branch road onroad the on leftthe which left will which will take you take to you Eastern to Eastern Lookout.

Lookout.

The branch The branch road road on the on right theleads righttoleads Western to Western Lookout.

Lookout.

In the In the foreground, foreground, to the south, to the are south, Lake areWerowrap, Lake Werowrap, Lake Gnalingurk Lake Gnalingurk and Lake andPurdigulac.

Lake Purdigulac.

These These lakes were lakesoriginally were originally volcanicvolcanic craters craters which which blew lava blew hundreds lava hundreds of metres of metres into theinto air the and air and are partare of part the Red of the Rock Redformation.

Rock formation.

Things Things to do: to do: • A great • Along great drive longfrom driveAlvie fromthrough Alvie through Dreeite,Dreeite, Cundare, Cundare, Foxhow, Foxhow, Leslie Manor Leslie Manor and Pirron and Yallock Pirron Yallock circumnavigates circumnavigates the the lake and lake explores and explores the stony therise stony country rise country in Dreeite in Dreeite and Pirron and Yallock.

Pirron Yallock.

Within Within these stony theseareas stonythere areasare there many arestone many stone walls. The walls. drive Thealso drive gives alsoviews givesof views of many seasonal many seasonal wetlands wetlands east of east Lakeof Lake Corangamite.

Corangamite.

• It is •alsoIt possible is also possible to taketo a roadside take a roadside walk walk to the summit to the summit from the from well-sheltered the well-sheltered picnic area, picnicwhich area, offers whichbarbeques, offers barbeques, seats seats and shady andtrees. shady trees.

• Alternatively, • Alternatively, you canyou drive cantodrive Red to Rock Red Rock lookout, lookout, about 17 about kilometres 17 kilometres north of north of Colac, near Colac, Alvie, nearfor Alvie, magnificent for magnificent 360 360 degree degree views. views.

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‘Snakes are shy creatures, really’ Colac Otway Shire Manager of Environment, Stewart Anderson said people should be wary of snakes around creeks and other areas with long grass, where tiger snakes and copperheads will be seeking out moisture and favourite prey such as frogs and small lizards. Brown snakes may be found in drier grassland areas where they feed on lizards and small mammals such as introduced mice and native dunnarts.

“Snakes are also prevalent in bush areas in cooler weather. People may not see a snake until they’re almost standing on it. Warm, active snakes generally tend to avoid people and will slither away. Snakes bite to protect themselves from what they see as danger.

However, many snake bites occur when people try to catch or kill snakes and these bites are entirely avoidable. Snakes are protected under the Wildlife Act - it is illegal to kill a snake, and residents can arrange for a licensed snake catcher to remove them through DEPI on 136 186 and local councils..

Mr Anderson said that snakes were generally very shy and preferred to keep away from people.

“If they are found in backyards it is usually because they are passing through on their way to other habitat or seeking out water as a consequence of drought,” he said.

Colac Otway Shire advise residents to: • Clean up around the house. Stacks of timber or sheets of iron are ideal temporary habitat.

• Keep grass and lawns cut short. Snakes do not like open areas where they are vulnerable to predators.

• Keep grain or pet food storage areas clean and tidy.

These areas can attract mice, which are a favoured food supply for snakes.

• Ensure garden rockeries and ferneries are kept clear and tidy. These are cool places that attract snakes on warm days.

• Wear shoes when walking around backyards, leg protection on hot nights and use a torch. Tiger snakes in particular become nocturnal in very hot weather and are hard to see. Pets, particularly cats, are vulnerable to being bitten at night.

Health authorities advise anyone bitten by a snake should stay calm, and as still as possible. A pressure bandage or clothing or towels torn into strips should be immediately applied to the bite area. The victim should then be taken straight to a hospital emergency department for treatment.

Advice on snakebites is also available from the Poisons Information Centre 24 hours a day on 13 11 26.

Six tips to avoid a snake bite while hiking are:

• Step onto rather than over logs – a snake may be basking on the other side.

• Be alert at all times when in the bush, especially in the early morning during the warmer months when snakes are more likely to be sunning themselves but are slow to react. Wear shoes and trousers, instead of thongs and shorts.

• Avoid walking through long grass or reeds.

• Inspect hollow logs and rock crevices before putting a hand into them.

• Do not try to handle or kill a snake. They are protected species in Australia and MOST bites are caused by people trying to handle them.

• Avoid snakes when sighted. Don’t go and look for it, let it go and keep hiking!

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Colac Botanic Gardens The Colac Botanic Gardens may be almost 150 years old, but there is always something new and fresh on offer.

Now is a wonderful time to visit, with an abundance of flowers and new leaves welcoming the Spring season.

This is the time of year when the gardens are bursting with colour - daffodils, camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias and of course the one we always associate with Spring – our National floral emblem, the golden wattle –acacia pycnantha. There are many other acacias in the gardens – keep looking and you will find one variety or another in flower at any given time of the year.

An outstanding feature of the gardens is the carriageway bordered by magnificent English oaks (quercus robur) The gardens are usually referred to as a Guilfoyle garden, but interestingly, the original design came from Daniel Bunce in the 1860s, was modified by John McDonald in the 1880s and then was further remodelled in accordance with plans developed by William Guilfoyle in 1910. Today, as we stroll along the pathways we can still enjoy the “long views and short vistas” which Guilfoyle spoke of, as well as his “pretty peeps” to the lake.

From the main entrance, a walk through the centre of the gardens brings us from open lawns to much Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

150 Years thicker shrubberies, where a magnificent Huntingdon elm (listed on the National Estate register) and other significant trees can be discovered. The newly refurbished rose arbour will be a “must” during Summer.

A gift from the Friends of the Gardens as a 150th Birthday present, the arbour will feature a number of Alister Clark climbers and other roses renowned for their magnificent perfume. The soothing sound of the fountain in the lily pond will relax the most frazzled of spirits, and children will enjoy a visit to the playground on the eastern end of the gardens.

Venture into the Otways bed down near the playground and experience a remarkable change in the “feel” of the gardens. This re-creation of a cool temperate rainforest is well worth a visit.

A different way to approach the gardens is to leave your vehicle on the lake foreshore carpark, go to the rotunda, and then climb the steps to the recently installed lookout with magnificent views across the lake to the Warrion Hills.

Visitors are invited to pick up a map and the special wattle brochure from the Colac Visitor Information Centre or the Botanic Café before setting off on their discovery tour.

Images courtesy of Richard Francis and Fred O’Donnell

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What a treat!

Colac Botanic Gardens Café Lydia Wilson loves working at the Colac Botanic Gardens Café.

“I love my job! I help Jacinta in the kitchen, do some dishes and I do the tables in the morning all by myself.

I meet and greet customers and they are all nice people. I’m so happy I am here and have achieved an important goal.”

The Café is operated by St Laurence Community Services and employs people of all abilities. They run a very busy lunchtime session during the week and weekends and also cater to functions including weddings and corporate events.

Maree Ganon has been managing the café the whole fourteen years it has been operating as an Australian Disability Enterprise (ADE), originally initiated by Colac ACE, then Colac Community College and now St Laurence. Over that time, Maree has mentored many staff as they have developed their employability skills.

“I love coming to work every day and watching people grow.” Having a job and a valued way of contributing to the community is essential for personal growth and wellbeing. The Botanic Café is a perfect place to learn both practical and social skills.

Lydia is a vivacious 21 year old woman from Birregurra and, at the time of writing, had been working in the café for only four months but was still very excited about the opportunity.

“I really love talking to the customers and making sure they get what they want. I am also going to be a bridesmaid at a wedding here in August and can’t wait!

It is so beautiful here, anytime of the year” Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

Other ADE operating successfully in Colac include the Pickle Gallery, (Preserves) Wrinkle Busters (laundry) and Grant’s Maintenance Crew.

Arts

@

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The Harbinger Thursday, September 11, 8pm Tickets $24-$40 An enchanting adult fairy tale that melds live performance, puppetry, animation and stage trickery to create a richly magical world where the lines between reality and make believe fall away.

A gothic tale of solitude, heartbreak and of a time long forgotten.

“This is provocative, imaginative fantasy, gothic at times but totally enchanting…… To the numerous creatives who brought this show to life, Bravo! Just go, you’ll love it!.” Stage Whispers

Grace Barbés The Afro sound of the Seychelles

Wednesday, October 1, 8pm Tickets $25-$30 Seychelles islander Grace Barbé is the real deal, a genuinely exotic world music star for the 21st Century, with the talent, looks and voice to match. Grace’s soulful music reflects and celebrates the diverse cultural influences of her Indian Ocean heritage (African, Asian and European)

“picture-perfect funk soul played by world-class muso-cats” coolperthnights.com proudly sponsored by Shamimar Nurser

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Birregurra Arts Group This year, the small and beautiful Otways hinterland town of Birregurra will pay homage to one of their own recently lost—photographer, Lenn Robb—launching the Lenn Robb Peoples Choice Award as part of their inaugural “Snapshots of Birregurra” amateur photo competition.

Initiated by Birregurra Arts Group—or BAG as they’re endearingly referred to—the photo competition asks participants to capture their interpretation of what Birregurra means to them and offers cash prizes for two categories, under 13s and an open category. They’re hoping to attract over 100 entries and plan to exhibit the photos in the front windows of Birregurra’s retail shops during their weekend festival in the second weekend of October this year.

It’s an ambitious event, but BAG’s philosophy and the key reason for holding the competition, is to draw together two of the most important characteristics that propel small regional towns to thrive—community and creativity. And that really is Birregurra in a nutshell.

While most small regional towns may have one or two clusters of creative types beavering away in their studios, Birregurra, a tiny town of less than 400 permanent residents, punches well above its weight.

Already known for its annual Open Studios event on Easter weekend each year, Birregurra, thanks to BAG, is blossoming as an artist community and has now managed to inspire over a quarter of its population to participate in art activities of one kind or another. And all this in less than one year since BAG’s inception.

In that time, the group, a subcommittee of the Birregurra Community Group, has grown to over thirty paid up members and nearly seventy people receiving

their monthly arts email newsletter—a comprehensive round up of what’s going on in town in the arts, in the district and in the region. And they are emphatic that they’re just getting started.

Without a dedicated ‘facility’ as such, the group communicates with the community in a virtual world of websites, Facebook pages and online newsletters.

But not having a home to run arts programs is no barrier to this group. BAG simply finds spaces that are already available—the community health centre, their senior citizens room, the Anglican church hall, and even the primary school’s own art room.

Having recently held a repeat of their popular beginner’s reduction linocut printmaking workshop at the school with ex-local artist Teresa Lawrence, there are plans afoot for a more advanced printmaking workshops with a waiting list ready to sign up. In other corners of the town, the fortnightly life drawing group renders the human form in charcoal, and the all ages community gospel choir clap their hands and stomp their feet to contemporary songs from Paul Kelly right through to Motown numbers from Jackie Wilson. And as each group grows, another is born—as a small ukulele group, consisting of a few enthusiasts from the choir, strum together quietly in the corner during the choir’s suppertime.

In third term this year, Birregurra Primary School reaps some of BAG’s artistic rewards—having received a grant from Birregurra’s highly successful Art Show Committee to fund an Artist In Residence Program, BAG has been charged with coordinating the program which will result in the kids creating a piece of public art for the whole community to enjoy.

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otway businesses - contact us to be part of the buzz

Arts

And, the Birregurra Weekend Market has not been left untouched either. BAG makes their presence felt with a Co-Op stall spruiking BAG members’ works of art and occasionally invites the community and visitors alike to turn their hands to Still Life Drawing in the park or to enjoy some busking from an upcoming talent.

As time goes on, it is becoming clearer and clearer to the community in and around Birregurra that BAG is

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not just a knitting club or for those wanting to become a practicing artist. It’s about community—coming together to enjoy creativity and art—not just to learn it, but to consume it. It’s about recognising and using the assets they already have. And it’s about getting to know someone new—finding an interest, like photography, and simply getting together somewhere, even at the Birregurra Weekend Festival, to share it.

By Fiona Brandscheid

Relax Communications

Suzanne Frydman

Creative Arts Therapist & Yoga Teacher Counselling & Stress Management

using therapeutic writing, deep relaxation and other experiential approaches

Ph 0431 121 514

www.relaxcommunications.com.au

24 Artist Profile

Deb Chant Birregurra Artist

What/who has inspired your art?

Since childhood I have loved the colours and patterns of Aboriginal Arts & Crafts.

Then when I was 16 we watched and studied the script of Ingmar Bergman’s film ‘Wild Strawberries’ at school. The imagery and atmosphere had a huge impact on me visually and lead me into the world of Art House and International movies, and later to study the Dada movement at art school.

Why do you live in Birregurra?

Sometimes when returning home from a family day at Lorne we would drive through Birregurra and I would imagine the silhouette of the church steeple and trees along the river was what England looked like. I felt an attraction to the town and settled here when I came back from living in Perth.

It was then I realized my great, great grandfather ‘Brickie Pell’ had lived here and built the local historic homes Elliminook, Brae, Ripple Vale and the Native Youth (now Birregurra 1865).

What are you currently working on?

At the moment I am working on a video project documenting my interest in local handmade crafts/occupations, and a Street Art photographic project I have been working on for the past decade. My work can be viewed on my websitewww.debrachant.com or my youtube channel Debra Chant.

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

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26 Red Rock Regional Theatre And Gallery

Promoting the Arts in our Community Red Rock Regional Theatre & Gallery Inc., founded in September 2011, is a community based, not for profit organization. It operates under the governance of a Committee of Management consisting of 12 community members who contribute a broad range of skills and experiences. The Theatre and Gallery are operated entirely by volunteers.

The site of RRRTAG, a former church and hall, was purchased by a local farmer who recognised the need for arts and cultural enrichment in our sporting focused, small rural community. An extension with a kitchen/meeting room, dressing rooms, internal toilets and split system heating and cooling now links the old church, circa 1903, with the 1960’s hall. The church has been transformed into a light filled Art Gallery and the hall into a state of the art, 72 -seat capacity Carolyn Theatre complete with tiered seating, projection facilities and all ability access.

Following refurbishment, management of the facility was generously handed over to the community. The mission of RRRTAG is to actively engage the local and wider community in a diverse range of cultural activities through the organisation of events and the provision of facilities at affordable rates.

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

RRRTAG aims to foster an appreciation of the arts and provide cultural enrichment for all ages and abilities Facilities include: • A Gallery space featuring a diverse range of exhibitions showcasing local and regional artists.

The Gallery is open to all art disciplines including painting, photography, design and sculpture.

• The state of the art 72 seat ‘Carolyn Theatre’ (with tiered seating) is used for presentations, concerts, film, drama, music, voice and dance performance.

• A venue for workshops in the areas of music, performance and the arts.

• A community garden featuring a rock formation representing the endangered water skink and indigenous, edible plants.

The Gallery is open, at no charge, every weekend from 11am – 4pm. The diverse exhibitions are displayed for one month with all works available for purchase.

The Gallery is staffed by the participating artists and volunteers who provide tours of the venue and the exhibition. An ‘Artist Development Program’ provides opportunities for young and emerging artists to be mentored and exhibit their work in a supportive, professional environment.

Arts

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Red Rock Film Society aims to offer its members the opportunity to view a wide range of screen experiences in the intimate yet state of the art Carolyn Theatre. By screening films from around the world including limited release, foreign language, classic and thought provoking selections, we aim to have broad appeal. Post screening discussion and supper in the Gallery allows for a unique social experience for Society members in a welcoming environment.

The Carolyn Theatre hosts plays, local school concerts, dance concerts, a diverse range of musicians, book and CD launches, environmental awareness events and community fashion parades. OCR FM have a monthly Open Mic providing opportunities for inspiring musicians. The Colac Players performed seven sell out performances of The Cemetery Club in 2013 and will perform Nunsense in October.

Films are screened on the third Wednesday and Thursday of each month with the ‘Autumn Season’ running from February to June and the ‘Spring Season’ from July to November. Classic Sunday screenings twice a year give the opportunity to film lovers to take a cinematic step back in time.

Membership is $50 a season which includes supper.

Email your interest to redrockfilmsociety@gmail.com RRRTAG welcome all visitors to exhibitions and events.

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Musical spheres in Colac region Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. Plato In this article three local musicians of different genres share some of their performing experiences. Traditional jazz, folk and classic rock, and city band are just some of the genres being played in the Colac region.

Garry Richardson – Traditional Jazz Speaking about his long-time passion for playing trad jazz, local clarinettist Garry Richardson describes the process of collaboration as one in which ‘nobody’s racing, nobody’s bewildered, everyone contributes, and everyone knows what they’re doing.’ Trad jazz and many other forms of music can be wild, fast, slow, upbeat or soothing but, as Garry describes, ‘in jazz there are certain rules to follow and certain places to “do your thing” but you still need to cooperate’.

Plato said that ‘music is a moral law’ and when one considers how much cooperation and understanding is required among players and listeners, one realises that this metaphor of collaboration or active listening could be applied to a range of contexts from politics to business. It is most often collaboration rather than

competition that audiences can usually intuit when they listen for music that really flows.

In order for music to happen, venues and audiences certainly help. Peter and Jan Greig, from Gosling Creek Winery, have been hosting a wide ranging program of local talent for the past four years. The atmosphere at this winery is wonderfully relaxed, and Garry Richardson describes the delight of interactions with audiences who often request songs and information, and are known to get up and dance. Fellow band member Herb Jennings also considers the opportunity to expose new listeners to the art form he loves as one of the bonuses of playing these venues. Peter Greig’s passion for music is obvious and infectious as he is often up on his feet. The fact that Gosling Creek Winery presents such a broad range of musical genres is a real plus for the community who have opportunities to be exposed to new acts. For the musicians it is a thrill to know that they might have inspired a new passion in someone who might initially have come along for the wine and beautiful scenery alone.

Gosling Creek Free Live Music Every Sunday 1-4pm Peter and Jan Greig invite you to share a taste of the Otways at their winery and vineyard on Gosling Creek.

David and Tanya Stewart will also provide a warm welcome at the cellar door.

Cellar Door 11am-5pm on weekends, holidays or by appointment T 03 5236 3229 A 495 Murroon Rd, Murroon E retail@goslingcreek.com.au Check our Facebook page or website for Events Guide www.goslingcreek.com.au Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

Health & Wellbeing - Music Angie Cooper – Folk to Classic Rock Angie Cooper, a singer-song-writer known as Angelic Stains, perhaps sums up her musical style when she explains that what she is doing is ‘telling a story.’ And those stories, she explains, can come from various places – sounds in nature, via technology, and other sources untrained ears might not so readily translate.

Like jazzmen Garry and Herb, Angie also comments on the thrill of having people exposed to new music.

At Straight Shooters venue in Colac, where Angie has both performed and been a booking agent, people are known to be drawn to the music from passing by in the street and hearing something they like.

Angie also supports the Open Mic music afternoons at the Red Rock Regional Gallery and Theatre in Alvie on the second Saturday of each month. At these monthly gatherings people of various musical backgrounds and

Penny Serle – Band Master Penny Serle is the Band Master of the Colac City Band, and has been involved with the band for around a decade. The Colac City Band has its roots dating back to 1878 when the Colac Brass Band commenced in the area. The history can be read in the publication Brass Bands in Colac 1878-1989, available for purchase via a band member.

The current band marches and performs for various gigs on special occasions such as Anzac Day, Christmas Carols, and a range of events. Recently, the Colac City Band performed at St Mary’s Church as a fundraiser for a Sudanese family overseas. The music was wonderfully varied, from the Superman theme, to Stairway to Heaven and St Louis Blues March. Two other pieces were played as a dedication to the late Alan Provan who was a long-standing band member. The band is always looking for new members and is currently in need of a drummer. There are a minimum of two concerts a year with the next scheduled event being the band’s concert and awards night.

Penny describes the weekly Monday night rehearsals as evenings full of camaraderie and friendship, with rehearsals usually winding up with a good catch up and laughter. The point is that here is another organisation in which people from all walks of life come together to create lovely pieces of music. The band has beginners to very accomplished players and has had a tradition of nurturing youth as they learn to master their instrument.

Instruments include the range of brass, plus percussion and woodwind. There are usually 20-30 active players at any one time who come from a range of geographical corners, such as Lorne, Gellibrand and Winchelsea.

Music, like the other arts, is the tie that binds.

by Suzanne Frydman www.relaxcommunications.com.au

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abilities have an opportunity to perform and share with others. This is a wonderful community resource where anyone can come along and play and/or listen. The committee at Red Rock Gallery Regional Gallery and Theatre includes a dedicated crew who love the arts and their community, and committee member and Red Rock Gallery’s founder Andrew Beale emphasises that the committee is always open to new ideas and ways to bring the arts to local people’s lives. Jof Tys from local radio OCR FM explains that Open Mic afternoons ‘host the full gamut – from those teaching themself to sing or play an instrument right through to accomplished musicians who are touring the world’. These Open Mic sessions started in 2012, and according to Jof, ’provide a space for singers, dancers, poets, comedians or magicians to share their talents with others’. Or as Angie describes it...’a great way to hone performing skills and meet other musicians’.

30 Arts

Studio 92

Studio 92 is a boutique gallery located on Murray Street, Colac, opposite the war memorial. The gallery showcases a diverse range of works by local artists including graphic art, photography, sculpture, textiles, glass, pottery and jewellery pieces.

The concept of Studio 92 is that it provides the participants in our disability arts programs with an opportunity to display and sell their work along side works presented on commission from artists in the wider community. The gallery charges an unusually low commission on sales and all work is priced by the artists with advice available to anyone who is not confident in valuing their pieces.

We are always keen to hear from artists of all abilities outside our programs who wish to exhibit their work or even stage a solo exhibition in our gallery.

We can arrange catering and after hours staff for exhibition openings.

Our facility is currently under development with a new building planned at the rear of the gallery.

Once this is complete we will be offering classes and courses to the public in a variety of mediums and techniques and making the space and equipment available for hire outside our disability program hours.

This will give local artists and creative groups the opportunity to access our custom designed studio for passing their skills on to others or simply for indulging their own creativity in an ideal setting.

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Phone +61 3 5236 6446

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

Book Review

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Books and writing Optimism: Reflections on a Life of Action

By Bob Brown Hardie Grant Books. $39.95 Who would have thought that a man who had fought so doggedly on so many issues political and environmental, would pen a biographical work of such gentle philosophical delight! Optimism is written in chapter sized vignettes and as Geraldine Brooks remarks on the cover, it’s as ‘warm as a hot cuppa on a cold day and bracing as a dip in the Franklin.’

I’m sure many of us in the Otways feel a certain affinity with Tasmania. Our terrain and climate are so similar but the political landscape as witnessed by Bob Brown over the past 40 years has unfurled in that island state with a unique and often terrifying drama. What emerges from years in the trenches is a man clearly guided by a great love of humanity and nature. No amount of human folly seems to embitter him. As he says himself in the front to the book ‘Optimism is a key ingredient for any successful human endeavour – and isn’t keeping Earth viable the greatest endeavour we can ever undertake? It is a fortunate life if a person feels more optimistic than ever before.

That’s me.’

Pioneer Churches of the Otways and Their People

By Heather Le Griffon Australian Scholarly Publishing $39.95 Local history in the Otways is rich indeed and Heather Le Griffon, whose pioneer study on the Bunting Dale Aboriginal Mission at Birregurra remains an important historical narrative to the region has now turned her hand and eye to the pioneer churches of the Otways and the communities who developed around them.

Needless to say in this timber-rich, logging focussed region wooden churches abounded from Apollo Bay to Carlisle River. Many can still be seen defrocked and repurposed as homes or galleries but the stories behind their founders, craftsmen, builders and choristers are full of surprises. The famous Marjorie Lawrence began her career as a pianist and singer at the Deans Marsh Methodist Church and the voices of the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement once rang loud and clear through these mountains. History lovers will lose themselves in Le Griffon’s painstaking detail and wonderfully nostalgic sketches and photos.

Reviews by Neal Drinnan, Cow Lick Bookshop

Bookshop

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T 03 5232 1072 E sales@cowlick.com.au A 86 Murray Street, Colac www.cowlick.com.au

Hey Diddle Diddle

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Giddy Up!

Volunteer Von with Maddison riding Indi

Horse Riding is For Everyone!

In this the Year of the Horse we celebrate all things equine. Riding Develops Abilities (RDA) Victoria is a not for profit organization that enables individuals with a variety of abilities, ages and backgrounds to develop independence, a sense of freedom and to reach their equestrian goals.

Colac has its own: Time: Tuesday 10:00am-12:30pm in line with the school term. Closed for winter Centre Contact:Â rdacolac@gmail.com Location: Colac Adult Riding Club RDA Colac has been operating for over 30 years and is located in an idyllic setting of rolling hills, trees and kookaburras. It is a very pleasant outlook which is great for trail rides. The centre is composed of a cheerful and dedicated group of twenty volunteers and two coaches aged 18-80 years. Colac horses are agisted at the grounds throughout the working term and during holidays go home with volunteers willing to look after them. Each year the Colac group organizes a fundraising luncheon where volunteers cook up a three course meal to make anyone smile. It is so popular that the same patrons return year after year.

Colac has sixteen clients who each ride half an hour at the cost of $3. The lesson consists of basic riding instructions and also time to play games; the aim being to improve their balance, confidence, hand eye coordination and interaction with the helpers.

If you would like to volunteer with RDA, please contact Joyce Howcroft on 5236 6215. You do not need to be able to ride, just enjoy horses and people.

Be prepared to

Get Lost in the Otways

Get Lost Outdoors

has all your outdoor, leisure and camping needs covered. ...and keep the kids entertained with an extensive range of games and toys instore.

76 Murray St Colac Phone: 5231 2347 Email sales@gavbus.com.au

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

33

The Good Life A regular column by Ami Hillege

It is the time of year when we hope we have lined all our ducks up properly in preparation for a bumper Spring and Summer vegetable harvest. One of my favourite things to do is to pour over seed catalogues that find their way into my hot little hands. It’s very tempting to select far more than we can ever hope to consume.

Besides, we have our own little seed bank now that we draw from. Some vegetables are good value. They keep on giving. Take the humble Cos Lettuce and Wild Rocket.

We’ll never need to buy seeds again. I make sure that I always allow one or two plants to go to seed. I used to like a ‘neat’ vegetable patch, one where all my vegetables were neatly lined up in straight rows, no straggly leaves in sight. I’ve since come to appreciate more freedom in the garden, where there are plenty of fennel, mizuna and nasturtium flowers for the bees.

Over the past few seasons we’ve experimented with various veggies and we have found our own favourites. In a week or two we’ll be harvesting our first peas, spring carrots and sweet little radishes. They will make a welcome change to the winter staples of potatoes, turnips and cabbage! As we start picking new vegetables, a change in menus excites us. Roasted fennel, leafy salads and if we’re lucky, the first of the little beetroots will make their way onto the family dinner table.

We have a poly tunnel that I planted up with all kinds of seeds the first spring we were living here. Let’s just say I made a few mistakes. My most valuable lesson was that zucchini and cucumbers, when given a lovely warm, humid environment, would produce leaves the size of a fridge door, and yield little fruit.

I tried raising my own tomato seedlings two years in a row. I would spend a morning lining up seed trays; ice cream sticks marked with exotic sounding names for the pretty tomatoes and carefully plant at least 25 varieties into the trays. Then I would wait. And wait.

A few little seedlings would pop their heads up and when I would check again in a day or so, they’d all be gone. My mistake had been to rest the seed trays on the floor in the poly tunnel and slugs had feasted on the tender shoots. So this season I will be giving the tomatoes one more shot. Except my arsenal has extra ammunition this season. Ducks. I’ve been allowing our ducks free run of the poly tunnel. They have feasted and cleared it beautifully, and at the same time they’ve added to the biology of the soil.

Once again I’m reminded that growing food can be challenging, but immensely rewarding. Here’s to a bumper Spring!

Click into the heart of the

Colac Otways Community

• Access information and resources • Connect with people and the places we share • Belong to our Colac Otways community

Come on and get connected!

A CommunityHub initiative

www.colacotwaysconnect.com.au

Community Hub encourages active and participative communities WHO IS COMMUNITY HUB?

CURRENT PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES:

Community Hub is a not-for-profit, volunteer-based organisation that is managed by its members.

Membership is currently drawn from across the ColacOtway local government area.

Colac Otway L2P: assisting young people who are unable to access a car or supervising driver to gain the mandatory 120 driving hours required to obtain their probationary license.

Representatives of key community support and development agencies and networks are also active members of Community Hub. Community Hub supports Colac Otway residents in many ways.

Community Hub’s mission is to build an inclusive, connected community through the creation of opportunities for public participation and diverse partnerships. It does this by:

Colac-Otways Connect: integrating offline and online communities across the Colac-Otways and improving social, environmental and economic outcomes for the region.

l advocating on behalf of Colac Otway Shire residents for improvements to the availability and accessibility of government and community services l ensuring Colac Otway residents have a say in local council decision-making processes l promoting opportunities for participation in life-long learning and pathways to employment, healthy lifestyles and community activities l developing accessible, sustainable, safe and supportive environments and community facilities l supporting economic development within the Colac Otway Shire community, and l facilitating community programs and special events.

Community Hub Incorporated 34 Connor Street COLAC VIC 3250 Telephone: (03) 5231 2822 www.communityhubinc.org.au Business hours: Monday and Wednesday, 10.00 am - 3.00 pm Friday, 10.00 am - 12.00 noon (except Public Holidays)

No-Interest Loan Scheme (NILS): providing funding to eligible low-income earners for non-emergency, but essential household items.

Community Learning Centre: enabling community groups to conduct meetings or learning activities in a low-cost, user-friendly, fully equipped venue including free computer and Wi-Fi access.

Colac City Band Carols by Candlelight: facilitating this event (and others) through skilled event management and volunteer participation Auspicing: Community Hub is an established organisation with strong ties to the local community, sharing interests in projects and initiatives that benefit the community.

Community Enterprises: We are currently offering photocopying services from our Connor Street premises, as well as the development of online consultations for business and service groups.

36

Around the Houses Term 4 Colac Neighbourhood House 23 Miller Street, Colac Vic 3250 Phone: 5232 5368 Email: brimmer@cah.vic.gov.au Opening Hours Monday to Thursday 9am-4pm and Friday 9am-1pm

Colac Neighbourhood House in Spring Just ring for details or to book a place. Everyone is Welcome!

Regular activites Monday Mums and Bubs – support group for young mums Women on the Move – social get togethers Nature Treckers – Home schooling Monday painters Breast and Ovarian Cancer Support Tuesday Pathways Healthy Lifestyle Tuesday Arts Childbirth and Parenting Cancer Support St Laurence Cooking Wednesday Wednesday Arts Breathe Easy Colac Otway Ratepayers Australian Plants Society Raphael Centre Post Natal Depression Counselling Skills Connection Thursday Tax Help Service Craft Group Music Jam Meditation Playgroup Friday Tuning into Kids Tax Help Service Community Dinner Epilepsy Group Sept

4

Sept

19

Fitness Forum Thursday at 1pm Community Lunch “Footy Fever” wear your team colours

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

Thanks to Futures Café, Otway Fresh Pasta and our wonderful volunteers who are the backbone of our Neighbourhood House.

ALSO...

Community Garden Free computer and internet access Wifi Printing, copying and laminating service Form filling assistance

Sewing machines Registered kitchen Disability Friendly Ipads made easy Cake Decorators Writing for Wellness

Around the Houses Term 4

37

Marrar Woorn Neighbourhood Centre 6 Pengilley Ave, Apollo Bay. Open Monday - Friday 9am-5pm Phone Rhiannon 5237 8590 Email: rcox@swarh.vic.gov.au

Zumba The perfect combo of fun and fitness, perfect for everybody and Every Body!

Monday 5.30pm-6.30pm Monday 6.30pm-7.30pm Beginners Wednesday 10.30am-11.30am Friday 5.30pm-6.30pm $45.50 per person

Learn Lightroom Lightroom software was designed by photographers for photographers to provide e a logic workflow for processing a lot of images in an efficient manner. It has tools to let you make image wide corrections as well as fixing limited areas of an image, with tools like the clone, heal, graduated filter and adjustment brush. This program can speed up the processing of your images.

Cost $30

Adult Ballet Alexandra is back baby! Adult ballllet classes are starting up again from the 2th of October so start stretching!

Tuesday 5pm-6.30pm Thursday 5pm-6.30pm Cost: $40

Expressions of interest • We have a new local interested in delivering Tae Kwon Do in Apollo Bay, for both Adults and Children.

Tae Kwon Do willll give you a work out, teach you discipline, and aid in Self Defence.

• Lisa Craig had expressed interest in delivering Belly Dancing classes in Apollllo Bay, are you interested?

• Alexandra is interested in offering a children’s summer ballllet workshop, would your child be interested and if so do you have preferred dates?

Please register your interest with Rhiannon at Marrar Woorn on 5237 8590

Apollo Bay Gardener’s Group

1st Monday of the month 2pm-4pm

Apollo Bay Weight Loss Group

Thursdays 4.30pm-5pm

Book Club

1st Thursday of the month 2pm-4pm

Employment Services To make an appointment, please contact the agency directly Western District Employment Services 5231 3411

Happy Hookers

Every 2nd Wednesday 7.30pm-9.30pm

Financial Counselling Available by appointment Every 2nd Thursday 10am-3pm

Patchwork Quilting

1st Tuesday and 3rd Monday of the month

Playgroup Playgroup meets at St Aiden’s Church Hall, tea and coffee available. Please bring a piece of fresh fruit to share for morning tea.

Cost: $5 per session casual $25 per term or $80 annual registration Each Wednesday 10am-12pm

Queen Victoria Market Bus Trip

(not August or September) $20 per person last Friday of each month 8am There is a possibility to offer this as a Geelong trip to increase shopping time if there is interest

Spinners

1st & 3rd Thursday of the month 2pm-5pm

eig ict N hbour

od H o us e

Forrest &

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38 Section Around the Houses Term 4 Forrest & District Neighbourhood House 14-16 Grant Street, Forrest 3236 Phone: Gillian 5236 6591 Email: forrest.nh@gmail.com Open Mon 10-5pm Thurs10-6pm

Regular events

Sept

First Monday of the month BINGO (1-3pm) Light afternoon tea provided. Cost $5 for 2 books.

Tuesday Councelling with Lena Collopy 1-4pm. bookings essential. Call Lena on 0487 244 310.

Member of the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors

Wednesday Tai Chi 6.30-8pm with Seona Gunn $10/8conc Thursday Gentle Exercise Class 9.30-10.30am. Followed by morning tea. Cost $2 Mind Games 11am-12noon. Cost $2 Community Lunch 12.30-2pm Cost $6 Southern Otways Food Co-op 3-6pm Every Friday Cert IV / Diploma Visual Art 9am-5pm.

Select the units you want to do or study for the Diploma with Salvina Conti. Places available for mid year intake A Huge Thank You to all our volunteers who support the Forrest Neighbourhood House. We could not do what we do without your wonderful help!

Find us on Facebook

5

Youth Group Movie Night

Movie marathon not for the weak hearted!

Strictly 11-16 only. Permission forms and titles will be distributed to parents prior. No permission no entry. Adult supervision provided. No Passouts.

Oct

4

Rock your Socks Off

Rock & Roll Dinner Dance in conjuction with Forrest Lions progressive dinner.

Details to come. Expressions of interest for Rock & Roll dance classes prior to the night. Contact Gillian.

Nov

5

Forrest Township Monster Garage Sale (Melb Cup Weekend) Your

trash is someone else’s treasure. Clear out that back room and make some cash or find a bargain.

More info contact Gillian.

Forrest & District Neighbourhood House Management Committee We have been busy doing housework; we are now incorporated and pleased to welcome a shiny new management committee, full of bright ideas and enthusiasm. We’ve been planning ahead and will be asking you what you want to see happen at the house.

Relax & Explore At King Parrot you can stay in a luxury cottage or camp beside our pristine creek. Explore the rainforest walks, swim in the pool or just totally relax and enjoy the birds and animals.

Our cottages, lodge and hall are nestled on a valley hillside north facing overlooking the spectacular Pennyroyal Valley.

Ideal for romantic getaways, family gatherings, conferences, retreats and weddings.

Yours hosts are Robyn & Tony Hampton Phone (03) 5236 3372 195 Dunse Track, Pennyroyal, 3235 Email contact@kingparrot.com.au |

Otway Life Magazine Spring 2014

www.kingparrot.com.au

Events Calendar ColaC otway

Calendar

of

Mon 1 SEptEMBEr Wattle Day Colac Botanic Gardens 10.30am to 11.30am SUn 14 SEptEMBEr Amy’s Gran Fondo Great Ocean Road 8.30am start – Lorne Foreshore www.amysgranfondo.org.au Sat 20 SEptEMBEr Colac Garden & Lifestyle Expo Colac Show Grounds 9am to 3pm www.smcolac.catholic.edu.au

Photo Credits: Vera Patel and Nick Jenkin

Events Spring 2014 20 SEpt– 1 noVEMBEr Hunt for the Golden Gumboot Old Beechy Rail Trail 20 SEPT-4 OCT Kawarren to Gellibrand 20 OCT– 1 NOV Beech Forest to Ferguson Sat 11 oCtoBEr Chase the Dog Forrest 9.30am start www.chasethedog.com.au Sat 11 – SUn 12 oCtoBEr Colac Orchid Club Annual Show Colac Show Grounds 10am to 4pm

Sat 11 – SUn 12 oCtoBEr Birregurra Festival & Art Show Birregurra 10am to 5pm www.birregurra.com/festival wED 22 oCtoBEr Warrion Flower Show Warrion Hall, 1pm to 9pm SUn 3 noVEMBEr Vintage, Handmade & Home-Grown Market K12 College Fundraiser Lavers Hill Hall 10am to 3pm

MarkEtS Apollo Bay Community Market Every Saturday, Apollo Bay Foreshore Apollo Bay Farmers’ Market Third Sunday of each month, Apollo Bay Youth Club Colac Lions Club Market Third Sunday of every month, Colac Memorial Square

Sat 29 – SUn 30 noVEMBEr Forrest Festival Forrest Sat 9am-6pm, Sun 9am-2pm www.forrestfestival.com.au

Advertising Proof

Promote your event with us www.colacotway.vic.gov.au

Thank you for choosing to advertise with Otway Life.

Saturday 20th Sept Barwon Downs COUNTRY DANCE NIGHT featuring the good timing, honky tonk sounds of The Rich Family Band. Includes FREE country dance lessons

Sat-Sun 20 September Lorne Foreshore Market This is your chance to make changes and check all details in your ad are Angair Wildflower Weekend Saturday 1 November correct. Please pay special attention to spelling, websites and numbers.

McMillan Street, Anglesea.

Mountjoy Parade, Lorne This is a low resolution file for proofing so images and logos may look a Saturday 4 October Forcrisp music Martians little fuzzy. Don’t worry, they will appear andatsharp at highCafe, resolution Lockin the Gate Fundraiser check out the Gig Guide at the Otway Life magazine.

7-10pm Deans Marsh Hall www.martianscafe.com.au

Adult $20 Children $8 Under 5 Free Family (2 Adults 2 children) $50.

Sunday 26 October Trick or Treat Kiz Festival Winchelsea - Inverleigh Road, Winchelsea

CALL Fay on 52366232 for more info

FOUR

OUT OF

FIVE

BUSHFIRE DEATHS HAPPEN CLOSE TO HOME.

To advertise in the Otway Life Calendar, please email details of your event to: otwaylifemagazine@gmail.com

Don’t wait. Leave early. Pack your Emergency Kit so you’re ready to go. Listen to local radio and check the Fire Danger Rating so you know when to leave. Stop making excuses.

LEAVE AND LIVE. visit emergency.vic.gov.au call 1800 240 667 download the FireReady app