Notes of Geelong

NOTES OF

G EELONG

With the MSO set to take centre stage in Geelong with its 2023 Geelong Series, there’s never been a better time to explore the city overflowing with history, culture, great food and wine, as Catherine Best writes.

Gateway to the Great Ocean Road and the Bellarine Peninsula, Geelong is a city built by water. The sheltered curve of Corio Bay has been a focal point since the first sheep were unloaded here in 1832, thrown overboard at Point Henry to do as colonists of the time did – sink or swim. Those that survived thrived. The grasslands and rich volcanic soils of the Western Plains became fertile pastoral lands and Geelong (Djillong) grew into the wool capital of the world.

While industry and manufacturing remain mainstays of the economy, peel back the blue-collar façade of this UNESCO City of Design and discover a thriving artistic scene. It’s a scene full of cultural relics tied to the MSO through decades of concerts, as well as a relationship with the local community orchestra.

The city of Geelong and the MSO have been making music together as far back as 1949 with locals and musicians John and Patricia Brockman organising private receptions in their home for visiting artists, members of the orchestra, and conductors, informally starting Geelong Friends of the MSO, a loyal band of concert devotees that helps ensure the regional touring program returns to the city each year. This year’s Geelong Series leads with a Mozart and Beethoven extravaganza with pianist Stefan Cassomenos and Cybec Assistant Conductor Carlo Antonioli, and concludes with Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody featuring pianist Andrea Lam, with a sweeping tour-de-force of performances lined up inbetween. Before the 2023 Geelong Series commences, discover Geelong’s thriving artistic, cultural and culinary scene for yourself.

THE GEELONG WATERFRONT

All roads lead to the water and on a pleasant day, Corio Bay is the picture postcard of a gentrified seaside town. The waterfront’s recreational heart is Eastern Beach, where summer bathers spill onto the palm tree-dotted lawns that cascade down the hillside from the Botanic Gardens.

The centrepiece is the revitalised Art Deco sea baths, enclosed by a timber promenade that fans across the water, decked out with diving boards, climbing towers and pontoons. On the foreshore, a children’s wading pool nuzzles the sand, overlooked by the Pavilion, a 1920s landmark transformed into a waterfront restaurant and kiosk that does a roaring ice-cream trade in summer. 

Left to right: Painted bollards on the Geelong waterfront;

Geelong foreshore

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Left to right: Eastern beach swimming reserve; Anther Distillery; Geelong Gallery Geelong; restaurant 1915.

West along the esplanade, the foreshore path meanders past boats bobbing at silken moorings against the distant knuckle of the You Yang ranges. In summer, the Giant Sky Wheel – the largest travelling Ferris wheel in the Southern Hemisphere – lights up the waterfront, while the Carousel by Cunningham Pier is a year-round draw. Handmade in 1892, the steam-powered Armitage-Herschell merry-go-round features 36 intricately carved horses and two chariots. The most iconic of Geelong’s waterfront attractions are the bollards: more than 100 timber pier pylons fashioned into local identities. Painted in everything from period costumes and cossies to suits and surf lifesaving gear, the public artworks grace the Baywalk Bollards Trail, extending from Limeburners Point to Rippleside Park (about 4.5km).

ART AND CULTURE

One block back from Corio Bay, is the National Wool Museum. Occupying the original 1872 Dennys Lascelles Wool Store, the interactive museum tells the boom-to-bust story of Geelong’s wool industry. The focal point is the century-old carpet loom, one of only two functioning looms of its kind in the world, featuring more than 100 bobbins and almost 1000 Jacquard pattern-programming punch cards. Stand beneath the sun-drenched saw-tooth roof where wool was graded, see antique shears and factory machines, meet a flock of taxidermy sheep and view fleece from the “million-dollar bale”. Other highlights include exploring the old shearer’s quarters and mid-century cottage furnished with curios from yesteryear.

Within walking distance from the museum you’ll find the

Geelong Gallery and Geelong Library. The latter is housed inside a striking geometric dome with a glass core like an agate heirloom. The Vault, on level three, is the most precious space, home to the red-hued Heritage Reading Room and Repository, containing 4.2km of shelves holding the city’s historical archives. Next door, the 1896 Geelong Gallery (entry is free) is one of Australia’s oldest regional art galleries. Behind the grand colonnaded exterior overlooking Johnstone Park are more than 6000 works, including A Bush Burial (1890) by renowned Australian impressionist painter Frederick McCubbin. For artwork with a modern edge, visit Boom Gallery in Newtown, where a former wool mill has been transformed into a contemporary exhibition, studio and workshop space. For Indigenous art, stop by Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre, a gallery and exhibition centre in Charlemont, where you can also wander the native garden and participate in a Wadawurrung cultural experience. FOOD AND DRINK Geelong’s dining scene has undergone a The Brockman family renaissance, with what you eat almost playing second fiddle to where you eat it. From waterfront dining to the funky laneway restaurants of Little Malop Street in the heart of Geelong’s cultural precinct, to the burgeoning mill and warehouse conversions turning gastronomic ambience on its head. Tucked in a small alleyway off Little Malop, Felix serves Frenchinspired dishes like spanner crab profiterole and chickpea panisse at elegant leather banquette seating. Nearby, The Arborist, enveloping a living European ash tree, infuses Middle Eastern flavours with

modern Australian cuisine. A few doors down, Geelong Cellar Door serves regional wine, cheese and charcuterie in a sophisticated wine bar. For brunch, try Pavilion at Eastern Beach or King of the Castle, tucked among the boutiques on fashionable Pakington Street. For a destination-dining experience, book a table at 1915 in North Geelong, where the century-old red-brick boiler house – once the engine room of the Federal Mills precinct – has been rebirthed into an exquisite dining room. Modern Australian dishes champion local produce, served beneath a 12-metre pitched ceiling.

Pop next door for an aperitif at Anther Distillery, where co-owner Dervilla McGowan harnesses her PhD in microbiology to craft botanical infusions that sing. East of the CBD at the site of the old Fyansford Paper Mill, Provenance Wines proffers award-winning wines and seasonal chef’s tasting menus from a clutch of heritage buildings shared with artists overlooking the Barwon River.

Closer to town Little Creatures Brewery has taken over a rambling flour mill, bringing tastings tours and casual plates to a rustic brewhouse shared with stablemate White Rabbit.

STAY

The new R Hotel has transformed a dilapidated 1850s corner hotel into a contemporary nine-storey beacon of sustainability. The dog friendly, six-star energy rated hotel has 128 rooms and one- and two-bedroom apartments within walking distance of Eastern Beach and city attractions. The Novotel is situated on the waterfront, offering tastefully refurbished rooms, an indoor pool and restaurant overlooking the water. ■

The 2023 MSO Geelong series opens on 24 March with a night of Beethoven and Mozart, followed on 30 June when Ray Chen performs the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Jaime Martín, alongside Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony. More information at mso.com.au/geelong

Meet the Geelong Friends

Martin Shirley, president of the Geelong Friends of the MSO, was a young man when his mother’s passion for classical music lured him to Royal Festival Hall in London. It was the 1960s, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.2 was playing and Shirley was smitten. “To me that was, and still is, one of the best pieces of music that exists,” he says. “I just love good music and I love a good orchestra playing.”

The Brockman’s legacy continues, with the Geelong Friends enjoying five concerts a year in the acoustically magnificent Costa Hall. In addition to performances and concerts, members also have the chance to attend open rehearsals and meet the conductor and soloist at post-concert receptions.

The Geelong Friends sponsors cellist Miranda Brockman, daughter of the Brockmans, through the Adopt a Musician program. Katherine Brockman also plays in the Orchestra alongside her sister.