Otway life autumn2017

connecting communities across the ranges autumn 2017 issue 14

$5

INSIDE Featuring Ferguson • Environment • Arts • Events • Places to stay, eat & be

Image courtesy Otway Fly

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Birregurra

Colac

Geelong Melbourne

Bambra Deans Marsh

Anglesea

Barongarook Aireys Inlet

Barwon Downs Ro

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Ferguson

Wye River

Beech Forest Princetown

Kennett River

Lavers Hill Skenes Creek Glenaire Hordern Vale

Cape Otway

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Apollo Bay

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Gellibrand

Get ready for the roads less travelled in the Otways. In this issue we take you to Ferguson and beyond. you will be surprised by the enterprise of locals who have a passion for the area and are innovative in their approach to make a living from the land.

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A word from us Well what a relief this past Summer was for us here in the Otways. Although there were some scorcher days, in the main it was cooler and wetter than usual.

The eucalyptus forest was fragrant and you could almost hear the trees sing with joy as they soaked up the moisture. A season without damaging bushfires is one to celebrate for sure. In this issue we share some of the stories of the trees of the Otways past and present. We also look to the future and how our choices to live in an environmentally sustainable fashion will benefit all creatures great and small. A big thank you to our regular and new contributors who generously share their love of the Otways through their writing and images. Thank you also to

The Team Publisher, editor & co-founder: Nettie Hulme Art Director & co-founder: Gillian Brew Advertising enquiries: Nettie Hulme E otwaylifemagazine@gmail.com F www.facebook.com/otwaylifemagazine B otwaylifemagazine.wordpress.com T twitter.com/otwaylifemag View Online issuu.com/otwaylife.magazine Cover: Deppeler Creek. In any rainforest region there are many little creeks and streams. As the trees and ferns fall over time they create natural bridges that eventually decay and are re-absorbed back into the natural world. As a photographer I can only gather a small moment in time, but its a moment that will never be repeated. Tim Lucas Next issue (Winter) deadline 30 April 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.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in Otway Life Magazine are those of its individual authors.

Printed by: Adcell Group on 100% recycled stock

Autumn 2017

our readers who are either subscribers or purchasing our hard copies for the token price of $5. We are happy to be covering our costs and being able to continue to share the yarns, legends and narratives of this unique place on Earth #iamotways Regular contributors: Suzanne Frydman, Merril O'Donnell, Stephen Brookes, Neal Drinnan, Ami Hillege.

Guest Contributors this issue: Nicola Proven All unattributed articles have been written by Nettie Hulme.

Contents

Talk to us ����������������������������������� 4 Our contributors ���������������������������� 5 Focus on Ferguson ��������������������������6-7 History Note �������������������������������8-9 Old Beechy Rail Trail ���������������������� 10-11 Knitalpaca ������������������������������ 12-13 Otway Fly �������������������������������14-15 A Life on the Land ����������������������� 16-17 Tracing Edna Walling's Otway footsteps �������18-19 Celebrating Invisibles - Health & Wellbeing ������ 21 Apollo Bay Writers Festival �����������������22-23 On the hunt for native fauna ������������������ 24 Otway Black Snail �������������������������� 25 Anam Cara - the key to my recovery ����������26-27 The Tree of Life or World Tree ��������������� 28-29 The Hidden Life of Trees ���������������������� 30 Red Rock Regional Theatre And Gallery ��������� 31 Surf Coast Arts �������������������������� 32-33 The Road Less Travelled ������������������� 34-35 Otway Sleepovers ������������������������ 36-39 The NoriShed ��������������������������� 40-41 A Home -coming ������������������������ 42-43 The Otway Food & Fibre Showcase ����������� 44-45 Regenerative Farmers ����������������������� 46 The Good Life ������������������������������ 47 Sustainable Table ������������������������ 48-49 Experience & Enjoy ����������������������� 50-54 Distributors �������������������������������� 55

4 Talk to us A selection of correspondence from our readers – feel free to drop us a line anytime about anything Response to Glenaire – A Place to Travel Through Time Douglas Marriner: I feel fortunate to have grown up there.

John Marriner: A young boys heaven growing up there in the 1950’s Michelle Stewart: Most of my childhood holidays were in Glenaire.

Eleanor Dutch: This land used to belong to my father. As a child we used to roam along the Aire river or play at the ruins of the sandstone homestead. I am so very pleased to see you have turned the land into something wonderful with benefits for so many!!!

Responses to Cape Otway Horse Ride 1933 Leigh Hammerton: My parents John & Joan Hammerton of Colac were good friends of this couple and always spoke very highly of them. The lovely letter comes as no surprise to me - very nice bit of Otways history.

Chris Wilson: My family come from the Otways and some are still about it. My Grandpa (Oliver Wilson) had a sister (Georgina) who married a Charles Shields, buried at Loch Ard, and they had a son George born 1908. I wonder if its the same George mentioned in the letter.

Singing Up Mangowak!

A Language For Our Future Justine Webse: This explains beautifully why Australia’s First Nation languages are so important -- connecting with our environment.

Anatomy of a Fine Photography – Tim Lucas Libby Riches: Great piece, loved it!

Fran Swan: Great read!

Shelley Carman: Love my mag to read! ____________________________ You can talk to us via email at otwaylifemagazine@gmail.com and post: c/o Post Office Forrest 3236 Facebook:www.facebook.com/otwaylifemagazine Twitter: twitter.com/otwaylifemag Our Blog: comment on individual articles otwaylifemagazine.wordpress.com Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

OCR FM are always welcoming new programs to the airwaves, engaging audiences that aren’t catered for in other mainstream media.

Two new programs that started recently on OCR FM include Australian Smorgasbord and The Gardener’s Breakfast.

Australian Smorgasbord is presented by Chris Spencer featuring an hour of folk and an hour of blues.

The Gardener’s Breakfast is a weekly program featuring gardening hints and tips, as well as interviews with gardening experts and local gardeners presented by Donna Ellis. Donna has recently started a segment on air interviewing local elected representatives in their gardens.

As well as being heard on OCR FM, Donna is a correspondent for ABC Warrnambool.

For more information about supporting OCR FM or getting involved, visit www.ocrfm.org.au

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Our regular contributors thanks to our talented team who make this magazine possible Suzanne Frydman loves practising and teaching meditation. Her passion for these subjects are also expressed in her writings on wellbeing, mindfulness and living your own truth.

Stephen Brookes is an avid and passionate family and social historian. He co-authored ‘Pioneers & Suffragist’, profiling the 465 women from the Colac distric twith Merrill O’Donnell. He and Merrill are now working on ‘Lost Sons’, men from the Colac area who died in the First World War.

Neal Drinnan has worked in publishing and journalism for many years.

He is the author of five novels as well as numerous short stories.

Merrill O’Donnell was awarded the Colac Otway Shire’s 2017 Australia Day Arts Award for her service to the arts working with Colac Family History Group for the past 20 years. Merrill believes every person has a tale to tell and her passion is recording their stories for future generations.

Most days during the week Neal can be found in his charming Cow Lick Bookstore in Colac.

Ami Hillage lives with her husband Frans, on a small farm in Gerangamete.

Together they have taken to their ‘tree change’ lifestyle with enthusiasm, grow chemical free produce in their kitchen garden and create artisan preserves from their produce.

Nicola Provan is a qualified lawyer, crystal sound therapist and mother of five. Writing, singing, communing with nature and pondering the meaning of Life: these are a few of her favourite things

Nettie Hulme is happiest when she is hanging out in Crone’s Nest outside of Forrest, walking the labyrinth, writing and playing with art. She also feels privileged to conduct weddings and funerals in the most beautiful parts of the Otway Ranges.

Gillian Brew has a thing for graphic design, but all those hours in front of a computer... blahhh. Luckily she lives in Forrest and can escape outside to enjoy the beautiful environment and indulge her passion for food, music, family and friends. Oh and coffee dont forget coffee!

Focus on Ferguson

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Focus on Ferguson

IN this issue we focus on the little known locality of ‘Ferguson’, a former timber town where the small population eked out a living cutting timber and clearing the land for farming. Make no mistake it was a life full of hardship and heart break, an area that is now a tourist destination for the remnant trees and regrowth. Such are the ironies of our modern times.

As you drive up from Gellibrand on the Colac-Lavers Hill Road you come to a ‘T’ intersection with an old wooden sign proclaiming ‘Ferguson’. And that is all that is left of the town. The quirky Nouri-shed is on your right and is the perfect pit stop for some nourishment and browsing through the locally sourced goods and produce for sale.

One hundred years ago the narrow gauge train line from Colac stopped at Ferguson and there was a tin shelter for passengers. All gone now.

The old railway line is now part of the Beechy Rail Trail and is enjoyed by walkers, hikers,

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mountain bikers and Otway ebikes who follow its meandering through the forest, farmland and hills.

At Ferguson you can turn left and head off to the Otway Fly to play among the tree-tops. Or you can continue on to the many waterfalls in that part of the woods and stopover for a meal or over-nite accommodation at The Otway Farmstay or Beechy Hotel.

So it’s the sort of place that if you were just driving through without any local knowledge you might think ‘humph, not much to see around here’. But with a little planning and some maps there are many jewels of the Otways to discover just a little ways off the beaten track. Local photographer Tim Lucas can reveal some hidden gems. So go ahead and immerse yourself in some of the deepest parts of the Otway Ranges and listen to the trees whisper their stories and secrets. You will return home refreshed and renewed.

The image depicted is from Eugène von Guérard’s Australian landscapes: a series of 24 tinted lithographs illustrative of the most striking and picturesque features of the landscape scenery of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia & Tasmania, printed and published by Hamel & Ferguson in 1867. von Guérard wrote: "The journey is about as difficult as the physical features of the declivitous and thickly-wooded ranges are grand and romantic; and it is only at rare intervals that the tourist obtains such a glimpse of the mountain slopes, and wide-spreading forests as the artist has succeeded in doing at the spot which forms the foreground of the accompanying landscape. Lying about a hundred miles from Melbourne, as the crow flies, this tract of country is comparatively a terra incognita; so impenetrable is the jungle, and so vast the scope of the boundless forests, filled with battalions upon battalions of towering trees, the more eminent of which rise to an altitude of 300 feet."

Image: Forest, Cape Otway Ranges, Eugène von GUÉRARD 1860's Medium: colour lithograph 32.8 × 51.8 cm (image) National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

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The Minchinton's

(1915-1918c) Ed (left), Ern (right) & Stan Minchinton & Bill Tann at base of tree

by Merrill O’Donnell and Stephen Brooks When Francis John ‘Jack’ Minchinton wed Sarah Fisk in 1908 at St John’s Church in Colac, it was the start of a long and happy sixty year marriage, many of those years spent at Ferguson in the Otways. It was also the union of two pioneering families and it finally gave Jack a family life he had barely enjoyed as a child.

Jack was the fifth of seven children of Charles Henry Minchinton from Campbells Creek near Castlemaine and his Tasmanian born wife Susannah Catherine Francis. Born 1887 in Carlton, Jack’s early life was marked by the tragic death in 1893 of his father whilst working in Beech Forest. Helping his brother Ernest to clear scrub on his selection, a sapling from a falling tree struck Charles and he was rendered ‘insensible’. Although he initially recovered and was able to speak, his condition quickly deteriorated and, despite being transported to Colac Hospital, Charles died the next day, aged only 37, leaving Susannah and six surviving children.

Further heartbreak struck for Jack a mere three years later when his mother Susannah died in Melbourne and her children, now orphans, were each sent to live with various family members and friends.

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Bill Tann and Jack Minchinton with drag saw 1939

Jack went to his uncle Ernest on the selection at Weeaproinah. Yet more disaster occurred when Ernest was killed in 1897, aged just 29 and married only two years, hit by a falling tree. His widow was left without adequate means and, unable to keep ten year old Jack, he was placed in the care of the Melbourne Orphan Asylum, where he spent the next four years.

Aged 14 and required to learn a trade, Jack was sent to Bangerang in the Mallee as a farmer’s apprentice and general servant, with half his meagre wages sent to the Asylum to be kept for Jack when he completed his apprenticeship.

History Note 9

Jack and Sara Minchinton and family 1917

Jack and Sarah's wedding 1908

After three years of hard farm work, Jack longed to return to Weeaproinah and he lived with another Minchinton uncle on ‘Dorset Farm’. It was here that he met Sarah Fisk.

Sarah was born in 1888 in Korweinguboora, daughter of Charles Brown Fisk and Alice Wiseman and it is said that her American born father jumped ship in Melbourne when working as a cabin boy. Sarah was one of two daughters and eight sons, her father being a wood splitter, yet prior to her marriage, Sarah’s parents separated and, although she at first remained with her father, she later joined her mother who had moved to Beech Forest to open up a boarding house.

After their wedding, Jack and Sarah moved to Ferguson and in 1912 leased a property they named ‘The Brook’ which they ultimately bought in 1923. The growing family initially lived in a rough timber cottage but after it was burnt down, a weatherboard house became the home where all nine children spent their childhood. Following the family tradition, Jack worked in the timber trade, as a tally clerk at Knotts No 1 Timber Mill located at the Ferguson rail yard.

The Minchinton family 1932

The years of the First World War were tough, with four of Sarah’s brothers and Jack’s brother Ernest away fighting. Both families were grief-stricken when Ernest was killed in 1917 in France and then, 15 months later, Sarah’s brother, Gus Fisk, died of wounds, just months before the war ended.

Despite working long hours and through all seasons, family life was central for Jack and Sarah. The children attended school at Weeaproinah, walking miles across country or down Phillips Track each day.

During the Second World War, three of Jack and Sarah’s sons; Charles, Jim and Eric, all served overseas in the AIF, and fortunately, all returned home safely.

Jack and Sarah retired from farming ‘The Brook’ at Ferguson in 1949 and moved to Colac. They entertained and spoiled their growing family of 25 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren, who loved hearing the stories of the early pioneering years. Two months after their 60th wedding anniversary, Jack Minchinton died in Colac. Sarah died three years later and they are buried together in the Colac cemetery.

With kind assistance from Kerry Dickson, great granddaughter.

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Old Beechy Rail Trail A scenic route The Old Beechy Rail Trail follows one of the state's former narrow gauge railway lines through an area of scenic forest, rich farmland and rolling hills with the coast not too far away.

Along the trail you pass through pockets of lush forest with magnificent eucalypts and blackwoods shading the lush understorey.

See and hear busy woodland and forest birds while listening for the echoes of the Old Beechy's whistle!

The Beechy The narrow gauge railway from Colac to Beech Forest opened in 1902, providing a modern, all-weather transport link within forested ranges where road building was impossibly expensive.

The mountainous nature of the terrain meant that a narrow gauge railway was the most economical transport solution. A two feet and six inches wide (762 mm) track was laid for nearly 48 km south through Barongarook, Kawarren, Gellibrand, Banool and Dinmont to Beech Forest. The railway became known as The Beechy.

In 1911 the railway was extended 22 kms west of Beech Forest to Lavers Hill and Crowes, Australia's most southerly mainland railway station.

The locomotives and rolling stock were scaled-down versions of the broad gauge Victorian Railways stock. Examples currently survive at Belgrave's Puffing Billy railway.

Agent of change "The Beechy'' was the first reliable transport service into an area with dense timber and high rainfall. It encouraged closer settlement and timber getting on a systematic scale. The railway became the major agent of development for the region to the south of Colac up to the 1940s. The 28 stations and sidings were closely spaced because the roads were unmade and difficult to use for most of the year, and haulage distance for farmers and sawmillers to the rail had to be minimised. Special trains ran for social events and cultural activities along the line, and at Colac.

Left: Remnants of timber pile railway bridge south of Gellibrand.

(Alexander McCooke).

Copy and images from Old Beechy Rail Trail brochure produced by Colac Otway Shire.

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

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Knitalpaca

We spoke to Lauris Jephcott about living with her furry friends in Ferguson OLM: What brought you to this special part of the Otways?

Like so many others, I moved to the Otways as part of the ‘sea change’ after too many years living in the city. On just under three acres out of Apollo Bay, we acquired our first alpacas in 2000, for no better reason than the fact that they are very attractive animals. They also proved to be somewhat addictive, and the original two alpacas increased over the next few years to nearly 20. So the hunt began for a larger property. We found the property at Ferguson and moved in around nine years ago, and now we are able to run 80 to 100 animals year round.

OLM: What do you love about caring for alpacas?

Alpacas, one of four related species from South America, are very attractive animals. They are relatively small and easy to handle, come in a range of natural colours from white right through to true black, and are exceptionally cute (think fluffy Bambi for young alpacas). More importantly, they are light on the land, having soft soled feet rather than hooves, and, of course, they produce gorgeously soft, warm fleece.

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Alpacas are very curious and generally not at all aggressive: in short they are pretty good animals to hang about with.

OLM: What is the process for creating yarns?

Our alpacas are shorn once a year, in early December. We combine with other local breeders and work for a full week with a specialist alpaca shearer and any neighbours, friends and relatives we can conscript for the period. Whilst it is hard work, shearing gives us the opportunity for lots of good food, great company and a process of educating interested people about the work we do.

Selected fleeces are then sent to a small, specialist mill in Mornington to be washed, carded and spun into knitting yarns. Over the years we have worked co-operatively with the mill owners to develop a range of lovely yarns in a range of the natural colours of alpaca as well as some with subtle added colour. As well as yarns consisting of 100% alpaca, we are now creating other natural fibre blends including alpaca and merino, alpaca and kid mohair.

We are one of a very small number of producers who can claim that our product is grown and entirely produced in Australia.

Knitalpacas 13

OLM: What are your hopes and plans for knitalpaca in the future?

We produce yarns in small batches, so we are not looking to have vast quantities of yarn in shops across the country. But I hope that as we go along, knitalpaca will continue to develop new, luxurious yarns for hand knitters, to become known in Australia as ‘the’ place for high quality alpaca and luxury natural fibre yarns. If that happens, I can remain happy to hang out with a bunch of very appealing animals.

www.knitalpaca.com.au

Knit yourself some luxury from alpacas in the Otways Yarn, Knit Kits, designs and spindles are available from our online shop

www.knitalpaca.com.au Phone Lauris 0417 399 565

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Swing Into Action

at Otway Fly

Swing into action this autumn at Otway Fly Treetop Adventures! Pack your explorer boots and check out the Rainforest Ranger interactive trail, where curious kids can learn about the conservation of local flora and fauna while exploring the magical depths of the Otway forest.

Get your blood pumping on the Zipline Tour, enjoy three hours of exhilarating fun as you soar through the air 30 metres above the forest floor. Don’t miss this high-adrenalin adventure that allows you to take in views of the stunning scenery surrounding you in every direction.

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Opened in March 2003, Otway Fly Treetop Adventures are designed to provide visitors with an opportunity to learn about wild forest habitats and to explore the local surrounds from high up in forest canopies.

Constructed with minimal impact to the natural forest floor and offering breathtaking views sure to impress those who take on the treetop adventure.

Breathe in the fresh air on the Treetop Walk, the highest and longest of its kind in the world! The Treetop Walk provides an unrivalled experience through the magnificent Otway Ranges. Standing 25 metres above the forest floor, visitors can marvel at the towering Mountain Ash and Myrtle Beech, or venture up the 45-metre-tall Spiral Tower for the ultimate birds-eye-view.

With more activities than ever at Otway Fly, there has never been a better time to explore the stunning Otway forest, located just 15 minutes from the Great Ocean Road (via Lavers Hill) and 2.5 hours from Melbourne CBD.

Otway Fly 15

WHERE: Otway Fly Treetop Adventures, 360 Phillips Track Weeaproinah, Victoria TREETOP WALK: Walk up: Child tickets from $14.25 (available daily) Adult tickets: $23.75 (Online prices.)

NOTE: Treetop Walk no age restrictions.

ZIPLINE TOUR:

Walk up: Child tickets from $80.75 Adults from $114.00 (available daily, online prices) NOTE: Zipline Tour age minimum 4 years.

OPENING HOURS: 9am – 5pm, last entry to Treetop Walk is 4pm CONTACT: 03 5235 9200

WEBSITE: Book online and save via www.otwayfly.com.au

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A life on the land

by Sue Marriot

John, my husband, and I started our “new” life in the Otway Ranges 2 years ago after our son Andrew, daughter in law Nicole and their 3 girls, bought 300 acres on Phillips Track. 2 years later 100 acres came up for sale next door. It was an obvious choice to buy for two reasons, a) it made the farm size more viable, and b) the farm house lends itself to being a comfortable bed and breakfast venue, and with so many people visiting the Otway Fly, the local waterfalls, the Great Ocean Road and all its wonders, only added extra incentive to the venture.

program. This provided the opportunity to help start Landcare in the international arena. It is now an ongoing global program.

The Otway Farmstay Bed and Breakfast provided an opportunity to physically improve our farm and the stunning environment that surrounds us, while engaging with international visitors about the ideas that has made Landcare “happen”. The farm has its own waterfalls, a large family of playtpus, wallabies, beautiful rain forest gullies, 360 degree spectacular views, new woodlot plantings and cows!

Productive farming and conservation have always been an essential part of our farming practices for the past 50 years. John was involved in the Potter Farmland Plan around the Hamilton area in the mid 1980’s and subsequent development of Landcare in Victoria, and then across Australia.

The Otway Ranges provide an amazing array of choices for visitors. From searching the night sky for stars, wonderful vistas for artists, sports people of all types, walkers, wanderers, swimmers, surfers and of course great places to eat and enjoy local produce, provide a choice of beautiful places to stay.

In 1997 I gained a Churchill Fellowship to further my interest around the world in Australia’s Landcare

Find us on Airbnb: Otway Farmstay or www.otwayfarmstaybb.com.au

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

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www.otwayfarmstaybb.com.au 185 Phillips Track, Ferguson, VIC 3237 P 0418 529 106 E smarriott@silc.com.au

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Tracing Edna Walling’s Otway Footsteps Neal Drinnan explores the historic legacies of Dr Graham Brown with Richard Riordan MP. If you are going to be led down the garden path by a politician, my advice is make it an Edna Walling one!

Richard and Catherine Riordan reside in one of Colac’s most historically significant properties; an unusual claim for a house that is barely 65 years old.

The Riordan family purchased Narroghid (a local, indigenous name for the Crimson Rosella) in the early 1990s but even then it was already steeped in history and rumoured to be haunted.

Three generations of Doctor Browns made Colac their home throughout the Twentieth Century: William Brown, then Arthur Brown who was followed by his son Graham Brown. It was Dr Graham Brown who built the stone house that still boasts Colac’s only Edna Walling garden and while the property was subdivided in the 1970’s, the remaining acreage still generously captures the spirit and aesthetic of the woman whose work and unique landscaping perspective was highly sought after in the middle of last century.

Dr Graham Brown was perhaps the most modern and adventurous of the Brown Clan. A keen ornithologist and naturalist he studied at Christ’s College Cambridge and returned with the glamorous Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Anglo/American stage and screen actress, Joan Frecheville as his wife. What she made of Colac in the 1950s is anybody’s guess, but one thing was for certain, all the building supplies for the house were to be the finest and very few of them local. Timbers and tiles came from far and wide. No expense was spared in his attempts to impress his new wife and his neighbours. From the hand-painted kitchen tiles

by Neil Douglas and Arthur Boyd to the bespoke bookshelves that line the entrance hall, his home was his castle: Narroghid did not go untouched by the Heide movement and its influences, even far away as Colac was, from Australia’s urban Bohemia.

The real magic of the property’s story was that for some years the Riordans didn’t know the garden was an Edna Walling design, it was in fact Richard’s mother Margret Riordan who discovered it was one of the ‘lost’ Walling garden’s via an Edna Walling enthusiast who ‘tracked the place down’.

It is documented in the book The Visions of Edna Walling as ‘garden sketch for Dr Brown…no location given.’ There is however; much about the garden that gives it away even if many of the original plantings are long past. The stone fences, the cool shaded pathways and sudden reveals include a native garden, an aviary, and of course the signature stonewalls that soften with green moss over the winter months. It was Walling who was perhaps the first to combine the nostalgia of England’s faraway

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The House now...

country gardens with the essential hardy and drier Australian native influences. Ever mindful of the need for shade and the legacy that gardens would offer in fifty years time, she made the trip to Colac to create the original sketches. She walked upon Polwarth’s green and pleasant land! And it was she who said ‘a garden should be the first thing to provide a feeling of rest when one returns home.’

Over time the Riordans have managed to put together an exhibition-worthy collection of copies of the original garden sketches and architect drawings of the house. Richard has the typed lists and dates of the original plantings as recorded by Dr Graham Brown who was as immaculate in his garden record keeping as he was in his bird-spotting documentation… and through all this discovery emerges a property that is not only a labour of love but an obsession. Richard remains perplexed as to where the stone mason sourced his rock from and how he was able to build with such irregular sized pieces.. Catherine is much more enthralled by who

... and then

the ghost was, the illusive figure that used to appear plain as day to their oldest son as a toddler but who now seems to have made peace with the current residents and sticks to the shadows. Was it the lost figure of Joan Frecheville whose multiple sclerosis made her a prisoner of the home in her final years or one of the staff who’d lived in the maids quarters under some sort of terrible cloud. Would Edna herself leave some sort of spiritual legacy that kept tabs on her plans? She herself said ‘nature is our greatest teacher.’ Now she has entered the realm of supernature perhaps she can’t leave the magic of her creations behind. Certainly the legacy of a garden like this is a testament to her immortality.

Neal Drinnan Neal has worked in publishing and journalism for many years. He is the author of five novels—Glove Puppet, Pussy’s Bow, Quill, Izzy and Eve and Rare Bird of Truth, as well as numerous short stories.

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Health & Wellbeing 21

Celebrating Invisibles

by Suzanne Frydman

Invisibles, the power of anonymous work in an age of relentless self-promotion describes people’s dedication to jobs away from the spotlight; performing tasks that benefit the public but that the individual performs with the preference for no public recognition. This wonderfully titled book by David Zweig demonstrates how the work of invisibles contrasts to the contemporary emphasis on a ‘culture of profile’ or what historian Warren Sussman called the ‘culture of personality’ and the ‘performing self’.

In an age where products and services are often presented to us through superlative language and glossy imagery, it is a relief and inspiration to read about these individuals’ motivation. Zweig’s book Invisibles highlights the incredible skills and attitudes possessed by behind-the-scenes workers and also notes that often it is only in making an error that their work would become more public. Each person profiled pursues excellence in their field and enters a ‘flow’ state where maximum concentration and skill allow them to execute tasks. In the research for his book Zweig found these Invisibles possess three common traits – ambivalence toward recognition, meticulousness and the savouring of responsibility.

Andy Johns was the recording engineer who made the drum introduction to Led Zeppelin’s track When the Levee Breaks possible and yet he is mostly unknown. Jim Harding’s role involves designing airport layout so passengers successfully navigate aspects including luggage drop-off, shops and bathrooms, departure lounges and terminals.

Zweig notes that “if Harding performs his job perfectly you

will never think of him or his work.”

Likewise in the case of structural engineer Dennis Poon who is responsible for the construction safety of Shanghai skyscrapers. Another vital role Zweig observed was Wilkins Ary’s as a simultaneous translator at the United Nations General Assembly. Ary tells Zweig that “not being in the limelight suits me”. Pete Clements, also known as Plank, is the man behind all the enormous technology Radiohead require in the form of pedals and cords. Plank can hear when things aren’t quite right in a way most audiences won’t. In a similar way piano tuner Peter Stumpf takes care of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Steinway D piano. Stumpf tunes the piano strings for international concert pianists and feels very much a part of each performance without any public bows.

Of course, there are a range of intrinsically motivating jobs performed with excellence by ‘invisibles’ worldwide – including armies of nurses, aged-care workers, environmental protectionists, farmers and so on.

Regardless of the industry, what Zweig observed about the invisibles in his book was the honing of high-level skills through hard work and repeat actions resulting in the ‘flow’ state first described by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. ‘Flow’ is a state in which ‘the ego falls away, time flies, and every action, movement and thought follows inevitably from the previous one.’ ‘Flow’ sounds like a great job to have.

Suzanne Frydman is a meditation teacher and counsellor www.relaxcommunications.com.au

Relax Communications Meditation • Counselling • Arts Therapy using meditation, deep relaxation, therapeutic writing and other experiential approaches Suzanne Frydman Phone 0431 121 514

www.relaxcommunications.com.au

Apollo Bay Writers Festival 23

Use Your Words Following on from twenty years of Warm Winter Words and the success of the inaugural event in 2016, the Apollo Bay Writers Festival is for readers and writers in the Otway region and beyond.

Hosting a mix of local writers and performers alongside writers and performers from the larger literary community, the event aims to enhance the literary culture of the region and connect it with the wider world of literature.

Last year’s theme, ‘everyone has a story’, was kicked off with a sold out Life Writing workshop facilitated by the wonderful Lee Kofman and sponsored by Writers Victoria. Also sold out was a spoken word workshop run by Hip Hop artist Morganics, and the kids poetry workshop, so dont leave bookings to the last minute if you plan to attend. In a post Brexit world, local teams participated in a comedy debate hosted by Isobelle Carmody about whether Apollo Bay should secede from Australia.

Well known and loved Warm Winter Words featured Emilie Zoey Baker, Lee Kofman and Robynne Nelson. The weekend closed with Ab Slam, Apollo Bay’s first poetry slam hosted by the international prize winning Emilie Zoey Baker.

Emilie Zoey Baker encourages young participants at the festival in 2016

2016 guest presenter Lee Kofman

"In these times of rampant racism, nationalism and general Otherness, stories are how we can better understand each other and get in touch with our common humanity. Some people underrate stories, often dismissing them as pure entertainment, without realising how big a part of everyone's lives they really are." writes Pete Mawhinney, event co-organiser.

Find Apollo Bay Writers Festival on Facebook or go to apollobaywritersfestival.com

Morganics performs to an appreciative audience

Kids Poetry workshop

Locals take part in a rousing debate

24 Environment

On the hunt for native fauna Camera trapping at the Southern Otway Landcare Network

by Libby Riches There is something unavoidably voyeuristic about setting out cameras to catch wildlife in action, I suppose because you really are spying on something.

Even just setting up the cameras is a little bit thrilling as you trample through the undergrowth on the hunt for the trails and tunnels that indicate a good spot to set up. The cameras are on a trigger happy motion sensor and will fire if a blade of grass moves in front of them. If you don’t do a bit of judicious gardening around them, you can end up with 3,000 images of grass waving in the breeze. This is not nearly as Zen as it sounds. When you’re flicking through that number of images of the same scene your mind starts to play tricks on you.

The Southern Otway Landcare Network are monitoring 12 plots between Johanna and Wye every year to see how successful our plantings have been. Whether or not they are attracting wildlife is an indicator of this. We’re only one year in so it’s too early to draw any conclusions, but from the Bassian Thrush who is always in the same bottom right

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

corner of the photo at the same time every day, to the mum and joey kangaroo who posed so cutely in front of our camera for a full 20 minutes there is a lot of fun to be had.

If you would like to help set up cameras or sort through images, please contact Libby Riches at the Southern Otway Landcare Network.

Phone 5237 6904 / libby.landcare@soln.org

25

Otway Black Snail The spiral in a snail’s shell is the same mathematically as the spiral in the Milky Way galaxy, and it’s also the same mathematically as the spirals in our DNA. It’s the same ratio that you’ll find in very basic music that transcends cultures all over the world. Joseph Gordon-Levitt The Otway Black Snail is unique to a very specific part of the Otway Ranges and is most often associated with the area known as Ferguson, between Laver’s Hill and Beech Forest. It has a distinctive cream and golden spiral on its shiny black shell. The spiral is a universal symbol of the cycle of life and snails have ancestors reaching back to the earliest known animals on Earth almost 500 million years ago. Snails are gastropods and hermaphrodites though they do need a partner to reproduce! They are awesome survivors and across the planet there are up to 60,000 different species. However, snails have had some bad press over the centuries due to their destructive activities in crops and domestic gardens. But hey, a species has to survive anyway it can right?

The Otway Black Snail Victaphanta compacta is only found in wet forests and cool temperate rainforests in the Otway Ranges, Victoria. It is one of four species of Victaphanta in the family Rhytididae, being carnivorous land snails and one of five species of carnivorous land snails found in the Otway Ranges but it is the only carnivorous land snail endemic to the Otway Ranges.

Being only located in such a small and specific area, approximately 900 sq km area of the Otway Ranges

southwards between Lorne to Gellibrand to Lavers Hill, makes the snail both unique and vulnerable.

Like most terrestrial snails, the Otway Black Snail is partially nocturnal. It is carnivorous, feeding on other snails, slugs, earthworms and soft bodied insect larvae but is not cannibalistic and lives between 2-8 years.

Threats from forest disturbance on Public Land have been significantly reduced with a phase out of timber harvesting in the Otways being completed by 2008. In addition, recommendations of the Victorian Environment Assessment Council (VEAC) AngahookOtway Investigation, 2005 lead to creation of the Great Otway National Park and Otway Forest Park which was declared open in December 2005. This has substantially increased protection of the Otway Black Snail habitat.

With an El Nino producing two years of below average rainfall in the Otways in 2014 & 2015 and a bushfire in prime habitat this endangered species is under increasing pressure for its survival.

Scientific information sourced from SWIFFT the State Wide Integrated Flora and Fauna Teams is a network and an initiative supported by Federation University Australia, the Ballarat Environment Network and the Victorian Department of Environment Land Water and Planning.

26

Anam Cara

my last day at Anam Cara - 12/11/16

the key to my recovery

When I set off to drive to Melbourne on Saturday 27 August 2016, little did I know it would take 11 weeks for me to return home. By Nicola Proven My last memory before the accident was waving goodbye at about 10 pm to the Hazara family I was visiting in Melbourne.

I am told the accident happened at approximately 11.45 pm a few hundred metres east of the first Birregurra turnoff (as you are driving west from Winchelsea to Colac). Forensics apparently concluded that it was caused by the other driver having fallen asleep. It was a head on collision in 100km zone. The results were not pretty!

It took SES volunteers 4 hours to cut me out of the wreckage while ambulance workers kept me alive with blood transfusions. My spleen was severely ruptured and so I was haemorrhaging internally.

My right arm was smashed to pieces with bones protruding through the skin. I sustained fractures to my pelvis and lower verterbrae; and, the impact also resulted in a bleed on my brain.

I was flown by helicopter to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where I went straight into the operating Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

theatre and I was placed in an induced coma to give my body the best chance of reabsorbing the bleed on my brain. Fortunately it worked and a week later I was lifted out of the coma and began the process of trying to absorb what had happened to me. I had no memory of the accident whatsoever and the “hangover” effects of the induced coma made it very difficult for me to comprehend what I was being told.

I was considered to be in a state of “post traumatic amnesia” for 19 days following the accident. I had no memory of the accident and could not grasp why I was being held hostage in a bed with high sides or why I could not just get up and leave. I begged every one of my visitors in the first two weeks to help me escape and get home!

I remained at the Royal Melbourne Hospital until 8 September when I was transferred for rehab to the Epworth Hospital in Richmond. By the time I got to the Epworth I had some understanding of the necessity of being there but still all I wanted to do was go home.

27

1. In an induced coma in Royal Melbourne Hospital 2. First day standing up out of bed - 21/9/16

Two weeks after my admission at the Epworth there was a family meeting with my TAC consultant and my treating team (physio, nueropsych, social worker, doctors) and I begged them to let me be discharged to our local hospice, Anam Cara, for a week of the school holidays so I could be close enough to home to see my children every day.

All was arranged and it was like someone had magically pressed the pause button on the truly awful nightmare I was living hostage in a Melbourne hospital, physically separated from my children. I had a glorious week at Anam Cara with a steady stream of visits from friends and solid chunks of time (4-5 hours) with my children every day. It was still too early for me to be independently mobile but the wonderful nursing staff at Anam Cara waited on me: pushing me around in a wheelchair, transporting me on a commode to the toilet, assisting me to shower and making me lovely gluten free, vegetarian meals.

Returning to the Epworth in Richmond, as the school holidays drew to a close, was an awful challenge.

But my TAC consultant was awesome and did all the research and leg work required to identify the local therapists I would need to assist my recovery. So even on the day I left Anam Cara (3rd October) I felt assured it would only be a couple of weeks before I could return.

3. Leaving the Epworth for Anam Cara - 24/10/16

so I made a conscious effort to prepare as many of my own meals as possible so I could start making my own self-assessment as to whether I had the strength I would need for a return to life at home.

After three weeks at Anam Cara, I felt sure I was ready. My time at Anam Cara had enabled me to spend time with the kids each day whilst slowly building up my strength and tolerance for a return to the more normal expectations of life. For example, I had started preparing evening meals for my family in the kitchen at Anam Cara.

I am forever indebted to Anam Cara for easing my clamber back home; and, I am so very grateful for the foresight and initiative the Colac Otway community showed by doing the “hard yards” of envisioning and manifesting this wonderful facility into existence five years ago.

How blessed we are as a community to have this wonderful alternative to hospital!

Nicola Proven

In the intervening time back at the Epworth, I gained partial weight bearing status for my pelvis and completed thorough nueropysch testing to see if the bleed on my brain had caused any lasting impact (which thankfully, it had not).

I returned to Anam Cara on 24 October 2016 feeling great relief once again to be much closer to home and believing with reasonable confidence that I would not have to return to hospital in Melbourne. By now I was moving around independently, with a gutter frame,

My boys entertaining themselves with their kite at Anam Cara - Nov 2016

28

Tree of Life or World Tree The tree of life is a widespread motif in many myths and folktales around the world, by which cultures sought to understand the human and profane condition in relation to the divine and sacred realm.

Many legends speak of a tree of life, which grows above the ground and gives life to gods or humans, or of a world tree, which is often linked with a “centre” of the earth. It is probably the most ancient human myth, and is possibly a universal one.

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the gods sat upon a sycamore fig, Ficus sycomorus, whose fruits were held to feed the blessed. According to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, twin sycamore figs stood at the eastern gate of heaven from which the sun god, Re, emerged each morning. This tree was also regarded as a manifestation of the goddesses Nut, Isis and especially Hathor, the “Lady of the Sycamore”. Ficus sycomorus was often planted near tombs, and being buried in a coffin made of the wood from this tree

was believed to return the deceased to the womb of the mother tree goddess.

The tree of life was often taken to be the centre of the world. It was seen to bind together heaven and earth, representing a vital connection between the worlds of the gods and humans. Oracles, judgements or other prophetic activities are performed at its base. In some traditions, the tree was planted at the centre of the world and was seen as the source of terrestrial fertility and life. Human life was believed to be descended from it; its fruit was believed to confer everlasting life; and if it were cut down, it was thought that all fecundity would cease. The tree of life occurred commonly in quest romances in which the hero sought the tree and needed to overcome a variety of obstacles on his way.

The Tree of Life of the Cabbala (the esoteric medieval doctrine of Jewish mysticism) had ten branches, the Sephiroth, representing the ten attributes or

Otway Celebrations

My ceremonies are usually held in the great outdoors, so if you have a connection to the natural world and are wanting to hold your ceremony on the beach, in the forest or on a special spot for you both......talk to me!

You have complete creative control over both the tone, content and participation in your ceremony. Nothing is too ‘out there’ for me and sometimes the briefest, simplest no-fuss ceremonies are the most powerful.

Please feel free to contact me anytime to discuss your thoughts, plans and wishes for your wedding ceremony.

Nettie Hulme - also catering to the LGBTI community photo credit: Sally McCann Photography

Websites: otwaycelebrations.com and lgbticelebrations.com Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

WeddingCelebrantOtways and lgbticelebrations

29

emanations by means of which the infinite and divine would enter into relation with the finite.

The branched candlestick known as the menorah, one of the most ancient symbols of Judaism, had links to the tree of life. The form of the menorah was reputedly given to Moses

by God (Exodus 25:31-37); it was to have six branches, with cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. In Proverbs 3:18, wisdom is said to be “a tree of life to them who take hold of her”.

The so-called world tree, or cosmic tree, is another tree of life symbol. There was a world tree in the Garden of Eden of the book of Genesis, and this tradition is common to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Cosmic tree myths are known in Haitian, Finnish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Siberian and northern Asian Shamanic folklore. Ancient peoples, particularly Hindus and

Scandinavians, thought of the world as a divine tree growing from a single seed sown in space; sometimes it was inverted (Hall, 1999). The ancient Greeks, Persians, Chaldeans and Japanese had legends describing the axle tree upon which the earth revolves. The medieval Cabbalists represented creation as a tree with its roots in the reality of spirit (the sky) and its branches upon the earth (material reality). The image of the inverted tree is also seen in inverted postures in yoga, where the feet were conceived as the receptacles of sunlight and other “heavenly” energies which were to be transformed as the tree transforms light into other energies in photosynthesis (de Souzenelle, 1991).

RECOMMENDED CITATION: [© FAO J. Crews Forest and tree symbolism in folklore http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y9882e/y9882e08.htm date downloaded 24/09/2016 Judith Crews, Ph.D., is a specialist in comparative literature and languages and is currently working as a consultant to FAO, Rome.

UNIQUE LOCAL ARTWORK - GIFTS FOR ALL OCCASIONS

OPEN: 10am - 4pm Friday, Saturday, Sunday Most Public Holidays & By Appointment

14 Main Rd, Gellibrand River E: info@gellibrandrivergallery.com.au T: 03 5235 8410 www.gellibrandrivergallery.com.au

30

The Hidden Life of Trees

Whilst recovering in the Epworth hospital, my dear friend and tree advocate, Helen Lewers, gave me a copy of “The Hidden Life of Trees” by Peter Wohlleben.

I met Helen virtually one year to the day prior to my car accident. She had made it her crusade to bring to the attention of Victorians the horrifying destruction of 500 year old trees on the Western Highway between Beaufort and Ararat. We met at a roadside demonstration she had called. I brought along my two youngest sons and my crystal singing bowls to lend our voices and assist.

Helen’s vocal opposition to VicRoads’ heinous destruction of trees along the Western Highway gave me the encouragement I needed to take an early stand about the proposed destruction of 8000 trees to make way for the duplication of the Princes Highway between Winchelsea and Colac.

The fantastic irony is that this section of the Princes Highway is exactly where my catastrophic, near-fatal accident took place on 28th August 2016!

But prior to my accident, my 8 year old son and I had managed to paint love hearts on as many of the trees as possible that I knew my advocacy would not save.

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Why? Because intuitively from a very young age I have always known that trees are sentient beings and so I consider it my duty to speak for them given that I can hear their cries for help.

Wohlleben’s remarkable 250 page book gives details of the social and caring behaviour of trees far beyond that which I had even conceived possible. But if you do not have the energy to tackle the whole book, I am sure that Tim Flannery’s excellent three page Foreword will teach you so much about trees that you could never lop a tree down again without some prick of conscience.

As Flannery says: “Opening this book, you are about to enter a wonderland. Enjoy it.” And, indeed, this is reason enough to read this wonderful book but an even more compelling reason is provided

by Wohlleben himself, in his final words in the Acknowledgments: “Only people who understand trees are capable of protecting them.”

Nicola Proven

Our regional theatres and galleries are full of nice surprises.

See what's on offer at Red Rock Regional Theatre and Gallery

Arts 31

32 Arts

Surf Coast Art Space

by Cinnamon Stephensy Cinnamon James The Surf Coast Art Space has been rented by the Surf coast Shire for 6 months as a trial. The Surf Coast calendar exhibition kicked it off in October last year. The calendar has been going for 19 years, and this was the most visited show with close to 600 visitors!

Within 2 weeks we had fully booked the 6 month trial period with 8 exhibitions from right across the shire. November saw Art Spot, the community exhibition organized by Surf coast Arts, December/ January was Coastal Edge, photography by Darryl Fowler and abstract landscape paintings by Leigh Steven with over 1000 people through their doors! February saw the St Aidan’s painters from Aireys Inlet for the first two weeks, and then Riverlee Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Studio painters from Winchelsea in the second week. March has booked the Weaver Birds until the 15th and the Anglesea Art Studios group will complete the month.

We are all very thankful to the Surf Coast Shire for giving this a try, and special thanks go to the arts and development officer Julie Dyer for her years of dedication to the local art scene.

I believe that the space could and should be a permanent community arts space. There is an online petition gaining lots of support, and the visitors book in the space is full of locals, tourists and surf coast artists all throwing their support behind the space!

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A community art space is so much more than just a space for local artists to display their artwork! It is a place for the community to buy local gifts and objects for their homes, a place for tourists to visit and pick up a locally created souvenir as well as information on cultural events right across the shire, a space to exhibit touring exhibitions for our community to experience without heading to Melbourne, and it is also a clear message that the Surf Coast Shire is proud of their rich creative community!

Anglesea has proved itself to be a popular destination for the art conscious…with the Anglesea Art House, Anglesea Art Studios group and one of the favourite destinations for visitors on the Surf Coast Arts Trail. The town attracts day trippers who want to go out for lunch and visit a couple of interesting places or beaches. It has a relaxed coastal atmosphere, and is the first stop on the Great Ocean Road where tourists can actually see the ocean from the road!!!! The Art Space is located right on the Great Ocean Road, across from the riverbank market site, and a short walk to great cafes!

Art is the fabric of our community, let’s keep this art space visible and open for many exhibitions, workshops and cultural events into the future! To help us keep this space open, please send a letter to our mayor, Brian McKiterick.

In March the Surf Coast Art Space will be showing two multi medium exhibitions.

From March 1st – 15th the Weaver Birds will be exhibiting a variety of artworks, baskets and sculptures created with all manner of natural fibre, textiles, string and more. Then from the 17th to the 30th the Anglesea Art Studios will be exhibiting together. Eight full time working home/studios involving 14 artists in a cross section of media, including a few collaborative artworks. Jewelrey, ceramics, printmaking, sculpture, metalwork, natural fibre weaving, art books and more!

For information about any of these exhibitions contact the Surf Coast Arts Officer, Julie Dyer on 0419 152 520 or Cinnamon Stephens on 0400 436 308

34

The Road Less Travelled

The Otway Ranges are majestic with amazing places to visit. Many people don’t get to experience this magnificence. As a photographer I have a love of the Otway Ranges and am always looking for new locations to visit, capture and share. It’s this desire to share this amazing place that led to the birth of ‘The Road Less Travelled Photography Tours’. The plan is simple, take a group of photographers of various skill levels into the inner reaches and help them experience the magic that is on offer. The choice of locations will be reflect the seasons – no point looking at a waterfall location when the water flow is low! Some locations will require a good level of physical fitness, but you won’t need to be an athlete for most of the trips, although for the more adventurous there are plenty of challenging locations to explore as well.

Elliot River Rock Pattern: It never fails to amaze me when I see the way that the rocks on our foreshores form such amazing patterns! This was spotted on the foreshore at Elliot River.

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

The Road Less Travelled 35

1

2

3

4 1. Beauchamp Falls A commonly visited gem of the Otway Ranges, Beauchamp Falls never fails to impress, but it can be hard to get a unique perspective.

To capture this involved a bit of a scramble and rock and tree hopping. It was such a nice day that I was shooting between swimmers in the plunge pool!

2. At One With The River Landscape photography can require getting into strange places at times, in this case wading the river and positioning the tripod in the water to be able to get ‘the shot’ of the small set of rapids that I had just uncovered.

3. Flowering Track As I walked along the Deppeler Track, I found several patches where the track was covered with masses of white blossom.

In some places it hides some very soft ground.

5

4. Lake Elizabeth Following a landslide in 1952 a natural dam wall formed blocking the East Barwon River and creating Lake Elizabeth. The Lake is 82 acres in total, and has a truly beautiful walking path - just watch out for the snakes!

5. Clam Stone The power of the ocean waves is something to behold. This stone was one of many on the foreshore near Elliot River. The two different stones have eroded away with the action of the waves constantly crashing over them, creating a clam shell look.

6. Butterfly Fern Walking along the tracks around the Otways it's common to find yourself passing underneath masses of tree ferns. This one reminded me of a butterfly emerging from a very large pupa.

6

Contact Tim for more information Email: tim@digitalnature.com.au www.timlucasphotography.com.au

36

Advertorial

Otway Sleepovers

Whether you’ve spent the day in the Otways beach combing, touring through the lush hinterland, visiting family and friends, or joining in a special celebration…you will need to rest your weary head at the end of the day.

And you are spoilt for options from camping, glamping & self-contained holiday homes through to luxury B & B’s. You can sleep under the stars of the Milky Way, by a camp fire or snuggle into a cosy cabin. Whatever your desire or budget, Otway Sleepovers are the stuff of dreams.

So come...lose your clock...and find the time...

OTWAY FIELDS GROW  EAT  REST

Stay a few nights in our beautiful cabin overlooking the Otways, explore the hinterland, the Great Ocean Road (GOR) and relax in your peaceful, quiet, romantic self contained cabin style accommodation for two. Included is a breakfast basket each morning featuring fresh farm free range eggs, a loaf of freshly baked bread and a selection of farm preserves. Local bacon is also provided. Depending on the season, you’ll find a few extras in your basket such as freshly picked berries or fruit.

Your cabin comprises of a comfortable queen size bed, beautiful ensuite with full shower and a seating area with couch, table and chairs and a small kitchenette. There is an abundance of birdlife around the area and photography enthusiasts will love the photo opportunities.

If you are enjoying a meal at Brae Restaurant, or Bespoke Harvest, we can provide transport to and from the restaurant, please check on booking.

85 Meadowell Rd, Gerangamete VIC 3249

OTWAY FIELDS GROW  EAT  REST

YOUR ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY

www.otwayfields.com Tel 0418 757 028 Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Otway Sleepovers 37

Otway Escapes Welcome to “Glenaire Park”. Our delightful timber cottages are set well apart in 100 acres of bird filled forest with extraordinary views over the wild Southern Ocean and the heritage listed Aire River Estuary.

If you are planning to drive the Great Ocean Road and are looking for suitable Great Ocean Road Accommodation while taking time out to explore the magnificent Otway Coast consider the warm, welcoming atmosphere of Glenaire Cottages.

Glenaire Cottages offer the perfect Otway getaway with easy access to Johanna Beach, Castle Cove, Otway National Park, the Aire River, the Great Ocean Walk and stunning drive along the Great Ocean Road to the Cape Otway Lighthouse, The Otway Fly and the Twelve Apostles.

No matter what new and amazing activities you want to experience on your holiday, Glenaire Cottages and its pet friendly policy could be your perfect place to enjoy them.

For couples seeking romance, OTWAY ESCAPES offers 4 uniquely designed properties.

OTWAYS NUMBER 105: Architecturally designed “Pole House” with mezzanine on 4ha with 180 degree views of The Otways.

OTWAY VALLEY VIEWS: Artistically “retro” renovated 1940’s Farmers Cottage on 40ha.

OTWAY ESCAPES LOVE SHACK: Apartment accommodation with 360 degree rural and Otway views.

LOVE IS IN THE AIRSTREAM: Glamping in style!

A 1966 renovated Airstream Caravan including outdoor Star gazing Bath with spectacular rural and bush views.

Re-awaken your senses with the romance of wood fires, spa’s, saunas, artwork and Japanese plunge baths. Experience and embrace beautiful gardens and outdoor sculptures with an abundance of birdlife and animals. Indulge with packages prepared with local produce. Enjoy spectacular views over rolling hills and the Otways, all within close proximity of the Great Ocean Road, Lorne and Birregurra.

Return transfers available to local restaurants.

owned and managed by Bo & Neil Melville

3440 Great Ocean Road, Glenaire, Victoria 3238 Phone 5237 9237 www.glenairecottages.com

t: 0411 721 163 e: info@otwayescapes.com.au w: www.otwayescapes.com.au

38

Otway Sleepovers

Whether you’ve spent the day in the Otways beach combing, touring through the lush hinterland, visiting family and friends, or joining in a special celebration…you will need to rest your weary head at the end of the day.

And you are spoilt for options from camping, glamping & self-contained holiday homes through to luxury B & B’s. You can sleep under the stars of the Milky Way, by a camp fire or snuggle into a cosy cabin. Whatever your desire or budget, Otway Sleepovers are the stuff of dreams.

So come...lose your clock...and find the time...

Countrywide Cottages gets the Gold Star Featured in the Summer issue of Otway Life magazine, local four star rated Countrywide Cottages has been listed on Star Ratings Australia’s Gold List of Australian Accommodation, making it one of the best accommodation providers in the country.

The Gold List of Australian Accommodation compiles reviews of Star Rated properties from hundreds of websites including Expedia, Facebook, booking.com and Google to find the best accommodation as rated by travellers.

It includes six categories of accommodation: hotels, hosted accommodation, self-catering, motels, caravan-holiday parks and serviced apartments, which are listed nationally as well as by state, capital city and region to allow travellers to find the best accommodation, anywhere in the country.

The owner of Countrywide Cottages, Di Schulze, was delighted to find her business named one of the Top Ten in the nation for Best Guest Experience in the Self Contained accommodation category.

‘In addition to the reviews assessed by Star Ratings Australia, we have over 300 excellent reviews on Trip Advisor, bringing us into the Hall of Fame in their Certificate of Excellence since 2015. Our main focus is on providing a pet friendly holiday experience that beats all others! From these reviews, it seems that our guests feel we are getting there, and this makes all our efforts well worth while. We love our business!’

Michael Reed, CEO, of Star Ratings Australia comments, “What makes the Gold List unique is that Star Ratings Australia doesn’t just look at traveller ratings on one website but collects data from multiple sources. The Gold List showcases Australia’s Star Rated properties that provide an exceptional guest experience.”

“Australian travellers can trust that anyone featured in the Gold List will almost always exceed their expectations,” Michael Reed adds.

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Otway Sleepovers 39 Otways Accommodation

The Otways There simply is no better place on earth ...and simply no better way to find where to stay, what to do and how to get there

www.otwaysaccommodation.com.au

otway businesses - contact us to be part of the buzz

I N T H E H E A R T O F T H E O T WAY S

E AT | D R I N K | S TAY

At Forrest Guesthouse you can stop and relax.

Enjoy the abundant nature and waterfall walks close by or if you like to move at a faster pace, ride the renowned mountain bike trails that wind through the Otways.

Onsite restaurant Bespoke Harvest uses fresh produce from our garden & surrounding farms that capture the taste & flavour of the Otways. Featuring 80% local ingredients for lunch & dinner.

Friday & Saturday dinner is a set menu where you relax and enjoy the local harvest. Our menu is continually changing as the produce provides.

| 1 6 G R A N T S T R E E T F O R R E S T 3 2 3 6 | T H E O T WAY R A N G E S V I C T O R I A | B O O K I N G S & E N Q U I R I E S T 0 3 5 2 3 6 6 4 4 6

5892_FGH_OtwayLife_180x63mm.indd 1

W F O R R E S TAC C O M M O DAT I O N.C O M . AU |

26/11/2015 3:53 pm

Cosy log fires Pillowtop beds Electric blankets Dogs welcome inside Home made treats Free range eggs Huge fenced yards Off leash areas Wild birds Bushwalks from your door

holidays for humans and hounds

03 5288 7399 0419 114 786 stay@countrywidecottages.com.au www.countrywidecottages.com.au

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NouriShed

p.p. / to be provided with that which is necessary for life, health and growth.

OLM: How did you end up in this part of the Otways?

Amy: The Otway NouriShed brought my husband, Daniel, and myself to the Otways. We wanted to work for ourselves and live in the countryside- but not too far from the coast. I had always worked in hospitality and retail so when I stumbled across the ad for the café on the internet we decided to go down for a look. We had never spent a lot of time here previous to that visit. We absolutely loved the lush green rainforest and the beautiful Apollo Bay. When we first walked into the Otway Nourished, to meet the original owners, we knew straight away it would be our new home.

OLM: What do you love about being here?

Amy: We love living and working here because we are surrounded by such a beautiful, peaceful environment. Our customers are always relaxed and happy after spending time in nature at the waterfalls, and there is just a great vibe around the place. There are so many magical spots to visit to just chill out and enjoy. I also feel there is a sense of community and connectedness around here which is wonderful.

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

OLM: What is the funniest thing that has happened?

Amy: The funniest thing that has happened here was a few years ago when we had the Great Victorian Bike Ride come through Ferguson. We were totally unprepared for what happened. We only had a single group coffee machine back then, so to say we struggled with keeping up with demand is a huge understatement. The participants were all in good spirits and very patient with us. You could not move in the shed so for a coffee to reach its owner, everyone had to shout out their name until it finally reached them. There were coffees going in every direction and names getting shouted out everywhere. It was absolutely ridiculous, but we all had a good laugh and everyone got a coffee in the end.

Otway Norished 41 Drop by the Otway Nourished when you visit the beautiful Otway Ranges. From the outside, we are an old potato shed - but come inside and enjoy the rustic charm we offer our customers.

Our historical display has amazing photographs and items from when the timber mills and Old Beechy train line were in full swing.

We serve fabulous organic coffee and tea as well as hearty breakfasts, lunch (burgers, chips, toasted focaccias, wraps) and sweet delights to energise for you for the nearby waterfall walks and Redwood forest.

OLM: What are your hopes for the future?

Amy: Our plans for the future are to continue growing our little business whilst keeping a good work-life balance.

There is so much we want to do to the premises but we have come to understand that all good things take time..... oh, and money. We will keep ticking off little projects here and there and try to enjoy the ride. We hope to enjoy the Otways more this year - there are a couple of waterfall walks we haven’t done yet so they are on our to-do list this year.

We stock a large range of general groceries and fantastic local produce such as cheese, jam, chutney, honey, beer, nuts and wine.

We also have arts and crafts displayed such as wood-turned bowls, handmade soap, crocheted and knitted items, using local alpaca wool.

Everyone is welcome to drop in for a chat or to obtain information on the many tourist attractions in the area.

We hope to see you soon at OTWAY NOURISHED 3810 Colac-Lavers Hill Rd, Ferguson Phone: (03) 5235 9226

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A Home-coming

by Tanya Stewart

David and Tanya Stewart are familiar faces to regulars at Gosling Creek Winery as they have been working with Jan and Peter Grieg for several years. They have also been managing the cellar door at Gosling Creek Winery for the past two years but it is only recently that they have moved out to the property at Murroon.

Arriving to possibly one of the wettest winters in recent times it has certainly been quite an introduction to the area. However, for Tanya everything is so familiar. It is almost like returning “home”.

Tanya Stewart (nee McLachlan) is the daughter of Alan and Judy McLachlan. (Born at the Birregurra Hospital on 31st October, 1970.) Judy and Alan McLachlan raised their three children Lynne, Tanya and Tony at “Yurnga” on Boonah Rd. Bambra in the old weatherboard family home.

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

The house was the original family home of Jean and Athol McLachlan. The house has been demolished and replaced by a more modern home and Rohan Reid bought the land on the left hand side of the road for agroforestry in 1983.

Our family left the district in 1983 to take up land in the Heytesbury settlement. The hills were difficult to run dairy cattle on and the Heytesbury farm was flat and accessible. Our family later moved into Colac.

Gosling Creek Winery 43

I decided on teaching as a profession. I have taught in Melbourne, Lorne (1995-1997), Moonee Ponds, and Colac where I am currently employed teaching performing arts.

A significant re-introduction to the area took place when I was invited to perform at a tribute concert for Marjorie Lawrence in 2006. I remember seeing the black and white photograph of Miss Lawrence on the wall of the Deans Marsh Hall as a child and I have always been interested in her story.

It was during this time that I met local a cappella group 'The Deans Marsh Singers’. I had previously sung in Melbourne with a capella groups so it was like a musical home-coming to find a local group.

I have now been singing with The Deans Marsh Singers for ten years. I have performed at Gosling Creek Winery with The Deans Marsh Singers and also with my husband David. Little did I know that

the musical connection of the Deans Marsh Singers would lead me back home.

David Stewart is the son of Adriana Stewart (nee De Jong) and Don Stewart (dec.) The De Jong family, originally from the Netherlands, was one of the first famiilies naturalised at the Forrest Hall.

So whilst we may be reasonably new faces at Murroon my heart has always belonged to this region.

In 2005 I wrote a song called the “Rolling Hills of Bambra” after driving past our old family home. Little did I know that almost ten years later I would be living so close to those “Rollin’ Bambra Hills".

So when you pop into Gosling Creek Winery to say hi or have a glass of wine you can be sure that your new hosts love the region and will continue to support local talent. If you are a budding local musician feel free to drop us a line at retail@goslingcreek.com.au

Gosling Creek O T W AY H I N T E R L A N D

Cool climate wines made from estate grown grapes

Cellar Door open 11am-5pm weekends

Free Live Music on Sunday afternoons. Please check Facebook for performer details

Family friendly environment Dogs on leads welcome

495 Murroon Road,STEWART Murroon P 5236 3229 E retail@goslingcreek.com.au www.goslingcreek.com.au DAVID 495 Murroon Road, Murroon P: 5236 3229 M: 0402 474 925 retail@goslingcreek.com.au www.goslingcreek.com.au

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Sink your teeth into this!

The Otway region is gearing up again to put on a showcase of everything locally grown and sown.

Some ready to eat and the rest harvested for visitors to take home and add their own culinary spin.

Mid-Autumn people can enjoy a selection of the some of the best Otway grown produce including olives, cheeses, native bush foods, fruits and vegetables, honey, meat, smallgoods, wines and other brewed delights at the Otway Food and Fibre Showcase at Colac’s showgrounds on Sunday April 30.

Growers and event organisers want to share their passion for turning humble soil and grass into quality food and fibre, bringing together passionate producers and the public in one place at one time.

Event organiser Andy Gray said their event would shine a spotlight on the skilled, passionate and diverse growers who surround us.

He said people coming along to the event would meet and discover the stories behind the many characters that produce the abundance of food and fibre right here on our doorstep.

“Today, people care about where their food and fibre comes from, and are driving demand for accessible locally grown options that contribute to Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

health, and benefit community, the local economy and our environment.”

“This has led to new relationships between producers, regenerative farmers and the public as they source quality produce grown close to home,” he said.

People will be able taste and purchase local produce, as well as talk to and learn from local growers and makers. They can develop their growing and making talents by taking part in demonstrations and workshops around the theme of small holding skills like building soil and compost, bee keeping, poultry management, regenerative farming, the lifecycle of wool, native bush foods, truffle sniffer dog trials, shearing and creative kids food and fibre activities.

If you’re a small scale producer or artisan and would like to get involved, please contact Andy Gray on 5232 9140.

For a full program of events and other festival details please visit www.barongarooklandcare.org.au or visit our Facebook page.

What: The Otway Food and Fibre Showcase Where: Colac Showgrounds When: Sunday 30 April, 2017 (10am – 3pm)

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Otway Coast Regenerative Farm

21 May, 2

> CHOSEN LO

Members of OCRF with a display of their produce.

Regenerative farming Otway Coast Regenerative Farmers (OCRF) was formed in 2015 with the aim of ensuring high regenerative standards are met for farming practices and to provide local farmers with training to improve their farms and market their high quality produce.

Many farmers on different size acreages in the beautiful Otway Coast location have wonderful natural resources and, with access to abundant water, are capable of producing world class produce.

Unfortunately distance to market often means their produce is not differentiated and identified or available to customers in the commercial agri-food system. This group of enterprising farmers decided to take the matter into their own hands and formed the Otway Coast Regenerative Farmers and started working together to achieve better outcomes.

Incorporated as a Landcare Group under the Southern Otway Landcare Network in 2015, OCRF is passionate about building a local food economy and supports the group marketing and distribution

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

of high quality produce. Members, currently from six different farms, are able to keep the Apollo Bay community regularly supplied with organic vegetables, grass fed beef, lamb, pork, pastured eggs, truffles and numerous berries. They are a regular presence at the Apollo Bay Community Market and sell produce at other townships in the area. They even deliver as far as Melbourne.

OCRF is developing a set of principles and practice standards as a tool to help in farm management.

These act as an assessment guide so members can gauge how they are performing in terms of their soil and animal health. The members are constantly looking for new ideas and welcome new members to join them. As membership increases so will the opportunities to share the best way to apply regenerative farming practices.

Contact: ocrfgroup@gmail.com Website: www.ocrfgroup.com.au

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The Good Life

by Ami Hillege

As I write this little snippet of our life on a small farm in the Otways, I’m amazed at the crazy summer we’ve just come through. Outside there’s a cold rain sending needle-sharp spikes of water onto the windows. Frans went outside to pull dock weed in the paddock. The bane of every farmer’s life I’m sure.

I’d say he’s getting wet! It’s almost cold enough to light a fire. Well, not quite, but it’s very tempting.

The cool summer was a change from the last one.

We should still be experiencing intensely hot days.

Instead we’re looking for pullovers and long sleeves.

Perhaps a blaze of heat is still coming our way.

Our neighbour always tells us that we don’t need rain before St Patrick’s Day. The reason for this is that any grass seeds that sprout from the little rain that usually falls in summer, burn off in the late summer heat. Instead of facing an autumn where the paddocks are crispy and dry, they’re still a little green and hold some moisture in the roots of the various grasses. Our small herd of cows and calves are munching their way around the paddock and are not interested in coming up to the gate for a feed of hay yet.

We thought by now we would have harvested many liters of honey. Last year was such a good harvest.

However, our bees are on strike. As are many bees around the state and beyond. There is a shortage of honey this year. The long cold, wet winter is said to be the reason. So we check the hives just in case the bees have had a nectar run and have decided to make honey. Time is running out. We need to leave

them with sufficient honey in the hives to see them through the cold winter months. It may be that this year we leave them be and hope they recover their honey making mojos next spring! We did manage to sneak a couple of kilograms for Frans to slap onto his morning toast though.

We’re gearing up for our tomato harvest. As with every other berry, plum or apple, the tomatoes have been late. We’ve picked a handful of sweet and juicy specimens and wait patiently for the rest to ripen. There is a tomato ritual in our house.

The first fruits are eaten like this: A loaf of bread is baked. Once it has cooled down enough to slice it without it becoming totally mangled, a clove of garlic (harvested just after Christmas) is cut in half and rubbed over the still warm bread. Lift the bread and take a deep sniff. It is delicious! Then chop or slice a few of your ripe tomatoes and toss them with a dollop of good olive oil, local of course. Splash a little balsamic vinegar into the above. Here’s the bit that most of you will question…. Chop a little fresh coriander, yes you heard correctly, and add into the mix. I can hear my Italian son in law shuddering at the concept! Season with salt and black pepper. Then ladle the mixture onto your bread. If there is any juice in the bowl, drizzle it over the top of your fabulous pile of tomatoes. This is our version of bruschetta. It is completely addictive. Give it a try!

And may all your tomatoes be sweet and juicy.

Oldest, organic berry farm in the south-west, operating since 1985.

Open for public picking from 26 Nov 2016 through Jan 2017.

Our emphasis is simple – local, fresh and all natural.

HOME OF -

Crucible Apple Cider “Real Cider”, hand made from our 28 cider apple varieties grown in our orchard.

No added preservatives.

Royal Penny Berry Gins Made with five varieties of berries picked at their peak, steeped in the finest gin from McHenry’s of Tasmania

OL5

Self contained accommodation available all year. Central to Otway regional attractions including Forrest Mountain bike trails

115 Division Road, Murroon 3243

Phone: (03) 5236 3238

www.pennyroyalraspberry.com

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Advertorial

Sustainable Table The temperate climate and typography of the Otway Ranges provide an ideal setting for the sustainable production of food and other products for the local community. A ‘sustainable table’ is one that uses local food grown using ecological and ethical practices that: Contribute to a thriving local economy and sustainable livelihoods; Protect the diversity of both plants and animals and the welfare of farmed and wild species; Avoid damaging or wasting natural resources or contributing to climate change; Provide social benefits, such as good quality food, safe and healthy products, and educational opportunities.

Please support these local industries and be healthy at the same time!

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Your local mindful organic and health food store which sells a wide range of bulk foods, including flour, nuts, rice, legumes and dried fruit, you can take as much or as little as you like.

Organic grocery items, vitamins and supplements, probiotics, baby and pregnancy goods, locally grown and produced food, gluten free products, organic and eco-friendly body care and detergents.

Promoting low food miles, sustainability, local shopping, conscious eating and a balanced lifestyle.

Stocking items such as Otway Fields preserves, Meredith Dairy cheeses and yoghurt, Love Tea and Southern Light Herbs, The Fermentary Kefir and Kimchi, Loving Earth Chocolate, Zeally Bay Sourdough Bread and Who Gives A Crap toilet paper, paper towel and tissues just to name a few.

Pop in and see the passionate staff, and respect your body and mind by feeding it well.

72 Murray Street, Colac. Phone (03) 5232 1111

Apollo Bay Community Market Otway Prime is one of Victoria’s early movers on the paddock-to-plate concept for beef and lamb, clearly identifying their own concerns and a growing consumer awareness around intensive farming practices.

Our livestock are all free-ranged and grass-fed and the beautiful Otway region with its cool, pristine, high rainfall environment provides the perfect backdrop for the farm business. Long growing seasons and plentiful water allows livestock to graze peacefully in paddocks sheltered by the national park.

Our meats are available from many of the fabulous farmer’s markets in the greater Otway region, including South Geelong, Torquay, Airey’s Inlet and Apollo Bay. At these markets we proudly sit alongside some particularly talented local farmers and artisan producers. So take the opportunity to drop by for a visit during your summer holiday and savour not just Otway Prime’s grass-fed, dry aged beef and lamb, but also some of the region’s wonderful and unique produce.

Come along and revel in wonderful local produce, food, artworks, and crafts, direct from the farmers and makers who gather every Saturday on the Apollo Bay foreshore. The community market is an opportunity to buy directly from local Otways producers; there are no middle-men and everything is grown and made within 40km of the Bay. Enjoy an expertly brewed coffee and a fresh croissant as you shop, and fill your basket with organic veggies, berries, seedlings, free range eggs, grass fed meat, preserves, honey, and delicious baked treats. Visitors can find unique hand-crafted ceramics, jewellery, photography, toys, skin care, and much more.

The Apollo Bay Community Market is plastic bag free so BYO trolley, basket or bags.

www.otwayprime.com.au

Direct from the farmer, paddock to plate, grown in Victoria’s Otway Ranges.

APOLLO BAY COMMUNITY MARKET phone: 0428 112 212 email: udi@otwayprime.com.au www.otwayprime.com.au

Every Saturday on the Apollo Bay foreshore, 8.30am – 1pm

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The Otways ...a place to reconnect with nature and connect with yourself.

Bask in a peaceful walk down a rainforest track, take a refreshing dip in the mighty Southern Ocean or a whispering waterfall, visit a local gallery. Or experience the region more dynamically with a tree top walk, e-bike, horse ride or even kayak. Autumn is bustling with a bumper harvest of local food and music, we've got the lot on offer...all you have to do is be here.

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

Experience & enjoy...

the great activities and events in the Otways during Autumn

The Audreys are staging their Farewell Tour‌and Birregurra is on the bill!

GET TICKETS: parlourgigs.com/gigs In collaboration with Parlour Gigs, Birregurra Music Salon is kicking off 2017 with a spectacular explosion of incredible blues and roots from three time Aria award winning duo The Audreys as part of their farewell tour.

The intimate show of just 100 guests in Birregurra’s Christ Church will be one of the last times you will have the chance to see this duo live and is certain to sell out quickly.

WHEN: 5.30pm on Sunday 9th April 2017 (bar opens at 4.30pm) TICKETS: $33 or $40 on the door (unless sold out, which is very likely)

The Road Less Travelled PHOTOGRAPHY TOURS

Email: tim@digitalnature.com.au www.timlucasphotography.com.au See page 42 for detail

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Experience & enjoy...

COLAC OTWAY Calendar SAT 18 MARCH 59th Colac Kana Festival Memorial Square, Colac 10am – 4pm. Parade 1pm SAT 18 MARCH Apollo Bay & Otway District Agricultural Show Apollo Bay Recreation Reserve 9am – 5pm www.apollobayshow.org.au SUN 19 MARCH Otway Trail Run Barongarook & Kawarren to Gellibrand 9.00am – 11.00am gdelarue@iinet.net.au

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Events AUTUMN 2017

SAT 1 & SUN 2 APRIL Otway 300 Forrest & Otway Ranges 7am – 5pm www.otway300.com FRI 14 APRIL Good Friday Family Fun Day Memorial Square, Colac 9am – 4pm lionsclubcolac@gmail.com TUES 25 APRIL ANZAC Day Services are being held at various locations across the shire.

Visit www.colacotway.vic.gov.au SUN 30 APRIL Food & Fibre Showcase 10am – 3pm Colac Showgrounds www.barongarooklandcare.org.au

SAT 6 MAY Forrest 6 hour Forrest Mountain Bike Trails 6am – 4pm www.forrest6hour.com.au WED 10 MAY Red Rock District Stories; A National Trust’s Heritage Festival Event Red Rock Regional Theatre & Gallery, Cororooke 10.30am – 12pm media@colacfamilyhistory.org.au SAT 20 & SUN 21 MAY Great Ocean Road Running Festival Lorne to Apollo Bay www.greatoceanroadrunfest. com.au

MARKETS: Apollo Bay Community Market Every Saturday Apollo Bay Foreshore Apollo Bay Farmers’ Market Third Sunday of each month Apollo Bay Youth Club Birregurra Sunday Market Second Sunday of each month Birregurra Park Colac Lions Club Market Third Sunday of each month Colac Memorial Square Cororooke Market 9am-1pm, 25 February Cororooke Hall

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

...and keep the kids entertained with an extensive range of games and toys instore.

we have all your outdoor, leisure and camping needs covered 76 Murray St Colac Phone: 5231 2347 Email: colac@blueskyoutdoor.com.au

OL5

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

the great activities and events in the Otways during Autumn

Little station makes a big noise

greatoceanroadrunfest.com.au EVENTS Ultra Marathon | 60km (18+) Marathon | 44km (18+) Half Marathon | 23km (18+) The Geelong Advertiser Paradise Run & Wheelchair | 14km The Mizuno Run | 6km Kids Gallop (13 years and under) | 1.5km Great Ocean Road Walk | 5km | 10km | 15km Enjoy the Music Hub featuring the Pierce Brothers and local musos.

The Kite Festival will take off from Lorne and Apollo Bay foreshores.

With a licence that’s only just over 12 months old the “Low Powered” community station, Apollo Bay Radio is having a big impact locally and further afield. The 87.6FM signal reaches most regular radios in the immediate Apollo Bay area and many more listeners ‘tune in’ via the live web stream available at www.3abr. org or through the Tune-In radio app. ABR Podcasts are also very popular with new and older interviews and book discussions available at http://apollobayradio.podbean.com.

“There is a long and colourful history to community radio in Apollo Bay,” said station secretary, Bob Knowles. “In the past 18months it has all come together as the vital, fun loving and authentically local communication hub we always knew it would be.”

The station is always seeking new presenters and members as well as sponsors and supporters. “The studio door is wide open” said John Smith station President and we welcome all enquiries and feedback. “Pop in to the studio in the Youth Club on Moore Street any Saturday morning or call or text to 0411592 681.

all the joy of cycling without the huff and puff...

NEW

• Easy to ride Electric Power Assisted bicycles • Great family fun, childrens bikes & toddler trailers available • E-bike tours under the koalas with coast views • No licence required • Bookings essential • 1 hour guided Eco-tours • Great value for money

BIMBI PARK TOURS

Contact Nathan Swain at

0413 971 736

E nath@otwayebikes.com.au W www.otwayebikes.com.au

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Experience & enjoy...

SURF COAST MARKETS AIREYS INLET MARKET 9am-1pm Sundays 12 March, 16 April, 14 May 2017 ANGLESEA RIVERBANK MARKETS 9am-4pm Sundays 12 March, 16 April 2017 ANGLESEA PRIMARY SCHOOL TWILIGHT VILLAGE FAIR 4pm-8pm Saturday 11 March, 85 Camp Road, Anglesea

Otway Life Magazine Autumn 2017

BELLBRAE PRIMARY SCHOOL MAYFAIR MARKET 10am-3pm Sunday 7 May 50 School Road, Bellbrae DEANS MARSH FESTIVAL MARKET Sunday 26 March,10Aam-5pm Pennyroyal Valley Road www.deansmarshfestival.com.au LORNE FORESHORE MARKET 9am-4pm Saturdays 15 April, 10 June 2017

RAVENS CREEK FARM AUTUMN FAIR Sunday 23 april 2017, 9am-3pm 742 Hendy main road, Moriac www.ravenscreekfarm.com.au TORQUAY COWRIE MARKET 10am-3pm, 3rd Sunday of the month. Torquay Foreshore TORQUAY FARMERS MARKET 8.30am-1pm every Saturday Surf Coast Shire offices carpark, 1 Merrijig Drive, Torquay

Distributors 55

Get your Otway Life HERE Thank you to our following supporters where you can buy your very own copy of Otway Life Magazine for only $5.

AIREYS INLET Great Escape Books 75 Great Ocean Rd, Aireys Inlet Phone: (03) 5289 7052 APOLLO BAY Galapagos Books 77 Great Ocean Rd, Apollo Bay Phone: (03) 5237 6011 BIRREGURRA Birre Farm Foods and Provedore 43 Main St, Birregurra Phone: (03) 5236 2611 COLAC Cow Lick Bookstore 86 Murray St, Colac DEANS MARSH Deans Marsh Store 1419 Birregurra-Deans Marsh Rd, Deans Marsh Phone: (03) 5236 3305 GELLIBRAND Gellibrand River Store & Cafe 16 Main St, The Old Post Office, Gellibrand Phone: (03) 5235 8219 FERGUSON Otway NouriShed 3810 Colac-Lavers Hill Rd, Ferguson Phone: (03) 5235 9226

FORREST Forrest General Store 33 Grant St, Forrest Phone: (03) 5236 6496 The Corner Store 36-38 Station St, Forrest Phone: (03) 5236 6571 LAVERS HILL Yatzies 5225 Colac-Lavers Hill Rd, Lavers Hill LORNE Lorne Newsagency & Tattslotto 142 Mountjoy Parade, Lorne Phone: (03) 5289 1230 Tourist Information Centres in Colac and Apollo Bay

BOOKSHOP

WHERE TOWN

ME

ETS

COUNT

RY

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

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