18 March 2008

Myrtleford murder mystery

It sounds like the remains of missing Myrtleford toddler Daniel Thomas may have been found today after human bones were discovered under a house in the North East Victorian town.

Daniel went missing in October 2003.

The house is the one Daniel’s mother Donna Thomas and babysitter Mandy Martin rented together when Daniel was reported missing. Ms Martin has been a police suspect. Read more »

Tags: justice, media, news, PR, public-relations, society, Victoria
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21 February 2008

Melbourne

I managed to spend some time in Melbourne during my flying visit to Victoria. Melbourne is a great city and its public areas have improved immensely since I was a child 30 years ago.

Docklands is now an attractive cosmopolitan residential and dining precinct where there was once shipping.

I walked from my hotel in Collins Street to Docklands for dinner at a Cambodian restaurant (my first taste of that cuisine) and took this photo with my mobile phone looking towards Telstra Dome and the city.

For the record, Cambodian food was a cross between Thai and Chinese; very tasty.

Tags: dining, holiday, travel, Victoria
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21 February 2008

Mt St Gwinear

I’ve returned from a few days visiting Victoria. I caught up with my parents at Moe and made a short trip to Mt St Gwinear.

Western Australia doesn’t have any alpine country and I miss it. I haven’t been to the Stirling Ranges yet, but they’re as close as it gets in this state and they only climb to 1100 metres.

I haven’t found a mountain stream, or a river of any description, in WA where it’s safe to swim either. Victorians take these things for granted. Read more »

Tags: Australia, high-country, travel, Victoria, walks
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21 October 2007

Council elections

Local government elections have just been held in Western Australia. There has been some debate about how the elections were run, so I’ll compare the electoral system with what occurs in Victoria.

Firstly, councils are generally smaller in Victoria, with just five to seven members in most cases compared with the 10 we have here. Mayors are not directly elected, which I think is not as democratic as the WA system.

The mayor embodies the council and voters should be able to cast their verdict on the council’s performance by expressing confidence or otherwise in the mayor. Read more »

Tags: politics, Victoria, Western-Australia
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10 August 2007

Returning ‘home’

I’m spending a few days in the Latrobe Valley, where I grew up, with my parents. It’s the first time I’ve been here for nearly three years.

After 18 months in an arid area I’m struck by how green Victoria is. I had also forgotten what mud looked like before today.

On the negative side, my hayfever has been triggered again.

I went for a drive around Traralgon with Dad today. I lived there from 1968 to 1986, aged 1-19, and think of it as home. The population has increased from 10,000 to about 30,000 in that time.

I went to high school at St Paul’s College and there were vacant grounds across Grey Street where we used to play football. That’s a housing estate today.

It was good to see the houses we used to live in. Traralgon is an attractive, modern city.

Tags: family, memories, Victoria
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5 August 2007

Taxi driver nightmare

I said I probably wouldn’t write much for a few days, but the combination of broadband internet in my hotel room and tonight’s taxi experience cried out for comment.

I arrived in Melbourne from Perth with my colleague about 7.15pm. We collected our luggage and queued for a taxi. I guessed it would be a $35 fare in quiet Sunday night traffic, and allowing for the airport fee.

Our hotel is the Crown Promenade in Southbank.

It was a little disturbing when the Indian-looking driver asked me if I knew how to get there! He said it was his second day on the job.

I didn’t think it was possible for a taxi driver NOT to find Southbank. It’s a long time since I’ve driven in Melbourne, and although I knew the general direction, I couldn’t tell him which exit to take.

He took the wrong one and finished up on the Princes Highway. I knew things were horribly wrong when I saw signs for Dandenong!

He had a navigation device, but didn’t seem to know how to use it. The driver could barely speak English and muttered away in Bengali or whatever to his brother on the radio.

It was only good luck that he got us to the hotel. We disputed the $60 fare and he argued with us! We got the hotel staff to confirm it should never be more than $50 (on a high-traffic day) and settled for that amount.

I really can’t believe that taxi drivers are allowed to operate without a good general knowledge of the city’s geography and major landmarks. This bloke should not have been on the road.

Tags: travel, Victoria
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16 June 2007

Bracks should sack Thwaites

I always had a high regard for John Thwaites. I first spoke to him when he was Opposition health spokesman after the interim CEO of Alpine Health banned him from visiting Bright Hospital.

When Labor surprisingly came to power he was clearly one of the shining stars in cabinet. Along with Steve Bracks and John Brumby he was the leading light in restoring normalcy to Victoria after the Kennett years.

He is intelligent, articulate and some would say good looking.  He has also lost my respect.

Thwaites has abused his privileged position. He has accepted free accommodation at the Falls Creek alpine resort on at least six occasions. He must resign or be sacked.

Thwaites appoints the management board which operates the resort. He has abused his role as a minister of the crown in taking free gifts and not declaring them.

Victoria needs a corruption commission to investigate matters such as this, similar to that which is purging Western Australia at great political cost but equally great credit to Premier Alan Carpenter.

Tags: politics, Victoria
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12 June 2007

Edward Gorey 1849-1937

Edward Gorey was born in 1849 at Heidelberg where his father James leased a 97 acre farm with frontage to the Yarra River. His parents took Edward into St Francis’ Catholic Church, Lonsdale Street, for his baptism on November 12, 1849.

James bought land at Malmsbury in April 1855, and it seems the family moved there in 1857 or shortly after. Edward’s youngest brother William was born at Heidelberg on October 7, 1855 and died there on March 22, 1857.

Edward stayed with his parents and family for most of his early life and was described in the Victorian Post Office directory of 1868 as a farmer of Malmsbury, with D, J and M Gorey (probably his brothers Daniel, James and Michael).

He must have left home soon after however, because when he married Sophia Evans on February 11, 1874 in St Paul’s Church of England, Kyneton, he was referred to in the marriage registration as being a laborer of Redesdale.

Sophia’s father, James Evans, was a road building contractor, farmer and publican. He operated a hotel at Emberton near Barfold. It’s possible Edward worked for him.

James Evans left Emberton and selected a property at Rochester shortly after Edward and Sophia were married. Read more »

Tags: family, genealogy, History, Victoria, whroo
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1 June 2007

Whroo

This picture shows the Balaclava Mine at Whroo about 1858-59. The open-cut mine was prosperous for many years and a significant town was established around it.

My great-grandparents Edward and Sophia Gorey settled on a nearby farm at Angustown in the 1880s when the mine was in decline. Edward was later involved with a syndicate which tried, successfully for a time, to revive the mine. Read more »

Tags: family, genealogy, History, Victoria, whroo
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26 April 2007

Angustown Primary School

Picture: Angustown Primary School, some time in the 1890s

After moving frequently about the Corop and Echuca districts early in their marriage, Edward and Sophia Gorey settled at Angustown near Whroo in 1889.

A list provided to the Education Department about 1890 shows that four children of Edward Gorey were attending the recently opened Angustown State School. These would have been Charles, Elizabeth, William and Michael.

The school had a total enrolment of 23 students including four children of Daniel Gorey, probably Francis, James, Emma and John.

A map on the school building file at the Public Record Office shows the school was 1.5 miles from Edward Gorey’s residence. The school was located near Reedy Lake and close to a sawmill operated by local entrepreneur Angus Cameron, who gave the district its name.

The school was placed there at the request of Mr Cameron. The families of the men he employed had 40 children, so he asked that a school be provided for them. Read more »

Tags: genealogy, History, Victoria
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