GEELONG’S National Wool Museum is hosting some of the most unusual dinosaurs to have ever roamed the planet – and they’re all from our own backyard.
Meet cryolohophosaurus the Antarctic dinosaur, megalania the giant lizard, and his lunch: bullockornis the giant flightless bird.
A global environmental crisis, food shortages, birds so big they couldn’t fly and one big, mean komodo dragon-like creatures – it’s just another day for the Wildlife of Gondwana exhibition.
The exhibits show where drifting continents affected the evolution of dinosaurs and mega fauna from 3.8 billion years ago to the present. Surrounded by life-like environmental murals, the exhibition features real fossils, skeletons and 20 full-scale skeletal casts, many of which have never been on public display in Australia before.
PrimeSci! will conduct dinosaur workshops in January, while excavation group Dinosaur Dreaming will answer questions about fossil finding and identification.
Patrons will also find real fossils from the Otway to look at and handle.
Alongside the exhibition, the museum’s ‘Qantassaurus Lounge’ has puzzles, a little Lego station and colouring activities.
The museum also hosts dino birthday parties.
More information about the exhibition, dino activities, workshops and parties is available by phoning 5272 4701 or visiting nwm.vic.gov.au.
Dinosaurs stalk museum
Have a European affair
OWNING a European car is like having a European affair – ask any owner.
And the owner of Geelong’s European Affair, Paul Loughnan, has been having his for more than 20 years.
The long-time mechanic and former builder of World Rally Championship cars for Subaru and Mitsubishi knows a great piece of engineering when he sees one.
“It’s my life, my passion,” Paul declares.
That’s why the European Affair team cares about clients’ vehicles and understand the importance of making servicing and maintenance an easy and enjoyable experience.
European Affair specialises in vehicle servicing and maintenance for all European vehicles, including Alfa Romeo, Audi, BMW, Citroen, Fiat, Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, Renault, Saab, Skoda, Volvo and Volkswagen.
European Affairs handles all minor and major servicing, new-vehicle servicing, brakes, fuel injection and electronic ignition work, suspensions, transmission servicing, air-conditioning servicing and re-gassing, transmission and engine overhauls and rebuilds.
European Affair keeps cars performing at their peak with precision technology, passion and 20 years of servicing experience.
The workshop’s professionally trained mechanics use the latest automotive computer equipment for all electronic repairs and maintenance of engine management.
European Affair is the dealer alternative to provide new vehicle servicing, maintenance and handbook servicing without affecting your warranty.
All work is carried out in a professional workshop and is fully guaranteed. It’s the European Affair reputation that keeps customers coming back year after year.
Phone European Affair on 5224 1225 or visit the workshop at 34 Autumn Street, Geelong West.
Geelong has talent
NEW talent agency Models One Australia has recently opened office in the heart of Geelong.
It is led by Ayesha Karigiri, Naghee Karigiri and Frank Hargreaves, with over 35 years of combined experience in the industry.
Models One Australia recruits talents and screens them for jobs in movies, television series, TV commercials, advertisements, catalogue opportunities and promotional work.
The agency is not limited to modelling, also managing actors, extras, presenters, dancers, singers and musicians.
With a vast established network of industry contacts across the local, national and international scene, Models One Australia casts for a range of career-building opportunities including fashion catwalks, commercial photo shoots, gigs, catalogues, advertisements, and auditions for film and television productions.
The agency is recruiting talent of all age groups, genders, nationalities, shapes and sizes.
“We’re the largest agency in Geelong dedicated to modelling and TV opportunities,“ Mr Karigiri says.
“There’s no set criteria for the kind of people we’re looking for. We’re always looking for a new face, so experience isn’t always necessary. The main quality we find absolutely essential is that talent executes their role with confidence.
“Our interview process involves meeting us face-to-face. We need to have an understanding of who they are and their interests and skillset.“
Anyone intending to approach the agency for an interview requires a photograph of themselves and a good attitude.
Models One Australia will host four three-day workshops over December and January, honing in on the basics of modelling.
Valuable tips on presentation, how to impress judges during an audition and how to break into the industry will be addressed to give participants a taste for the reality of a modelling career.
For more details about the Models One Australia team, visit modelsoneaus.com.
Phone 5298 3785 for more information. Models One Australia is at Suite 18, Level 1, Small Business Centre, 50-58 Moorabool Street, Geelong.
The next stage
JOHN VAN KLAVEREN meets Robert Tripolino, a multi-talented star of stage and screen who overcame rejection to find his starring place in the performing arts.
A rejection turned out to be the making of rising musical theatre star Robert Tripolino.
After dedicating years to ballet, at 18 Robert had to face the fact he wasn’t quite good enough to crack the rarefied citadel of the Australian Ballet.
The rejection stung but led to another direction that has turned the dancer into a genuine triple threat as he added acting and singing to his repertoire.
If the name rings a bell it’s probably because Robert’s family has run an accountancy business in Geelong for years and is also behind the redevelopment of the Palais, on Moorabool St.
It seems quite a jump from accountancy to the theatre but Robert says his family’s love of the arts was the driving force behind his early ballet years.
It’s also the motivation behind the family’s Palais redevelopment, set to include an arts hub for a range of artistic and theatrical expressions.
But the family connection also gave Robert some business savvy, crucial for any performer.
“It’s called show business for a reason – and I learned the business side of it from the family really well. You always hear of artists being taken for a ride. It’s secondary to the creative side but still important,” Robert reflects.
He credits then-Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) course co-ordinator Martin Croft – also from Geelong – with convincing him to swap pirouettes for production numbers.
“I fell into it really, through the encouragement of others,” Robert recalls.
“It was all very new because I knew nothing about musical theatre. I had been interested in music but never really thought about singing and acting.”
The novice took himself off to London where he saw West End shows for two weeks as he immersed himself into a whole new world.
But he soon realised it was a world for which he was never destined, with his ballet background becoming nothing more than a useful addition to his dance repertoire.
Just how far can this young star go? Geelong Coast magazine – out now.
Making an entrance
It’s a golfer’s dream home that even a non-golfer can appreciate.
Words: John Van Klaveren
Photos: Reg Ryan
You can only make a first impression once, the truism goes – and it certainly applies in the case of this stunning modern Barwon Heads residence.
The long, wide and high entrance certainly creates a strong impression, one that lasts even throughout the rest of the double level house.
It’s an entrance of cricket pitch proportions, an expanse of gleaming tiles cleverly broken by a timber inlay running its full length. The timber design feature acts as a connector between the front and rear decks.
Owner Jan Etherington says she and husband Steve love the big entrance.
“We purposely designed it this way. Because there are no doors leading from it, we think it’s the best feature.”
Jan and Steve have been in the home for more than two years after falling in love with the block, within the 13th Beach golf estate, just off the renowned Beach Course.
“Well, Steve fell in love with it,” Jan expands. “He’s a keen golfer, he’s on the course every weekend.
“But it is a beautiful spot. You don’t even know there are other houses around. It’s the openness that appeals.
“We are so close to the beach as well as the course. We can walk through from the back yard. In fact I was on the beach for a run this morning.”
For more details pick up a copy of Geelong Coast Magazine – in newsagents now.
Letters from America
Heather Downey and LaNor Smith were friends for 38 years – but had never met. Then Heather made the trip from Grovedale to the US to meet her pen pal in the flesh. EMILY IANNELLO tells their story.
IT all started in 1977.
A letter was sent half way around the world to a stranger who would one day become a best friend.
After nearly 40 years of writing to each other, Grovedale’s Heather Downey and Livermore’s LaNor Smith met in May for the first time.
The women started writing to each other when they were just 14 and 15 years old.
“I went to Morongo Girls College and in one of our classes we were given pen friends,” Heather explains at home.
“Mum had a pen friend during the second world war years in America, so I requested to have an American pen friend too.
“We don’t remember who sent the first letter. Neither of us kept them. I’ve kept a card LaNor sent me when my mother passed away.”
Heather’s mother wrote to American pen pal Martha for 50 years.
“When Martha died it hit my mum like a rock,” Heather remembers.
Heather’s mum died eight years ago, so LaNor became a rock of her own.
“Even though this trip was my big event, the days were linked with mum. She passed away on 7 May 2007 and my dad passed away the previous October. The trip was my dad’s last wish,” Heather says.
Heather arrived in the international baggage claim area at San Francisco International Airport on the eighth anniversary of her mother’s death.
She was about to do something her mother never achieved: meet her American pen pal face to face.
Get the full story in the Geelong Coast Magazine – out now.
Emergency challenges
Gruesome accidents, life-threatening illness, drug overdoses – the pressure rarely eases in the region’s busiest emergency department. But it’s all in a day’s work for the frontline staff at Barwon Health’s University Hospital Geelong. EMILY IANNELLO meets three ED members who accept the challenge for a rich reward in job satisfaction.
Pictures: Reg Ryan
MARY KANELLOS
MARY Kanellos was a shy 20-year-old when she commenced her career at Barwon Health.
Now she’s the first face that sick and injured patients often see when they arrive in the emergency department at University Hospital Geelong.
“I register everybody that comes through the emergency department or through the front doors of the ambulance bay. My main role is to collect data and to make sure it’s all correct.
“Once all the information is collected it’s transferred to the computer and we print paper work, give the patients an arm band and contact their relatives.”
It’s a busy job, with up to 170 emergency patients arriving daily.
“One of the challenges is to keep up with the daily workload – it can be so hectic. Sometimes you really have to stretch to the limit,” Mary says.
“It’s rewarding when you can get the work done as quickly as you can and you’re able to reduce patient wait time.”
Without medical knowledge before beginning in the role, Mary admits the job initially “freaked me out”.
The record heat of the Ash Wednesday bushfires weekend highlighted just how much she had to learn.
Catch up with the other two medics from this feature story in the Geelong Coast Magazine – out now.
The Wren of the valley
Geelong deputy mayor Michelle Heagney reveals the rolling, leafy landscape of her hidden hideaway at Sutherlands Creek.
Words: John Van Klavern
Pictures: Reg Ryan
It’s the councillor’s hideaway that’s no longer as hidden as it once was.
Blue Wren Park is a stunning private garden and residence on a 60-hectare farm in the picturesque Moorabool Valley, owned by Geelong deputy mayor Michelle Heagney and husband Brendan.
With a lovely undulating landscape running down to the Moorabool River, the Sutherlands Creek property is growing in popularity as a wedding backdrop.
With features like magnificent 80-year-old gum trees, a stand of she oaks shimmering in a series of night lighting and a lily-filled pond fringed by weeping willows, the possibilities are wide and varied.
The property is also home to myriad birdlife, from soaring wedge-tailed eagles to the farm’s tiny namesake, the fairy blue wren.
Catch the rest of the story in the Geelong Coast Magazine – pick up a copy at newsagents now.
Local Love – Georgia and Matt
An impending storm was unable to put a dampener on the Bellarine Peninsula wedding of Georgia Coulson and Matt Robertson.
Words: Emily Iannello
Pictures: Louisa Jones Photography
A spring storm was making its way over Jack Rabbit’s Bellarine vineyard on a 20C November day.
Georgia’s waiting dad thought she might not arrive before the rain but she married handyman husband Matt under a stunning floral arch among the vines in the nick of time.
HOW THEY MET
It wasn’t love at first sight for these two lovebirds. Georgia and Matt met through mutual friends.
“Our friendship groups were the same but I was running away from him for a long time – the poor thing. He had to work for it,” Georgia laughs.
THE PROPOSAL
Matt and Georgia were on a camping trip in Anglesea to celebrate Matt’s birthday when he proposed.
“We were just walking our dogs along the beach and then he just suddenly turned around and proposed with a ring,” Georgia reflects.
THE RING
Matt chose for Georgia a stunning brilliant-cut diamond set in a white gold ring.
THE PLANNING
Georgia handled most of the planning process herself.
“I discovered Pinterest for the first time and looked at a lot of wedding magazines.
“My family and friends also helped me. My best friend is actually a florist and she was very helpful and gave a lot of advice.”
Read more on this couple’s big day in GC Magazine – in newsagents now.
Australiana expressed
Noel Murphy talks Australianism with Ocean Grove artist William Linford.
Photos by Greg Wane
CRICKETERS in their whites, bronzed life savers, bright circus performers, well-dressed farmers, golden brass bands – the Aussies who inhabit the canvasses of William Linford are a mixed breed.
They’re a colourful lot, for sure. Wild crimsons, yellows and oranges, cyans, magentas and maroons. A little surreal, perhaps, but they’re unmistakably Australian. Tanned, sunburnt, blond, leather-skinned.
Linford’s portfolio is populated by golfers and bowlers, slipsmen and batsmen, oarsmen, cyclists, footballers, theatre-goers, clowns and musicians. They’re dressed in everything from harlequin diamonds to stripes, rowing caps to jockey silks, grandpa shirts and braces, evening dresses, suits and ties through to red ringmaster jackets and top hats. Many of them are lanky, a bit like him.
Character emotions run from quizzical and curious to contemplative and resigned. The great Australian deadpan speaks volumes for the surroundings where Linford’s subjects find themselves – lifeboats, teacups, boxes, beaches, back yards, sporting reserves, broad open vistas, chessboards.
The temptation to categorise artists, like musicians, would lean observers of Linford’s work toward Drysdale, Hart and Dali but it’s unfair, incorrect, to try to harness broad expressionism into any singular style.
“I suppose art’s in the eyes of the beholder, as the cliche goes, but the reason people say it is because it’s true,” says Linford.
“People like stuff they like. If they don’t like, say, abstracts, or Picasso or cubism, it might be because they don’t understand it. When you understand where the artist is coming from, you like it more. Still, most people are pleased if they see something they like.
“My work is a little different. Once they understand where I’m coming from, they see the work’s a bit quirky with a bit of a larrikin feel to it. But it’s quite deep as well. There’s a lot of things I do in a painting. They reflect people I’ve been, seen and known.”
The star factory
Guy Pearce, Sophia Katos, Peter Coleman-Wright – they’re just some of the stars who learned their craft with GSODA Junior Players. JOHN VAN KLAVEREN spoke to troupe leader Debbie Fraser during its 50th anniversary celebrations.
Even though GSODA’s beginnings are now part of Geelong arts history, they are a living, breathing connection between the past and present.
Debbie Fraser doesn’t often get the chance to stop and look back, being as hands-on with Geelong Society of Dramatic Arts’ Junior Players as she ever was.
But the occasion of the organisation’s 50th anniversary celebration in August was one such opportunity.
The 50th anniversary bash saw the cream of Geelong performers come together to pay homage to the theatre company that gave them their start.
Past GSODA names like Guy Pearce, Peter Coleman-Wright, Martin Croft, Kate Bader, Gail and Cindy Lee, Shane Lee, Shandelle Cooke, Angie Hilton, Sam Cocking, Tim and Noni McCallum, Jackson Thomas, Andre Jewson and Sophia Katos have become familiar names.
“We had people flying in from England, Japan, Saudia Arabia. The kids have all grown up and moved on, but they’re all coming back. There’s such a connection for so many of them,” Debbie reflects.
“I don’t take it for granted but I’m so hands on I don’t get the chance to stop and enjoy what they’re doing. When I do stop and look around it’s amazing.”
Connections play a big part in Debbie’s view of the role GSODA Junior Players has played in developing a deep pool of acting, singing and dancing talent in Geelong.
“Part of that is being taught by the people who started it and I just want to continue that. It’s so special, so unique; we can’t find anything else like it.
“If you were only there one year or five you never forget that time and whatever you’ve learned you take away with you, whatever walk of life you go into.”
Read more in the Geelong Coast Magazine – in newsagents now.
Roll up! Roll up!
A thunderous declaration, a quirky line, pretty pictures – all stock in trade for the local business trying to stand out. Noel Murphy steps back to yesteryear and wonders if things have changed so much after all…
IMAGINE yourself a 19th century visitor to Geelong looking for somewhere to rest your weary carcass.
Try to ignore this sales pitch you’d have found in local papers: “The favourite resort of squatters, wool buyers, merchants, sportsmen and the public. Electric light throughout. Hot and cold baths.”
Yep, impressive, very hard to pass up. But the old competition was fierce back in the day – and loads of pubs in town. Could you snub this one: “46 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, wine bar, lounge, billiard-room, pleasant fernery and lounge, electric light, hot baths, six minutes walk from railway station and two minutes from boat.”
Enticing. Those were the advertising pitches of two of Geelong’s best pubs, the Prince of Wales and Mack’s Hotel. Black and white rendered images of their ornate masonry, wrought ironwork and general grandeur made for powerful marketing.
But maybe it’s not lodgings you’re after and rather something more of a health or medical nature. Geelong chemist WG Hearne pitched the remarkable Hearne’s Bronchitis Cure to the discerning consumer as “the famous remedy” for all manner of winter ailment – coughs, pneumonia, pleurisy, asthma, consumption… oh, bronchitis too, of course.
“Those who have taken this medicine are amazed at its splendid healing power. Sufferers from bronchitis, cough, croup, asthma, difficulty of breathing, hoarseness, pain or soreness in the chest, experience delightful and rapid relief.”
Advertising a century and more ago across Geelong looked very different to what it does today. The goods and services of the pre-internet era were rather different, the tone of persuasive chatter likewise. So too the shape of advertisements – their typefaces and artwork.
Read more on this story in GC Magazine – out now.
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