Mosaics and paint are more than mediums to Helen Millar, they’re separate “worlds”. LUKE VOOGT speaks to the Highton artist about her creative passions; one public, the other private.

Helen Millar’s “two worlds” of art have one important thing in common.

Whether she is teaching locals to create colourful mosaics or taking her own personal journey among women of yesteryear – her work is all about reincarnation.

“In both roles I really enjoy working with re-purposed materials,” she tells Geelong Coast Magazine.

Helen, a former secondary arts teacher, and her husband turned their carport into an arts studio at their Highton home when they had twins almost 20 years ago.

“Our cars didn’t have a home but I had a sanctuary,” she says.

“I could begin to have workshops at home.”

From fine china and vintage tiles, to wire and beer bottles, Helen brings it back to life in her passion for mosaics.

“It’s usually someone who has come to me – a family member or a friend,” she says.

“They’ll say, ‘oh, I broke a beautiful plate, can you re-use it?’ I say ‘yes, I can reincarnate that in class’.

“I like to use all sorts of things. Even really humble things like beer bottle glass.”

Recently she spotted a neighbour “throwing away their beautiful 1980s bath tiles in a skip”.

So she asked the neighbour if she could have the tiles and added them to her stash.

“I’ve built up quite a collection now,” she says.

“More and more I use completely re-purposed materials from op shops and donations.”

About 15 years ago she received a government grant to run mosaic classes and she has since taught children, the vision-impaired and dozens of other aspiring artists.

“I love the idea that the workshops are just so accessible,” she says.

“It can be very addictive. Once they get the addiction they make lots of mosaics and fill their gardens.”

“People can come up with some really surprising mosaics. There’s a real randomness about it.”

Students can come away “with a bird on a stick” in a few hours in her classes at Geelong West Community Garden, Helen says.

“Anyone can do it. People just love coming to that garden, it’s such a beautiful place to work. I now consider myself a friend of the garden.”Her three pet chooks inspired the student-favourite piece, she says.

Helen also uses everything from discarded fish tins to woollen blankets in her “private world of painting”, she says.

She explores the lives of women who influenced Geelong in the 1800s, like Anne Drysdale and Caroline Newcomb.

“I tell little stories about women and children, real and imagined,” she says.

“My picture stories have connections with tales I grew up with, to places I have visited and in researching interesting women whose stories have piqued my interest.”

She recently put on an exhibition titled herSTORY at Perth Gallery, featuring small paintings and embroidery.

“Both my art forms are really about the place where I enjoy living and working,” she says.

As our region enjoyed one of its warmest summer holiday seasons in memory, Barwon Heads’ JUSTIN FLYNN visited one of the world’s coldest countries in the dark depths of its mid-winter. As you do.

Iceland had long remained a mystery to me.

A land of volcanoes, geothermal pools, black-sand beaches, ancient glaciers and towering waterfalls, it always seemed so out of reach.

It had been on my bucket list for years.

So, with a bit of planning and a lot of saving, I finally undertook a journey to this island country of around 350,000 inhabitants.

Cold-weather climates fascinate me. I have been to Alaska and northern Canada in winter where the temperatures were often below -20C.

So the relative ‘warmth’ of Iceland didn’t bother me in the slightest. Iceland’s temperatures are moderated by the Gulf Stream and, of course, being surrounded entirely by ocean.

After a flight from Melbourne to Singapore and then to London Heathrow, I boarded my Icelandair flight to the capital, Reykjavik, a city about the same size as Geelong.

You’ve probably heard how expensive it is there. It is. There’s no getting around it, but there are some methods to ease the pain somewhat.

Supermarket chain Bonus is cheap and you can buy ready-made meals. Beer during happy hours (you can always find a bar in Reykjavik with a happy hour going on) was about $10 for a pint. On the flipside, I paid $45 for a takeaway cheeseburger and a small cup of soup at a modest fast-food restaurant.

Reykjavik is a clean, quaint and very safe city. It’s walkable and obscenely pretty. There has not been a murder in Iceland for two years.

I did a beer-walking tour, hosted by the wonderful Geirny, a young local woman with a wealth of knowledge. Her name was easy to pronounce.

“Think of it as I don’t have a bad knee, I have a good knee,” she said.

Beer was actually prohibited in Iceland until 1989.

On the tour I ate fermented shark, chased down with the Icelandic spirit Brennivin, more commonly known as Black Death. The shark smelled hideous, the texture rubbery and the taste quite foul. The sharp hit of Brennivin to follow was a welcome relief to erase the rancid punch left by the rotten shark.

Almost everyone who travels to Iceland does the Golden Circle, which includes a huge crater lake, a stunning waterfall, a geyser and a national park. Some hire a car, but I wasn’t keen on driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road covered in ice and snow. A tour would suffice and the scenery really was breathtaking.

Reykjavik was unseasonably cold when I was there. Daytime highs of -6C, compared to an average in late January of about plus 2. However, with the moderate winters comes a price. The average daytime summer high in July is only 14C, which puts it on a par with Geelong in our winter. The highest ever recorded temperature in Reykjavik is 26C.

The following day I took another tour, which covered the southeast coast of the island.

Apart from the stunning, snow-covered, volcanic and mountainous scenery, we visited heaving waterfalls, the famous black-sand beach, the coastal town of Vik and I saw my first ever glacier. It took my breath away.

I also took a full day to explore Reykjavik. The Hallgrimskirkja church dominates the skyline and is a magnificent piece of architecture. It’s said if you get lost in Reykjavik (almost impossible), look up and let Hallgrimskirkja guide the way.

The National Museum gives an informative guide on the country’s history and culture, while the jokes are endless at the Icelandic Phallological Museum.

There a plenty of cute cafes to take refuge from the cold. Icelanders are proud of their coffee and as a fussy Australian who takes coffee seriously, I approved.

One rite of passage that almost every traveller to Iceland takes is the Blue Lagoon.

I’ll be honest: I was sceptical. I saw it as a potentially overpriced and overrated tourist trap.

I was wrong. The geothermal pools are divine, even if the mad dash from the changing area to the pools in -4C, wearing nothing but shorts, is bone-chilling.

The water temperature in the bathing area averages 37C to 39C, and on a cold day, soaking in the waters that are rich in minerals such silica and sulphur, is therapeutic.

Actually, bathing in the Blue Lagoon is reputed to help some people suffering from skin diseases such as psoriasis.

It can be a little unnerving showering naked (which is mandatory before you enter the lagoon) in front of strangers, but once you are relaxing in warm water with snow on the ground beside you, your troubles disappear.

It certainly made a few pints of Gull or Viking lager go down particularly well that evening.

Of course a visit to Iceland is incomplete without at least searching for the northern lights, or the aurora norealis.

These magical dancing rays of colour are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere.

I’d seen them very faintly in Alaska and Canada, but nothing prepared me for the show I was about to see on my final night in Iceland.

After being picked up near my hotel at 8.30pm, the aurora forecast was favourable, our tour guide said.

“Clear skies and high activity,” he exclaimed, sounding almost as excited as the rest of us.

The aurora is best viewed away from artificial light so out of Reykjavik we drove until we found a suitable spot.

What I saw for the next 90 minutes can only be described as mind blowing. The tour guide said it was one of the best displays he had seen in five years. We were truly lucky.

To watch the sky turn green with hints of yellow and red before our eyes was spectacular.

Words cannot describe the power this natural phenomenon has over you. I was spellbound.

All too soon it was time to jump back on an Icelandair jet to Heathrow to continue my European journey.

Yes Iceland is expensive, but it’s worth every single dollar you spend.

The scenery is unlike anything I’ve seen before while the hospitality of the locals (who are justifiably proud of their country) and the sheer remoteness of the island are hypnotising.

If you can afford it, then this country, plonked in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, will capture your imagination like no other.

Hamlyn Heights singer-songwriter Nathan Seeckts remembers his relief and pride when he listened to his debut album for the first time last October.

He sat in the studio with wife Sharon and a glass of wine as he played back the result of several months of recording.

“It was like I had been holding my breath for a year and I could just exhale,” the 39-year-old says.

“It’s music I would head out and listen to – and I’ve got high standards.”

Three months later, Nathan recalls playing at a hot and humid Tamworth Country Music Festival for his first time.

“I did eight shows over four days,” he tells Geelong Coast Magazine from a beach at Old Bar, in northern NSW.

“I reckon I sweated out my body weight in sweat. The heat was unbearable.”

The primary school teacher ventured up north after encouragement from friend and fellow musician Andrew Swift, who was nominated for four Golden Guitars.

“I always thought I perhaps wasn’t country enough for Tamworth,” he explained.

“At Queenscliff Music Festival, they tagged me as ‘countryish’, so I’m sticking with that.”

He soon discovered his fusion of Americana, folk and blues with his powerful, gravelly voice fit under the Tamworth umbrella.

But he also learnt playing three shows in one day after “sleeping in the back of a Tarago” was “something I probably wouldn’t do again”.

He played songs from debut album, The Heart Of The City, including the lament Old Blood.

“People really seem to connect with them,” he says.

“If I’m going to put something into a song I want to believe it, or else nobody is going to.”

Old Blood tells of a small town musician who let glimmers of fame go to his head and finds himself without the friends of his youth.

Nathan’s days as lead singer in punk-rock bands inspired the cautionary tale, but luckily he “learnt a lesson in being humble” early on, he says.

“What happens when you don’t remain humble – you brag and boast – nobody is going to want to hang around with that person.”

His music career began growing up in Chilwell, when his parents were “smart enough” to buy him a guitar and lessons rather than a drum kit or saxophone.

“I wanted to take up drums and they said, ‘not in this house’,” he says.

He spent his early adult years singing in bands, working in warehouses, “doing the backpacker thing around Europe and working out what I wanted to do with my life”, he says.

But in 2010 he started performing solo acoustic shows, where his voice “came into its own”, he says.

He has since released three Eps, taught primary school for 11 years and is happily married, with a Labrador and two cats.

He and Sharon went on honeymoon in the US after marrying in 2016.

“Because we’re both teachers we were able to take long service leave,” he says.

The couple hired a car and drove to Texas, where Nathan scored dozens of gigs at bars.

“(Sharon) was more than happy for us to do that together which was lovely,“ he says.

“The handy thing is with an Australian accent in the south is you’re novelty – and they can’t do enough to help you.”

Nathan teaches grade 5 and 6 at Manifold Heights Primary School and spends school holidays recording or touring.

“It’s a really nice balance,” he says.

“There’s always music in the classroom, as much as I can fit in. It’s part of my DNA I guess.”

He also volunteers for 94.7 The Pulse presenting Americana-based radio program Last Night In Town, to give back to the “very talented artists” who have supported him.

He hopes to one day make a living from music alone.

“Every couple of days I’ll try to write something down,” he says.

He remembers watching kids on their BMXs tearing it up and having the time of their life at Coffs Harbour the day before this interview.

“It reminded me a bit of my childhood. There’s a song in there somewhere.”

She’s 160 years old but only really lived for less than two decades. JUSTIN FLYNN investigates the intriguing past of historic Portarlington Mill.

The grand old Portarlington Mill is still standing proudly more than 160 years after being built.

However, the historic flour mill only operated for 17 years before being repurposed in a number of different guises for nearly a century and a half.

At one point there were more than 250 flour mills in Victoria, but this is one of the oldest to survive.

Built in 1857, six years after Portarlington was declared a town, by Thomas Widdicombe and constructed of local sandstone and timbers, this sturdy-looking mill provided flour to the colony at the time.

It was known as the ‘Granary of the Colony’.

Grain was shipped from Geelong, processed at the mill, and returned to Geelong as flour and bran.

The quarry site chosen to source the stone from which the mill was constructed, was said to be a corroboree site of the Wathaurung people.

The north facing cliffs also provided shelter for escaped convict William Buckley, who spent 32 years living with the Wathaurung people.

The mill wasn’t the first to open on the Bellarine. A mill opened a few years earlier in Drysdale, but was destroyed in a fire in 1861.

In 1874, the steam-driven mill closed when wheat rust set in and its machinery was sent to the Wimmera which had become increasingly used for growing grain crops.

When the wheat industry moved to the Wimmera, Widdicombe used the mill for his brickworks.

Many buildings in Melbourne, Geelong and the Bellarine are made from Widdicombe bricks.

As I browse the impressive structure, I can’t help but be impressed with National Trust volunteer tour guide Jennie Tonzing’s enthusiasm for the mill.

“John Batman had a holiday house here,” she says.

“He initially wanted to build a city here, not on Melbourne’s side, but there wasn’t water. Batman’s grandchildren went to Sunday school here.”

Around thirty workers handmade tens of thousands of bricks a week from the surrounding clay pits.

Most of the mansions in Melbourne and Geelong have these Widdicombe bricks and clay tiles.

Controversially he mixed his mortar with seawater and nobody thought it would last, but it did.

“I sing in a church choir in Drysdale totally built of Widdicombe’s bricks and there’s not a crack in them.

“People started copying his bricks so he reversed the ‘N’ in Portarlington on the brick so if you got a brick with the ‘N’ the right way, you had a fake.”

Later, the mill had other industrial uses – the processing of seaweed for upholstery and insulation, ink production, and then artificial fertiliser.

Two doors down from the mill is the single-storey historic home of Mr Widdicombe, which was built of Geelong bricks on a bluestone foundation in 1850.

The current owners purchased the residence after touring the mill.

With Portarlington becoming popular as a seaside resort town, the mill was converted in the 1950s to a refuge for Dutch immigrants.

“It was very, very basic but welcoming and most of the families are still around in this area,” Ms Tonzing says.

“I went to my first ball with one of the Dutch boys that lived here.”

However the building was then condemned in 1962 and was slated for demolition.

The owner at the time was issued with a notice to close the building.

Demolition was imminent, but at the last minute, the mill was saved when it was purchased by the Shire of Bellarine and presented to the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).

The National Trust spent $40,000 restoring the mill in the 1970s.

“She has a checkered history, but she’s much loved,” Ms Tonzing says.

“When it re-opened to the public in 1971, they came from all over Australia for it.”

Archaeological digs around the mill have given evidence of the old boiler house at the rear, and also earlier aboriginal activity in this area.

Nowadays the mill is a small, but very interesting, museum and also hosts weddings and exhibitions.

Visit Portarlington Mill on Sundays, September to May from noon to 4pm or during a group tour. See nationaltrust.org.au for details.

Watching her mother make butter on the kitchen table of their family dairy farmhouse was the dawn of a career for Ocean Grove’s Monica Cavarsan.

Now she’s known as the Butter Queen, operating the cheekily named business Lard Ass.

Monica makes hand-crafted cultured butter, while her husband helps with deliveries and their three sons handle sales at farmers’ markets.

“I started making butter about four years ago now, using my friends and family as the product testers,” Monica says.

She prefers cultured butter for its higher fat content, which results in “much more flavour” than the watery content of the standard item.

“To make cultured butter you ferment the cream for 24 hours with good bacteria, which enhances the flavours that are naturally found in the cream,” she explains.

“Normal cream is alkaline, so what we do is bring the PH level down to create what is known as a creme-fresh, which is what we then churn.

“Afterward, we refrigerate for up to two weeks during the ageing process, which brings out the rich flavours in the butter.

“We then churn it slowly to preserve the creaminess.”

Lard Ass produces four naturally flavoured butters: smoked garlic, dry-roasted fennel seed, smoked butter, and sweet vanilla.

Roasted tomato, and herb and turmeric butters are on the way, Monica says, with Lard Ass butter also available in salted, un-salted and butter-milk styles.

Lard Ass butter is sold at wholefood and fruit and vegetable stores, provedores, restaurants, coffee shops and at farmers markets.

“I feel proud to work with and harness great opportunities with other small businesses and producers,” Monica says.

Ebony & Ivory has established itself as one of Geelong’s favourite restaurants under the management of Jurgen Schlotzer and Ninni Stagno.

The pair took ownership of the venue in 2017, combining their mixed strengths in the hospitality industry

“Hospitality is absolutely new for me but the food industry isn’t,” Jurgen says, “and Ninni has 10 years of hospitality experience but this is the first business he’s jointly owned.”

Jurgen handles administration duties while Ninni works the front of house, including making the venue’s signature coffees.

“We have a very good coffee grinder and every cup’s freshly ground,” Jurgen says.

Ebony & Ivory offers restaurant and cafe areas, along with a beer garden that can hold around 30 people.

The versatile spaces provide options for meetings, business lunches, coffee and cake get-togethers, and small functions for up to 75 guests.

“There’s privacy for a romantic dinner, too,” Jurgen says.

Ebony & Ivory maintains an emphasis on home-cooking in the style of authentic Sicilian cuisine, Jurgen explains.

And just like home-cooking, some things never change at Ebony & Ivory.

“The popular steak dish and aquapazza will continue on our menu. We’ve had them on there since day one,” Jurgen declares.

“We’ll also continue serving our home-made pasta, gnocchi and fettuccine because that’s what we are and what we pride ourselves on. It’s made fresh daily in our kitchen.

Chicken cacciatore and the fish acquapazza are just some of the mostly traditional Sicilian dishes on the menu.

The dessert menu also features house-made specialties, with Jurgen recommending the vanilla slice or Portuguese tart in particular.

“Our pastry chef also makes flourless cakes and bakes muffins every day,” he says.

Ebony & Ivory is at 189 Moorabool Street, Geelong.

Can you say, ‘I wear eyewear from Eyewear on Pako’?

The team at Eyewear on Pako invites customers to check out the business’s extensive range of optical frames and sunglasses and to experience its incomparable customer service.

In 2002 Eyewear on Pako was brought to fruition by owners Chris Benning and Peter Weston, who between them share 80 years of experience in the optical industry.

More recently, Matt Benning has also become partner after working in the store for 15 years.

Eyewear on Pako’s range has consistently expanded, with the team personally selecting each frame to ensure an extensive array of shapes, colours and distinctive designs to suit each customer’s individual needs.

Eyewear on Pako stocks well-recognised brands including Ray Ban, Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Emporio Armani and Valley Eyewear as well as a diverse range of quality, distinctive labels from all over the world, including Sabine Be, Anne & Valentin, LA Eyeworks, RAEN, Roger and Res Rei.

The latest range to hit the shelves is Folc, a collection of strikingly bold, contemporary and sustainably made frames designed in Barcelona and hand-made in Italy. Eyewear on Pako was lucky enough to be selected as one of just five Folc stockists in Australia.

Eyewear on Pako can also help with customers’ eye-health, Chris says.

“We offer bulk-billed eye examinations and have two optometrists testing most days,” he advises.

“Our optometrists perform comprehensive screenings for conditions including glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataracts, as well as complete retinal scans and photographs where needed. An optometrist will advise you of the ways your vision may be improved at the conclusion of your eye examination.”

Updates from Eyewear on Pako are available on Instagram@eyewearonpako.

Home owners have seen the light at Peter Hames’ Oakwood Restorations.

Or perhaps that should be they are seeing the right lights for their period-home projects thanks to the business’s in-store offshoot, P.J. Hames Lighting.

With more than 18 years supplying period fixtures and fittings, and with a background in textiles and designs, Peter says the lighting aspect of his business is his “passion project.”

P.J. Hames Lighting involves Peter consulting with clients at their homes or businesses, arriving with brochures and fittings to show how the right lighting can transform any room.

“Whether it’s a standout piece that demands attention or a subtle reflection of the decor, lighting is at the heart of interior design,“ he says, “but the wrong lighting choice can ruin the harmony of a room.

“I source antique, vintage, modern and reproduction lighting from Australia and overseas and authentically restore it. I also create bespoke lighting that can look antique, decorative, industrial or understated.”

Peter has access to specialist suppliers so he can deliver modifications such as adjusting the length, finish or shading of lights to suit individual decor requirements.

His lighting expertise is an extension of his flair for interiors, particularly blending contemporary and period decor.

“The mistake people often make is thinking I’m limited to styling period homes and spaces only. In fact, I also consult on a variety of modern architectural homes, offices, cafes and hairdressers.”

Renovators looking for supplies will find lighting from the 1850s to 1950s at Oakwood Restorations, along with other inspiring items ranging from fireplaces and tiles through to pressed metal and hardware in a variety of finishes.

Oakwood Restorations is at 331 Pakington St, Newtown. Phone 5229 9547 or visit P.J. Hames’ Facebook page for more information.

Moorabool Antique Galleries’ two floors of intriguing objects range from furniture to silverware and almost everything in between.

But the business is widely renowned for Australia’s largest range of antique ceramic items, along with a reference library containing more than 2000 books on ceramics.

“As well as the books, we have ‘example’ ceramics from every period and place possible,” says owner Paul Rosenberg.

“We use them to help identify ‘unknown’ pieces.”

The shop is filled with cases of well-documented pieces for sale.

“I’d hate to do a stocktake,” Paul says.

“We’ve never counted but we must have over 10,000 pieces in stock.”

This makes it the largest of its kind in Australia, and perhaps the world.

“Through the website, we have been ‘discovered’ by collectors’ world-wide”

Moorabool Antique Galleries has become something of a family tradition, with Paul operating the business in the footsteps of his father, John.

“I still meet customers who bought things from him 30 years ago” Paul smiles.

The 60-year-old business sticks to the “proper definition” of antiques, he says.

“That means more than 100 years old, which includes the Georgian and Victorian eras.

“We have a very wide variety of goods, which mirrors the diversity of our clientele. Our stock ranges from very affordable small gifts through to major pieces that we’ve sold to organisations like the National Gallery of Victoria and Geelong Art Gallery, even international institutions.

“We have something for everyone.”

Paul nominates the early 19th Century English porcelain tea wares as particularly good value at the moment.

“We have several hundred cups and saucers, some 200 years old, both beautiful and usable and costing less than a modern equivalent.”

Moorabool Antique Galleries is at 16/18 Ryrie Street, Geelong.

The successful Warralily development will be first to bring town-home living to the Armstrong Creek Growth Area in a neighbourhood to be known as Axis at Warralily.

The new Axis neighbourhood is a boutique town-home precinct that blends high style and great design in a low-maintenance version of a traditional home, removing any need to spend precious weekends tending the garden.

Created by market leader Metricon, the four-bedroom town-homes feature stunning facades and contemporary, luxury turnkey inclusions with large windows bathing homes in sunlight.

Home Solution by Metricon’s Andrew Van Der Lugt says Axis meets the need for property diversity in the rapidly growing Geelong market.

“Town-home projects in Melbourne are in high-demand as people increasingly seek lifestyle convenience and affordability,” he said.

“Armstrong Creek, with its budding community and nearby beaches and wineries, is the perfect place for Metricon’s first town-home project in the Geelong region.”

“The prime location, adjacent to The Village Warralily community hub, means residents can take full advantage of shops, supermarkets, cafes, schools, parks and more on their doorstep. No need to take the car!”

Axis comprises 26 town-homes ranging in size from 181.08 to 190.79sqm.

Civil works are underway, with titles and town-home completions expected in mid-2019.

The first stage has sold quickly and registrations of interest for stage two are underway.

Warralily estate manager Ben Stewart says the expressions-of-interest campaign has been “super successful”, resulting in the team taking deposits earlier than planned to fast-track development. Seventy per cent of the first stage sold on release day, with stage two launching soon.

“Axis offers a fantastic way to secure a 4-bedroom, double garage property with the benefit of carefree living for substantially less than a traditional home.” Mr Stewart says.

“First-home-buyers can enter the market without compromising on home design or features at the entry-level price of $414,000.”

“It’s also an advantage that buyers pay only five per cent upfront, with nothing more to pay until the town-home is complete and the certificate of occupancy has been achieved, allowing the buyer to save prior to settlement.

“We’re seeing interest from first-home-buyers and investors, with the option for bedrooms on both levels also appealing to generational family purchasers.”

Geelong military antiques collector Graeme Acton has been dealing with swords for more than three decades but none have piqued his passion as much as Japanese designs.

The Japanese swords occupy pride of place in his central Geelong museum and antiques store, considering them works of art even more so than pieces of militaria.

Graeme finds the intricacy of their design and styling entrancing.

“Quite apart from the blade being the most important part of the Japanese sword, the handle and scabbard fittings are in many cases works of art in their own right,” he explains.

“Placed under the binding on the side of the handle are small fittings called ’menuki’. They are not only a decoration but provide a move secure grip.

“The sword guard, or tsuba, comes in many sizes and is made from iron, copper or brass. They can be decorated in simple patterns or cut outs and more intricate designs like waves, clouds or even tree bark.”

Graeme says some of Japanese swords’ fittings featured “very fine decorations”, including gold, silver and copper inlays depicting anytihng from insects, fish and other animals through to village scenes and “all sorts objects”.

“It’s sometimes hard to believe that many of these are made hundreds of years ago,” Graeme says.

“The detail is amazing.”

Graeme invites antique enthusiasts and militaria buffs to inspect the Japanese swords and his wide range of other items on display at Armor Antiques & Military Museum, at 200 Moorabool Street, Geelong.

“It’s one of the biggest collections of its type on display in Australia,” Graeme declares.