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The first edition of the Forrest Post! Meet our 3 time world champ, Jess Douglas.
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The FORREST POST
lLOINFORMER
fre
e
DEC
2013
Welcome to our pilot edition...
The Forrest Post aims to be a monthly newsletter, a place where you will be able to share news, pictures and information about our town.
The Forrest Post is published by the Forrest and District Community Group and we as editors welcome your feedback and contributions, including writing stories and putting the newsletter together.
Collect your FREE monthly copy from the Forrest General Store, cafes, shops and accommodation around town, or subscribe at [email protected] to receive your copy electronically.
Thank you to the Forrest and District Lions Club for funding this edition.
Editors, Mandy Bishop and Mary Dracup.
©Forrest and District Community Group
It takes something special to be the best in the world at what you do. It takes incredible commitment to become the world champion for the third time.
That’s what Forrest resident Jessica Douglas achieved in October when she was crowned World Solo 24 hour Mountain Bike Champion at Mount Stromlo in Canberra.
“This was my best race
ever,” said Jess. “I won with integrity and won because I really, really wanted it.”
Starting at noon and riding through the heat of the afternoon sun, Jess continued through the night, her bike lights illuminating narrow dirt tracks, then finished with another 6 hours riding after sunrise.
At around midnight she caught, then passed the
Christmas presence Senior Constable Tim Kerrison, who has been an active part of the Forrest community, has left to take up a new opportunity.
According to Bruce Thomas, who is Acting Superintendent for the region which takes in Forrest, the position has
been approved and we can expect a new officer in town in the New Year.
“One of our priorities is to maintain policing over the holiday period,” said Superintendent Thomas.
He said Victoria Police recognise that Forrest’s location on the main road
between Colac and the coast gives it particular significance requiring ongoing police allocation.
DDeeccllaarreedd FFiirree
DDaannggeerr PPeerriioodd
commenced
December 1, 2013
Details on the CFA and
Colac Otway websites
lead group and was never headed.
“As night fell, I felt myself gain energy, build flow, enjoy the riding,” she says.
England’s Kim Hurst made a late charge, but Jess pulled out one of her fastest laps to win by 20 minutes.
Husband Norm is race partner, managing food, drinks, bike preparation and tactics. Forrest locals Sam and Andrew Evans helped out as pit crew.
Sam describes the experience as truly inspirational.
“Jess’s phenomenal mental ability to be able to overcome the long hours and the pain to achieve the final result is extraordinary,” he said.
More than 400 riders from 20 countries competed. Australia’s Jason English took out his fourth consecutive title in the men’s race.
Follow Jess’s blog at www.jessicadouglas.com.
Triple crown for Jess Douglas
Nothing beats a warm hearty soup during an Otways winter, and nothing beats the Otway Soup Fest it would seem.
The Soup Fest has taken
out the “Special Event –
Festival” category of the
Colac Otway Business
Awards. The Birregurra
Festival shared the award.
Run as a fund raising event
by the Forrest and District
Lions Club, the event
includes competitions for
best soups and is ‘hotly’
contested. Club President,
Nellie Shalley, proudly
accepted the award on
behalf of the club at a
dinner in Colac. The award
was sponsored by Bulla
Dairy Foods.
HOLIDAY OPENING HOURS
Open 7 days from Boxing Day until the end of January
Serving breakfast & lunch Sunday to Wednesday (9am - 5pm) and Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Thursday- Saturday (9am - late).
Open for extra dinner services between Boxing day and New Year's Eve, check out the brewery window or our website for opening hours.
Our kitchen is open all day! Thursday nights is PIZZA night, plenty of
flavour and casual style dinner. Bookings are a great idea
Phone 5236 6170
forrestbrewing.com.au
“The Otway Soup Fest is
becoming a special event
on the Forrest event
calendar,” according to
club member and fellow
organizer, Delwyn Seebeck.
“This is our second award
this year, having already
received the Lions District
2012 Activities Shield.”
Held on the Queen’s
Birthday weekend each
year, hot soup is always
popular with locals and
visitors. This year it
coincided with Run
Forrest, so the queues
were long and the event
was a sellout.
The next Otway Soup Fest
in on Sunday June 8, 2014.
Soup Fest scoops award
School children tell tales of characters who might have been
Forrest school children have
published a book that brings to life
200 years of the history of Forrest
and district, telling in vivid detail
the stories of people who might
have lived here in days gone by.
They learnt many of the details of
the lives of the real sawmillers and
their families, bush nurses, shop
keepers, teachers and others who
lived locally in history walks
around Forrest, guided by long-
term community members.
The children visited historical
properties in Birregurra, and
explored indigenous and maritime
history in visits to museums in
Apollo Bay and Cape Otway. They
were also able to immerse
themselves in hundreds of
historical photos, videos and other
references supplied by the Forrest
and District Historical Society.
The children each chose an era
and, over 10 weeks, created a
character who might have lived in
those times, somewhere in the
district. They drew pictures of
what that character's world might
have looked like, and wrote stories
and poems from their character's
point of view.
The guidance of Jiri Novak and
Gregory Day as well as artists,
photographers, parents and
community members inspired
their contributions.
The result is a beautiful book of
poems, pictures and stories from
all grades of the school. It may not
tell the factual history of this area,
but evokes tales and images with a
different – colourful and noisy –
kind of truth.
Mark Arkinstall, who helped to
launch the book, said he was
overwhelmed by the quality of the
students' writings and the success
of the whole project. He praised
the inspiration of the teaching
team and the support of the
parents, and said he was sure the
children would remember and
benefit from their project for the
rest of their lives.
Copies of Characters, Forrest
Victoria are available to purchase
from the Forrest School.
Illustration from
Characters, Forrest Victoria
by Lily Schuhmann
A home for history The Forrest and District Historical Society has entered into a lease with Barwon Water for the West Barwon keeper’s cottage on the Apollo Bay Road as the future Forrest History Centre.
The house of several rooms provides excellent space for the Society’s meetings and for the display of photographs and historic memorabilia.
The Society grew out of a 2006 project to develop the History Walk for Forrest. It now has over eighty members.
The past six years have seen the accumulation of over 1500 photos, 200 documents and maps, 50 family histories and some
will also have space to locate some outdoor exhibits such as antique farm equipment and an original mixing vat from the Forrest Bakery. Eventually the site will become a history museum open to the community, school groups and tourists.
Ken Widdowson, President FDHS
important oral histories on video and tape. With so much to protect and share, it has become apparent that a permanent home is needed to store the archive, carry out further research with members and display some of the interesting historic materials.
The new Forrest History Centre
w
ho
’s w
ho
: B
ob
an
d C
aro
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roo
ks
Q: How long have you been in Forrest and what brought you here?
Bob: Probably 33 years. We came here to take up a dairy farm. This one had exactly what we wanted for the price we could afford.
Carol: I was teaching at Pennyroyal at the time, we were living in Deans Marsh.
Bob: We were worse than novice farmers, we knew nothing! I was a motor mechanic by trade. We moved in at 11 in the morning and we had to milk at 4 o'clock, on our own. We didn't really know what we were going to do. The flats were flooded and the cows were down there, we had no idea how to get the cows home. We had three kids … it was September so it was fairly cold and wet. We were hoping to light the fire in the wood stove, but the chap had used every skerrick of wood or kindling. That first night was pretty interesting!
Q: What's kept you here in Forrest?
Bob: I really regret not having been born here. I love the area, the small town. I'm involved with lots of things in the town – probably the biggest thing for me would be the Football Club. I've been Treasurer for about 33 years.
Carol: I'm much the same. I like the openness, I have no desire to go back to the city. Our three kids are based in the city and when we go there we're surrounded by fences, cars – it's so nice to hit Yaugher Road and come home.
Q: You don't milk cows anymore – why did you change?
Bob: I always had a bad back, then I think a cow fell on me, and one day I was trying to push a round bale over a fence and it just went on me. I finished up on the floor for 8 to 10 weeks. It was sad because I enjoyed milking, it was a good lifestyle, a good way to bring up a family.
Q: Carol, you used to teach at Forrest?
Carol: I've been finished about 20 years now. After Pennyroyal I taught at Yeodene. I taught at Forrest for 6 years, but left when the Kennett Government closed all the small schools. The Forrest School's a lot different now to when I was there, with the kinder and all the development that's gone on.
Q: What's the most remarkable change that you've noticed in your time here?
Bob: The decline of the dairy industry. When we came here there was virtually a farm on every corner. Now you're battling to find a dairy farm around here. There was Bruce and Gill Neale, and Tommy Stewart, Hunts, Murnanes. We bought Hunts' and Stewarts' and leased another farm, so at our highest we probably milked about 180.
Carol: They were all small, family farms, and they're really not viable anymore. Most of the football players came from the farms, too, and those families have all gone. We had a senior team, reserves and a junior team.
Bob: On a Saturday morning I'd go around the town in my ute and pick up the players in the back, just to get them there in time. There were some great kids.
Q: And the future?
Carol: We'll keep operating the B&B [Forrest River Valley] until such time as we can't, but we'll probably stay here till health pushes us out, if it does.
Be fire aware in the Otways this summer... Can I... Fire Danger Period Total Fire Ban
Have a BBQ? Yes – with provisions* Yes – with provisions* Light a campfire/light a fire in the open air?
Yes – with provisions* NO
Use an incinerator? Yes – with provisions* NO Weld, grind or solder? Yes – with provisions* NO Use a chainsaw, grass trimmer or lawn mower?
Yes – with provisions* Yes – with provisions*
* View provisions on the CFA website Courtesy Alan Winter, Forrest CFA
wh
o’s n
ew: B
ecc
y Foster &
Craig D
on
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Beccy and Craig with their son Stanley
Q: What's brought you to Forrest?
Craig: I'm a school teacher here in Forrest: I
teach grades 3 to 6. We moved here in April,
from Hordern Vale where we had a property.
I'd been driving to work here for the last 3
years and we decided to move here to see
what it's like to live in Forrest before perhaps
we buy here.
Beccy: It was so that as a family we could
have more time together, instead of Craig
driving for 2 hours a day.
Q: Beccy, I heard you're an artist, what
sort of art do you do?
Beccy: I've been doing cut-outs, out of paper,
very intricate but very large pieces. My
Masters was on belonging and connections to
place. I've found being here in Forrest
definitely lends itself to that - a lot of what I
was doing was on how people connect to
nature and establish a sense of belonging. As
well as having the bush here, I've found this is
one of the warmest communities we've lived
in.
Q: What do you like most about living
here?
Craig: As Beccy said, the people - and the
mountain biking. I discovered mountain
biking since I moved here and it's almost
changed my life, I love it so much. It's made
me extraordinarily fit, and I had no idea how
beautiful the bush was here until I got into it.
How diverse the vegetation is, the amount of
wildlife. The other thing I love about
mountain biking is it keeps you in the
moment – you're focusing so much on not
falling off the bike, you're free of all your
other thoughts, you're just there.
Q: Plans for the future?
Craig: If I'm able to secure a long-term
position at the school, I can see us living here.
Beccy: I'm hoping to have an exhibition next
year, maybe at a local gallery. I'll show some
of the work I did for my Masters degree and
whatever else Stan lets me do!
Owner: Sharon Bradshaw of the Forrest Brewery.
Why the name? She was named after Florence Broadhurst, the wall paper & textiles designer from the 60s & 70s. I was reading her biography at the time Flo arrived.
Favourite pastime: The ‘5 o'clocker’ - an almost daily, almost 5 o'clock walk we take with Jen from Station Street and Charlie her chihuahua.
Best trick: Flo is very patient & obedient, when we walk I make her 'stay' at a particular spot on the path, then I walk ahead a few
hundred metres and call her. She comes charging along like a horse running sideways.
A notable misadventure: We had friends & family staying in the caravan park a few years back and my Dad took Flo down to the caravan park to visit whilst I was working, then forgot about her and returned to the brewery. Some time passed before we realised we'd lost her, so we took off in the car around the streets looking for her, only to find her standing like a statue in exactly the same place he'd left her, waiting for his return.
Sharon Bradshaw
Sleeping off the ‘5 o’clocker’.
Open letter of goodbye from Gill Neale...
I came to Forrest in 1966, and lived in the community with Boxer and Squincher and Thunder and Bugs and Zuey, without knowing their real names for decades. I shopped for everything in one of the three general stores, standing at the counter and asking for what I wanted, then letting them do all the fetching and weighing and wrapping and adding up, while swapping all the local news at the same time.
I could go on a bus six days a week to Colac, early enough to get the morning train to Melbourne if needed, or
come back after lunch with the mail, sorted at the separate post office in Station Street.
We also had a resident school principal, resident policeman, several resident Forestry officers, a Lands
Department inspector, all with families and involved in the community, a visiting maternal welfare nurse, visiting
banker, a separate preschool centre, three active churches, a butcher's shop, and a footy team made up of all
locals.
Forrest was ringed by many family dairy farms. In the township itself, the engines of the timber mills were like a
throbbing heart, starting up early on Monday mornings and beating reassuringly for the whole working week. Log
truck drivers and bush crews were needed as well as the mill workers, and with the government departments in
the town, plenty of employment was available for the locals.
We spoke to and made eye contact with everyone. We shared and were involved with our neighbours' concerns.
(We were related, in many cases.)
It's different now, not better, not worse, just different. Just as I've been here long enough to qualify as a local, I'm
moving on. Good luck to all who live and visit here. Gill
Forrest tracks on horseback
Forrest Horse Riding Club was proud to host the annual Australian Trail Horse Riders Association (ATRHA), Western Victoria Regional camp on the weekend of 16-17 November.
Horseriders are always asking us to invite them back to Forrest and we saw it as a great opportunity to raise vital funds to assist in renovating our dilapidated clubrooms.
We were expecting about 50 nominees and ended up with 106 people from all over the state! Our core group of 10 regular riders, family and friends hosted a weekend that was a booming success. We also raised $3600 towards the clubrooms and many riders supported local businesses.
82 riders headed out on the Saturday on the back tracks of Forrest and Barwon Downs. The 5 hour ride took us through Haydens, Goats and Mahers track, entering the Otway Forrest Park through Ken Widdowson’s farm and King Creek track. All in fantastic weather!
On Sunday, 52 riders enjoyed a shorter ride along the Forrest rail trail and a few of Yaugher’s wider tracks.
The event would not have been possible without local support and our thanks go to all who contributed. The club invites riders to join us on regular rides on the third Sunday of each month.
Jo Simms, Secretary Forrest Horse Riding Club
Life on two wheels... one weekend ... over 5500 riders ...
Lunch at the Forrest town trail head was a welcome stop for the more than 5000 riders of the 30th annual RACV Great Victorian Bike Ride.
The 9 day, 610km ride started in Mt Gambier in South Australia on November 23. The route included Portland, Port Fairy and the Great Ocean Road to Port Campbell before heading into the hills.
The Otway stage included an overnight stay in Gellibrand and on to Birregurra, passing through Forrest on November 29.
The spectacular scenery along Turton’s Track and into Forrest helped to divert attention during the hilly sections.
Lead riders arrived in town before
10am, with most cycling in around lunchtime. Forrest’s cafes provided welcome coffee stops on the cool November day.
Whilst some riders found the climbs a challenge after days in the saddle,
others reported it as their favourite stage of the ride.
The next stage took riders back through the Otway forests to Torquay, with 5200 completing the final leg to Geelong on December 1.
Great Vic pedals into town
Here we are now 3 years in and what do we have. More than 350 riders arrived in town ready to hang with their mates and do some racing.
We introduced a number of new categories this year. Everyone loves to feel competitive and we'd like to think that we assisted many more in being able to feel like they are racing. The "Clydesdale" category was certainly a hit which means we might even extend it next year to a "Super Clydesdale".
At the front of the field we had our strongest male and female elite
Caspers Accommodation
a true ‘Ride-in Ride-out’ experience Located in the heart of Yaugher Trail Network
Fully self contained apartment sleeping up to four
Contact Rob or Deb [email protected] 0408 982 880 www.rideforrest.com.au
fields ever. Our male elite field extended to 25, resulting in a huge tussle all weekend between the top two with the eventual winner Kyle Ward over World Eliminator Champion Paul Van der Ploeg.
We had professional Xterra athlete Renata Bucher from Switzerland cause havoc for our biggest elite female field ever. Renata took the prize, only 5 minutes separating her from Jenni King in second.
For those new to our event, the first
thing that normally grabs them is
that our event revolves around the
township of Forrest ... this is a truly
Forrest Festival a big success
unique experience within Australia
A big thank you to all involved, we really enjoy bringing these events to you and we look forward to 2014.
Norm and Jess Douglas, Event Organisers (with event winners Kyle Ward and Renata Bucher)
The Forrest Post is an initiative of the Forrest and District Community Group. Every effort is made to remain current, accurate and non-partisan. Submissions may be edited to fit available space or to remove any material which does not fit with the above objective or could in any way be deemed offensive. Feedback, submissions and advertising input are encouraged. You may request an electronic version by email delivery. Contact [email protected]. Editors: Mandy Bishop, Mary Dracup
Found in the forest...
Cascading water and light create patterns
on the dam wall.
The big spill Barwon Water’s storage in the Otway Ranges, West Barwon Reservoir, spilled over following three months of above average rainfall.
Water started flowing over the spillway on Sunday, November 24, at a rate of 450 million litres a day.
West Barwon Reservoir overflowed several times between July and October, 2012. Prior to that, the last time it spilled was July, 2002.
Barwon Water General Manager Infrastructure Systems Paul Northey said it
PRETTY AS A PICTURE...
Share your photos of this beautiful part of the world: [email protected]
Fuel reduction burning efforts in April have given rise to a towering forest of flowers.
Xanthorrhoea Australis, or Grass Tree, is endemic to Australia with a life span of greater than 300 years, and a growth rate of around 1 to 2 cm per year.
As the plant grows new leaves replace the old, which in turn dry out and hang as a skirt. The skirt, which is very flammable, generally catches alight as a fire front moves past, adding further heat directly to the plant. Well adapted, new growth begins immediately and is often followed by a mass flowering event.
The flower stalks grow very
quickly, at a rate of 2-3 cms a
day. They can reach a height of
up to 3 metres. This abundance
of nectar can be an important
food source for insects, birds and small mammals such as pygmy possums, as generally other plants have not recovered enough to provide other major food sources.
The grasstree provides habitat for a wide range of insects, reptiles, small mammals and even birds, who find both shelter and food at different stages of the plant and the forest’s life cycle.
Aboriginals’ use was many and
varied, with the flower spikes
being used as a fishing spears.
Flower heads were soaked in
water to create a sweet
drink and resin from the trunk
was use as a type of glue when
making spears and other tools.
Grass Trees are very vulnerable
to the root rot disease called
cinnamon fungus (Phytophthora cinnamomi). You may have seen some plants in the bush where the leaves have gone brown. In some areas the fungus can be devastating, wiping out many plants.
Peter Ashton, Forrest Guesthouse
was unusual to see the reservoir spilling in late spring.
“The last time West Barwon spilled in November was 2001,” Mr Northey said.
“Good, consistent rainfall since August has seen West Barwon remain at a high level, even with a large volume of water sent to Wurdee Boluc Reservoir, which is also currently at capacity,” he said.
Rainfall at West Barwon in August was 71 per cent above average while in September and October it was approximately 28 per cent above average.