The winner of topic three Run in the Bellarine Writing Competition is Anne Whisken with her compelling story about early settlement problems in Australia.

The judges appreciated the outstanding evocation of the terrible realities that were faced by the Indigenous people.

The early departure of the local clan for a new location, necessitated by the rampant disease brought by the colonists, adds to the momentum of the story. The characters are well depicted and the language throughout is controlled and powerful.

This topic attracted 15 entries, many of which were considered as possible winners with every entry a competent piece of writing.

Notable mentions go to Jenny Macaulay, Wes Furyk, Mark Towse and Ali Holburn.

Anne Whisken

Anne is a librarian and teacher librarian who has retired to Portarlington on Wadawurrung Country.

Her PhD focused on ways that information literacy might be taught as part of subject learning. She maintains a keen interest in libraries, including library services to the northern Bellarine.

Portarlington Neighbourhood House writing groups have helped her try creative writing.

A descendant of convict and free English and Irish, Anne grew up in North East Victoria on Jaitmathong Country and East Gippsland on Gunai/Kurnai Country, with a rich history of family story telling about the hard olden days.

She heard about the old Aboriginal people who had been there before, their tools dug up as paddocks were ploughed. There were stories of women who had run

from the north and lived on the periphery locally.

More recently, she has learned more about the impact of European diseases on Aboriginal people in the early days of invasion and how they ran to escape, tragically carrying the contagion with them.

The story prompt Run brought her to think about the harsh conditions for two sets of women who did not choose their circumstances.

Run by Anne Whisken

She was still out there. An echo of a slender tree trunk, shaped a step to the side, waiting and watching the house. Grace felt the burn of her eyes, the pull and urgency of the call.

Come. Now, now!

Grace knew the woman would leave soon. Already she had lingered too long. Her people had left weeks ago on their annual winter escape from the mountain cold down to lower sheltered gullies. But it was earlier than usual this year, their departure abrupt.

The smoke from their fires was suddenly gone, the last of the family groups glimpsed moving silently through the bush, wary eyes peering back to the north.

Then a few days back, others came, strangers, noisy in the bush, running, running. Some were found, sickened, on the tracks and her man said there were stories of bodies all the way to Sydney Cove.

Faster they run, faster it spreads, hed grunted. Saves bullets.

This man had offered Grace the chance of a ho...

It was grand final week for Tuesday Midweek and teams were primed for big results.

It was difficult to pick a favourite in Section 1 between Geelong Lawn and Surfcoast Black Torquay with both teams having convincing wins over the other during the season and the grand final was no exception.

Lawn started the match well taking the first two sets 7-5, 6-2 and from there didnt look back, taking all but the final set to end the day with a 5-1 win.

Barwon Heads and Point Lonsdale had also scored wins against each other in Section 2, but the Heads, minor premiers, were not going to squander their home court advantage, breaking Lonny in the first four sets to give them an unassailable lead and the premiership.

Aireys Inlet continued their winning form against Surfcoast Yellow when they proved victorious in Section 3. The first two sets were split between the teams, but from there Aireys pulled out a gritty 5-1 win with the remaining sets decided 7-5 or 6-4.

Aireys were not so fortunate in Section 4 when they faced Ocean Grove. With both home and away matches between the teams decided on games after drawing on sets, the match was destined to be a belter.

The first two sets went one each way, before the Grove took the upper hand winning the next two. Aireys fought back taking the fifth set, but the Grove rallied to win the last putting them ahead four sets to two, earning them the flag.

Surfcoast were guaranteed a win in Section 5 when Jan Juc Blue hosted Torquay Black.

Black had form over their counterparts through the season winning all three of their encounters, and the final was no exception. Black jumped out of the blocks taking the first five sets before Blue got themselves on the board, but the win had been sealed by Black 5-1.

The closest result of the day came in Section 6 when Clifton Springs travelled to Surfcoast Bellbrae. The teams had been evenly matched all season with each taking a 4-2 win through the season and Bellbrae getting home in the first semi by a mere two games.

The match started with each team having comfortable wins in the first two sets 6-2 and 6-1, before things tightened with the third and fourth set also going one each way, but this time with only one service break the difference, 6-4 and 6-3. Going into the final two sets the Springs held a slim two-game lead and were determined to hold on to it. The Springs put themselves well in contention when they won the fifth 6-4, but Sue Douglas and Gail Dunstan proved too strong for Bellbrae in the last, winning 6-1, pushing them ahead in the game count and producing a one- game win.

Moolap turned the tables when it mattered this week in their match against Western Heights Uniting in Section 7. In their fourth meeting for the season, Moolap scored their first win against the minor premiers, but while the score line looked one sided, with a tie-break, 7-5 and three sets at 6-4, it was a hard fought wi...

There has been some great fishing on offer this past week despite the average conditions.

Inside Corio Bay the Geelong waterfront is still holding some great fishing with pinky, salmon, trevally and flathead all taking a liking to soft plastics. Anglers fishing with baits such as bluebait are also finding success.

Clifton Springs and the Bellarine Peninsula has seen some fantastic calamari fishing going at the moment with anglers finding some absolute brutes cruising around the shallows of Clifton Springs.

Size 3.5 jigs have been working very well in natural blue colours proving the standout.

Queenscliff has fished very well for King George whiting this past week with the grass beds straight out the harbour holding lots of big whiting. Fishing the stronger tides (the ebb tide is fishing best) is going to be your best bet in tangling with a school of these tasty hard fighting fish.

Offshore Barwon Heads has still had some great fishing on offer to those bottom fishing for snapper and gummies with both species on the chew.

Fishing in 30 metres of water anywhere along the coast is holding plenty of fish. Burleying has been a key factor to those boats picking up the most fish and the best rigs have been the black magic snapper snatchers with fresh squid or salmon.

Portland fished very well to those anglers in search of bluefin tuna finding lots of fish holding in Cape Nelson in 60 metres of water with Gone Fishing keeping hot on the fishs tail and getting their customers plenty of fish.

Anglers having some good success also bottom fishing with gummy sharks to 20kg on offer. Drifting in 40 metres has been holding lots of fish.

Lake Wendouree has been a trout hotspot this past week with both browns and rainbows on the chew. This is a fantastic lake to fish if youre in a kayak, small tinny or land based.

Casting over the shallow weed beds with super shallow running jerkbaits or bent minnows are working an absolute treat with fish to 4lb on offer.

Wurdibuloc has been a popular land based location for anglers and for good reason as the trout and redfin are on the chew. The rock walls have been offering some great fishing lately with anglers casting spoon lures finding great success with trout to 5lb and redfin to 45cm chewing.

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Ocean Grove Surf Lifesaving Club has received state government funding to help its athletes compete in the Australian Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) championships.

IRB athlete Orlagh Davison said the more than $2000 grant would allow 20 to 25 club athletes to attend New South Wales Kingscliff in July to participate in the championships.

Having the grant allows more of us to get there because it cuts the cost for all of us, she said.

Were hoping to use the grant towards our carnival fees because weve got such a big team.

The money will help pay for us to be able to compete as were quite young and a lot of us are still studying, so it was going to go towards entry fees and the carnival levy.

It might also go towards some sort of accommodation, but were pretty lucky in the fact that we can have the accommodation at a smaller price due to being such a big team.

Ms Davison said the championships were a good opportunity for the team to be together and see how everyones skills had progressed.

Thats when we all suddenly shock ourselves and the best of the best of us come out, she said.

We impress ourselves by making it through rounds, making it to the finals and sometimes some of us even have the opportunity to win medals.

Ms Davison said the grant made the IRB team feel appreciated and was thankful for the chance to show off their skills.

It helps us stay within the surf club and refines our skills for when we do need to do actual rescues, as this is why we do the sport, she said.

Minister for Community Sport Ros Spence said he was proud to provide local sporting groups with the opportunity to showcase their skills through government funding.

Our up-and-coming athletes and future champions are putting in the hard work, he said.

Thats why we are helping them realise their sporting dreams by removing barriers associated with travel and accommodation costs.

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Bellarine MP Alison Marchant has accused the City of Greater Geelong for being ready for a photo opportunity at the opening of the Boronggook Drysdale Library when it knew it would not be able to fund its operational costs.

The new library was opened on May 5 just days after the City announced its 2023-24 budget, which exposed a shortfall in operational funding of the regions libraries.

Barwon Heads, Geelong West and Highton libraries were facing closure due to a lack of funding, but still may operate on reduced hours, including Boronggook Drysdale.

The moves have angered residents who have organised rallies and bombarded council with letters, petitions and in-person meetings in protest of the changes.

At the Boronggook Drysdale Library official opening on May 5, Ms Marchant spoke of the state governments $1 million contribution to building the library.

In my address at the official opening of the Boronggook Drysdale Library, I expressed the importance of libraries, its social impacts and significance of its addition to residents of the north Bellarine region, she said.

Stating we recognise that libraries enrich local communities by supporting a culture that values reading, learning and social connection.

It is incredibly disappointing that CoGG were ready for the photo opportunity but not prepared to fund the Boronggook Drysdale Librarys operational costs.

I congratulate the community for their continued advocacy. They have been diligent, passionate and extremely proficient in their arguments for change.

I proudly stand with the community and support their calls for the council to do better. I believe the community feels swindled, when the council were happy to grandstand at its official opening knowing full well that they would not be funding its ongoing operation adequately.

It is now time for the council to do the right thing. I respectfully ask the council to fund the GRLC fully and appropriately.

Mayor Trent Sullivan said council was hoping to secure extra funding from the state government for next years budget.

We will be having a conversation with the government over the next year in the hope of securing additional state funding to support our libraries in time for next years budget, he said.

We would appreciate Ms Marchants support to achieve this.

Reflecting the value we place in libraries, we contributed $8.156 million towards the build of the Boronggook Drysdale Library, alongside the governments $1 million.

Our proposed budget for next year includes $13.948 million towards our regions libraries, which represents a greater investment per resident than almost every other Council in Victoria.

Neither we nor the community have been told at this point what the state governments contribution to our libraries will be in 2023-24. This is a major concern considering our proposed allocation has been unde...

Surfside Primary Schools 75 grade six students put their Master Chef hats on this week.

Part of the Ocean Grove schools kitchen garden program, the Master Chef competition is a culmination of four years of work by the students, who start learning about food and cooking in grade three.

The students start learning in grade three and it all culminates in a Master Chef day that finishes off their primary school culinary tuition.

This years theme was Australian Indigenous ingredients and students prepared dishes such as Torres Strait Island fried scones, warrigal greens and saltbush risotto, anise myrtle damper and savoury muffins with a lemon myrtle butter.

Kitchen specialist Fleur Kilpatrick said while it was sad that the students had finished their culinary tuition at the school, the initiative had given them life skills.

They love it, she said.

They gain culinary skills, but they work in teams and each have a go at being the leader.

They learn teamwork and problem solving and just appreciate a lot of different flavours. We do lots of multicultural baking and cooking.

The judging panel, which included principal Peter Walsh, were impressed with the students dishes.

The post Budding chefs get to work appeared first on Ocean Grove Voice.

A community group continues to fight against a potential development in Portarlington ahead of a VCAT case conference in June.

The City of Greater Geelongs Planning Committee opposed the permit application by 49 Newcombe Street Pty Ltd during its May 31 meeting, with the developer now taking the case to VCAT.

VCAT will hold a compulsory conference on the developers application for a proposed five-story building at 49 Newcombe Street on June 23 and a case hearing from August 30 to September 3.

The building site is close to 940.7 metres-squared and would include ten apartments with two retail shops.

Portarlington Community Association president Geoff Fary said community members were still unhappy with the proposed development despite changing the design and application.

This has been a long running and controversial issue in our little coastal town, he said.

Theres been some alterations to the design, but its still basically a five-level apartment block, which would, in the view of many, block out the vistas from the main street to the bay.

Mr Fary said the associations main objection to the development was the height and bulk of the building, which would affect the north facing views from the main street down to the bay.

He also said the community wasnt opposed to development and growth and would like to compromise with the developer.

There needs to be an acceptable alternative arrived at that meets the communitys expectations, but that doesnt see the landowner out of pocket either, he said.

We would really like for all parties to come to an arrangement whereby that land could return to public ownership and the developer would be appropriately compensated.

Spiire Property and Infrastructure Consultants senior associate Roger Munn spoke on behalf of the 49 Newcombe Street application during the May Planning Committee meeting.

Mr Munn said the application had undergone significant redesigns and consultations.

We acknowledge the uniqueness of this site and the sensitive coastal interface, he said.

The Planning Committee accepted that the loss of the current clear view to the bay is a reasonable expectation for the redevelopment of this commercial land within the towns centre.

The post Portarlington opposes building development appeared first on Ocean Grove Voice.

The awards keep on coming for Rolling Pin Pies & Cakes.

The beloved Ocean Grove shop, which has also branched out to the industrial estate, Leopold, Queenscliff and South Geelong, won two awards at Australias Best Pie and Pastie Competition run by the Baking Association of Australia.

The jumbo chunky beef won the best plain chunky beef pie and the chicken, leek and tarragon took out the best poultry pie.

Rolling Pin has now won 24 national titles in all national competitions.

Hailing from all over Australia, 380 bakeries entered over 1500 pies to be judged over the three days of the competition.

General manager Nathan Williams said the popularity of the jumbo chunky beef pie had stood the test of time.

It would be our most awarded pie ever, its won 15 gold medals, he said.

Its one of our most popular pies and it would be considering how well its been judged over the last 10 years.

The chicken, leek and tarragon pie was a darkhorse.

Tarragon wasnt a herb that I was overly familiar with, Mr Williams said.

I had one in New Zealand a few years ago. I just felt like having another crack at a creamy one. I first sent this pie to the competition last year and it scored really well and made a few tweaks. My wife thought it was a darkhorse.

Mr Williams said winning medals never gets tiring.

We were just ecstatic it (winning) never gets old, he said.

It seems to have gotten more stressful with the expectations. Im really proud that were still winning. The competition feels like its getting harder. So many bakeries are involved and theres a lot of creativity out there now.

The post Theyve done it again appeared first on Ocean Grove Voice.