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The Rotary Club of
Mount Eliza
Chartered 1971
 
Club Information
Mount Eliza
Service Above Self
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM
Dining Room, Toorak College
Mt Eliza
Mount Eliza, VIC 3930
Australia
Phone:
0419 386 900
Dinner Meeting at Toorak College & Zoom Meeting Conference Number 82650442487
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President's Message - John Welsh

 
 
President’s report 20th November 2022
 
Hello Fellow Rotarians,
 
It was great to hear from Caroline, Judy Coultas’s sister about King Island. She is quite a character
and was very entertaining concerning her life on King Island.
An artist, potter, environmentalist restauranteur, she has achieved so much and sits on the tourist board of the island, a place now on my bucket list!

It was good to see Rosslyn Thompson from Rotary club of Nobel Park and the owner of Marengo
vineyard in Mornington, great wines! Nice to see Alex and Rowan has returned from WA and regaled
us with his story of the overland wireless.
Our Christmas party is on the 13th of December and the link to reserve a spot will be out shortly.

Bunnings this Friday and partners night next Tuesday, Maurie has arranged an international speaker from the Marist brothers in Timor.
 
There will be a fund-raising film night on the 1st of December at the Rosebud cinema. It is a film that will be released early next year and is about finding the King!  Richard the third. More info shortly.

I look forward to seeing you next Tuesday.

 
Regards 
John
     
 
Stories
This Week's Speaker
Caroline Kinninmonth presented a great talk about her life on King Island and showed us some of the beautiful art and ceramics she has created
Caroline is the youngest of 4 Mckay sister, Judy Coultas is the second oldest.

She was always very artistic and imaginative, even at school, and nearly graduated as an architect, but left university to marry a farmer and settle near Sale, East Gippsland.
She has been constantly involved in sheep farming, horticulture, and in the last 39 years, has become an excellent business woman, artist, potter and property owner on King Island. She runs several outlets on the Island for all her creations made from kelp, clay and paint. 

Caroline has become famous for her Restaurant without any Food and has received significant publicity for this very special boathouse and all that it offers.
She has made a huge contribution to tourism and the promotion of King Island industries and spends many hours on King Island airline flights to and from Moorabbin to connect with her family and east Gippsland property. 

Caroline is the mother of Stuart Kininmonth, who has recently spoken to us from Heron Island and has 2 daughters in Sydney.
 
                          
 
Caroline with some of the terrific artwork she creates on King Island including having painted her boots especially for the night!!
Read more...
3 Minute Speaker
Our 3 minute speaker this week was Rowan Miller who gave a fascinating talk about Eyre
 
                                                      
 
 
Eyre – The most remote place in the world
 
Most of you are aware that I have travelled across the country to WA & Perth, for most of my life.    My first crossing in January 1970 and have since then done the trip across by road hundreds of times. 
On the very first trip I could not help but notice the telegraph poles of the Inter- Continental Telegraph line across the continent. The Telegraph line primarily followed the route taken by explorer Edward John Eyre. The Eucla telegraph station being officially opened on the 9th of December 1877 joining the East to the West.
In the pre federation days WA used International morse code while SA used American Morse code. This meant the telegraph operators sat opposite each other, with a small wall between them representing the border between SA & WA. Each message was decoded & then passed through the pigeonhole in the border wall. 
With my interest in the Telegraph line, it has always been my intention to drive East - West under the old Telegraph line as much as possible. Needless to say, with life and its complications this has not completely happened. 
In 1994, we managed to do the section from Eucla to Eyre. Like anything else in the outback, it has to be carefully planned, to ensure you know where you are going & what you are likely to encounter. We did not have GPS then, so maps, and talking to locals who give you up to date information were important.  At the time we did this section no one had been through for 3 or more months... so basic supplies for survival and recovery gear need to be carried as well. 
We weaved our way from Eucla telegraph station, which is now nearly completely covered by sand, along the line, following the steel poles of the old line located to the south of Wylie scarp, past the Burnabbie ruins, a disused settlement, which at the time our then children were fascinated to rummage through the relics, exploring to see what they could find.   
The location of the Eyre Telegraph station is where Eyre & his party found fresh water. They camped there for a month before proceeding on their journey. It is located 50 ks to the south of Cocklebiddy, or looking at a map of Australia halfway in between the SA - WA border and Esperance on the coast... Coming from Cocklebiddy you travel south to Wylie Scarp, descend the steep incline & then have to travel over 26klms of Sand Dunes .. which requires a good 4x4 & making NO mistakes. 
When we arrived at Eyre we were greeted by the resident caretakers, and then shown around the Telegraph station. The original building was weatherboard with corrugated iron roof, but in 1897 they completed a new limestone & corrugated iron roof building which stands there today. This was restored in 1977.  It is a magnificent building with high ceilings & and a number of large rooms... 
Its primary use today is the Eyre Bird Sanctuary, which is an educational, scientific & recreational facility in the Nuytsland Nature Reserve. Over 245 species of birds have been recorded in the surrounding reserve.
One of the most fascinating things to me about Eyre is the library.  During the cold war, there was an American multi-millionaire who was so worried that there would be a nuclear holocaust, and the world as we knew it would be destroyed, that he looked for what he considered to be the most remote place in the world, one that would survive & he chose Eyre. He sent a book on every subject to Eyre so the survivors of the holocaust had all the information and knowledge that had been learned by man & therefore could rebuild a new world. There are 3 rooms in the Eyre Telegraph station, approximately 25 feet long, 10 feet wide & 12 feet high, and the books go floor to ceiling. This fascinated me. 
We had to draw short our stay & did not continue our trip under the Telegraph line, as our daughter became quite ill ... so it was back to the road over the sand dunes to The Bitumen Eyre Hwy & off to the Norseman hospital 
Maybe now I have finally stopped work ... I might be able to continue this journey one day soon. 
Great to see Rowan back and looking so well
 
 
Read more...
Club Meetings
See the source image     
Bookings are now open for our Christmas Dinner/ Party for Rotarians, Honorary Rotarians, friends and family members at
 
  Toorak College on Tuesday 13 December.
 
 The cost of the evening for canapés and sparkling wines on arrival followed by a traditional Christmas Dinner are $45.
 
         The following link will take you to the booking site.    https://events.humanitix.com/rotary-mt-eliza-christmas-party - the link is live
 
 
Here is the Roster for the next few Weeks
 
Speaker - 
 
Cashiers - Sue Voss is rostered on this week with Pauline Mc Farlane - could someone please fill in for Pauline
 
Sergeant - Ross if well enough or Mike
 
Furniture - Mike then Tim
 
3 minute speaker - Linda Morris, followed by Janet Richards
 
Fellowship - Kaye followed by Judy.  
 
Please ensure you have asked the next person on the list if you are unable to do your allotted duty
 
 
Date & VenueSpeakerChairCashiersFellowship
November 22 - Toorak CollegeInternational Night - East Timor - please bring partners and friendsMaurie SelthSue Voss & Pauline McFarlane?Kaye McCauley
November 29 - Toorak College Club NightCarolyn SuchRhonda Vincent & Phil Key - please note change due to Carolyn ChairingJudy Coultas
December 6th - Toorak CollegeJim Voss - the Man Behind the BadgeBernie EdwardsCaryl Coultard & John Horscroft Kay McCauley
December 13th - Toorak CollegeChristmas PartyN/AN/AN/A
Read more...
Brynton's Joke of the Week
Brynton's back with another Joke of the Week 
Aaron Schwartz is 83 years old and living in the Jewish retirement home.
A graduate student visits and asks for volunteers to answer some survey questions on Human Sexuality; Aaron agrees.

"Mr. Schwartz, I see from your completed questionnaire that you wrote that you have sex 'almost every day,' " says the student.
"But, Mr. Schwartz...Seriously?"

"What? You don't believe?" says the elderly man. "You want I should drop out of your schmaltzy project? You calling me a liar?"

"Oh, no. Never," says the apologetic grad student. "But you ARE 83, Mr. Schwartz. Perhaps you misunderstood the question."

"I understand fine Mr. Collegeboy, and I DO have sex almost every day," says Aaron.

"ALMOST on Sunday... ALMOST on Monday... ALMOST on..."
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P O Box 95 Mount Eliza 3930
We meet at 6:00 PM Every Tuesday at Toorak College