Visitors to Castlemaine and surrounds can now discover more about the region’s past from the comfort of their car thanks to a new app – Autio.
Autio was co-founded in the US by actor Kevin Costner in a bid to share local history and stories.
“I love stories, I am the guy that stops at the historical markers along the highway, usually bringing moans from everyone in the car,” Costner said.
“But it was this continuing curiosity that I began to think Autio could satisfy without anyone having to leave the car,” the actor said.
Autio has announced its Australian launch, in partnership with the Victoria Tourism Industry Council, initially focusing on Victoria in the region between Castlemaine, Bendigo and Echuca.
Autio is a mobile audio entertainment app for travel that uses geolocation technology to automatically play stories of landmarks, cities and towns nearby. Headquartered in California with a mission to deliver a compelling story at the right time, wherever you may be; the app features over 10,000 stories in the United States and now hundreds in Australia.
The app won the Webby for ‘Best Travel App’ and has been featured as ‘App of the Day’ by Apple.
Autio Australia production director Daryl Missen said it is exciting to capture the wonderful stories of Australia, starting in regional Victoria.
“We are loving learning more and more about our amazing country on this journey, and bringing the stories to life,” he said.
“Every place has a story, now every story has a place. With over 200 stories and growing that are free to listen to, from Castlemaine, Bendigo, Echuca, Heathcote, Daylesford, Kyabram and more, Autio provides an entertaining, informative, and important record of these incredible Australian places,” Missen said.
Autio Australia Content Director Dan Bradley said some of the local stories to feature include content on the origins of Castlemaine, when it was originally named Forest Creek – and the influence of gold on the region, when John Worley who announced the discovery of gold in the area. It also includes content on local footy legend Ron Barrassi; the launch of the Theatre Royal and the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens; the story of Brownlow Medallist Dustin Martin growing up in Yapeen; the renaming of a stretch of the old Calder to Harmony Way after Henry Harmony Nelson of the Dja Dja Wurrung clan; and the origins of Maldon.
“We are adding to the content all the time. Each piece runs for two to four minutes,” Bradley said.
The Autio app is now available for download free from the Apple App Store.
Kevin Costner’s travel app launched in Australia
Japanese art to feature at Lot 19
Lot 19 Art Precinct in Langslow Street is excited to launch its first exhibition of 2023 this weekend, Isabelle Kawai Vincent’s It’s too Black and White.
Growing up the first second generation Japanese Australian in Castlemaine Isabelle Kawai Vincent was surrounded by Japanese images from books, magazines, posters, kimonos, Japanese ornaments and music.
Whilst completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts, she embraced the innate Japanese influence that was becoming evident in her art, and initiated her own study of Japanese art as it was almost non-existent in Australia at that time.
The exhibition focuses on art Isabelle created whilst living and studying Kodaimoji, the ancient form of Kanji, Japanese Sumi-e Ink painting, in Japan for five years.
Isabelle will do a live painting performance, accompanied by live music on Saturday January 21. See the Lot 19 website for details.
Lot 19 are looking forward to a wonderful year, with the first quarter of 2023 seeing the venue hosting exhibitions from Cate Kennedy and Bill Gregory, as well as Open Studios during the Castlemaine State Festival, and their popular annual event Castlemaine Idyll during the Castlemaine Fringe Festival.
High octane speed boat racing at Lake Eppalock
The Victorian Speed Boat Club is hosting the annual Eppalock Gold Cup boat race this Saturday January 7.
The race meeting is a round of the Australian Power Boat Championship series and the Eppalock Cup itself is a Perpetual Trophy that dates back to 1958.
This high-octane event will feature some of the finest power boat racing in Australia.
It will feature many classes of racing boats, from 15 Hp Junior boats raced by kids through to 2000 HP monsters capable of speeds in excess of 270Kmh.
The GP Hydroplanes will be racing. They are the fastest, loudest, most exciting boats on the water. It’s loud, it’s spectacular, and it’s very, very exciting.
Other attractions on the day will be a Hot Rod car show, Vintage boat display and remote control model boat display.
Come Feel The Noise at the Victorian Speed Boat Club on the shores of Lake Eppalock, Speed Boat Road Derrinal.
The action starts from 9.30 am Saturday morning. This event allows families and friends to enjoy a fun day out of fast-charged racing action and exhibitions. Food and drink are available throughout the day, and kids under 10 are permitted free. Part proceeds will be donated to the Victorian Flood Appeal.
From our archives – looking back at the stories that made headlines
The Castlemaine Mail looks back at pages from our archives in this monthly column.
20 years ago
December 13, 2002
Castlemaine legal firm HSW Lawson and Co celebrated its 150 anniversary with a re-enactment of the opening of the first Supreme Court on the goldfields, placement of a time capsule, the planting of trees and a dinner. A former Castlemaine man was charged with armed robberies at Harcourt Post Office and Winters Flat Store, and local emergency services were called out to a truck rollover at Guildford. Fortunately the driver only incurred minor injuries in the crash.
15 years ago
December 7, 2007
The 75th anniversary of post World War One project – the Great Ocean Road – was celebrated. Castlemaine had a connection to both the project and celebrations. The first charge to begin the huge project was set off on November 19, 1919 by then Premier of Victoria Castlemaine’s HSW Lawson. To mark the celebrations the Castlemaine connection was kept alive with two local vehicles, Felix Cappy’s 1928 Delarge and Roger Rayson’s 1932 Invicta, part of the convoy which marked the anniversary. In other news Swan Hill tuned up for Bendigo Country Week with a hit out against Castlemaine.
10 years ago
December 28, 2012
Local men Jed McDonald and Mat Taft were honoured to receive Bravery Awards for their efforts to rescue a woman from floodwaters in 2010. Deirdre McDonough was driving home when her car was washed off the Pyrenees Hwy and into the flooded Muckleford Creek about 9.30pm. Jed waded out and freed the woman from her submerged vehicle but the pair were unable to make it back to safety, clinging to a tree. Arriving on the scene Mat called for assistance from emergency services before managing to pull the woman to safety using a rope and lifejacket. An SES volunteer managed to rescue Jed using the same method.
5 years ago
December 22, 2017
Taradale resident Michelle Guest and her husband were fortunate to escape injury after a massive tree crashed through their loungeroom. Michelle told the Mail if the pair hadn’t gone to check on their animals during the storm, they might have been in the path of the tree.
Taradale was among the hardest hit areas during the storm which lashed the region around 7pm on Tuesday December 19, 2017 bringing down trees and powerlines. Ninety year old Joe Hancock lost a significant part of his roof and said it was the worst storm he’d seen since he settled in Taradale in 1961.
Take a look back at John Smith Store Yapeen
Circa 1890s
John Smith’s store was located on the Yapeen-Vaughan road on a sharp corner about 300 metres from the Guildford-Castlemaine Road. According to the local paper, he inaugurated his new premises in October 1864 with a banquet and invited 40 friends. The General Store indeed provided a comprehensive range of goods and services. Signage on the buildings indicates that it was a post office, it sold boots and shoes, and the ‘bar’ sign on the window under the verandah confirms it was also a hotel. He was also a local agent for the Colonial Mutual Fire Insurance Company. On the right, John Smith’s timberyard offered virtually everything that a modern day hardware store would sell including timber, steel, paint, galvanised iron, fencing wire, doors, glass and wallpaper. The hay and corn section of the business suffered a destructive fire in 1884 but fortunately did not spread to the general store and residence. John Smith died in 1898 and the business passed to his son, C.J. Smith.
2022
This is the exact same scene in the modern day and all the buildings shown in the earlier image can easily be identified with the former timber store on the right, the old general store in the centre and a timber structure on the left with a tall chimney behind the electricity pole. John Smith’s name is emblazoned on the front of the former general store in a similar location to the larger sign shown in the earlier photograph. Information and images courtesy of Ken McKimmie.
My Castlemaine with Amy Sattler
Amy Sattler
Hi Amy. You’ve lived in Castlemaine on and off for 20 years, what brought you here?
My parents bought a B&B when we were living in Melbourne and moved up here while I was in high school. I organised to board with people in Thornbury to finish school, but worked in Castlemaine on the weekends. Once I finished school I moved up here. I’ve always felt more connected to rural towns. We lived in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory when I was in primary school. It was a remote desert town, I never wore shoes and was always out riding my bike. When we moved back to Melbourne I went to a girls school in the city, which was an adjustment.
You would be a familiar face to regulars at Saffs. How did you come to work there? What other careers have you had over the years?
I studied Early Childhood Education and worked with kinder aged kids in Castlemaine for 10 years. I still recognise their little faces – like they’re still three years old. The parents say to them, ‘do you remember Amy?’ and some of them look blank, but others remember.
I’ve always worked in hospo, even while I was teaching. I love food, I love making food. I’ve always felt there was a sense of community, particularly at Saffs. I first started working there 19 years ago in 2003. They were very formative years. I made a lot of friendships that I still have today.
What other work have you done?
I had always thought I would work in early education forever but one year my contract wasn’t renewed. Apparently that year there were low birth rates across the state. I was just sort of in shock.
I ended up getting a job in a food education program in Footscray for a homelessness and family violence service. I worked there for five years, developing a program working with traumatised women. It was an amazing program. I worked with Gardening Australia to design a rooftop garden and had a commercial kitchen. 25 women lived on site, from many different cultural backgrounds. Most of my work was building safety and connection to use skills they already had. It was a lot of fun. I played music and we would laugh, sing and dance.
But my son Oscar and I both yearned for Castlemaine. I loved Footscray, loved my friends and the work, but this was our home so we moved back here.
I worked at Bendigo Foodshare as a Community Services Coordinator for 12 months before coming back to Saffs. The owner had been asking me to come back for 10 years and I’d always said no. We worked out a role for me as general manager, he said, ‘I know you’re going to come here and try and save the world in some way so let’s build that into your role’. I’ve been back since August.
That sounds like an incredibly busy life! Do you have time for other interests?
I didn’t. I worked in jobs that were my interest, with social connection, creativity, food and culture. But I recently did a six month carpentry workshop at Castlemaine Community House. I’m constantly renovating. I like to make things, moisturisers, earrings, Christmas wreaths. And since I’ve come back I’ve started doing African Dance. I always try to do things with Oscar that are pretty wild adventures – we do a lot of camping.
What genre of music do you like?
I love so many different genres. I always make time to go and see live music. The most recent tickets I’ve bought have been: Nick Cave, The Waifs, Xavier Rudd and Baker Boy.
Are there any philosophies you live life by?
I believe in continuing to learn and having adventures. I also access humour in situations people wouldn’t normally which has got me through so much.
What do you love most about the place you call home?
The people. I’ve lived in other places that are beautiful to look at like the Macedon Ranges, which is beautiful and green. But I love the red earth, the rocks. I raised Oscar as a young child outside of Fryerstown where there was a red dam and I’d be saying, ‘don’t fall down the mine shaft’. I missed that.
The community here are really unique and if you get sick there will be five meals on your doorstep.
It’s real connections to people, I feel aligned to them, their philosophies and way of life.
I guess it’s the combo of landscape and people. The place is alive and you can dip in and out of it as you need to, but you can have quiet times too, just jump in the Res whenever I want.
Honouring the Queen
As the school year recently wound to a close, Castlemaine Secondary College (CSC) students, staff and School Council representatives gathered with community leaders for an official ceremony to commemorate the trees planted in honour of the Queen’s Jubilee.
CSC received a $10,000 grant towards the project which celebrated the late Queen Elizabeth II’s incredible 70 year reign.
Funding for the project was made possible thanks to the former Morrison Government’s ‘Planting Trees for The Queen’s Jubilee Program’ and a plaque will be installed as a lasting reminder of Queen Elizabeth’s legacy.
CSC School Council president Beth Mellick welcomed everyone in attendance including Federal Member for Bendigo Lisa Chesters and Mount Alexander Shire Council mayor Rosie Annear and thanked Ms Chesters for her support and encouragement of CSC in applying for the grant program.
Ms Mellick said the project faced a lot of obstacles with numerous delays and their proposed contractor falling ill.
“In the end we enlisted the help of parents and students to get the trees in the ground,” Ms Mellick said.
Mayor Annear said the trees planted in two locations will offer much needed shade during the hot summer months, but they also connect native vegetation from surrounding bushland into the school grounds.
“I’m told future plans include additional plantings of understorey vegetation and then a First Nations ceremonial circle. This is a wonderful inclusion considering the work this school does in creating a culturally safe space,” Ms Annear said.
Ms Chesters said a lot had happened since the grants were announced with the passing of the Queen and the election of a new government.
The local member said the project represented a moment in our history. “It’s very fitting to have two parts of our history here – our connection to the monarchy and our First Nations heritage,” she said.
Ms Chesters also announced the school had been successful in attaining a further $10,000 from the newly elected Albanese Federal Government to continue enhancing outdoor learning spaces and plantings at the redeveloped campus.
Don KR Castlemaine solar farm on the horizon
Mount Alexander Shire Council has approved Don KR Castlemaine’s application to build and install 9,400 solar panels on 26.977 hectares of farmland adjoining the factory.
The council received six objections relating to native vegetation removal, the use of farming-zoned land for industry, the use of barbed wire fencing, and noise concerns.
While plans have been altered to reduce tree removal, the development will still require the removal of five large and 12 small trees.
A Flora and Fauna survey, commissioned by Don KR, considered the vegetation to be in poor condition based on a high ratio of exotic species (13) compared to native species (19) found on site.
As part of the proposal Don KR is required to undertake seed collection from trees to be removed, propagate seeds, undertake replanting works on site, and install nest boxes for Powerful and Barking Owls, Honeyeaters/ Parrot, and Brush-Tailed Phascogale.
Once the facility has been constructed the land surrounding the panels will continue being utilised for grazing, no longer requiring barbed wire fences.
The solar panels will generate 3.5MW and are estimated to supply approximately 25 per cent of the site’s power.
At last week’s meeting of council Cr Gary McClure stated that the proposal will be good for Castlemaine, despite the removal of vegetation, particularly with work undertaken by Don KR and their consultants to reconfigure the proposal in order to reduce tree loss.
“It’s going to be a good outcome for the climate change emergency,” Cr McClure said.
Cr Tony Cordy agreed the project would be fantastic, particularly given the number of jobs dependent on the facility.
“Okay, there’s some native vegetation going to be lost,” Cr Cordy said.
“But on balance, the project is very much an environmental project with substantial investment by the company.”
Castlemaine Community Christmas Lunch
The Community Christmas Lunch being coordinated by Castlemaine Community House and supporters at the Castlemaine Town Hall is now fully booked with 200 people and a host of volunteers set to enjoy the Christmas Day event. This week students from Castlemaine North Primary School dropped off a load of decorations they have made to brighten the hall for the celebration including paper chains, crowns, paper Christmas trees for centrepieces on the tables and placemats featuring Christmas themed drawings by the local students. Castlemaine North students Clem and Kenzie are proudly pictured with their haul of decorations.
85 years of magic and memories
Santa and his helpers from the former Apex Club of Castlemaine will be out and about again this Christmas Day visiting the young and young at heart across the region.
This year marks the 85th anniversary of the beloved annual Santa Run which has cemented its place in the hearts and minds of locals over the past eight decades.
Past Apexian Stephen Cooper said they are proud to have kept the long running tradition alive thanks to the dedication of their volunteers and the support of the local community.
“It actually began during the depression in 1937 and saw Apexians handing out apples donated by local orchards and hams from Castlemaine Bacon Company,” Stephen said.
These days the volunteers visit streets and towns across the shire handing out lollies and icy poles to celebrate the festive season.
Donations from the community have helped to keep the 85 year tradition alive despite the club disbanding back in 2002.
“Many local families throw us a few dollars as we travel around and this has helped to keep things ticking over to ensure the tradition can be enjoyed by the next generation,” he said.
And of course the run wouldn’t be possible without their wonderful pool of volunteers.
“We have had volunteers come and go over the years but everyone is determined to see the run continue and we always have people prepared to give up their time on Christmas Day to help spread a little Christmas magic,” he said.
Cooper recalls fellow volunteer Doug Sharpe visiting his home as the big man in red when he was a child.
“I am really proud to now be part of that legacy and in recent years my children have also come on board,” Stephen said.
Chewton locals Bill and John Sikora have also been long time volunteers.
John first volunteered on the run in 1985 and Bill joined him the following year with the pair looking forward to their 36 consecutive run in 2022.
“We are proud to be a small part of this very special community initiative. The smiles on the kids’ faces keep us coming back, year after year,” Bill said.
The Guildford Grumpies Car Club Inc have once again chipped in a donation to support the work of the former Apex Club of Castlemaine and its annual Santa Run ensuring they can continue to spread Christmas cheer across an ever growing Castlemaine and surrounding communities.
Guildford Grumpies secretary Steve Cole said many of their members fondly remember the Santa Run from when they were children.
“I would visit my grandparents home at Chewton every Christmas and the Apex Santa Run was a real highlight. They whole town would turn out to greet Santa,” Steve recalled.
In 2022 Santa and his helpers will undertake five runs across the region.
Volunteers will gather from 6.30am and hit the road from around 7-7.30am on runs throughout Castlemaine and Campbells Creek, out to Chewton and Elphinstone and Guildford.
With housing estates across the region growing in size they may be a little later than usual as they get around to everyone. Look for signage in your town for times or listen for the bells, horns and Ho, Ho, Hos!
My Sutton Grange with Vivien Pells
You grew up in South Africa in Johannesburg and Zimbabwe (known as Southern Rhodesia), when did you move to Australia?
I left Africa when I was 22. It was hard to get employment in Johannesburg unless you were bi-lingual (which I wasn’t). It was 1972 and I came to Australia on a working holiday. I made a friend on the ship (Rose) and we travelled to Brisbane where I worked as a secretary then travelled further north where we met the man who would become Rose’s husband. We travelled to Normanton and hitch-hiked to the Mt Isa Rodeo, sitting in the back on the ute with no seat belts, dust flying everywhere. What an exciting thing! It was difficult getting to Tennant Creek, there were no buses, no trains. We approached a road train driver who took us to Alice Springs. It was a phenomenal trip. We couldn’t get out of central Australia because of the floods. We met two others, a Queensland couple stuck in Coober Pedy and we drove to Adelaide. Rose and I came to Melbourne where I worked as a secretary.
I went back to South Africa because my father was ill and came back to Australia in 1977. I started doing yoga for my nervous system and became a teacher. I opened a yoga studio in 1984 and trained as a masseur and as a Maya Therapist.
You are a very talented artist. How did that progress for you?
I’ve always been a bit of a sketcher, although I never trained at school. One day my partner Chris Moule and I went on a jaunt to Olinda to an art gallery displaying Gerard Mutsaers. Chris and I organised lessons with him and I ended up studying with Gerard for 10 years.
How did you and Chris meet?
Chris was divorced when we met. I was a girl who had grave difficulties with relationships. We both attended the Ken Miller Institute which runs courses for people who are divorced or widowed. One of my clients recommended I go. It was a very good course. Chris and I knew each other for two years before we went out. He was always late to our dates and by the time he’d turn up I’d be gone.
The idea of Ken Miller was to develop common interests because often what went wrong in your marriage was you had fallen in love with someone you don’t share interests with. Chris and I had photography and bush walking in common.
What are you reading at the moment?
Nothing since COVID, just a few art books.
What genre of music do you enjoy?
I prefer classical – not highbrow classical. To be honest, when I’m here on my own I love silence. I do enjoy the 60s, 70s, 80s and country and western.
Have you got any other interests?
I love going out painting and photography.
What philosophy do you live life by?
Honesty will get you everywhere. Always question the truth about everything in life. Nothing happens without you being able to learn something.
What do you love most about the place you call home?
Us living here was absolutely fated. We had come to look at the place and thought wow. We rang the agent and they said sorry it’s sold. I asked if they could call me if it went back on the market but they didn’t. We saw the property had been relisted and here we are.