General News
5 May, 2026
OVERCOMING INSULARITY — Opening up the state
At a family gathering I was reminded by my niece that a close friend explained how she knew the streets of Melbourne. When in my grade six we studied Melbourne in preparation for a Melbourne excursion.
In groups of four with one adult (teacher or parent), they planned and carried out visits to their selected places.
The parents were simply there to provide for their safety.
Dellavedova’s bus dropped all the groups off at Spencer Street Station car park. From the car park they headed off on their excursions.
During the Whitlam Government, generous funding was provided to submissions. The supplementary grant money was behind many programs ranging from dental health to photography.
To cover all costs we ran “hot dog days” on Fridays. They were cooked in an old copper and highly regarded by all grades.
Each student was given $10 to make a purchase at the Victoria Market.
One of the highlights at Spencer Street was the giant mural depicting Victoria’s transport history.
Several years earlier we had visited the disused Camberwell sub-station where the state artist, Harold Freedman, was preparing the mural.
He enlisted some of the students to help. It gave the students a sense of ownership.
Freedman and his team were also responsible for a magnificent mural at the Princes Hill Fire Station in Melbourne (opposite St Patrick’s Cathedral). I believe the Spencer Street mural has been relocated.
Highlights of Melbourne were the museum where Phar Lap is on display. The Melbourne Aquarium featured up close creatures of the sea (almost touchable).
One group exploring Little Bourke Street were admiring the barbecued pork in a restaurant window when the proprietor invited them in. He inquired what they were doing and when he found out, he packaged enough for all the groups. This was a total of 28 serves.
Several of the children are today often customers of Lee (the proprietor) when in Melbourne.
Reg Carr, the Maryborough Station Master, was a fantastic help in planning all our excursions which involved special trains.
All the state schools, including the High and Technical schools, had their own carriages.
The zoo excursion dropped us at the Zoo station where we only had to walk a hundred yards into the zoo.
On an excursion to the zoo a student who was allergic to bee stings was stung. I had to wheel her on a trolley to the hospital.
We took special trains to a multitude of venues.
They included the zoo, Geelong, Swan Hill, Echuca and Melbourne.
School camps were numerous, including Adekate at Creswick and Toch H at Point Lonsdale, the Little Desert, and the Grampians.
Many of the children were fortunate to go on excursions to Sovereign Hill, Kryal Castle, the Science Works, the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement and a ride on a paddle steamer in Echuca.
Apart from Adekate (Creswick) the camps were fully catered for.
Every student was rostered on for duties in the dining area. They had to set the tables, collect and wash the dishes and sweep and mop up.
Their bunks had to be made and their rooms kept tidy. At the end of the camp awards were given.
One mother who came to assist was a nurse and she showed all the participants how to properly make a bed, “snug as a bug in a rug!”.
Some of the many highlights I will recall. When camped at Point Lonsdale we went out on the pier to view the replicas of the First Fleet sailing through the heads at midnight.
At the Little Desert in total darkness we watched the sugar gliders with the aid of a special light.
This camp also featured tracking echidnas with a sonar device, and viewing the Mallee fowls building their mounds.
At Kryal Castle, Keith Ryal arranged a special performance of two knights “jousting”.
The Science Works, just off the West Gate Bridge, was the site of the main sewerage pump for Melbourne.
It regularly got blocked and a special task force had to go down into the sewage and unblock it.
While at the Grampian’s camp we were enveloped in the smoke from an approaching bushfire. Visibility was nil.
The government confiscated two local buses and we were evacuated to Maryborough.
The Maryborough school inspectorate was involved in running “the train tour”.
It catered for students from Wedderburn to Wareek. Places were much sought after.
Although subsidised, part payment had to be made.
A special train with sleeping quarters, a dining room and an entertainment centre were provided. The food in the dining room was a-la-carte.
While the participants slept, the train travelled across Victoria, making its way through the Wimmera, the Mallee, Sunraysia, Melbourne and Gippsland.
It departed from Maryborough station early on the Sunday and returned in the evening of the following Friday.
It must have been a logistical nightmare.
Unfortunately the closing of many lines made this no longer possible.
It is significant Vic Rail, a major contributor to Maryborough’s history, would have made such a positive contribution.