Navigating the N.D.I.S and discovering A Twist of Willow.

 Navigating the N.D.I.S and discovering A Twist of Willow.

Originally published boronia and the Basin Community Newspaper March 2019

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The introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) created a lot of expectation and stress for many Australians as it was gradually rolled out over the last year.  Regardless, it’s a fantastic concept that helps those who are severely injured, disabled or mentally and physically disadvantaged to become more active in society. Having a young adult child who qualified for assistance under the scheme was an exciting prospect for us as parents, to be able to have new opportunities present themselves so that our child would have a better chance for the future and more importantly a better quality of life as they grow older were encouraging.

Of course, it was never going to be easy. The scheme is a massive bureaucracy responsible for billions of dollars annually. There are plans and budgets and new people to meet and for many who qualify for the scheme (not just their carers), it was a leap into the unknown and a scary process.

The NDIS kicked into gear July 2018 and to say we were fully satisfied with what could be achieved was far from the truth, it wasn’t the scheme’s fault or the organization as a whole, there were just so many options and roads to travel that we accepted the fact that experience was something we would learn on the way and probably seconds after we really needed it. It is not without its faults, but we got lucky. I write that because without the NDIS and the constant meetings and toing and froing we would never have discovered A Twist of Willow. (Now known as the Yarra Valley Nocturnal Zoo)

A Twist of Willow is a bed and breakfast accommodation – nocturnal zoo in Mt. Evelyn run by Steven Handy and Loo Scoon.

Steve and Loo moved to the current location 12 years ago with their growing family with the plans of operating a Bed and Breakfast on the property. Steve who had some building experience built the accommodation on weekends and holidays whilst both he and Loo worked their normal day jobs for the Department of Human Services.

The zoo and its collection of native animals grew as an extension from the B&B as many Asian tourists were keen to see native Australian animals.

 When the NDIS was being developed, both Loo and Steven with their years of experience working with people with disabilities in the DHS realised that the zoo would be a perfect placement under the scheme. Thus, the development of the Zoo Keeper program.

A wonderful idea where NDIS participants, usually young adults with a love of working with animals come in up to three days a week and get a chance to prepare, feed, clean, and all other assorted duties in relation to caring for the animals.

This was perfect for our daughter and the instant results from her demeanour and self-esteem were evidence of the success of the program

Loo and Steve’s experience was evident with their attitude and patience with their charges and the lines of communication that they keep with parents and carers. They even attend outside of work parties of their charges such is their dedication and level of care.

The Zoo though not open to the general public is host to tours by International visitors and recently schools which the NDIS participants are helpful guides, something that proves the success of the program because I could never believe our child could do this anytime last year.

We were very fortunate this Christmas, as part of the A Twist of Willow holiday break up party we were treated to a night tour of the animal enclosures.

At night the zoo takes on a whole new appeal. With many natives held at A Twist of Willow being night creatures, it’s the best way to see things many Australian’s rarely see, even though some of these animals may visit their backyards any other night. Marvelling at how an owl can silently pass by your head even though it is flapping its wings or have a Sugarglider fearlessly sit on your shoulder are some of the experiences that are on offer.

The Lodge and zoo itself are very low key and easy to pass unnoticed from the road, even from the footpath. But the layout is a testament to Steven and Loo’s imagination and creativity.

The property is on a sloping incline and the zoo enclosures built behind the family home and guest accommodation. Paths intertwine a citrus grove onto the animal enclosures which are made of recycled wood and other materials to give a lovely rustic charm. A fake church fascia here a wagon over there that doubles as a food store a mine tunnel complete with coal trucks in another spot, these structures holding anything from dingoes, wombats, possums, a crocodile and even several species of Owls. This doesn’t mean that everything is on top of each other as the back of the property opens out and there are open paddocks that hold kangaroos, emus, horses and even a wedgetail eagle. As well as some real surprises like a white peacock and kangaroo.

Running around among all this are the house cats,  chickens, ducks and Red Dog the local legend farm hound.

A Twist of Willow being a registered zoo also is active in many breeding programs to help endangered and threatened species. They just recently procured four quolls’, a species extinct on the Australian mainland since the 1960s and an animal closely related to both the Tasmanian devil and tiger (Thylacine).

As mentioned earlier, though not open to the public for day visits, the zoo has recently invited schools to visit as educational excursions and with the help of the NDIS helpers are able to give a helpful happy and informative tour that is helpful for both student and guides.

A Twist of Willow is a great initiative and it’s fantastic to see people putting so much back into the community and the things they are passionate about, if you want to know more about the accommodation and the zoo visit the website. www.atwistofwillow.com.au or visit their facebook page.

Alien Vs Pooh

For the life of me, I don't know who this is or who made it. I must have known who it was a decade ago because I linked them in one of the group music challenges in the old Redbubble days. All I know is the author goes by the name Godxiliary. This is their work Alien Vs Pooh by C.H Burger.

Bands and artists that have been Simpsonized Part Three

 

Bands and artists that have been Simpsonized Part Three

Bands who have been immortalized and parodied on the world's longest-running prime time cartoon show.

Actually, there has been so many bands and artists that I had to cut this into three posts -this being an update from the two earlier ones from 2013.

FIRST POST HERE   PART TWO HERE

Judas Priest: "Steal This Episode"

Justin Bieber: "The Fabulous Faker Boy"

Sigur Ros: "The Saga of Carl"

Ted Nugent: "Politically Inept, With Homer Simpson"

The Village People: "Simpsons Tide"

Fall Out Boy: "Lisa the Drama Queen"

Moody Blues: "Viva Ned Flanders"

Morrissey & Johnny Marr: “Panic On The Streets Of Springfield”

Pious and Mole's misadventure in Rattown

 Pious and Mole's misadventure in Rattown

After over a decade on the backburner. Pious and Mole's misadventure in Rattown is now available as a webcomic.

Previously available in a very limited print given away at the Festival of the Photocopier in Melbourne way back in 2007. It is now available to view free and uncensored.

Starring the immoral Rats from Rat Tales created by my brother Joe for Wombat Comicz in the early 1980s it tells the story of a land where older, famous and more beloved illustrated characters live in alternate worlds but sometimes things slip through the cracks.

My Hobbit hole Part 3

 My Hobbit hole Part 3

Every now and again I like to build something or do home repairs. What else is a shed full of tools for? We have a small dog, a Cavoodle named Gracie, Who, I joking refer to as my favourite child.

Gracie has a big heart and since we live on a corner there is a lot of property to protect. There is nothing Gracie likes to do more than anything (besides tummy tickles) is to bark angrily at passers-by who dare walk on the other side of the fence. One of Gracie’s problem is that unfortunately for her, we have a high fence that surrounds the property and she is so small she can’t see what or who it is, not that matters, she’s happy to tell them that she’s on her side and they better not come over and try anything.

This can be annoying, but it’s part of her personality and over time you get used to it and in my case, I started to feel a bit sorry for my poor pooch.

So I thought I would remedy the situation. Using a door from an old clothes dryer I found on hard rubbish, I cut a hole in the fence approximately at Gracie’s height. I thought the domed glass would help her look beyond the fence and protect her from larger dogs. This didn’t work as the glass gave a distorted view to the sides and Gracie wouldn’t use it.

So, I resorted to my default position when making things in the garden, I made a Hobbit hole.

I removed the dryer domed door and replaced it with some steel mesh and then spruced up the surrounds to recreate Bilbo’s hangout. I added a lamp and some flowers and made it all pretty.

Gracie still won’t use it.

The OTHER parts of the Hobbit Saga

Hobbits on the Move

My Hobbit House Adventure

Sight seeing in Middle Earth

 Adventures in Quilting

I wrote this a few years ago through frustration when I felt my home was being taken over by my wife's quilting hobby. I won't call it an obsession because she has been doing it for half her life and is never in a hurry to complete anything. She just leaves wherever and get backs to her when the mood suits.

Since this piece, kids have moved out and we have repainted, re-carpeted, and got new furniture and she even has a new workroom.

But the problem remains the same.

Boronia: borders, billabongs, abattoirs, and billy carts...

 Boronia: borders, billabongs, abattoirs, and billy carts...

I have always marvelled at the boundaries that make up the suburb of Boronia. The suburb where I grew up its boundaries was made up of four main roads, basically, a square, whereas Boronia tends to duck in out of streets, alongside creeks and in some cases in and out between people’s backyards. If you don’t believe me type Boronia into Google maps and check out the Devenish and Millers Roads boundary. It kind of explains Knox council’s urban and rural zones, but that is something for another time. Things that I assumed were in Boronia due to their proximity to the railway station has always thrown off my locality radar, for example, the Arboretum – which is in Ferntree Gully, the old Boronia Marine site which is in Bayswater and by comparison, our daughter who lived near Knox City at the south end of Lewis road which I thought was Knoxfield but is still Boronia. It looks like a very drunk man was given a pencil and was told to draw a picture of a cat on a large map.

Because of this, I keep getting confused and forget where Ferntree Gully starts and Boronia ends. (Bayswater too, for that matter) Not, just me either, as I found out and this led me down another local history rabbit hole.

I was looking at a new local history Facebook page a while back (the amazing Boronia, “The good old days” A fantastic source of old photos and memories) and I saw mention of a Boronia Abattoir. This was corrected by another post as I scrolled down the comments. It was actually the Ferntree Gully Abattoir and was situated smack on the border of both suburbs that is divided by Blind creek. Prior to the late 1960s early 1970s, there were no roads that crossed Blind creek between Dorset and Scoresby roads. The demarcation line was firmly set. These days Blind creek has a lovely walking and bike path and the roads once separated are all continuous. This means that you have a novel situation where things like houses with the progressive numbers 59  and 61 Rankin road are in different postcodes.

Now, Rankin road heading south is quite a steep hill and is known by the locals as Piggy Hill, why?

There seems to be a few theories.

In 2013 the Herald Sun in its Black & White section requests were made if anyone knew why it was so-called. I don’t know how serious it was but here’s a couple of the answers received.

One man says he lived at the bottom of Rankin Rd and recalls one early morning when a stolen car came speeding down the hill, failed to take the slight right-hand kink at the bottom and ploughed into the large tree. It then glanced off the tree and levelled the boot of his sister's car. Stating   "We didn't know it was called Piggy Hill. We just thought it was a pig of a hill.”

Another one is that in the early 1960s there were two piggeries in the area, and one farmer wished to buy the other out, but he would not sell. The first farmer moved all his pigsties along the neighbouring farmers' fence and said “I will smell him out” and it became known as Piggy Hill because of a farmers feud.

I doubt this one. I don’t think an owner of a piggery would be upset by the smell of more pigs. My wife, who has live in the area for over 35 years, told me she thought it was from all the squeals from the kids when they rode their billy carts and later skateboards down the steep incline. But I still think the fact the road terminated at a creek that looked straight onto a slaughterhouse sounds a good enough reason for such a name.

The Abattoir floor plan prior to demolition 

Long before the Rankin road literally crossed postcodes or the Blind Creek walking trail existed. Back before Boronia existed (in name only, that was done in 1915) a slaughterhouse existed on the south side of Blind creek. From earliest records approximately 1896 and an abattoir from the early 1900s. The originally allotted land was owned by a J. McMahon and his lot (54A) ran from Burwood highway all the way down to Blind Creek and who’s eastern boundary is where the road named after him-McMahons road- now runs.

The green wedge

Archived reports from the Box Hill Reporter in 1903 wherein an article reporting the sites upgrade to an abattoir by its owners the Pegler Brothers so upset and divided the then Ferntree Gully Shire that three councillors resigned. Including one A.E Chandler, the one who named Boronia. After a fragrant flower, could there be a link? (of course not, I’m being facetious)

The old Robinson clay site

This small animal slaughter yard operated in the south-west corner of the site from about 1896 to 1954. The site was then purchased by the Castricum family in 1954 and a slaughterhouse, a sheepskin drying shed and a pigsty were developed on the southern third of the site - For reference picture, the end opposite Norvel Reserve- The remainder of the site was used to hold sheep and for wastewater disposal. Then in 1978, the Castricum family under the business Castricum Bros. Pty Ltd built the Ferntree Gully Abattoirs (I  have also seen it referred to as the Rankin road meatworks) to complement their works in Dandenong and comprised (on the southern third of the site) an office building, abattoirs (slaughtering building); concrete paved holding yards, holding pens, water storage tanks, wastewater treatment facility (including chemical storage tanks) and an underground petrol tank. Other infrastructure included stormwater drains, sewer pipes, electrical power lines.

Old-time residents recall awful smells in the summer and others have said being allowed onto the killing floor to watch the animals being put down, yes, they were different times, obviously long before WorkSafe.

The Castricum family business continued to expand, and the business ventured into export, eventually building new export processing facilities at Dandenong in 1987 making the Ferntree Gully site redundant and were eventually sold by the start of the 1990s.

The abattoirs were demolished in late 1993 to early 1994 in preparation for the residential subdivision. At roughly the same time the Castricums’ were establishing their site in the mid-1950s, Robertson Industries had started operation of the clay pit quarry next door. Robertson’s, for anyone who travelled to the city by train, would know them by their tall brick and paver kiln chimney next to Nunawading station. The station and the factory are gone now but the chimney still stands.

Whilst all traces of the abattoir are long gone and a well-kept housing estate occupies its place, the clay pit property still remains, though empty cleared and surrounded by a rusty cyclone fence at the approximate seven-hectare site. Running down the middle of both areas is a five-metre green belt that runs down to the creek and a pleasant shortcut on a sunny day from Norvel road. At the back of the clay pit site is an area being developed by the Knox council as a nature preserve and is where the Blind creek billabong is situated. The front section of the site was sold by Robertson Industries in 2016 for 30 million dollars and is yet to be developed.

Sadly, I couldn’t find any pictures of the abattoir from any era or even the clay pit when it was in operation When the Knox Historical Society and local library opens again I can have a good dig through their archives. Hopefully, this article will shake a few memories loose and they might end up on social media. Local history, it wonderful and you never know what you’ll find in your backyard, even if you’re not sure where you are.

Originally published in BBCN Dec 2020 Edition