Nothing lasts forever! This is especially true regarding Rosebud which has lost so many of its historic buildings, and far-less so overseas where the Pyramids, Colloseum, Panthanon, quaint villages, ancient cathedrals etc. draw huge numbers of tourists. Aborigines had an incredible connection with "place" and family historians have caught the bug. In today's DESPERATELY SEEKING, one wanted to find out the sites of a hotel and a house in Bendigo. That is why I try to provide precise locations of farms etc, even if it makes for boring reading.

This morning while I continued the 1954 Mornington Peninsula souvenir journal, I received a phone call from Ray
Woolridge. This is what he told me.

Hindhope Park was managed by Bill Woodward and his wife, Marge,in 1955-7 and they were followed from 1957 into the 1960's by Fred Parker. Fred's son, Dick, married one of the girls who had holidayed at the Park. (Dick was one of the stars of the Rosebud Football Club and a very good cricketer for years at Boneo. He was the one who suggested that I interview the late Ray Cairns,the Boneo Bradman.)

Ray's family lived in the Preston area and there was a group of families from there that spent their summer holidays at Hindhope since the late 1940's. Ray knows the exact site occupied by Bert Deacon's 21 person "colony" on the foreshore that is mentioned in my 1954 Mornington Peninsula Souvenir journal. Bert, a Brownlow Medalist and Carlton great, was captain-coach of the Bullants and most of his colonists were Prestonites.

At Hindhope there were three good kitchens and eating areas and visitors could use the cabins or provide their own camping (as was the case with the Clemengers' Parkmore near McCrae many decades earlier.) Every summer there would be a golf tournament at Carrington Park (Rosebud Public Golf Course)and the "Hindhope Gift" on New Year's Day.

Later on Ray Woolridge spent his summers at Netherby, now full of home units with entries in McDowell St and Jetty Rd. This was a caravan park run by Don Miller which closed in the mid 1980's. It surrounded the 2 acre lot 76 of Woolcott's subdivision of crown allotment 17 Wannaeue,purchased in 1878 by George and Susan Peatey and occupied by them from 1888 when they had repaid Nelson Rudduck's loan.

The closure of Netherby resulted in Ray holidaying at Heather Lodge, situated where Kentucky and the mini golf
are now. It was run by Jack and Audrey Hetherington and closed down in the early 1990's.

Deserting trove, I did a google search for Hindhope Park and found this treasure.
Hindhope Caravan Park | Five Little Lady
janettebruckshaw-healthykids.blogspot.com/.../hindhope-caravan-park.ht...‎

Hindhope Caravan Park
Without Prejudice

On the first night we arrived at Hindhope,for a months long stay, I woke in the middle of the night with an urgent request from Yvette to take her to the toilet block.

We had arrived in the darkness not knowing what to expect. Home left behind in Melbourne for the Summer shores of camping at Rosebud. the cabin was tiny and airless but was adequate for our needs it was more or less a glorified tent.

An enamel sink in one corner and bunk beds, old drawers and a wardrobe. Unbearably hot during the day but we intended to spend all our time outside of it.

My husband had stayed back in Melbourne to work and we had fled a boring old house in Keysborough for the wilds of Rosebud. The traditional Aussie break coming to us at last, a summer holiday on the safe foreshore of the Bay.

I grabbed Yvette's hand and a torch and we walked out into the night sky. Once we reached the bright lights of the toilet block I could see why Yvette was agitated. She was covered from head to toe in Measles. And we were there amongst families for the entire month, no thought of going home entered my brain.

So the next day I told all the people in the communal kitchen at breakfast. we had our own table, a distressed timber construction with long bench seats on either side. The seats were given to be a bit rough and had to be carefully navigated to avoid lethal splinters to the unwary.

We had our own fridge with a tiny freezer and in the massive kitchen there were enough cookers to feed 24 families. I gave all the families the information about Yvette's condition and they all agreed it was fine for her to come in with their children.

She didn't leave the cabin for days and I had to nurse her sore eyes and bathe her head with water from the sink but she was fine again after a few days. Then Debbie went down with it and Alena and Lauren didn't as they had had the measles injection. It was a disastrous start to what would become a regular holiday for us, always just us. No hubby.

By the following week we were really into the swing of things. Fun coming from the other families and their kids and every night at dinner we met up and compared the days happenings.

I took out other kids my girls had befriended and other Mums and Dad took mine with them to Arthurs seat or the Carnival with its swinging Pirate Ship. Coming back hot and sticky with pink and green fairy floss.

From then on we did everything, exploring the foreshore, swimming in the warm water that was almost bath like in its temperature and it was always safe as it was mostly shallows with little ripples that could be body surfed by a 10, 9, 5 and 3 year old child.

We went to the hot concrete pool and the girls didn't like it and we left preferring the sea and sand and the parks with their swings and see saws. But the nights were the best when the kids were sent to faraway tables to play cards and the adults would play Trivial Pursuit or cards and get merrily drunk.

My drink de jour, Spritzers of white wine and soda and ice. I smoked then as did all the others and puffing away and drinking we would endeavour to answer the questions seriously. we would retire to the cabins we all had as late as possible and as tipsy as possible so we could sleep in the hot boxes.

The kids never had a problem sleeping, however, worn out from helter skelter during the day, wind, sun and sea burning their cheeks and then turning them mahogany brown. their Father having olive skin and the girls lucky enough to inherit it.