WTF: Priscilla, Queen of the Bay, road to nowhere, farmers frustration

We reckon Geelong’s favourite acting son, Guy Pearce, wouldn’t look out of place alongside a commercial-sized passenger bus that’s taken up residence by the bay in North Geelong.

WTF

They’re the little – and sometimes not so little – things that can really irk us … and they’re back! A new slot, on a new page with the same old problems that have us all saying, woah, that’s frustrating!

PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE BAY

That’s one strange looking train replacement.

We reckon Geelong’s favourite acting son, Guy Pearce, wouldn’t look out of place alongside a commercial-sized passenger bus that’s taken up residence by the bay in North Geelong.

In scenes reminiscent of Pearce’s famous flick The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the bus has been doing the rounds of free camping spots for months ­– switching between the St Helens fishing carpark, alongside GrainCorp’s hub, and perched on an outcrop at nearby Alan Rinaldo Dias Jetty.

Sporting a “Train Replacement” sign, at first glance the bus looks like a legit pick-up service for V/Line customers.

But the dead giveaway that it’s actually a waterfront mobile home are its makeshift curtains warding off prying eyes, especially the Jim Beam one spread across the windscreen, along with a noisy generator no doubt powering up the lights and heating.

Actors (L-R) Guy Pearce, Terence Stamp and Hugo Weaving in a scene from 1994 film 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'.

St Helens boat ramp carpark has actually become a go-to site for visitors grabbing a freebie sleepover with Corio Bay vista.

Early last week, at least five camper vans/caravans parked there overnight, tapping into amenities courtesy of Geelong council.

But we’re not sure the elite residents soon to occupy the luxe Stella Maris complex atop the carpark will be enamoured by the gaggle of campers distracting from their prized water views. Especially when the portable generators start buzzing.

THE ROAD TO NOWHERE

Muir Rd to nowhere.

Sometimes in life, the road less travelled is the one most paved.

Well, that seems to be the case in Mount Duneed anyway.

A keen eyed reader pointed out an oddity behind Waurn Ponds station, where we find a dead end track called Muir Rd.

It leads to an unused car park our reader said gets “maybe a couple of cars per week”.

“Oddly, sections of the roadway have been recently nicely patched even though they were not as bad as many of the higher traffic roads in Geelong,” he said.

“I wonder how this road gets priority over the terrible roads we have to drive on everywhere else?

“There’s too many of those to mention.”

While it’s good to see the powers at be fixing our roads, perhaps whatever was wrong with Muir Rd could have waited.

And according to our reader, this isn’t the only instance.

“Also while I’m on it, Sovereign Drive in Mount Duneed between Unity and Boundary (roads) has had wonderful new asphalt laid end to end even though there was nothing wrong with the surface,” he said.

FARMERS FRUSTRATION

The truck wash at the Geelong Saleyards. Picture: Alison Wynd

We like to have some fun in this column.

But given the recent plight of our region’s farmers, chronicled throughout the Addy’s pages, here’s one with a bit more of a serious tone.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has raised their concerns over the closure of a Geelong truck wash at the Geelong Saleyards this September.

“Our biosecurity safety net is only as strong as its weakest point and with the closure of washes in Packenham and now Geelong, we’re left vulnerable,” VFF Livestock president Scott Young said.

“We now have two massive holes within our truck wash network on the eastern and western side of Melbourne and increasing movement of livestock into Melbourne meat processors is going to see this only increase.

“There’s arguably no bigger threat to Australian agriculture than a large-scale biosecurity outbreak.”

Council decided the site would be closed at its meeting in late-May.

The City of Greater Geelong said the facility runs at a loss of $228,411 per year, and will make way for the site to be developed.

“The proposed sale presents a fantastic commercial opportunity to redevelop the site in-line with Geelong Saleyards Precinct Plan,” Mayor Strecth Kontelj said.

“With Geelong’s population rapidly expanding, we can’t just build out – we also need to look for ways build up in our CBD and established suburbs.”

ONE LAST THING

The Spirit of Tasmania IV has now departed from Leith, Scotland bound for Tasmania. Picture: Supplied

In March, we brought you a story of a pair of Geelong travellers who came across a familiar site in Scotland.

The Spirit of Tasmania was sitting dormant, docked in Edinburgh.

“She’s a bit off course,” John Manger mused to wife Janet Walker.

Well, we can confirm she’s finally on course.

Spirit of Tasmania IV has officially departed Scotland for the 14,857 nautical mile voyage home to Hobart.

The 212-metre-long, 48,000 gross tonne ship left Leith June 30 and will travel to Hobart via Gibraltar, Cape Verde Islands, Cape Town in South Africa, Port Louis in Mauritius and Fremantle in Western Australia.

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Originally published as WTF: Priscilla, Queen of the Bay, road to nowhere, farmers frustration