Payne relief for a town still scarred by devastating floods

The racing industry gave Rochester a much-needed hug on Friday – the sort of warm embrace that can lift the spirits of a town still dealing with the mental scars and ongoing financial fallout of devastating floods.

New Melbourne Cup Carnival ambassador Michelle Payne during the famous trophy’s tour of Rochester.Credit: Eddie Jim

The hug came in the form of the Melbourne Cup tour. People and children lined the now-dry streets, as the cup rolled through town, hand-in-hand with this year’s Melbourne Cup Carnival ambassador Michelle Payne.

“These little things give us a bit of a pep up,” local retired police officer John Atley said of the Cup tour visit. “It is a reminder that people haven’t forgotten about the town.”

Almost two years ago, Rochester was engulfed by a wall of water as it surged over the banks of the Campaspe River and impacted 90 per cent of the town’s homes.

People were uncertain and afraid. They were forced out of their houses, overnight bags hastily packed and slung across their shoulders, and they waded to waiting tractors and trailers to be pulled to safety. Those in deeper waters had to wait for a boat.

Floodwaters in the central Victorian town of Rochester in October 2022.Credit: Justin McManus

For Atley, it felt like something he had only ever seen on TV – footage of natural disasters unfolding in Third World countries. It was the start of 48 hours from hell, followed by another two years of heartache.

“The town was cut off,” said Atley, who was acting sergeant in Rochester at the time.

“All the services that we had in town knew basically when the floods were getting higher and higher that they had to get out of town, so they all left. For that 48 hours it was basically [us by] ourselves. It wasn’t great.”

The water eventually subsided, but the stress remained.

People were forced to live in sheds and caravans, others sought out-of-town accommodation as they waited for insurance money to rebuild their homes. Some houses were left beyond repair. Businesses have taken two years to get back on their feet.

“People are still scarred by the floods, and how it has affected them,” Atley said.

“I would think we are still in recovery mode. People are glad to be back in their houses and have some sort of normality, but it’s a work in progress. That’s why the Melbourne Cup is huge for the town.”

The idea to invite the Cup tour to Rochester was the brainchild of the local pony club’s district commissioner, Ange Acocks. Or so she thinks.

Payne with Scarlette and her horse Sweetie at the Rochester Pony Club.Credit: Eddie Jim

“It was obviously last year that I had written an application, and I must have written it alright under the circumstances,” Acocks recalled.

“The VRC just notified me and said, ‘congratulations, you have been selected as one of the towns to host the Melbourne Cup tour’. But I can’t actually remember applying for it.”

It is fair to say, she is now glad she did. Payne posed with excited members of the club and their ponies on Friday before a question-and-answer session.

Payne poses in front of Rochester’s famous silo art.Credit: Eddie Jim

The pony club went under in 2022, covered by a metre of water. Acocks said they had to band together and start again, even those who had to deal with damage to their own homes.

“It was something that we thought we had to get back going, and we have brought it back to what it was and even better,” she said.

The next step was to create a community event – “for the kids both at the pony club and in the town, itself”. The Melbourne Cup tour, and Payne, provided the ideal platform.

Sorry Ballarat, but Rochester still claims the 2015 Melbourne Cup winner as one of their own.

Payne’s father owned a dairy farm in the district from when she was seven until she turned 15. For all but two of those years – when she attended Loreto College in Ballarat – she went to school in Rochester.

It was during this time, she says, she learned to milk cows, tend calves, feed chooks and work race horses.

Payne wins the 2015 Melbourne Cup on Prince Of Penzance.Credit: Justin McManus

“Living on a dairy farm just shapes you in ways you can’t even imagine because of the hard work and discipline (required) every single day,” Payne said.

“All of those things shaped me towards winning the Melbourne Cup, so to head back there with the Cup is really special.

“We were obviously very lucky to not have the farm when the floods came, so to show support is something I really find important.”

Payne with Prince Of Penzance in Rochester.Credit: Eddie Jim

Payne did not experience the floods, but she understands heartbreak. She was raised by her single father, Paddy, and older siblings after her mother Mary died in a car accident when Michelle was six months old.

Brendan Atley, John’s brother, is another Rochester local grateful for the Cup visit. The retired school principal also has a history with the Paynes.

He first met the family when he was at teachers college in Ballarat and his father had a horse trained by Paddy snr.

“I used to call out and say g’day to Mary and Pat,” he said. “And it’s nice that I can tell Michelle that I have met her mum.

“She was very much a family person. Her kids meant the world to her, so she would be ecstatic with all the kids succeeding at what they do, looking after each other.

“The way they have done that is amazing, really. Michelle’s efforts, in particular, with (her brother) Stevie is next level.”

When the Paynes moved to Rochester, Atley took a year out of teaching to work on their farm. It was nothing to leave the house before daybreak and jump on a motorbike to fetch the cows only to have any number of the Payne kids clambering on the back.

“They love Michelle in Rochester,” he said. “It is a very loyal town. It is only a small town, and anyone who has passed through here or achieved something is claimed, and I think that she’s one of those. To her credit, she has always kept a connection.”

That connection counted for a lot on Friday. Payne, the Cup and past winners Prince Of Penzance and Twilight Payment breathed “a bit of fresh air into the town”.

“We are trying to be positive and move forward,” Atley said.

“Fingers crossed we don’t have another flood because I don’t know what we would do with that. The town would die, the businesses wouldn’t exist, it would be frightening really.”

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