Island Identities
BENTLEY Bill and Pat
BEESLEY Midge
BOULD Irene
BENNAN Mark
CHAFF-BAG Charlie
COULTER Marj & Keith
DARROCH Lee
EVANS Georgina
FISHER John & Rhondda
FOREMAN Peter
FRECHEVILLE James
GREENAWAY Darren & Susan
HAMILTON David & Judy
HOLBROOK Jack & Cathy
HUGHES Stuart
KENNER Phil
LANGLEY Iris
MANUELL Peter
MARSDEN David & Merle
MARSDEN Dennis & Carol
MARTIN John & Judy
MASKIELL Ron
MOTHERSOLE David & Jo
MEDWIN Bowling Club
MOORE/ McCOLL Kay & Don
MUELLER Willi & Inge
MOUNTAIN Carol
RUTTER Nick & Katherine
RENNICK Judy
REIDY Ian & Robyn
SCARFACE
SIACCI Colin & Wyonne
SIMPSON Donna
TRENERY Ken
UEBERGANG Jill
ROSSETTI Fae
van MANNEN Gerry & Barbara
WILLIAMS Elsie
WILLIAMS Glenn & Bernadette
YOUNG Barbara
Glenn and Bernadette Williams
Three years ago it could be said Glenn and Bernadette Williams had a superb lifestyle in the prestigious Melbourne suburb of Brighton.
Glenn retired from the advertising industry in 2000, the couple were happily enjoying city life living in a two-story unit, and Bernadette continued to work full time in office management.
Yet Glenn was beginning to think about other options.
“One day in 2002-3 Bernadette and I had a discussion. I said to her, are we going to continue to spend our lives here ?
Why don’t we think about something new. I’m retired. I’m having too many lunches…so we started considering it.” Glenn said.
To an extent neither partner thought it would ever happen, then one day they found a house on Raymond Island across the McMillan Straight in East Gippsland and it had all the ingredients to suit both their lifestyles.
“I didn’t believe it. We had looked further up the coast; we looked at southern NSW and northern NSW and ended up thinking they were a bit like Merimbula … a long way from anywhere. “ He said.
Glenn has a passion for boats and they had friends who had properties in the area so it was natural to have a look around East Gippsland.
“Ann Waller from Ann Waller Real Estate had shown us some places in Paynesville and then we came over to the Island and saw this place and it had potential to fulfil both of our leisure interests, plus we were very comfortable about the secluded and serene island life style.
“ The thing that rang our chimes when we saw this was that it had the jetty mooring for me, and Bernadette paints - there was a spa that could be remade as a studio for her - and lots of garden and a large enough area to have more garden if we wished.” Glenn said
“I would have gone ga ga if we had moved into a house without land. I love the garden and here we have a native reserve opposite. “Bernadette said.
Renowned naturalist David Attenborough when he was in the country filming a wildlife documentary and needed close-up shots of koalas, filmed around the area where Glenn and Bernadette are now living.
When the couple started searching for a new home Glenn wanted a water view “right or wrong “.
However the house on Raymond Island was only a couple of years old, it was on a double block and the house was designed and built by a very good builder.
Glenn retired from the advertising industry in 2000, the couple were happily enjoying city life living in a two-story unit, and Bernadette continued to work full time in office management.
Yet Glenn was beginning to think about other options.
“One day in 2002-3 Bernadette and I had a discussion. I said to her, are we going to continue to spend our lives here ?
Why don’t we think about something new. I’m retired. I’m having too many lunches…so we started considering it.” Glenn said.
To an extent neither partner thought it would ever happen, then one day they found a house on Raymond Island across the McMillan Straight in East Gippsland and it had all the ingredients to suit both their lifestyles.
“I didn’t believe it. We had looked further up the coast; we looked at southern NSW and northern NSW and ended up thinking they were a bit like Merimbula … a long way from anywhere. “ He said.
Glenn has a passion for boats and they had friends who had properties in the area so it was natural to have a look around East Gippsland.
“Ann Waller from Ann Waller Real Estate had shown us some places in Paynesville and then we came over to the Island and saw this place and it had potential to fulfil both of our leisure interests, plus we were very comfortable about the secluded and serene island life style.
“ The thing that rang our chimes when we saw this was that it had the jetty mooring for me, and Bernadette paints - there was a spa that could be remade as a studio for her - and lots of garden and a large enough area to have more garden if we wished.” Glenn said
“I would have gone ga ga if we had moved into a house without land. I love the garden and here we have a native reserve opposite. “Bernadette said.
Renowned naturalist David Attenborough when he was in the country filming a wildlife documentary and needed close-up shots of koalas, filmed around the area where Glenn and Bernadette are now living.
When the couple started searching for a new home Glenn wanted a water view “right or wrong “.
However the house on Raymond Island was only a couple of years old, it was on a double block and the house was designed and built by a very good builder.
“For us, in deciding to make the move from Melbourne we knew this house had the advantage of overall space so that effectively we could have a separate guest wing. It also has the perfect studio and a large shed.“ Glenn said
Yet is was the Island that was the greatest surprise for both of them. Bernadette grew up in Belgium, Germany and Italy, loved languages and studied German literature at university.
I am a city girl.” she said.
After moving to Australia 28 years ago Bernadette worked in Melbourne as a bi-lingual personal assistant mostly for international companies where her fluent French, German and Italian were most appreciated.
Bernadette said going from full-time work to retirement was initially a “bit of a shock ‘but the strong sense of community life has really surprised her. “You greet so many people here, there are also quite a few Europeans on the Island and many living here are a similar age and also retired and we meet on the ferry, so in a way it is quite unique, quite different.”
The character of life on Raymond Island is governed by the fact it is connected to the mainland by ferry “The place has had a ferry for 125 years and the majority of people who choose to live here choose to live here because Raymond Island is an Island. “ Glenn said.
A strong sense of community and the cohesiveness of the community in times of need are amongst the unexpected joys of their re-location.
“People here meet on the ferry and if the ferry is out for a clean or when we had the floods last year people pitch in and help each other and it’s fun” he said.
" My hobby has always been boats. I have a couple of boats down here. I have built myself a rowboat and also bought a 21 ft wooden boat with John Fisher from Wine Justice in Paynesville. A traditional lakes fishing boat “
Looking at the immediate future Bernadette says when the garden is established she will seek out some short courses to take, particularly cooking, and Glenn plans to sail to Hobart next year for the wooden boat show, with John Strahan, another Raymond Islander.
Coming to Raymond Island has been quite a change. Glenn’s day now begins with a five-kilometre walk down Gravelly Point road and along Western Boulevard then to the boardwalk and back home.
“Another nice aspect of living here is we are the blessed with really nice
neighbours, all fantastic people this is very important” Bernadette said. t
Yet is was the Island that was the greatest surprise for both of them. Bernadette grew up in Belgium, Germany and Italy, loved languages and studied German literature at university.
I am a city girl.” she said.
After moving to Australia 28 years ago Bernadette worked in Melbourne as a bi-lingual personal assistant mostly for international companies where her fluent French, German and Italian were most appreciated.
Bernadette said going from full-time work to retirement was initially a “bit of a shock ‘but the strong sense of community life has really surprised her. “You greet so many people here, there are also quite a few Europeans on the Island and many living here are a similar age and also retired and we meet on the ferry, so in a way it is quite unique, quite different.”
The character of life on Raymond Island is governed by the fact it is connected to the mainland by ferry “The place has had a ferry for 125 years and the majority of people who choose to live here choose to live here because Raymond Island is an Island. “ Glenn said.
A strong sense of community and the cohesiveness of the community in times of need are amongst the unexpected joys of their re-location.
“People here meet on the ferry and if the ferry is out for a clean or when we had the floods last year people pitch in and help each other and it’s fun” he said.
" My hobby has always been boats. I have a couple of boats down here. I have built myself a rowboat and also bought a 21 ft wooden boat with John Fisher from Wine Justice in Paynesville. A traditional lakes fishing boat “
Looking at the immediate future Bernadette says when the garden is established she will seek out some short courses to take, particularly cooking, and Glenn plans to sail to Hobart next year for the wooden boat show, with John Strahan, another Raymond Islander.
Coming to Raymond Island has been quite a change. Glenn’s day now begins with a five-kilometre walk down Gravelly Point road and along Western Boulevard then to the boardwalk and back home.
“Another nice aspect of living here is we are the blessed with really nice
neighbours, all fantastic people this is very important” Bernadette said. t
Photo by Alan Martin
