Ahhh... growing up in the 70's and 80's could there have been
anything better? What with great music, great TV shows and great
candy that was terrible for your teeth. Black cats or Lolly Gobble
Bliss Bombs anyone? I grew up in a small town about 30 minutes
north of the big smoke of Shepparton and it was great to
head into town and sample some of it's fine culture. Locals may
remember fine establishments such as Skatewave (my first
introduction to Space Invaders) and Lyric Music (the best
place to buy those 45's with the latest tracks). Sadly
regress...sorry progress stops for no-one and these places are long
gone replaced by a paint shop and a music chain store. Another area
of Shepparton that we enjoyed visiting was The
International Village which was predicted to become a major
tourist attraction in the Goulburn Valley. The Village was
planned, and then built, to represent the diversity of cultures
that helped transform McGuire's Punt to the thriving
metropolis of Shepparton. This multicache will take you on a
tour of the remains of this Village, and we do apologise in
advance, as unfortunately there is not a great deal to see anymore.
However, behind every great wrecking ball, is a great story.
The best place to start is with some information gleened from
V.E. Vibert's piece of historic literature "Shepparton:
Past and Present". For many years the dream of such a Village
was that of town clerk Roy O'Brien and in a test poll on the
October 28, 1975 Roy won the support of the local council and also
the ratepayers and building commenced on the International Village
sight. The development included machine made hills which surrounded
by a moat and 1500 Australian and Exotic trees. Roads and paths
were created through the area which divided the parkland into over
20 spaces. These spaces were promoted for overseas developers to
claim as their own and establish buildings and landmarks to display
their culture to the many anticipated visitors. The traditional
landowners were not to be forgotten as a 'generous allocation' was
allocated for Aboriginal art and culture. It was also planned for
the Village headquarters to be allocated in what was planned as
being the restored Shepparton Post Office which had
previously been destroyed..sorry carefully dismantled...several
years earlier. Surprisingly this never occurred, however, that is
another story and a possible cache at a later stage. For those of
you who feel the need for a music break, may I recommend another
80's hit, that being Fleetwood Mac's 'Little Lies'. The rest
of you can have a look at these pictures taken in about 1983.
Other plans for the Village included an area for parking 600
cars and the many anticipated coaches and even a motel! It was
estimated that 200,000 people would visit the
International Village each year. No, seriously! Along the
water way the paddle steamer Alexander Arbuthnot would ferry
the many visitors to and fro. The steamer was carefully lifted from
the bed of the Murray River where it had laid for a quarter
of a century by a nice bloke by the name of John Sutherland
who donated to the city. There was also plans for Venetian
gondolas and Melanesian outriggers which would complement
the paddle steamer as it churned up the waters around the Village.
Click here to read the Gondola article.
You could have knocked me down with a feather as well when I saw
that the original plans also anticipated the creation of a
monorail! Unfortunately, it appears that cost was an issue
and I believe it was sold off to Springfield or Shelbyville. I
can't quite remember.
Well the Village did open after a few years of development and
quite a few of the planned ideas did come to fruition and it became
an area that was unique and did bring joy to children and their
families for many years. So what happened? Well it is a bit
difficult to explain but I will made an attempt. I must stress that
this is a summary of events and without interviewing all parties
may be deemed as heresay.
1. A very excited gent has a dream
2. The dream comes to fruition and money is collected from near and
far. Collection of art and cultural items are gifted from
represented countries.
3. The Village is well visited for many years. The projected new
attractions are heavily anticipated by locals and visitors.
4. Nothing happens.
5. Visitors begin to dwindle off.
6. Nothing happens.
7. The few visitors that come are now expected to pay an admission
fee.
8. Nothing happens.
9. Over several years Council neglects the Village removing and
demolishing some significant buildings and icons. The site is
renamed Parkside Gardens in 1996.
10. Nothing happens
11. The Village continues to fall into disrepair and the remaining
exhibits and buildings begin to be vandalised. The Japanese
and Greek Houses become no more.
12. Nothing happens.
13. Location, Location, Location.
14. Plans are developed outlining the subdividing of the
International Village (now known as Parkside Gardens) into 150
house lots. Neil Tennant starts to clear his throat.
15. The "Friends of Parkside Gardens" try to fight the subdivision
plans.
16. A runaway bulldozer accidentally crashes into one of the
remaining buildings in the dead of night. Anyone who has seen
Steven King's Maximum Overdrive will believe that this did
happen.
17. Friends of Parkside Gardens (aka International Village) make an
11th Hour bid to have the area Heritage Listed.
18. Heritage Victoria agree and recommend that certain aspects of
the area be heritage listed due to culture significance.
19. Too late she cried as the heavily set lady began to sing. A
firm handshake by the then council had already sold the land to
developers to become another housing estate.
20. The Pet Shop Boys re-release Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of
Money).
21. The vandalised Phillipine House and the Aboriginal
Keeping Place (Bangarang Cultural Centre) are all that
remains.
Way Point 1: Philippine
House
S 36° 21.210 E 145°
23.302
Your first stop is at the remains of the Philippine House which was
officially opened on the 27th March 1988 by his excellency The
Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines Mr. Romualdo A. Ong.
If you peer through the wire covered windows you can still some of
the exhibits inside including 2 magnificent carved statues.
At this location you will need to look
for a small container which will contain some numbers you will need
for the final cache location.
Way Point 2: Aboriginal Keeping
Place
S 36° 21.329 E 145°
23.240
Your second stop is not too far away and brings you to what is now
known as the Bangerang Cultural Centre which is Australia's first
Aboriginal museum run by Aboriginal people. The Keeping Place was
first conceived in 1974 and finally opened in 1982 after many years
of planning. The centre's exhibits include a collection of four
dioramas: Bogong Moths, River Economy, Mount William Technology and
Corroboree which feature life size figures engaged in traditional
aspects of Aboriginal life. The figures are copies of the Museum of
Victoria 19th century lifecasts made from members of the Yarra
tribe of Melbourne. The dioramas were the work of Victorian artist
George Browning (1918-2000). I believe the centre is now only open
by appointment.
At this location you will need to look for
a small tag that provides some more numbers that you will need for
the final cache location. From this spot you should have a bird's
eye view of the remains of the village area.
Way Point 3:The Dutch
Windmill
S 36° 26.168 E 145°
23.307
Monday, 4th October 1999 (edited from Shepparton News)
The rescue and re-location of the Dutch windmill was the result of
one man's vision, Mr Lloyd Mawson moved the windmill from the
former International Village and had it rebuilt near the entrance
to his tourist development.
Under overcast skies with several hundred people, the rebuilt
windmill was opened by acting consul general for the Netherlands,
Roel Bouwman.
The giant vanes, now powered by an electric motor, rather than
wind, operated for the first time when Mr Bouwman declared the
windmill open.
He said the windmill was styled on polder (or reclaimed land)
windmills which were once used to pump water to keep land
dry.
Mr Bouwman said there are about 950 windmills in Holland although
only about 200 were still in use.
The Shepparton windmill was built in the 1970s for the
International Village, to represent the presence of Dutch
immigrants and their descendants who arrived in the 1940s and
1950s.
At this location you will need to search for a
small container that contains the last numbers you will need for
the final cache location. Please take care when exiting off
the highway to this waypoint.
The Cache
S 36° 28.ABC E 145°
22.XYZ
The final cache location is a short drive further south and if
you have not already claimed Silver Dice's "Scout About" then this
might be a good time. The area should be accessible by most
vehicles unless their has been some serious rain fall. The cache is
hidden in a standard gecocaching spot and keep an eye for snakes.
You are looking for an ammo container with the usual swaps, log
book, and pen. There is a scratchie for the FTF. I have also
included a limited edition souvenir music CD for the FTF, STF, and
TFT!
The Future?
Well what does the future hold for the waypoints of this cache? At
the time of the cache creation the house lots have not been selling
very well. There is likely not to be one main reason for this but a
combination such as cost, the need for the sound proof fence
between the area and DECA, and there are quite a lot of people that
are still very angry about the events that occurred in relation to
the land acquisition. However, progress stops for no-one and I
guess over time these blocks will sell and more land will continue
to be opened up. The area opposite the old International Village
site is also currently under development and is somewhat
derogatorily known as "The Ghetto". This area was once Office of
Housing land and over the last few years the residents have been
relocated and the original homes demolished.
As for the last icons of the International Village - The
Windmill is safe and looks great in it's new location. Fortunately,
the Aboriginal community is very proud of the Bangerang Cultural
Centre and there should be no dramas there. The Philippines House
is the most neglected at present and it would be nice to see
someone claim this and secure the remaining cultural items and
bring it back to it's former glory. I think that it would look
great out near the Dutch Windmill if that was at all possible. In
addition, anyone who ventures over to Echuca (a town that is
very proud of it's heritage), can keep an eye out for the
Alexander Arbuthnot as it is now churning up the waters of
The Mighty Murray as it should be. Check out Silver Dice's "Port of
Call" whilst you are at it. Cheers.