Sculpture time will soon loom again on Lorne’s horizon … if the stars of funding, organisation, and energy align.

It is a time when our minds turn to thoughts of creativity and form, though the latter remains in the eye of the beholder.

Beautiful to one can be less so to another.

Our serial Sculpture Biennales have been a boon to the town, and while recognising the biennial weight it places on the shoulders of the local few who slog to make it happen, at least they can draw satisfaction from knowing their efforts are deeply appreciated.

The capacity of the human brain to mould and shape things of beauty seems—in so many respects—almost infinite.

Whether Michelangelo’s Madonna della Pietà in St Peters, Rome or his incomparable David in Florence; Bernini’s mind-bending hyper-sexual Hermaphrodite Endorme [the Sleeping Hermaphroditus] in the Louvre; or Damien Hirst’s equally challenging anatomical Virgin Mother in the forecourt of the Royal Academy of Arts in London or his Verity colossus at Ilfracombe … Google them … all and every creation of the human hand holds a microcosm of artistic expression.

Sadly, however, human creativity, for all its infinite wonder, rarely lasts.

True, some may last millennia—the pyramids of the Pharaohs, the Valley of the Kings, the jungle-wrapped pyramids of the Yucatan peninsula, or Angkor Wat.

Others are wantonly or carelessly destroyed—the explosive destruction of the Parthenon in Athens, the senseless demolition of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban, or the ISIS destruction in Ancient Palmyra.

But, In the end, all are static pieces subject to droughts and storms, and all will eventually only live on in memory.

Would that we could still see the 33m high Colossus of Rhodes that toppled during an earthquake in 226 BC.

While walking the beach at the George River mouth this week, these thoughts came to mind as I paused to watch a wash of winter-fresh water carve a scalloping curve into the accumulated sandbank.

Here was a sculptor of even greater skill and variety at work—Mother Nature.

Unfolding before me was a living, fast-forward time-lapse of how our southern coastline—indeed, all coastlines—has been shaped by natural forces over millennia, epochs, and aeons.

Looking carefully at the two photos [below], the first distance shot shows an almost perfect curve carved into the sand by the tumult of the fast-running stream.

The previous day, before the rains had doused the hills behind Lorne with a deluge, the sand formed a smooth, unbroken expanse.

Now, piece by tiny piece, the sand was retreating before the flood.

It was mesmerising to watch.

The second, closer shot of the edge appears crenated and scalloped as the soft sand slowly crumbles into the flow … yet following a remarkably regulated and predictable pattern.

Find me a local kid who has never enjoyed stomping on one of the mini-cliffs of sand that edge the Erskine or the George on a warm summer’s day after an overnight storm has flushed the streams with floodwater!

I admit I loved to stomp them and leave a trail of footprints and destruction behind me! Nature, however, was being clean and surgical.

As each tiny section—no more than 40-50 cm at a time—gave in to the undermining force of the curling stream and collapsed with a ‘splodge’ into the water, it formed a small sandy obstruction against the still-standing wall ahead.

The water turbulence behind the fall then undermined the next 40-50 cm of sand cliff upstream.

A crack would form and slowly widen behind the cliff’s edge until another section would lurch forward into the water with a ‘thwump’.

The serial pattern repeated until a new cliff edge had been established.

Finally, as the ‘new’ cliff edge was subject to the same assault, the sandbank inexorably relinquished itself to the water.

Thus, the land gives back to the sea.

Watching the George River sandbank was akin to observing a Petri-dish example of our southern coastline … a glimpse [in miniature and fast-forward] of how wave action has shaped the Port Campbell cliffs over aeons of time, though given the softness of their composition, some macro-shaping has occurred—even in my one-human lifetime.

The clay and limestone stacks we call ‘The Twelve Apostles’ were not always known as such—originally, they were ‘The Sow and Piglets’.

‘Early charts refer to the 12 Apostles as the “Sow and Piglets”after they were first mapped and noted by George Bass in 1798. Superintendent C.J. La Trobe (later to be governor of Victoria) marked “Sow and Piglets” on his 1846 chart and included 12 rock stacks between Loch Ard Gorge and the current viewing platform.

The Melbourne Newspaper “The Argus” [December 25th, 1897] reported no less than three descriptive names—the Sow and Pigs, the Pinnacles, and the Twelve Apostles—the latter the first written use I can find of the current name. See https://tinyurl.com/ywn2u53d

There are now officially only eight remaining [though some say seven], the number depending on how the formation of a new ‘stack’ by the collapse of ‘London Bridge’ in 1990 and the collapse of ‘stack nine’ in 2005 are counted. https://tinyurl.com/mu92t47w

Local ‘sculpting by nature’ surrounds us … the imposing red cliffs that extend to the northeast from the Anglesea River to and beyond Point Addis are so friable and prone to unexpected collapse that they are rightly a prohibited area.

Indeed, as several lives have been lost to our crumbling shoreline, it could easily be considered a local parallel to Robert Hughes’s epic history of the colonisation of early Australia, “The Fatal Shore”.

Similar shoreline instabilities exist near Bird Rock [Jan Juc] and along the cliff walk to Point Roadnight.

There is a certain futile arrogance in man’s attempts to “play King Canute” and hold back the tide.

Reshaping of the land is constant and everywhere … the collapse of a rainforest hillside near Forrest on June 17th, 1952, to form the platypus haven now known as Lake Elizabeth [named in honour of the Queen as the year of her ascension] … the multiple volcanos that—like bubbling, slow-simmered porridge—have remodelled western Victoria, most recently at Mt Gambier only 5000 years ago. All and more are evidence of nature’s deft hand at work.

So … while we can [and will] marvel at our next man-made sculpture exhibits along Lorne’s foreshore, give a thought to the magic of Mother Nature’s dab hand … even if she tends to drag it out a bit.

There’s much to enjoy about where we live if we can only pause to notice.

John Agar

Feature Writer

A word from the chairman

Hello

Most of you will be aware that there have been significant changes to the electoral structure of the Surf Coast Shire (SCS), which means that Lorne is now part of the much larger Otway Range ward with 3 elected councillors.

For many years, Lorne has been a separate one-councillor ward and we have been well served by our councillors, Clive Goldsworthy and Gary Allen.

What this means is that if the Lorne community is to continue to have a voice at Council, we need a local candidate, and this will be a major challenge with the much larger ward.

Nominations for candidates close in September and the Committee for Lorne is in discussions with potential candidates.

More immediate is the closing of the electoral roll on August 7 (Yes, next week!).

While most Lorne residents will already be on the roll, we urge you to check your enrolment at enrolment.vec.vic.gov.au.

Perhaps less well known is that you are entitled to enrol as a Council enrolled voter and to vote in the upcoming election if you own a property in the SCS, even if you do not live here, or only live here some of the time.

You can also enrol to vote on the Council roll even if you are not an Australian citizen.

To be eligible to vote as a Council enrolled voter, you will need to fit one of the following criteria:

• You are an owner ratepayer (you own the property and pay rates).
• You are an occupier ratepayer (you occupy a property and pay rates, even though you do not own the property).
• You are acting on behalf of a corporation (you are a director or company secretary of a corporation that pays rates in the Council area).

And yes, if you meet the criteria, you can vote in more than one council election.

In order for Lorne to maximise its vote and have a chance of securing representation, we need to ensure that all eligible voters are enrolled.  If this applies to you, please enrol now.

*****

The Olympic Games comes around every four years and we marvel at the talent, dedication and commitment of all the athletes, especially our own Aussies.

We share the exhilaration of the winners and the sadness, and sometimes shock, of falling short of winning.

Sometimes, in disappointment, we also see the true personality of athletes shine through.

For me, one such moment was the interview with boxer Harry Garside on Channel 9.

Harry, having trained for many years for his moment of glory and having survived serious personal challenges along the way, was felled in his first bout and his dream was over.

Understandably devastated, he wept uncontrollably.

Only hours later, when interviewed, he was a reborn man.

Having absorbed, assessed and rechannelled his thinking, he was full of hope for his future in sport and in life.

He is truly inspiring and his interview should be a must-watch for people, young and old, who are struggling with setbacks and adversity.

To quote Harry “the longest relationship we have is the one we have with ourself”.

Cheers

Lorne Ward Events Calendar

August

17th – Lorne Dolphins Football and Netball V Alive, at Stribling Reserve, juniors match from 9am, seniors at 2pm

17th – Surfcoast Wonderfalls Trail Run, Starting at Cumberland River/Lorne from Distances: 5km 13km 25km 42km 52km

 

September

15 – Amy’s Gran Fondo, cycling event on the Great Ocean Road www.amysgranfondo.org.au