Churchill Island Friends Society Inc. in Newhaven, Victoria | Non-profit organisation

Churchill Island Friends Society Inc.

Locality: Newhaven, Victoria

Address: Samuel Amess Drive VIC 3925 Newhaven, VIC, Australia

Website: https://focis.org.au

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25.01.2022 Although visitor numbers to Churchill Island are restricted at present, you can book on the penguins.org.au website to visit. In 'normal' times the island is visited by over 100,000 people per year. Back in the Amess era (1872-1929) the island also had many visitors. The original Samuel Amess to own the island was very sociable and well connected in business, church and municipal circles and purchased the island as a 'get away' from the pollution and business of his Melbourne... life. The island collection includes a photocopy of the Amess Visitors' Book from the late 1880s - into the 1900s. Here is an interesting extract, the first one signed by Charles Nettleton, a well-known Melbourne photographer of the time. Did he actually take the photos of Samuel and others, the house and farm animals that were made available to the CI collection and are so valuable for our knowledge of the era? Photo shows the entry in the Visitors' Book, and one of the photos. See more

25.01.2022 Just for a bit of fun, here are some of the stuffed animal toys available at the Churchill Island shop - Highland cattle, Border Collie dogs, Kelpie dogs and pigs. The dogs are like Billie the Border Collie (black and white) and Rip the Kelpie (tan), and Dolly the pig - our CI farm animal friends!

25.01.2022 Churchill Island Museum Collection Recognised

24.01.2022 The Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Churchill Island Society Inc (FOCIS) is coming up on Saturday August 29, starting 1.30 p.m. on zoom and is open to all members. If you would like to attend, you can check the information and submit your RSVP/apology here: https://focis.org.au//annual-general-meeting-saturday-29-/ If you are not a member so would like to join first, go to: https://focis.org.au/membership/

23.01.2022 A favorite object at the Easter Festivals, and in the historic farm machinery display is the Furphy cart, restored by two farm staff in the late 1990s. The Furphy carts were an essential on farms for many years to keep water up to thirsty working horses and workers. The origin of the name developed into the Australian slang meaning "tall story" by the soldiers who gathered around the Furphy cart to drink and share news and yarns with the driver, who brought news from camp to camp. Pictured are the cart in the CI collection, and an image of soldiers gathered around during WW1.

22.01.2022 Former CI curator FOCIS secretary Christine Grayden's essay from the talk on "The fascinating residents of Churchill Island" is now available to read on the Phillip Island and District Historical Society website here: http://pidhs.org.au/essay/66 Photo from the essay shows the Jeffery brothers creating the large dam on the eastern side of CI, using a scoop, c. 1930.

22.01.2022 Update from Phillip Island Nature Parks re visiting their sites, including Churchill Island - good news! We can finally visit again any day of the week: PINP: From Thursday 12 November, we are open DAILY at the Penguin Parade, Koala Conservation Reserve and Churchill Island Penguin Parade viewing options available in either General Viewing or Penguins Plus. Ranger Guided Tours and Underground viewing are currently not operating.... To keep everyone safe, please note the below important information: Fitted face masks are mandatory across all of our sites Please maintain physical distancing at all times whilst at any of our locations Please maintain good hand hygiene, and stay home if you are unwell Entry only via a pre-purchased online ticket (including infants) we are unable to upgrade, refund or alter any tickets onsite. Please ensure you have the correct ticket type and number of tickets before your visit. We are required to collect visitor details to assist with contact tracing in the event of a case of coronavirus being detected. Information will be held securely for 28 days, then destroyed in accordance with our privacy policy. Only contactless transactions are available at all retail and food & beverage outlets cash not accepted Please note that as we will be managing visitor numbers at all of our locations, you may experience short entry delays subject to the number of people already on site. To keep everyone safe and to minimise unnecessary gathering points, most areas within our Penguin Parade Visitor Centre are currently closed. Please note that upon arrival, you will be required to proceed directly to the outdoor precinct of our

19.01.2022 Even in winter the Churchill Island garden has colour and perfume. Here is one of the beautiful old Camellias blooming, and a fragrant daphne and violets - can't you just smell the perfume! July 2020

19.01.2022 Good news for regional Victorians: Phillip Island Nature Parks venues: Churchill Island, Koala Conservation Centre and Penguin Parade will be open for visitors daily for the school holidays, and then limited times after that. NO TICKETING ON SITE - YOU MUST BOOK AND PAY ONLINE. Of course, visitor number limits apply. Find details here: https://penguins.org.au//latest-updates-on-visiting-the-na So looking forward to visiting our beautiful Churchill Island again!!

18.01.2022 A visit to Churchill Island on the weekend was the very restorative needed for our Friends of Churchill Island Society secretary Christine Grayden, who has unfortunately been quite unwell much of this year. Her husband John was able to take her around part of the historic precinct for an hour or so in a wheelchair. Christine was the curator on CI for 8 years until retiring 2 years ago, and has volunteered there on and off since the late 1970s. She is pictured rugged up in the... winter chilly sunshine outside Amess House last weekend. Also shown are some photos from their visit, of the popular views to the east from near the Visitor Centre, and the wonderful trees in the herb garden at Amess House - the Bay tree, and the tree that always has a mass of hanging flowers this time of the year. Perhaps one of our gardening readers can give us the name of the latter tree please? See more

17.01.2022 We may not have any overseas actual visitors on Churchill Island at present, but we do have virtual ones. Robert from the UK loved Rebecca's Moonah photo from last week so much that he has responded to our request for your CI photos by sending a lovely photo, which is quite different to Rebecca's and which he took of our coastal Moonahs when he lived in Australia and traveled a lot around our country. He misses Australia and loved our little island. Maybe you will be able to come back again some day Robert. Meanwhile, stay safe and thank you for sharing!

17.01.2022 Notice re Churchill Island, Penguin Parade, Nobbies and Koala centre from PINP website: penguins.org.au UPDATE - 3 AUGUST Phillip Island Nature Parks attractions are closed to visitors in line with advice from the Victorian Government restrictions. Please stand by for further information.

16.01.2022 Did you know that the Friends of Churchill Island Society have tax deductibility for donations to our Heritage Fund? That's because we are listed on the Australian Register of Cultural Organisations. FOCIS can use Heritage Fund donations towards projects involving Churchill Island's "moveable cultural heritage", such as preservation and display of collection items. We have recently contributed over $2,000 from the fund towards the cost of high quality information signs soon to be placed with the historic farm machinery display. It is not too late to donate online ,for this financial year. You will automatically receive your receipt to the email address you supply when you pay online by Paypal, direct funds transfer or credit card. It's easy! Go to our website here: focis.org.au/donations/

15.01.2022 This looks mighty tempting! Fresh local produce for weekend Churchill Island breakfast. Bookings essential - see below.

12.01.2022 Are you from Bass Coast or other regional Victoria areas, and planning to visit our beautiful Churchill Island? While there, take a detour and visit the historic farm machinery display alongside the shearing shed, which now features new signage explaining a lot about how the machinery you can see there was actually used. Friends of Churchill Island Society and our donor members contributed towards the cost of this all-weather signage. FOCIS also received a Bass Coast Shire council community grant which enabled Phillip Island Nature Parks to extend the shed housing the machinery. This has been a major FOCIS project. Here are some photos of the new signage, taken by PINP Visitor Experience Manager: Kate Adams.

07.01.2022 Churchill Island's curator, Samantha (Sam) Happe has been very busy in lockdown scanning and cataloguing hundreds of images from the CI photograph collection onto the public website: www.victoriancollections.net.au Hop on and have a look. You may be able to contribute some extra information on some of the photos! Here is a lovely photo of 2 jinkers near the sign at the bridge, maybe circa 1990s?

06.01.2022 Please see post below from Phillip Island Nature Parks for an important announcement about visiting Churchill Island, Penguin Parade, Nobbies Centre and Koala Centre during the current Melbourne and Mitchell Shire's lockdown period.

06.01.2022 Does Churchill Island hold a special place in your heart? Do you think you could write 150 words about that? Cape Woolamai resident Laura Brearley is a wonderful singer-songwriter (among many other things!) and has led our local community in many events. Now, she and a group of other amazing individuals have initiated the "Coastal Connections" project, funded by Bass Coast Shire's Business and Community Resilience Grants Program COVID-19. Laura and her group are asking us to write about our special place in 150 words and send it to her. You can read about the project and how you can participate here: https://www.basscoastpost.com/laura-bre/places-in-the-heart A great thing to do to cheer us all up during Covid!

04.01.2022 Churchill Island staff are still busy while no public are permitted to visit due to Covid. Here is a photo of the stables with timber trim newly painted - this gives the building a real lift! Thanks CI staff, and also to Kate Adams, Phillip Island Nature Parks Visitor Experience Manager for photo.

04.01.2022 CHURCHILL ISLAND MUSEUM COLLECTION RECOGNISED Samantha and the Churchill Island Heritage Farm Team have been nominated as finalists in the 2020 Victorian Museum Awards in the Victorian Collections Award for Excellence in Museum Cataloguing category. These awards acknowledge the hard work and dedication of organisations like Phillip Island Nature Parks and FOCIS that have been cataloguing their collections online using Victorian Collections. Fingers crossed for the team who will be watching the Australian Museums and Galleries Victoria annual awards ceremony online on 8 December. The awards include the VC awards. The event is free for both AMAGA members and non-members, but you must register to get the online event link. Find out more here: https://amagavic.org.au/events?id=1567

04.01.2022 Today is Threatened Species Day, and to raise awareness in a very different way, Churchill Island managers, Phillip Island Nature Parks, had their annual TSD bake off among the staff - but digitally this year. Here are some of their photos of their wonderful baked and decorated creations! Including CI's wonderful Eastern Barred Bandicoots. Thanks for sharing PINP.

03.01.2022 Pelicans just love roosting in Fisher's saltmarsh near the Churchill Island bridge; mainly when the saltmarsh has a lot of water lying around. Birds and bats are said to 'roost' when they are resting or sleeping in a suitable place. Pelicans are very sociable and generally 'hang out' together, like the Fisher's saltmarsh and wetlands group. Here is some more information about the Australian pelican: http://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/australian-pelican Photo: David Maunders.

02.01.2022 Do you have a favorite view of or on Churchill Island you would like to share with our followers? Here is a beautiful photo of CI Moonahs in silhouette by Friends of Churchill Island Society member Rebecca Sanders. Feel free to share here or email image to [email protected]

02.01.2022 IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT from Phillip Island Nature Parks re visiting Churchill Island, Penguin Parade and Koala conservation reserve.: "UPDATE - 21 JULY Effective from Friday 24 July, the Penguin Parade will open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays only, while the Koala Conservation Reserve and Churchill Island will open only on Saturdays and Sundays. ... These actions will allow the Nature Parks to continue to contribute to our local and regional Victorian economy whilst playing our part in keeping our staff and communities safe, and slowing the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). We are also delighted to be able to offer FREE* entry to people living in regional Victoria from Friday 24 July. * Please note a $0.01c fee will apply per booking to allow for processing via credit card, as our system is not able to process a Zero Value booking. Online bookings are essential for all visitors (including babies), numbers will remain limited to 100, and physical distancing and enhanced hygiene measures will continue to be implemented and enforced. Victorians living in regional areas outside metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire will be able to book their free* tickets online from Tuesday 21 July, with tickets being released in two week blocks. Each adult visitor will need to present photo identification (eg. drivers licence) showing their primary place of residence in regional Victoria. Nature Parks walking tracks, boardwalks, reserves, and beaches are open for recreational use by regional Victorians with appropriate physical distancing. Essential conservation activities will also continue behind the scenes including caring for wildlife, scientific research, pest plant and animal control and revegetation. The Antarctic Journey and Nobbies visitor centre will remain closed for the time being. "

01.01.2022 FOCIS needs a SECRETARY! Did you know that FOCIS has been an integral part of our beautiful little island for 40 years this year! We have a great little committee but our secretary of many years, Christine Grayden is unwell and not able to continue in the role. Just like all incorporated groups we cannot legally operate without a secretary. We usually hold 4 committee and 4 general meetings per year, and the workload is not onerous. You just need to be a member with basic computer skills. The committee includes a membership secretary and treasurer so the secretary does not have to do any of those jobs. If you or someone you know may be able to fill this important role, please contact Christine for more information: [email protected]

01.01.2022 CI cafe floor just newly polished and waiting for us to return! Thanks to Kate Adams, PINP, for photo.