Melbourne Bearbrass Probus is an active, engaging, member-driven group who come together to undertake a wide variety of enriching and enjoyable social activities and outings, which enhance their experiences and interests, whilst enjoying the fellowship of an expanding, diverse, network of friends.
Welcome members and potential members, to the Bearbrass Probus homepage.
Well folks we are into summer and the club continues to go gangbusters! Our membership is currently 87 (a record) with four new members inducted at the November meeting.
We have plenty of excursions and events on offer over the coming months including the recent joint event with our neighbour club to celebrate Probus Month at Seafarers, the November general meeting and to end the year, our Christmas function in December. In addition to these events we have the regular coffee group, craft group, ten pin bowling, wine tasting, two movie groups and other activities.
If you are a visitor to this page, please feel free to browse around and if something takes your interest contact us on bearbrassprobus@gmail.com or call our friendly secretary Judy on 0421 037 555.
I would also like to thank the City of Melbourne for their generous financial grants which allow our club to keep membership fees as low as possible.
Keep having fun, keep meeting new friends, and get the most from your club by being involved! Remember, your best friend could be someone you haven't even met yet!
Cheers
Shane đ
With Christmas Day only 14 days away, on behalf of the committee, I would just like to take this opportunity to wish all of our Bearbrass members a Merry Christmas followed by a Happy New Year.
Enjoy precious time with your families and loved ones. Take care and bring on an even bigger and brighter 2025 for our club.
Yours in Fun & Friendship
Shane
The Sunday Roasts are becoming more and more popular every month. This monthâs lunch was at the quaintly named Yorkshire Stingo in Abbotsford and had the biggest attendance ever.
The food was good, the drinks well priced and the company awesome!
Seeing it was a lunch for both November and December, weâll have to wait until next February for the next one!
Recently, 18 members enjoyed the wonderful musical, Sister Act the Musical, at the beautiful Regent theatre. Following the matinee , an early dinner and drinks were enjoyed at Young and Jacksonâs hotel. Our next theatre outing will be to Tina: The Tina Turner story , in January.
This monthâs wine tasting moved away from the more traditional dry red and white table wines to after dinner sweet wines.
The tasting journey took us from Coal Valley in Tasmania for an Ice Riesling, over to Bordeaux for a Sauterne and the Rhone Valley for a Muscat, back to Australia to the Riverina for a Botrytis Semillon, south to Victoria to the home of muscat, Rutherglen for Topaque (the wine formerly known as Tokay) and Muscat, before leaping back to Europe for a Spanish sherry called Pedro Ximenez.
It was demanding work, but great fortitude and determination was shown by our tasting group to press through. Whilst sweet wines were not to everyoneâs taste it was generally agreed that the different flavours in the wines, the variations on sweetness, the colours changing from a pale yellow in the Ice Riesling to a chocolate in the Pedro Ximenez and the massive variations in alcohol level, from 7% to 17.5% made the evening a truly memorable and interesting experience.
In addition, we learned how to pronounce âPedro Ximenezâ in Spanish!
The actual wines tasted were:
- Frogmore Creek 2023 Iced Riesling â Coal Valley Tas
- La Pigeade Muscat de Beaumes de Venise 2022 â Rhone Valley France
- Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes 2019 â Sauternes in Bordeaux France
- De Bortoli Noble One Botrytis Semillon 2020 â Riverina NSW
- Campbells Rutherglen Topaque â Rutherglen Vic
- All Saints Rutherglen Muscat - Rutherglen Vic
- Alvear Solera 1927 Pedro Ximenez - Montilla Moriles Spain.
And after all that activity, it was off to the South Melbourne Hotel for dinner.
About 25 members had an eye-opening morning on November 26 getting briefed on the Metro Tunnel project. We had an hour at the Swanston St PR centre surrounded by models and 180deg video displays, with a knowledgeable presenter filling us in with amazing facts.Pinnacle of the exercise was of course the four giant boring machines. Each is 120m long, equal to three big trams end-to-end, and weighing 1100 tonnes. The cutter head is 7.3m diameter. The borer creeps it way at about 10m per day, sealing the tube as it goes and pumping out the dirt to the surface after converting it to a slurry.
We learnt that for the UK-France tunnel project, the giant borers were too awkward to recover when their job was done, so they were buried deep for eternity. Below: Member Jim dons his virtual reality 4D mask.
The Melbourne ones each have a female name, Joan, Meg, Alice and Minnie after celebrated Victorian ladies. Things underground generally have female names, something to do (we were told) with St Barbara the patron saint of mining whose head was cut off by her own father (what the mining connection is, weâve forgotten).
Afterwards, many of us trooped to coffee at Dymocks, our heads bursting with arcane knowledge about Melbourneâs underground low-jinks.
Afterwards, many of us trooped to coffee at Dymocks, our heads bursting with arcane knowledge about Melbourneâs underground low-jinks.
A key part of the Melbourne Bearbrass club Vision is for members to âenjoy the fellowship of an expanding, diverse, network of friendsâ.
The weekly Trivia function is a classic example of that part of the Vision being achieved. Whilst not an official club event, it shows how members have extended their relationship groups, facilitated by their membership of Bearbrass Probus, into a broader neighbourhood camaraderie.
Starting in the waning days of the Covid crisis, a regular group of members began to play Trivia at a pub in Docklands. Soon the group expanded to include other friends, neighbours and acquaintances from the area. It has continued to be a great evening testing their knowledge with healthy competition between the two and sometimes three tables of participants.
This year the Bearbrass Christmas lunch will be a light hearted barbecue style with a bit of fun thrown in. Please wear something festive.
The date is Tuesday, December 10th.
The venue is the Port Melbourne Bowling Club at 130 Spring St., a 280m walk from North Port tram stop on the 109.
There will be drinks at club prices from 1pm with lunch ready at 1:30 and a gourmet menu too good to spell out.
From 2:30 until 4pm we have two rinks reserved for you to try your hand at bowling. Bring flats, thongs or bare feet - no stilettos. Display your bias. đ
Members have been emailed registration forms and bank details for acceptance. Any queries, contact President Shane. Cost is $50 for members, $60 for your guest.
The date is Tuesday, December 10th.
The venue is the Port Melbourne Bowling Club at 130 Spring St., a 280m walk from North Port tram stop on the 109.
There will be drinks at club prices from 1pm with lunch ready at 1:30 and a gourmet menu too good to spell out.
From 2:30 until 4pm we have two rinks reserved for you to try your hand at bowling. Bring flats, thongs or bare feet - no stilettos. Display your bias. đ
Members have been emailed registration forms and bank details for acceptance. Any queries, contact President Shane. Cost is $50 for members, $60 for your guest.
The monthly walk, with 14 participants, took us around Royal Park in Parkville and was memorable for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the walk - Royal Park, is Melbourne's largest at 200 hectares and so full of almost scrubby bush land, that one can forget how close to the centre of Melbourne you really are. The walk was a little over 5K and very flat. There were many points of interest including the native grassland circle in the park's heart, unstructured, bush land areas in the north, and a beautiful garden based on the Wurundjeri's seven seasons. In the 1970s-established Australian Native Garden along Gatehouse Street, included the Burke and Wills memorial on MacArthur Rd.
Secondly, it was the first time for any Bearbrass event that male attendees outnumbered female attendees!
As usual, coffee was a key element of the walk in the beautiful spring sun, sitting outside the Royal Park golf club, which served very good coffee.
Our monthly meeting on November 12 saw the induction of four new members Paul, Judy Agatha, and Terry. They are pictured with proud President Shane book-ended on the right and our veteran charmer Sue photo-bombing the group second from left. In addition, our two visitors on the day, Marie and Ray, have applied to join. A warm welcome to you all!
With 40 attendees, our speaker was Chris Walker (left). He gave us a very informative talk indeed on life as a paramedic, and the various capabilities of the on-road vehicles in use to keep our community covered through illnesses and accidents.
Also pictured is Colleen (right) and Coral-lee (below).
With 40 attendees, our speaker was Chris Walker (left). He gave us a very informative talk indeed on life as a paramedic, and the various capabilities of the on-road vehicles in use to keep our community covered through illnesses and accidents.
Also pictured is Colleen (right) and Coral-lee (below).
Fifteen members enjoyed the historically interesting experience of a guided tour of the recent Johnstone Collection exhibition titled, âInspired by Womenâ. We were bussed to a lovely terrace in East Melbourne and greeted by two tour guides who provided us with refreshments while giving us a potted history of Johnstone after which the collection is named. This exhibition celebrates womenâs lives in the 1700âs and1800âs. We had the opportunity to see some lovely pieces from the British and European fine and decorative arts from the Johnstone Collection along with pieces from the historical collection of the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria. In each room we visited, our tour guide related stories of significant women, influential in the Georgian and Regency periods including the Duchess of Portland, society hostess Lady Melbourne (mother of the man our state was named after), Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and Mary Delany. The stories of these women were colourful and entertaining though not always with happy endings, a plight often experienced by women of the times.
Twenty five enthusiastic members met at the gates of Government House ready for a fabulous tour of the house and gardens (which cover 11 hectares). After security checks, our guide, Deborah, led us up the magnificent drive, through the stunning foyer, the ruby red billiard room, the light and airy drawing room, the brilliant conservatory, the very grand State dining room (with its table to seat 56), the even grander State Hall, the Hopetoun Blue ballroom (even bigger than that at Buckingham Palace) finishing with the verdant and productive kitchen garden.
All the while, Deborah treated us to engrossing stories of the history of the house, its many occupants and its role in the Federation of Australia. We learnt a great deal about the role of our Governor and her current programs. Our 90 minutes sped by and we left with a greater understanding of our Victorian heritage and with a true appreciation of our Governor, Margaret Gardener, and her achievements.
Following this event about half of our group took a long and leisurely stroll into the Botanical Gardens in the spring sunshine to enjoy a delicious lunch at The Terrace. We all agreed that the day was pretty special.
Ten pin bowling continues to thrive as an activity. This month eight bowlers participated, plus our usual âcheer leaderâ, Denise M who is always giving encouragement and praise where needed. We then enjoyed a light lunch and friendly conversation at a nearby cafe. Fun and friendship were had by all with our second time bowler and our newest bowler both graduating from having the "gutter rails" up. Congratulations to both ladies.
On Sunday pre-Cup day a score or more of avid Bearbrass punters and horse whisperers gathered at the Mission to Seafarers to audit those organising and drawing the Cup Sweep. Given the high stakes of $10 per horse and top prize $144, this precaution was understandable and averted possible litigation after the event. For once, all seemed in order with the draw and as a bonus, ample supplies of cheese and salami was on offer. We all got home tired and slightly emotional, and that night as we slept, visions of cup-sweep sugar-plums danced in our heads. Breaking News! Winners with Knight's Choice: Kathy, Fran and Shane.
Seven enthusiastic Probus members attended a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Ground and MCG Sports Museum.
We were guided by a wonderful and enthusiastic volunteer, John, who explained much of the history of the MCG and Melbourne Cricket Club. We were treated to a view of the ground from the playerâs box, where the cricketers and their families sit, and followed the pathway taken by the batsman as he walks on the âGâ to begin his batting innings. Although we were not allowed to walk on the hallowed turf, we were able to walk within the boundary line and sit in the players shelter (see photo), which is used by the AFL. Our tour included the players change rooms used by both cricket and AFL players, the media room and the various dining areas within the members area. Following our guided tour, we were treated to a fantastic display of memorabilia in the Sports Museum and MCC museum. A life like hologram of Shane Warne talking about his career was a highlight.
The Bearbrass and Sunrise craft groups met for our monthly meeting. The weather allowed us to work on our projects, share ideas and continue our lively conversations with each other
912 Collins Street
Docklands, VIC 3008
Australia