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.
This will be my last President's message as we have our AGM on March 11th when a new committee of management will be elected and I will handover to new President Colleen H. In addition, we will be inducting two new members! Guests are also welcome.
There was a fantastic outing to “Tina Turner the Musical” with 23 members in attendance last month. The newly formed Art Group recently went to the Australian Centre for Modern Image (ACMI) to see the "Future and Other Fictions" exhibition which brings together 180 works spanning film to contemporary art using pop culture to imagine where the world could head next. Amazing!
We had a really interesting guest speaker at our February meeting, Paul Shipley, talking about online scams, something we should all be very wary of. In addition, two new members were inducted.
In closing I should also acknowledge the City of Melbourne for their continued generous financial support which allows our club to keep membership fees as low as possible.
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.
Cheers
Shane 😊
Unfortunately a photo of the seven members attending the first outing for the AW Art Appreciation Group was not taken but numerous photos were taken of this amazing exhibition. We will share a couple with you.
This exhibition “THE FUTURE & OTHER FICTIONS show cases people, costumes and artworks imagining bright and bold futures through film , videogames, contemporary art, interactions and more.”
It was an exclusive premier exhibition to ACMI and Melbourne and will be taken overseas at the end of its Melbourne run.
All members attending this exhibition agreed that a second visit is needed to absorb and appreciate the vast array of themes.


Tenpin bowling continues to roll along at Archie Bros in The District, Docklands. The last outing brought together eight bowlers, one cheerleader and one member nursing an injury.
We enjoyed lunch before the game, which set the tone for the afternoon. The group split into two groups - the men’s lane saw some fierce competition- while the women’s lane focused on having fun and enjoying the game. It was great to see our two newest bowlers showing improvement, demonstrating more confidence and skill as the game progressed. Although John M couldn't participate in the bowling itself, he was active in cheering and coaching others, keeping the spirit alive and showing that you can still be part of the fun even when sidelined.
Bowling is a wonderful experience. The combination of competitive energy, new bowlers showing progress, and a light-hearted attitude from the women’s lane made for a great afternoon. We look forward to next month’s event, where we can continue to build on our skills and enjoy some friendly competition.



Twenty three members and guests recently attended Tina: The Tina Turner Musical . All agreed that it was a fantastic show, while at times confronting. The show finished with a repertoire of famous Tina Turner songs ,while the audience joined along and gave a standing ovation.
A drink (or two) and an early dinner followed for some, at the Imperial Hotel, just a stone’s throw from the Princess Theatre.
Keep a look out for our next theatre event.
(Apologies to those who didn’t make it to the photo opportunity).

It’s summer in Melbourne, so we thought that it would be worth trying “summer reds” at this month’s wine tasting.
We tasted
- Patrick Bottex Bugey-Cerdon La Cueille 2023 - Bugey-Cerdon France
- Calmel & Joseph Villa Blanche Piquepoul Noir 2021 - Languedoc Roussillon France
- Bernard Metrat La Roilette Fleurie Vieilles Vignes Gamay 2022 – Fleurie France
- Meadowbank Gamay 2024 – Derwent Valley Tasmania
- Kate Hill Pinot Noir 2021– Huon Valley Tasmania
- Bricco Maiolica Langhe Nebbiolo 2022 - Piedmont Italy.
The first wine met everyone’s expectations of what a “summer” red should taste like – bubbly and bright with a lick of residual sugar and was arguably the “wine of the night”! However there was stiff competition from the rest although the Calmel & Joseph Villa Blanche Piquepoul Noir was not to everybody’s taste. Interestingly, the local Tasmanian wines stacked up very well against stiff international competition.
Everyone agreed that it was interesting to experience some lighter red wines and realise that a summer red does not have to one that looks and tastes like Ribena!

We have been featured in two illustrated articles in the February 2025 issue of Probian Victoria newspaper. The first article was a profile of our President Shane, his views on committee work and recruiting, and his potted life history in five paragraphs. The second story was about our ably-run Wine Appreciation Group, which also featured with pic in the latest Active Retirees Magazine.
Some extra history of the wine group which didn’t make the cut in the article, is as follows:
The group started in 2020 (over 4 years ago) in one of the breaks between Covid lockdowns when we were allowed to have up to six guests in our houses/apartments. The first wine group meeting (which old-timers suggest was also the first Bearbrass face-to face activities meeting) had six attendees who tasted four different wines all camouflaged in brown paper bags! It has changed a lot since then, typically with ten tasters, six mystery wines, a wine talk with Powerpoint slides and a pub dinner following.
The articles referred to are on page 15 of the publication - click on the following link if you’d like to read more:


The 2025 series of Sunday lunches has kicked off, with the January lunch taking place recently at The Leveson in North Melbourne. In our own light and airy private space, we enjoyed air-conditioned comfort on a very hot day as we munched a delicious meal, sipped on cold drinks and chatted with the terrific company!

This month’s walk of members and friends was to Sandridge Lookout, near Webb Dock. The walk offered the option of a 5K walk starting at 9:40 am or a 9K walk starting at 9 am. The early group met at the corner of Whiteman and Clarendon streets and followed the path next to the 109 tram to meet with the rest of the group at the end of the tram line in Port Melbourne.
We all then went via Beach street, Beacon boulevard and Webb Trail to Sandridge lookout, where we had a very good view of Williamstown and heaps of boats! It was a very pleasant day for walking with a nice sea breeze and lots of birdlife along the way.
Coffee was had at Mister Hobsons near Station Pier and after that some jumped on the tram and others walked the 3K back to the corner of Whiteman and Clarendon streets (and went home for a snooze!).

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 Jackson’s hotel. Our next theatre outing will be to Tina: The Tina Turner story , in January.

Close to 30 members and friends turned up for our end-of-year picnic at Dockland’s Point Park, sandwiched (no pun intended) between high-rise towers and the Yarra.
The temp was a balmy 25-27 degrees, the breeze was kind and there were ample tree shadings for those at our three tables. A fourth table sagged from all the delicacies carted in.
Sprightly new members leavened the ranks of grizzled club veterans. Conversations ranged from updates on members’ joint replacements to above-average grandchildren and the superior schooling of the 1960s. Many thanks to chief organisers Coral-lee and Russ and their helpers whose inspiration resulted in warm and strengthened friendships among our members.


Our annual Christmas party, at the Port Melbourne bowling club, was a fabulous time for the nearly 60 members and friends attending. It was the biggest attended event in our club’s history!
There was a great deal of socialising, the venue making it very easy for everyone to mix around, in addition to a tasty BBQ lunch, raffles and lawn bowling.
Everyone got into the spirit of the event by wearing some christmassy (sic) items, from socks, to hats, to jewelery, vests, shirts etc etc. The star was our club elf, Spike (see picture).
The raffle was keenly anticipated and watched, with winners having to choose their prize based on a wrapped parcel, sometimes the packaging did not fully indicate the contents!
But after we had all eaten, socialised, won raffle prizes (and had a responsible amount of drinks), the lawn bowling started. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves showing where their bias lay (ed. clever eh?) although there were a lot of pretty competitive “one-on-ones” happening on the rink!. The take-up and evident enjoyment, suggests that lawn bowling may become another regular club event.
Congratulations to the organisers Spike, Colleen, Sue, Coral-lee, Bill (and the others that the ed. has forgotten).

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, we’ve forgotten).
Afterwards, many of us trooped to coffee at Dymocks, our heads bursting with arcane knowledge about Melbourne’s underground low-jinks.
Afterwards, many of us trooped to coffee at Dymocks, our heads bursting with arcane knowledge about Melbourne’s underground low-jinks.

Our monthly meeting 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).




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.

A key part of the Melbourne Bearbrass club Vision is for members to “enjoy the fellowship of an expanding, diverse, network of friends”.
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.


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 “cheer leader”, 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.

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 player’s box, where the cricketers and their families sit, and followed the pathway taken by the batsman as he walks on the “G” 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.
912 Collins Street
Docklands, VIC 3008
Australia