By NOEL MURPHY
PIRATES, bunyips, secret discoveries and wartime landings – mystery and legend abound in Geelong for anyone curious enough to dig.
Even a cursory scratch can reveal weird and wonderful stories behind such oddities as the naming of the Cats, Geelong and Eastern Beach.
Then comes treasure stories, rumoured Japanese wartime landings, legends of big cats in the Otways, inspirational inventions and much more.
Phil Manning, curator of National Wool Museum’s upcoming Rumour Has It exhibition, has been poking through Geelong’s arcane and esoteric background to come up with the region’s “whispered history”.
“They’re a lovely part of our history,” he said of tales such as the Mahogany Ships, Geelong Keys and Mendonca’s Portuguese expedition to Australia.
“There’s the invention of the airplane clothes hoist by (Geelong’s) Gilbert Toyne, decades ahead of the Hills hoist.
“We look at the naming of the Cats in 1923 following a cartoon in The Herald, Benito’s Treasure at Queenscliff, also Hume and Hovell’s encounter with the Wathaurong and the transfer of the name Jillong into English, the possible tunnels under Geelong.’’
The Rumours exhibition will feature historical accounts and images, expert talks, artist impressions and more as it plumbs the grey area between fact and fiction, myth and mystery.
Who knew, for instance, that Eastern Beach might have been named Geelong Playboy Rendezvous or Corio Purgation Circle? These were among the more-colourful names submitted to a public competition to name the art deco swimming reserve.
“Probably the least-known is the possible Japanese landing near Fort Queenscliff during World War II, possibly linked to the murder of two soldiers,” Mr Manning said.
“They’re not all myths and legends, they’re what we’re calling whispered stories.”
The exhibition opens at the museum next month.
