User Profile

Double trouble and trouble doubled: four sets of identical twins start prep at St Mary’s Primary School

No you’re not seeing double – or even quadruple. Four sets of identical twins have started prep at the exact same school. Luckily St Mary’s Primary School has four prep classes, just enough to fit one set of twins per class. Prep...

Daneka Hill

21 Feb 2020

News

Government hands land to Yorta Yorta

A RESTRICTIVE mortgage placed on an Indigenous corporation’s land nearly 30 years ago has finally been lifted. The first mortgage on the Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation’s head office in Barmah was installed by the government in...

Daneka Hill

19 Feb 2020

Lifestyle

A non-stop Echuca life

IT’S THE usual story, two country kids fleeing to the cities straight out of high school to live the brighter and better life found in the big smoke. Just when it seemed their whole lives would be spent living it up and working to the edge of...

Daneka Hill

14 Feb 2020

News

Public distrust in charities leads to a unique bushfire donation drive

AS support for bushfire-effected animals starts to wind down, two Echuca ladies are just gearing up. Sister’s Trish Harris and Karen Verrall are on a mission to help – and the animal lovers have cottoned onto a uniquely convenient way to...

Daneka Hill

14 Feb 2020

News

How an Echuca family connection helped Germany’s “koala lady” in the bushfire appeal

AN Echuca family has turned their German relative into an unwitting European sensation. It began when Gertje Forlong reached out to ask how she could help with the bushfire recovery. Little did she know her relative’s suggestion would turn her...

Daneka Hill

13 Feb 2020

News

Passion drives Cohuna people to keep it alive

YOU don’t hear this every day of the week: ‘‘the Bee Gees actually milked my cows, there’s not many people can say that’’. Except in Cohuna. Sixty years ago Geoff Thompson ran a dairy, performed as a drummer and organised some of the...

Daneka Hill

13 Feb 2020

News

Jennifer’s not just waffling on about anything

A LOCAL homeware store in Cohuna has successfully made the natural expansion into, well alright, the connection may seem tenuous, but it has branched into waffles? Factory + Field WAFFLES is a glaringly different type of shopfront on Cohuna’s main...

Daneka Hill

13 Feb 2020

News

Soap has become the star at Windella Farm

THERE is a goat dairy outside Cohuna going from strength to strength, struggling to keep up with Australia’s demand for its soaps. Sarah Mostyn runs Windella Farm and said the business took off almost overnight in November after she posted her...

Daneka Hill

13 Feb 2020

News

Planned in 2016 and promised in 2018, Echuca’s port is finally getting its new wall in 2020

The retaining wall which locally loved restaurant Oscar W’s was demolished to make way for in 2018 is officially up for tender.

Daneka Hill

05 Feb 2020

Education

Echuca students are still adjusting to the tough new mobile phone ban in schools

To students’ horror and teachers’ joy the absolute mobile phone ban in schools has officially begun. Coming back fresh from Christmas holidays last week, 237,000 secondary school students and 378,000 primary students across the state...

Daneka Hill

04 Feb 2020

News

Mystery man from 1950s identified after reader recognises him as old family friend

YOU might have seen this picture in last week’s reflections - thanks to a helpful caller the mystery market gardener pictured has been identified. Brett Brasher said the man is Mr Jimmy Goon, an old family friend. Mr Goon was born in Kyabram...

Daneka Hill

03 Feb 2020

News

Tongala mechanic sheds 23.5kg after being challenged by boss to be healthier

Employees at a trucking company have lost a combined 165kg after being challenging by their boss to be healthier. Tipping the scales as the biggest loser nation-wide was a Tongala mechanic who shed a massive 23.5kg by the close of the 12-week...

Daneka Hill

29 Jan 2020

News

Leitchville: Surviving in regional VIC against all odds

ONCE upon a time Leitchville was home to one of Australia’s most important cheese factories. Now, the town faces a future as little more than a dot on a map. But the fight isn’t over for those who remain. These residents harbour an...

Daneka Hill

29 Jan 2020

Video

Malcolm Whyte - a godfather of Echuca’s Port

The historical district at the centre of Echuca - in more ways than one - owes its existence to tireless locals like Mal Whyte.

Daneka Hill

27 Jan 2020

News

Hungry Goat raises over $2500 for Bushfire Appeal

Thousands of donuts were eaten and thousands were spent in the name of the bushfire appeal. The Hungry Goat’s donut drive ran over three long weeks and raised $2550 through pre-ordered donut boxes. A whopping half of the donuts asking price...

Daneka Hill

24 Jan 2020

News

Echuca’s Riverina Redneck Rally team raising boot-loads of cash for charity

The Riverina Redneck Rally is on the horizon once more and the Echuca team is back behind the wheel. This time it’s not only about raising money for a good cause, because the race organisers have sweetened the pot. The team which earns the...

Daneka Hill

23 Jan 2020

News

Four friends still meeting up 72 years after they first met at Bamawm Central school

FOUR 77-year-old ladies who grew up on neighbouring farms in Bamawm have pulled off the impossible – they’ve been friends for 72 years. Margaret Ross, Dorothy Pearse, Betty Cunnington and Jean Pedretti’s friendship began in earnest...

Daneka Hill

21 Jan 2020

News

Anger rises as picnic spot sinks

A beloved picnic grounds is sinking into a swamp and locals are at breaking point after nine years of inaction by Campaspe Shire Council. Since 2011 the banks of Kow Swamp picnic grounds have been steadily eroding after the park’s original barrier...

Daneka Hill

17 Jan 2020