Amongst the hundreds of caravans, piles of rusted machinery and mounds of odds and ends at the Prince of Wales Showground this weekend lurk hidden treasures and mysterious characters.
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And then there’s Bob, who is both hidden treasure and mysterious character.
Bob travelled to the Bendigo Swap Meet courtesy of Shepparton man David O’Brien. Bob is a life-size, rough hewn wood carving of a stoic looking bloke. One of Bob’s hands is in his pockets. The other clutches a tinnie.
“He used to stand next on the old bloke next door’s front step,” Mr O’Brien said.
“He called him ‘Bob the security guard’.
“I’ve no idea who made Bob, or why … it’s a mystery.
“But if I don’t sell him, he’ll end up on my verandah.”
Making old things ‘live again’
Rhonda Brosnan loves bringing old objects back to life.
And the 73-year-old collector gets a kick out of sharing her passion with young people because, otherwise, the objects’ stories and her way of life would disappear.
Every year Mrs Brosnan and husband Lester make two-day, 1600 kilometre drive from Toowoomba to attend the Bendigo Swap Meet.
They’ve been doing so for the last 20 years.
“We love the camaraderie,” Mrs Brosnan said.
“It’s about meeting everyone, seeing friends you don’t see for 12 months.
“Mind you, we’re getting a bit passed it now – we’re missing some friends.”
That’s why, Mrs Brosnan said, it was lovely to see the young ones interested by an old object.
“I think it’s good karma to get a young one interested,” she said.
“They come up and pick something up and say, ‘what is this?’ and then they end up learning things, they learn of what things used to be like.
“Like this old grinder here, which people used to grind leftovers.”
Alongside the grinder, the Brosnans’ caravan stall is crammed with antiques – a gramophone, ceremonial firefighters’ helmets, binoculars.
One common factor – everything is in mint condition.
“If you saw this carbine light a few weeks ago you’d never have picked it up, you couldn’t see it under the grease,” she said picking up another object, now shining brilliantly in the midday sun.
Mrs Brosnan said there were other common threads to the seemingly eclectic collection.
“Everything has a little bit of a story,” she said.
“The other day we bought a record player in the shape of a grand piano, then found out later it was a fixture on the set of ‘A Country Practice.’”
“Also, we’ll sell anything that can make you can make a dollar,” she said with a laugh.
In all seriousness the Brosnans do need to turn a profit. As self-funded retirees that’s there only pension.
“We don’t earn a great deal for this, we come down because we enjoy it,” she said.
Caravans find their Mecca
Lovers of European paintings have the Louvre in Paris.
Modern art aficionados have the Guggenheim in New York.
Now caravan enthusiasts may have found their spiritual home – Dunolly.
That because that’s where Graham Southey and wife Linda have decided to set up their Vintage Caravans Museum.
Mr Southey is one of the hundreds of caravan owners who has made the trip to Bendigo for the Swap Meet and Bendigo Caravan and Camping Leisurefest.
Few match his passion.
“Ever since I was a kid I’ve been excited about caravans,” Mr Southey said.
“I love how much labour went into making them right, the workmanship that went into them.”
The retired factory worker knows a thing or two about workmanship.
He spent 25 years as a boiler operator at the Australian Paper Mills. He’s also built a car or two in his time for old parts.
Mr Southey said his was a small museum, but everything was interesting. The highlight?
“I’ve got two 65-year-old wooden caravans,” he said.
“And I’ve got a 60-year-old one made especially for the 1956 Melbourne International Motor Show and Olympics – with a matching 56 FE Holden.”
Mr Southey said many visitors to his museum were older, grey nomad types. But the retired factory worker said he had noticed a new group taking an interest in the collectibles he sold.
“There’s a younger group now coming in, looking for the retro stuff,” he said.
The collector travels to four or five swap meets a year around the state, and he’s been doing so for about 30 years.
He hunts odds and ends for his store, and for the last eight years has been selling his own material.
But it’s not just the trade which keeps drawing him back.
“It’s the friendships,” Mr Southey said.
“There’s a group of about 20 of us going to the RSL for dinner tomorrow night.
“That’s pretty exciting.”
The Bendigo Swap Meet runs Saturday and Sunday at the Prince of Wales Showground. Gates open at 6am.