
SOMEBODY asked me recently what I do in Corinella. (With that feel of “What could anyone possibly do in Corinella?!”)
Here’s my answer.
Learn swing dancing, teach a self-evolvement course, run a business consulting to the community housing sector, run a monthly community gathering called Waterline Living Library, volunteer for wombat mange management, propagate and plant mangroves, help community connect via the Corinella Residents and Ratepayers community building subcommittee, organise social events, lawn bowl, walk my dogs two or three times a day, swim, visit old people, ride my bike, bake sourdough bread, which I’m planning to teach, planning a clothes swap event, grow fruit and vegetables, help in the community garden, smile at strangers and make time for spontaneous chats with neighbours, tend to chickens, planning a women’s dancercise class for Corinella hall.

Community Garden group at a recent Cowes event
I moved from Heidelberg Heights in 2017 and came down to have a look at what had been touted in a recent newsaper article as one of the ten cheapest seaside towns in Victoria. I booked in to a B&B for the night and the next morning drove up to the real estate agent in Grantville who drove me around Corinella and Coronet Bay to look at properties. I ended up buying the first property I saw and moved in in August 2017.
At first I wondered whether I would make friends and have enough to do but being a pretty outgoing person who loves meeting people I just started saying hello and chatting with people. Pretty soon I found out about goings on. I thought if it's not happening maybe I could help start something. So over the years I’ve had some influence in starting some groups in Coronet Bay, like a band I play drums in, the swing dance group I go to on Mondays and a few others such as the Corinella Weeders group.
And my daughter and I set up the Friends of Corinella foreshore Facebook page that now has nearly 400 members.