This month, Louis Bokor and his wife Anna are celebrating 40 years of living in Gisborne. Louis likes the open space and country-life in the Macedon Ranges, while being close to the city’s benefits. He speaks with Serena Seyfort.
What’s your connection to Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges?
My wife Anna and I moved to Sunbury in 1971 because I started working for the weather bureau at Melbourne airport. Then in 1977 we moved to Gisborne. This month we’ve been here for 40 years.
How have you been involved in the local community?
My three children went to school at Gisborne Primary School then they all went through Braemar College. My wife worked as a nurse with the Sunbury Community Health centre. I played squash at the local squash for many years in Gisborne and I played badminton at Tony Clarke for a while. And I’m a member of the Calder Fly Flying Association.
Tell us about fly fishing and being part of the Calder Fly Fishing Association. Are there many fish locally?
The club is four years old, I’ve been a member since just after it started. We mainly fish in the Macedon Ranges and we go down towards Daylesford, and sometimes to Geelong and the Western District. It is alleged that there are still some trout in the local streams.
There are still some fish in Jacksons creek in some places. The big drought sort of decimated the numbers. There has been a little bit of a push from some of our membership to get the fisheries to restock Jacksons Creek. The first fish I ever caught on fly was in Jacksons Creek in Clarkefield. Back in those days I was a bait fisherman.
At the Clarkefield bridge there were fish jumping out of the water. I threw the bait around and they just were not interested. I noticed a whole lot of midges (little black insects) flying around, and I took the bait off my hook and took some black cotton out of my jeans, threw it into the water and bang! Instant fish.
And I thought a-ha, this is what fly fishing’s all about.
What do you like about the Macedon Ranges?
It’s a double-benefit for me and my wife. I’ve got a love of being out in the country but close to the city.
The other thing is you get in the car and you’re already going for a drive in the country, and there’s lots of interesting places to go. When we first moved up here we used to go horse riding in Wombat State Forest.
It’s also a very friendly place. It’s lovely to meet people that you know down the street and have a chat. In Gisborne I still think there’s a population where you know most of the people.
Do you have a favourite local place?
In spring we like to go and see the wildflowers along Conglomerate Gully just outside Riddells Creek.
If you could change anything about the area, what would it be?
It’s less about change, more about preservation of the character of the area. As population increases we need to make sure that the open spaces and the easy access to rural environment is preserved.
I belong to the Friends of Daly Nature Reserve – the reserve is just up the top of our street. To have a piece of almost pristine bushland in the middle of town is something special.
We have a garden of almost two acres and we have a great variety of native birds that come and enjoy and breed. We also have a mob of about 18 kangaroos ranging our area because of the space. They’re not tame, but they’re very friendly.
