Yes,wehada lotoffishing
adventures.
Gregand I andKevinCroftoftenwentfishing.
We bought copies of a Western Australian
Fishing Guide book and Greg learnt large
sections of it by heart andwould often quote
wholepages, just for fun.
Gregmadeupfishingnames forus all.Hewas
“Mulloway”, Kevinwas “Rock Cod” and I was
“Snapper”.
It was not unusual for Greg to strip down to
his underwear, jump into the sea and dive
down to check out what fish were there and
what theconditionswere like. Hewould then
resurfaceandgiveusall instructionsastowhat
sizehooks and sinkers touse andwhat bait to
select. I vividly recall him doing this off the
SouthMole inFremantle.
On another occasion, Greg led us to his
favourite fishing spot – Injinup Beach, near
MargaretRiver. Afterdoinghisusualdive into
checkout thefish,Greg announcedwhat gear
touseandwesubsequentlycaughtdozensand
dozens of large herrings. We put the catch in
somehessianbags and left themon thebeach
above the high tidemarkwhilewewent for a
swim. Withina fewminutes avery largewave
washed up the beach towhere the bagswere.
Many of theherringwere still partly alive and
they swam out of the bags and back into the
sea. Wewere able towade around in the surf
andretrievemanyof thesehalf-stunnedfish.A
family walking down the beachwere amazed
toseeGreg (andus)apparentlyfishingwithour
bare hands and plucking large herring out of
the sea.
A fishing tripwithMullowaywas always fun
and thosemomentswill be forever treasured.
JohnStone
Whatcan I sayabouthim thathas
notbeensaidbefore?
I first ran into Greg in Bunbury soon after
cyclone Alby. At that time he was living up a
hill.He seems todo thatquitea lot.
What is Greg? One word: An entertainer. I
remember a camp at our small farm inCollie
where therewereBahá’ís from the bush– the
Tidmans and some Aboriginal Bahá’ís from
Carnarvon,completewith lotsofchildren.Not
only was there lots of music, but also Greg’s
magic show. I am suremanywouldhave seen
Gregdo the simpleactof a towel andwhenhe
lifted it therewasonlyone leg.Next time there
were two legs.Weknewhowhedid it thekids
knewhowhedid itbut itwashispresentation
thatmade it into a show. Greg the showman,
theentertainer!
Whenwe lived inColliethethreeofus (myself,
GregandLisaLindsay ) used togo regularly to
the folkclubs in thearea.Notonlydidwego to
GlenIvanorwhatever it iscalled,butwewould
bundle ourselves into Lisa’s car and head off
to Bunbury, Busselton or anywhere we could
finda folkclub.Musicon theway there,music
there, andmusicon thewayback.
Thatwas theworld IknewGreg in.
BrianHale
