7 Things to do in That You Shouldn't Miss

The Rochester Sports Museum is a Rochester Lions Club Centenary Project which has made its home in the Rochester Railway Station. Rochester Sports Museum is a nostalgic journey through the recent sporting past. John Forbes OAM KStJ, a local Mitiamo man, loved nothing more than a good yarn and making a new mate. He had a diverse career, from being local sheep farmer to being National Promotions Manager at PUMA Australia for 22 years from 1985. In his role at PUMA, John amassed a massive sports memorabilia collection which mainly consists of personalised mementoes of his encounters with famous (and not yet so famous) sports people. He also built strong relationships with major sporting clubs. John was in awe of the sports people he met. John’s mementoes of his time at PUMA make up the core of this display, but we also share artefacts from other Australian and local sporting stories. In our theatrette John shares key stories from his time at PUMA.

Rochester runs a mural festival each year at the end of February. Eight artists, over seven days paint a 2x4.8 metre artwork in the Mural Park near the Northern Highway. Prizes are given the artists who have been judged to have painted the best murals. The completed murals, and all past winners of the event are able to be viewed at any time during the year.

Walk, sit and talk, meditate, cycle, walk the dogs, picnic, bird-watch, fish, photograph, paint, dream... The reserve has been set aside for passive recreation. Along with many tracks and the river itself, the reserve features several majestic river red gums creating habitat for many species of birds and possums. The Campaspe River provides an important corridor for migrating fish and birds.

A sepia-toned portrait of Detective Ron Iddles is a former Australian Police Detective who had a conviction rate of 99%, which earned him the name of “Australia’s greatest detective”. Artist Tim Bowtell was selected by the Iddles family to illustrate their beginning as Iddles Brothers Shoe Shop in the 1950s to Ron becoming the man behind Foxtel’s Ron Iddles: The Good Cop.