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Professional Development

Ozzie Hospitality, and the Great Ocean Road Alan Huw Edwards , Retired Gwent Police. What an eye opening experience! I joined the IPA in 2014, after retiring from Gwent and to be honest, apart from going to a couple of AGMs I hadn’t really got involved. I did enjoy hearing about the group trips the local branch had done, but I also believe that you only get out what you put in.

Alan befriending a parrot on the Great Ocean Road

Melbourne IPA Presentation

The photograph of the Great Ocean Road that inspired Alan’s road trip

Melbourne’s Police Memorial

for a few days. Trev is a character and his wife an amazing cook, so it felt like staying with a favourite aunt and uncle. The Melbourne IPA members were a very social bunch, inviting me to several meetings, including their Christmas BBQ. All visitors to the IPA House have their first social meal paid for, but that was just the start of some fantastic hospitality. I spent a few nights with a lovely Melbourne IPA couple, who were English émigrés. Dick and Sandy Pelling live in a part of Melbourne which is near the beach. They were both in the Met, before emigrating to Australia many years ago. Despite having a good few years on me, they put me to shame with how fit, active and involved they are. They told me about their London days, and showed me newspaper clippings of their wedding at the oldest church in London. Coincidentally, I had happened across that very same church when visiting London for a few days before Christmas. I still had a video on my mobile of a carol service I attended there. They were very chuffed. I wanted to hire a camper van for part of my trip, so amidst sight seeing, Trev & Denese drove me on several trips to view some vans. Denese always seemed to know the best places for coffee and cake. On top of that, we made trips further afield to the Yarra Valley wine region for wine tasting. Professional guides could not have made the trip better, they were perfect hosts. With my campervan sorted, the Great Ocean

Road beckoned. I was keen to include this road after Denese showed me a large black and white photo of the road during its construction. The Great Ocean Road was a project to help returning soldiers from the First World War reintegrate after the horrors of war. It was built in memory of their many fallen brothers, and is the world’s largest war memorial. The photograph was taken by one of Denese’s relatives who worked on it, making it an even more special destination for me. The moral of the story? Put your travel forms in, you might just be as lucky as I was. But I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. Alan Huw Edwards, Retired Gwent Police, now living in the beautiful Dyfed Powys area.

So, when I booked my flights to Melbourne, and only had sketchy plans of what to do there, I thought I would give the IPA travel form a try. I did not know what to expect, but I hoped to maybe make a local contact. What I actually got was a very pleasant surprise. I was soon contacted by Trevor O’Shanassy and his wife Denese, with the offer of a few days in the IPA house they run, in a very convenient part of Melbourne. The house is literally a one minute walk from the tram stop, for a 20 minute ride into the heart of Melbourne, which I found to be a friendly and easily accessible city, with so much to do. It was very functional and spotlessly clean. Thanks to Trev and Denese’s hospitality, it made a perfect base to explore Melbourne and Victoria State, and is excellent value for money. Trev and Denese really put themselves out, collecting me from the airport and driving me to the IPA house. Then, on the evening of my arrival, the IPA Victoria Branch monthly meeting took place. Here I met about 30 members, all of whom were very welcoming. I was overwhelmed with being given so many contact details and offers of assistance. I enjoyed the meeting, as they have a talk each month, this one was about the Defib’ machine they had just bought for their premises, with a demonstration of its use. I presented the Region 4 pennant and a wooden plaque I made, with a Dyfed Powys Helmet Badge affixed. The IPA house was only vacant for my initial few days, but Trev & Denese insisted that I stay with them

Alan worries about the size of Australia’s poisonous spiders

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POLICE WORLD Vol 65 No.3, 2020