Seabrook resident Raymond Wright has lived in many lives in his life in the western suburbs. He told Jaidyn Kennedy about a few of them.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?
I am an 80-year-old pensioner at this stage of my life, but what I have done would take a page. I left school at 13 and became an apprentice upholster, then I moved on to be a quality controller at an oven appliance manufacturer. I was also a crane driver and welder, worked as a foreman in the trucking industry before launching my own transportation company. I was a house re-blocker, licenced scrap metal dealer, licenced marine dealer with bottles and cans. Eventually, I opened a pallet repair and supply business with yards in Footscray and Altona.
What is your connection to Wyndham and Hobsons Bay?
I grew up in Footscray, then lived across Williamstown and Newport. In 1984, I purchased 35 acres at 440-448 Point Cook Road. It was a hobby farm lifestyle and outdoor activities, but then transformed into a farm with quarantine status for Melbourne and Werribee Open Range Zoos where I had an egg-hatching facility for ostriches. My wife and I would educate zoo staff on the handling and breeding of ostriches. That then metamorphosed into a tourism Mecca that won recognition in tourism magazines and at the Melbourne show.
Where are your favourite places to spend time in the area?
I enjoy going up to the dog park at Apex Park and 100 steps in Altona Meadows, as well as taking in the views by the wetlands. I enjoy cycling on the Federation Trail. The cafes in Sanctuary Lakes, the rest of Point Cook and Watton Street are places I like to spend time at. I have all the facilities I ever need here, and Seabrook itself, is a quiet area.
What is something people might be surprised to know about you?
I have run successful businesses all my life, including stocking Zoos Victoria with their ostrich. Our stock was sourced from the original industry that existed in Australia that began in the 1800s – that was originally for their feathers. In the early 1990s, a few people noticed that Namibia and parts of South Africa- barren areas with terrible agricultural conditions- had a booming ostrich economy. You had tycoons making money off it and in living what were known as feather palaces. So, some people had a vision of revitalising an old industry simply for the meat and the leather, which is equivalent to pig skin if not better.
