G’day troops,

Welcome to my new website. It’s going to be a bit of fun, a bit of info and packed with great gear to buy at mates’ rates.

The website will be styled with a magazine in mind with plenty of stuff for you to sink ya teeth into each month. There’ll be info on what I’ve been up to on the box, as well as what is coming up in the future. And you never know, there might even be a bit of inside information on what is happening behind the scenes…

You can follow projects I’m currently working on. I’m building a house at my farm at Mudgee with some terrific Aussie hardwood – 260 x 260mm ironbark which looks incredible. You can also follow some of the smaller projects I’m working on – we’re building a small cabin which my kids are giving me a hand on.

I’d like you to get involved, get some tools in your hands and have a crack. I’ve got a great DIY section with small projects you can do at home and then cop a pat on the back from the better half while they tell you you’re a genius!

Also something that is very close to my heart, something I love, a little bit of Australiana: great characters and influential people from Australian history, stories from this great country of ours, Australian facts, basically a whole heap of interesting Aussie stuff.

The fact that my job lets me travel around Australia meeting all types of interesting people is a real bonus for me. I’m lucky that everyday people come up to me and say ‘G’day’ – it’s a part of the job that I love, I get to meet all types of Aussies, right around this great country.

Over the years I’ve made plenty of mates in different areas of business and over a few beers and a meal I can generally twist their arm on a good rate on whatever it is they’re flogging – another perk of the job – which brings me to MATES’ RATES. I figured if I can get a good rate on something, then why not pass it on to you guys, pass the gear on to you at Mates’ Rates.

We’re starting with work wear, and as time goes on we will add gear as I come across it. One week we might have tools or camping gear, and then it could be garden sheds – basically whoever I can convince out of my contacts to give me a great mates’ rate.

This is just the start of www.scottycam.com.au – there’ll be a whole load more stuff on the website as the months roll on. If I see something I like, it’ll be there.

AND if there’s anything you like then share it with the team; we’d love to hear from you with your thoughts on anything related to what we’re talking about. You can follow me on twitter and facebook.

An old mate of mine I’ve known for about 40 years is ‘fishmonger extraordinaire’ Jim Doyle. Jim and his family have run the Doyles Seafood restaurant on the Beach, the Wharf and the Sydney Fish Market for many, many years. At one time the family also owned Doyles at Rose Bay, The Quay, and the Watsons Bay Hotel. Now Jim’s side of the family are at Wato and the Fish Market only.

I caught up with Jim and his son Jack down at the Bay recently, for a chat. They are the classic sea dogs; they live to fish, flannos all round and great knockabout blokes. Every chance they can, they get 25 miles out to sea chasing down tuna, gemfish or whatever it is they can get their hands on. Jack, who is 26, has been in the Bay his whole life, getting his first tinnie at the age of four or five. This bloke knows every inch of Sydney Harbour and most areas outside, and what he doesn’t know Jim can tell him!

The Doyles are a great Australian working class family who’ve come good over 130 years of hard work. If you get a chance, pop down to Watsons Bay and grab some takeaway flathead and chips, sit on the wharf there and take in the view – it’s a ripper.

PS: if you see a bloke in a flanno and work boots, say ‘G’day Jimmy!’

 

My mate Jim Doyle

Scotty: How long have you and your family lived and worked in Watsons Bay, Jim?

Jim: My great grandparents, Jack and Alice, came to Watsons Bay and set up shop in 1885. Not much around in those days but they had a go and here we are today.

S: What generation are you and Jack?

J: I’m fourth, Jack is fifth.

S: What do you love about the Bay?

J: The peace and quiet at 5am in the morning with the still harbour water; and I love the winter sunsets, too!

S: Besides the obvious (fishing), what else do you love to do?

J: I’ve got a small bush property and I love to get up there swagging – open fires, that sort of stuff.

S: What’s running at the moment, how far out do you go?

J: Tuna, gemfish, blue eye. We get ’em out at Browns (Mountain) about 25 miles out.

S: Favourite food?

J: Flathead.

S: Favourite beer?

J: XXXX Gold.

S: Are you handy, Jim, can you build?

J: Yes, mate, I do all my own repairs at home and on the boat; if I don’t do it no-one will. I like working on the boat.

S: Best fish recipe?

J: Really simple bit of gemfish or flathead. Roll in a bit of flour, pan-fry in butter or oil, lemon, salt and pepper. Nice and simple but tastes great.

S: You and I have said: “You work hard and hopefully end up with a picture on the wall when you’re gone.” What do ya reckon they’ll say about Jim Doyle?

J: “Jim who? Don’t remember him.”

S: Do you still wake up with a spring in your step, do you love what you do?

J: Absolutely love it, can’t wait to get down here.

I would like to recognise one of my heroes from Australian history – William Charles Wentworth. In 1813, 200 years this year, he and two mates, Gregory Blaxland and William Lawson, crossed the Blue Mountains. I reckon Wentworth should be thought of as one of our greatest Australians, like we think of Bradman or Captain Cook. Everyone knows Macquarie or Ned Kelly but I worry that nowadays a lot of Aussies, and in particular the younger generation, don’t know who William Charles Wentworth was. Maybe they’ve heard of him but I doubt they could tell you what he is actually revered for. Here is a quick rundown:

• Born in Australia in 1790 to a convict mother.
• Sent to the UK to study law, Wentworth went on to become the first Australian-born barrister.
• Crossed the Blue Mountains in 1813.
• Started the first independent colony newspaper, ‘The Australian’.
• Wentworth was responsible for establishing basic democratic rights such as ‘trial by jury’ and elected representative government via a ‘legislative council’ in the colony of NSW.
• He lobbied the Governor and British Government on a number of issues.
• 70,000 people lined the streets of his funeral procession in 1872.

Imagine the Americans not knowing who Washington or Lincoln was, or Martin Luther King. It’s high time Wentworth was studied extensively in our schools so that young people can get inspired by great Australians and one day they will grow up and maybe make this country a better place, like Bill Wentworth did before them.