“It’s interesting to have KJ with us; we spent a lot of time with her grandparents in Melbourne, working in Pharmacy” Ross opened up. Born in 1944, he was one of four kids. Regrettably, Ross’ mum died when he was just 9 years old. Dad remarried, and so the family expanded to six. He elaborated on one of his family holidays to Alice Springs, followed by a trip across the Simpson Desert. “We drove to Broken Hill and then turned left. We shot our own food…” He attended Mordialloc High School, then graduated in Pharmacy in 1967. Ross and Coryn married in 1980. They have three children.Growing up on the beach, it is natural that he is a keen sailor. “We towed a boat from Melbourne to Brisbane for a championship.” Otherwise though, free time was scarce, as it was compulsory to have a qualified Pharmacist present at all times, so they were totally tied to the business.
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One of his passions is wood working (see photo of one of his examples). Woodworking started off in his early 20’s already. He did the carpentry work and furnishings on his first house. Ross displayed a table and a cheese board – see photo. But not just cabinet doors: Ross also built boats: 2 VJ's (a 11ft 6in plywood dingy) and a GP14 (a 14ft yacht) for Dad. Possibly, with Ross’ carpentry skills, we could start a new project at the shed under his guidance?
But his passion does not just extend to woodworking, it very much includes travel: In 1983 Ross won a national windows display competition to the USA for the Americas Cup. He converted this trip to a 3-months round the world trip for the entire family: USA, Mexico, UK, Scotland, Germany, Italy, France, Thailand, Hong Kong and back. Other trips include a 2 weeks sailing tour in 50 foot catamaran – 4 couples, Tonga, then later again a 4-seek sail in the Spanish Balearic Islands and 4 weeks in Corsica and Sardinia.
After selling their pharmacy in 2001, they bought a camping trailer, travelling across the Nullarbor, to the Pilbara and down the WA coast. Only part they hadn’t seen yet is North Queensland. Ross also entered into Property Development with a fellow Rotarian, developing small unit blocks.
Ross’ involvement with Rotary goes a long way back: he is a Charter member of Frankston Sunrise (1990) and was President in 2001. Family is the important part of their life. He and Coryn moved up here because their daughter’s family also live here. They bought an apartment in Emerald Lakes. Signing an unconditional contract, they then had to return to Melbourne in a hurry! COVID required that they drive straight through NSW, without stop. But on the way they hit a kangaroo…
Photo (by Charles Thomasson, from left) President Paul Seymour, Ross Augustine, Chairman of the day, Larry Murray