Warrnambool chef Robert King holds the swimming record over 25 metres at Hawkesdale's public pool for butterfly and breaststroke and would go on to play and compete in various other sports in Warrnambool, including football and cycling. King, who operates Country Life Takeaway in Fairy Street and the catering for City Memorial Bowls Club, goes Under the Auld Pump this week.
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AT A GLANCE
Born at Hawkesdale on December 14, 1966.
Wife: Sue. Children: Abby, Lachlan and Jessica.
Parents: Des and Grace. Siblings: Kerrie, Linda, Philip and Andrea.
Education: Hawkesdale Primary School and Hawkesdale P12.
Sporting highlight: Would have to be holding the swimming record over 25 metres for the butterfly and breaststroke at Hawkesdale's public pool.
What year did you set the swimming records at school?
It would have been back in 1982 when I was 16-years-old. The records for both events still stand today. It's over 40 years ago which is quite amazing.
Did your family own a farm or live in the town of Hawkesdale when you were young?
They had a farm. It was a Soldier Settlement farm. It comprised of 600 acres and had sheep and beef plus they did contract harvesting. I've got fond memories of my time growing up on the farm. I, like my other siblings watched how hard our parents worked and witnessing that has given me plus my siblings a strong work ethic and we'll always be grateful for that.
I can still remember being on the farm during the Ash Wednesday bushfires and the drought in 1983. I drove sheep around the backroads of Woolsthorpe and Winslow with Tim Austin after Ash Wednesday as we tried to find a pick of green grass for the sheep. They were tough times back in that era and undoubtedly those times put our parents under a lot of pressure but as I said previously they worked very hard to provide for their family.
Robert, apart from holding swimming records at Hawkesdale as a youngster, did you play any other sports?
I played junior footy with Hawkesdale in the under 17s. I'll be honest here I was an average player but was fortunate enough to have played in a junior premiership with the club in 1981. I moved to Warrnambool with work in 1986 and played footy down at Merrivale. I played a fair few games in the reserves but only a handful of games in the seniors. My footy career came to a halt in 1988 when I broke my right leg in a game against Russells Creek. I collected with a player from Russells Creek and there was a loud bang. The terrible noise was my leg breaking. I'll never forget surgeon Stephen Fischer performed the operation. I spent ten days in hospital and went back to the farm to recover.
Robert, you mentioned in 1986 you made the move into Warrnambool for work purposes, what line of work were you in?
I started out as an apprentice chef down at the old Coterie Restaurant in Liebig Street for Bill and Dawn Clancy for four years before working at hospitality places in Port Fairy and on the Central Coast of New South Wales. I then went overseas to England in 1990 and worked as a chef at the Tower Thistle Hotel in London.
I boarded with Warrnambool's Stephen Phillpot, Andrew Clancy, Tim Mast and Bruce Fleming in England. I was also lucky enough to have met up with my childhood sweetheart Sue who grew up in Penshurst while I was overseas and we came back to Warrnambool together in 1991 and are still together today.
I got a job at Warrnambool's St John of God Hospital as a chef and worked there for 13 years before taking over the Country Life Take Away in Fairy Street in 2004. We're still there to this day and we also happened to take over the catering rights up at the City Memorial Bowls Club in April 2018.
It must get pretty busy looking after catering at two different places in Warrnambool?
Yes. It does get very busy between the two places but we've got great staff at both locations. We employ six staff at Country Life. The building in Fairy Street, which is where Country Life is, has fed food to people for 60 years and before that it was a car showroom for Callaghan Motors.
Robert, while we're talking about Country Life, just a few weeks ago Brandon Kerr who formerly worked for Warrnambool's Tasty Plate before it closed its doors was given a job at Country Life. How is Brandon going in his new work place?
Brandon is going good. He used to be a regular customer at Country Life and when I heard Tasty Plate had closed its doors I thought about offering Brandon a job. He's got fantastic skills and has fitted into the team environment really well. It's all worked out well since we took over the catering rights at City Memorial Bowls Club. It's a wonderful facility for patrons. We do meals there everyday in the week. I've got to congratulate the management, board and staff at City Memorial. They are very welcoming and offer a great environment for patrons.
Do you take part in any sports now?
Yes. It was when I was working at Warrnambool's St John of God that I took up bike riding in 1996. I needed some exercise and just a break away from the work routine. There was about 20 cyclists in the group back then. I rode in a couple of Murray to Moyne's over the years. I'm now in a group of cyclists who ride each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday that start at the top of the Mortlake Road Hill at 6.00am and ride out around the Hopkins Falls course.
The group comprise of a great bunch of people and one of the highlights is we head down to Fishtales in Liebig Street for breakfast each Saturday morning around 8.15 am after the bike ride. I usually ride on Saturday mornings but because of work commitments I don't get the chance to ride much on Tuesdays or Thursdays.
Robert have you taken part in any other bike rides apart from the Murray to Moyne and the ones around Warrnambool?
Yes. There's been various ones including the one around the Bay and the Amy Gillet Bike Ride plus the Cadel Evans peoples ride and the Three Peaks Challenge in Tasmania back in 2017. That was an amazing experience.
