Home
What's New?
Search
Maps
Gallery
History
Plants
Algae,Fungi and Lichen
Animals
Geology
Tracks
Picnics
Camping
Visitors Information Centre
Asteroid
Song
Stamps
Downloads
References
Thanks to...
About Us
Contact Us
To Official Government Website
Flannel Flower
      girraween > history


The Practical Jokers

The rangers of Girraween National Park have collected together many of Bill Goebel's amusing anecdotes of his time in Girraween. With their permission, we have reproduced some of them here.



Nicknames given to some Girraween personalities
Bill Goebel - Chief, Old Woman
Harry Goebel - Hock
Tom Ryan - Grumpy
Paul Grimshaw - Hitler, Grimbo
Bob Laws - Whiskers
Brett Roberts - The Boy
Peter Haselgrove - Runt
Lawrie Shelley - Roustabout
Ian Elms - Animal, Rowdy
Glen Elms - Stubbie
Colleen Gravatt - Sourface
Margaret Brown - Blue Heeler
Kylie Neilson - Queen
Jolene McLellan - Princess
Brett Porter - The Pumpkin


Short Stories

Paul used to come into the shed and grab a can of RP7, so one day, Hock placed a rat trap there and caught him. Laurie did the bolt!

Laurie had a lady volunteer living with him. Bill and Hock placed a pair of men's knickers on the line with her washing, and when she took it down she left them. Laurie thought they were hers and she thought they were his!

One morning on arriving to work, there was a pair of ladies knickers which Johnny Rogers put on. Paul caught him.

In the 1989 fire near Kev Day's, Hock grabbed a drip torch and set a fire near Bill. When Bill wasn't watching, he went with the drip torch straight over Bill's boot. It wasn't until Hock was ages away that Bill realised his boot was on fire!

Hock drove through a fire at Paling Yard, but he got stuck on a rock and used up all his water in the tank to keep the vehicle from burning.

Hock and Peter put a cow in a pig trap, but the cow ruined the trap trying to get out. They then told Bill to put feed in the pig trap that afternoon - not telling him about the trap falling down. Bill didn't fall for it!




© Vanessa and Chris Ryan, 2009 | Copyright Details and Disclaimer
Last updated: 14th January 2016