Rick Rogerson
MOVING TO AUSTRALIA 35 YEARS AGO, RICK ROGERSON HAS MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY DESPITE ORIGINALLY BEING A MERCHANT BANKER. I HAVE owned and run Pasquini’s in Point Lonsdale for 25 years with my wife Carol. We were working at Suma Park before that and when an opportunity came up down the street we took it. At the time the owner of the building was the guy who was the screenwriter for the film The Man from Snowy River, John Dixon.
At that time Point Lonsdale was a pretty quiet place. When we first looked it up all those years ago the Lonely Planet guide said if anything was moving in Point Lonsdale, which we severely doubt, it is likely to be on a walking frame. It is not like that anymore. It is a real hub now.
I like owning a business in Point Lonsdale as there is seasonality. That may sound difficult because the cash flow is very lumpy and you are earning most of your money in a short period of time but that actually has a lot of benefits through the rest of the year. When things quieten off you can actually enjoy the area and take it all in.
I think the village atmosphere and social interaction is Point Lonsdale’s saviour. It has not been overrun by franchise operations like McDonalds and Starbucks. It is a real village and it has a great diversity of people and we are really lucky we have made a lot of friends.
We originally had three businesses, a deli, bakery and restaurant. There was a fair bit going on but now we just have the deli/cafe and I am in the process of renovating another building that will reopen as an Italian restaurant in three to four months.
My wife is a trained chef and our sons Mark and Ned are both involved in the business. It is the only way. We like to keep it in the family and eventually Carol and I can sit back and watch them do all the work.
We were at the snow in Mansfield with a similar operation before here. Mansfield was a bit of a struggle as we were there in the late 1980s when Australia was in a pretty deep recession so we needed to find somewhere a bit more viable at the time. Although Mansfield is a pretty vibrant community now.
Prior to that I was a merchant banker in Melbourne. It was a pretty big career change.
I moved to Australia with my wife from the United Kingdom 35 years ago. We both grew up in Coventry although my heritage is Italian while my wife’s is English. We left for many reasons, but we absolutely do not regret leaving. Australia is the best place on Earth, with the worst politicians on Earth.
I helped establish the Blues Train with Hugo Armstrong when I first moved to Point Lonsdale. We had that going and we were also doing coaching at the Geelong Performing Arts Centre. It was a very busy time.
The thing I love most about Point Lonsdale is that it is still a great little village and there are lots of interesting people to interact with. From when I started to now a lot of the oldies have passed away and they have been replaced by their children, so the demographic has changed quite a bit. In the peak season there are a lot of younger people around and out of season you still find the same demographic of retired people.
I am very happy that the population has not changed one bit. There are a large proportion of properties empty, holiday homes. We don’t want or need change.