GEORGE SAX – THE ORIGINAL BEACHCOMBER

Thirty years of island hopping around the Whitsundays - fishing, shelling and camping.

When George Sax came to Australia from Switzerland in 1914, as a classical violinist with a travelling orchestra, his first job was working in a market garden. After that, he cut cane by hand for fifteen years in north Queensland then worked on the railway as a ganger. In 1921, he came to Proserpine and bought a cane farm at Myrtle Creek.

As with many wanderers, George bought a fishing boat and fished all around the reef, making money by selling his catch and also taking out fishing parties. This gave him an intimate knowledge of the islands and he began to collect shells. As his passion for shells grew, he gave up his fishing and settled at Mandalay Point.  

It was here that people were first able to view his shells. George travelled to out of the way places in search of unusual specimens. On some of his trips, he would live for weeks at a time on uninhabited islands, surviving some times without water. George never used a tent, but put the skills taught to him by local aborigines to good use to build a lean-to of sticks and palm leaves.

George was well known to mainland folk as an exceptionally talented musician. A dance was not a dance without George playing his violin. From time to time, he travelled over Queensland with an itinerant band of musicians.

Described by some as an anchorite, George Sax lived for many years at Mandalay. His domain, which was actually owned by the Crown, could be approached only by water. Despite his solitary existence, stories abound of his hospitality extended to callers to his home which was easily recognisable by the blaze of vermillion bougainvillea vine that he had planted beside his hut.

Upon arrival, George would be waiting on the shingle beach, attired in tattered shorts (most likely having been put on at the sign of visitors) ready greet his guests. The billy would be on the boil and they would be regaled with damper moistened with golden syrup. A veritable feast at Mandalay would follow with plates of battered fish, chunks of bush lemon and oyster patties – and on rare occasions a tune on his violin.

George’s diet consisted mainly of seafood, turkey and goats’ meat, so his eyes would light up if he spied a basket of homemade goodies.

Once his guests departed, George would wave politely, then disappear into the bush and no doubt step out of his shorts before he resumed pottering about, beautifying his domain with its shingle paths lined with stones and lumps of coral, and where coconuts, shrubs and plants abounded.  

In 1955, George moved to South Molle Island taking his shell collection with him and setting it up in a building provided by Wally Bauer, the resort owner. At this point in time, it was comprised of 5000 different species and was one of the finest in Australia. Not only did George collect shells, he studied them and could speak authoritatively about them.

Shortly after Cyclone Ada (1970) destroyed South Molle and most of his shell collection, George went to live at Ken McPherson’s property at North Gregory. There he remained, living with no electricity and few creature comforts, until his death on August 15, 1986, aged 93.

Story and photo courtesy Proserpine Historical Museum

Image: George Sax

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