I remember Goosey Goose

A long time ago, in the execrable year of 2002, while I was down at Austinmer, I returned from a walk on the beach one day and announced to my father, "There is some sort of weird bird in Austinmer pool."

"It's a goose," he said.

The goose - known variously as Austin, Goosey, and Charles - had arrived on the beach some weeks before and had happily set up residence at the southern end of the beach, spending time in the pool and on the rock platform there. Contrary to its racial stereotype it did not appear foolish, but instead possessed, on the occasions I saw it, an austere and haughty dignity.

Its welfare was investigated by the RSPCA, who pronounced it a domestic goose or gander of undetermined sex. They had no explanation as to how it had arrived on the beach, but said it was healthy, and as it appeared happy, there was no reason to move it.

The goose was quickly and informally adopted by the local community. The Illawarra Mercury ran several stories on it, quoting local residents. John Roach gave insights on Goosey's habits:

"It's generally very placid, although when old Bill Redfern brought some bread and scraps down to it yesterday it got a bit feisty... It alternates between thinking its a seagull and a dog. One morning it'll be standing among the gulls and the next it'll be chasing them like a dog." He also said, "Of a morning you see webbed footprints where it's been goose-stepping up and down the beach."

Locals looked out for the goose. A woman who ran a local takeaway store claimed to the Mercury that she fed it three times a day with goose food. (This woman was never so kind to customers, in my experience, so I'm not sure what to make of this claim.) Goosey provided a lot of happiness to a lot of people.

On the 10th of October, the Mercury reported that fears had been temporarily held for the safety of Goosey. One morning it was not in its usual place near Austinmer pool. It was soon spotted wandering the suburban streets of Austinmer. Concerned residents tried to shepherd it towards the relative safety of Glastonbury Gardens, but upon being approached Goosey took flight, and headed back to its usual digs near the pool.

Still, residents were becoming concerned - some thought Goosey had grown thinner in recent weeks.

Austinmer beach gets busy in the summer, and perhaps that plays a part in the mysterious fate of Goosey. On the 11th of December, the Mercury reported:

Austinmer Beach residents are mourning the loss of their pampered community pet, Goosey. His many mates fear a loathsome opportunist has swiped the handsome black and white bird for the Christmas buffet. Goosey (pictured) was last seen downing a peanut butter sandwich at the beach on Sunday afternoon ... The Golyas have led a search party to nearby beaches but there have been no sightings.

Residents got together and offered a $400 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Goosey. The Mercury reported that an unidentified person had seen Goosey being bundled into a car. It was popularly supposed that tourists - probably the much-despised Westies - were resposible.

Despite the reward, nothing more was seen of Goosey. On the web he exists in the collective consciousness in the form of a Myspace group - The Austi Goose Memorial Group, in a painting by artist Wendi Reis (reproduced below), and now in this blog post. It is probably foolish and sentimental to believe that a goose needs a permanent internet memorial, but nevertheless, I just wanted to say, I remember Goosey Goose.


Goosey in happier times

posted by Nicholas @ 6:46 PM