It’s fair to say that when Greg Gibson was a young lad of 21, surfing the then-quiet waves of Noosa Heads, he wasn’t thinking that he would be a future member of Noosa District Orchid & Foliage Society, carting batches of prize-winning orchids to and from monthly meetings and orchid shows.
But quite a few waves have passed over that sand since, and it would be a few decades before he met his wife Amelia, better known as Amy.
“Amy has always liked growing pot plants and we had quite a few orchids already,” says Greg. “And then last year we went to the Mother’s Day Orchid Show at Cooroy.”
“I was looking at the orchids and talking to one of the members about her orchid,” says Amy. “It had won a prize and I told her that I had a bigger one the same as hers. She suggested I join the orchid society and we did. I used to work every Saturday, but I totally dropped that shift so that I can go to the meetings and shows and growers’ mornings now.”
While Greg’s only prize in the last 14 months has been one lucky-door prize on a bus trip to an orchid show, Amy was soon out of the novice section and winning prizes with the more seasoned growers. She is currently anxiously nursing her potential entries for the Noosa Spring Orchid Show in Cooroy in mid-September.
“I grew up on a farm and my mother loved plants,” explains Amy. “We always had lots of pot plants in the house. At school we also learned about growing plants and had a school garden which we looked after before and after school every day. In the Philippines we had lots of orchids which we just grew on bark or in coconut husks, you didn’t have to buy plastic pots.”
Greg, who worked for Telecom (now Telstra) before retirement, transferred from Noosa to Broome in 2005 and worked there for a decade.
“I met Amy in Brunei and we married back in Broome,” he says. “I told her not to plant anything in Broome because we are going to move back here. I grew up in Brisbane and discovered Noosa when I was travelling down to the Gold Coast to surf on weekends. One of the blokes down there told me I ought to have a look at Noosa.”
Greg moved up and survived on casual jobs before beginning a 34-career with Telecom, as it was then.
“I enjoyed working for Telecom and doing a lot of travel across Western Australia, but my parents were still in Brisbane,” explains Greg. “They were getting older and it was time to come back so I could help look after them.”
In 2015, with the assistance of his daughter from his first marriage, he bought their Tewantin property sight-unseen.
“She checked it out for me,” says Greg. Once we got here I started building Amy a greenhouse and then a pergola at the back for her potplants.”
“During Covid I was buying orchids online,” says Amy. “I started running out of space. I also had them all up one side of the house. But still not enough space.”
Earlier this year Greg agreed that the dividing hedge on the other side of the house could go, and built Amy a 12.5 metre-long greenhouse in its place. Three months later, there isn’t much space in there.
“If we go to the markets, we have to take a trolley,” explains Greg, who says his role is do to the heavy lifting. “But I love plants, I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t. When Amy found out about the orchid club, it was a case of a round peg in a round hole. It made her happy.”
A pool in their front yard is next on their list.
“I always say this is my last orchid,” says Amy. “But then I see another one. I’m sure there will be some places I can find for orchids once the pool is done.”
The NDO&FS Spring Show is on in the Cooroy Memorial Hall on 15-16 September from 8.30am. Entry $4, EFTPOS available. For more information about the show and membership see noosaorchidsociety.com.au/meetings-events/
