Loriana Gauci has lived in Keilor for over 29 years. She spoke to Sam Porter about her community.
What do you like about where you live?
Everyone. All the neighbours and everyone are very friendly. It’s always been very family friendly too in this little area. We’ve always been, especially my little pocket here of neighbours, looking out for each other. You’ve got transport, you’ve got the shops, it’s obviously close to the schools. My kids were born here and grew up here so they’ve made friends from pretty much when they were babies till now, they’re in their 20s.
Have you seen much change in the area over the decades?
Oh yeah, you see the little kids playing in the park and then they’re on their L-plates and driving around the estate, and then getting married like my daughter a few months ago. It was beautiful actually that day, I’m probably going off track, but all the neighbours came out that day to see her leave the house. It was actually really beautiful.
What, if anything, would you change about where you live?
The traffic is really bad and especially where we live, because we’re in an estate, people are coming off Keilor Park Drive and cutting through. There are days where I can’t even get out of my driveway. But I reckon it’s because we’ve got everything around us. We’re pretty lucky we’ve got everything we need close by.
Where’s your favourite local place to spend time?
Me and my husband love Tin Roof Cafe on Keilor Road. You’ll find us most Sunday mornings having breakfast there. When our kids were younger, we used to quite often go to Brimbank Park too.
I would also say Watergardens because my mum lives in Taylors Lakes, so we do go to Watergardens quite often together. It’s got everything you need there. I reckon the only thing that’s missing is a Coles. There are a couple of nice cafes and plenty of parking.
What’s something people would be surprised to know about you?
When people meet me, they sort of think that I am very loud and very confident but I’m actually a bit shy. People laugh at me when I say that but I am a bit shy.
What’s something you love about your local community?
I like to help Helping Hands. They’re fantastic. They’re a beautiful bunch of people. I know a few of the volunteers and people that work there and they’re great. We probably donate to them at least once a month, a car load of stuff. What I like about them is whatever they sell, the money they make, it stays in the community, it helps people in our community. And I would maybe one day like to go and volunteer when I’m not so busy.
