YOU'LL want to be at the coal face of Wonthaggi's Whopper Weekend, writes SARAH HUDSON

It was dirty, claustrophobic and dangerous, and the pay was not great, but to Lou Storti, working in the Wonthaggi State Coal Mine changed his life.

Unable to find work in post-war Italy, the then 20-year-old migrated to the Gippsland town in 1949 to work in the bowels of the black coal mine.

"The first year was very hard. I came from the mountains on a farm, we grew vegies, made cheese, and then I had to work underground," says Lou, who still has a heavy Italian accent.

"It was a hard job. Everything was by hand, nothing by machinery.

"But I survived. I fished, I rabbited and I realised this was a good country."

Now aged 80, Lou - who has even appeared in a film about the mine and still volunteers there - together with past employees, a host of volunteers and Parks Victoria, will host Wonthaggi's Whopper Weekend this Friday to Sunday, to celebrate the centenary of the official opening of the mine.

The weekend is just the starter in a year of change for the mine, which by next summer will see a winch-driven carriage carry tourists down to a new section of 2km underground tunnels, as well as a new visitor's centre and restoration of historical buildings and artefacts - all thanks to $3 million in state and federal government funding.

Mine manager Braxton Laine, who works for Parks Victoria, says the centenary celebrations will highlight a vital state institution.

"It has major cultural significance. Without the mine there would be no Wonthaggi," Braxton says.

"It has a huge social history. When you take visitors down and they see that the miners crawled into rabbit holes with their picks and shovels, they say they can't imagine working in such conditions.

"But to people like Lou, it was a way of life, how you earned money."

The mine first started in 1909 after the Victorian Government, frustrated by industrial action in NSW, sought to secure its own coal supply to power Victoria's railway network.

At its peak in the 1920s and '30s there were 1200 miners who were not averse to going on strike because, according to Braxton, "they were among the lowest paid miners in the developed world".

"In the early days they earned 10 to 18 shillings per shift," he says.

The mine - and its 3000km of tunnel networks burrowed around the town - closed in 1968 when the coal became uncompetitive with much cheaper diesel.

"In the end the mine ran at a loss but a town was created and revenue was kept in the state - $56 million that would otherwise have gone to NSW. In total, 16.7 million tons of black coal was mined," Braxton says.

Despite its closure, Lou says he could still see great potential in the empty tunnels.

For a few years after the mine closed, Lou - together with a mate and his brother, also a miner - had a permit to mine the black stuff for local domestic use.

"It didn't last long because oil and diesel were cheaper."

Then in 1980 Lou was approached by a film crew who wanted to use his permit to access the mine tunnels to make Strikebound, about the first coal miners strike in the 1930s.

"They filmed it in our mine and I had a small part in it," he says.

The making of Strikebound saw new parts of the mine accessed and so the Victorian Government then approached Lou about the tourism potential.

From 1982 he started as manager, guiding small groups into about 1km of tunnels.

It was only in 2004 that the tours closed for safety reasons and will only now start again later this year with the $3 million revamp.

For several decades Lou has, each Tuesday night, taken volunteers down the tunnels for mine maintenance, teaching anyone who is interested how to replace timber for walls and ceiling supports and to install rock and cable bolts.

He is just one of an army of about 300 locals who work to maintain the mine and who will be part of the Whopper Weekend celebrations.

Lou says despite the working conditions - one time he nearly got blown up after a blast was incorrectly detonated - he is proud to have a lifelong association with the mine.

"It was dangerous, yes, and it was hard work. Because there was difference in the thickness of the coal - in some places it was six foot and in others it was 15 inches," he says.

"But there was good companionship. It's a fantastic mine. No where else do you get a mine like Wonthaggi's."

    CHECKLIST
  • Wonthaggi's Whopper Weekend, March 19-21, various events include an Energy Innovation Festival, Vehicle Grand Prix, garden party, street parade and official reopening. Various locations. Details: State Coal Mine ph: (03) 5672 3053 or the Bass Coast Shire on 1300 226 278.