A Band of Brothers

The local media recently highlighted the Tasmanian Government’s launch of the Every School Day Matters programs. The launch was held at Montrose Bay High School and AFL legend Jack Riewoldt was the special guest to give prominence to the event.

Through the coverage given to the event I became aware that Tim Nicholas (svc 1995-98) is the Principal of Montrose Bay High.  I subsequently reached out to Tim to find out what had happened to him and his two brothers – Daniel (svc 1997-2000) and Ollie (svc 2004-2007) – since leaving the College.

Tim completed a Physical Education degree and worked as a HPE teacher at various schools in the south of Tassie until moving overseas where he worked in UK then at he International School in Taiwan. Returned to Tassie and moved into senior roles becoming Principal at Rokeby Primary in 2015, Austins Ferry Primary in 2018 and Montrose Bay High in 2023.

Daniel and his wife founded Topdeck Building in 2015.  The company specialises in architectural renovations and extensions. Since then, the business has grown steadily and now employs sixteen staff (several of whom are old  Virgilians).  Some of the firm’s projects are featured on the internet – ref. www.topdeckbuilding.com 

Throughout his schooling years, Ollie was a keen sailor and represented St Virgil’s, Tasmania and Australia in various classes. This steered him to follow his passion for yachting which led him to compete nationally and internationally. He was a part of the Alive Yachting program which opened up many opportunities for him to sail on various yachts in which, he competed in 7 Rolex Sydney to Hobarts, the Rolex China Sea Race and several other major races. 

Whilst competing in these events, Ollie completed an Electrical apprenticeship, and with his love of boating then went on to focus on the marine sector. This has led to him starting his own marine electronics business, OMARINE ELECTRONICS. The business is in its third year of operation, employs several technicians and continues to expand. OMARINE holds several service dealerships for major marine electronics brands and was recently named Tasmanian Service Dealer of the year for Raymarine.  As it continues to expand, OMARINE not only services local Tasmanian clients but has a clientele nationally and internationally which has allowed the firm to be active overseas and build its client network on a larger scale.