According to Dominic Pronesti, Docklands is “a beautiful place”.

According to Dominic Pronesti, Docklands is “a beautiful place”.

The NewQuay local has lived in Docklands for five years and says it’s the first place he’s lived in Melbourne where he feels at home.

Originally from South Gippsland, Dom said he lived in the bayside suburbs of Brighton, Elwood and St Kilda before moving to the area.

“I moved here to be part of the community I could see was developing,”  he said.

Initially, Dom started a personal training business in Docklands, before opening his own restaurant, Docked, in 2011.

“I have a passion for eating and drinking and developed a tapas bar with a beautiful view of Docklands,” he said.

Dom ran Docked tapas bar for 18 months before returning to personal training and sales.

Today he also is part of the Docklands News team, delivering the papers each month, along with sister papers CBD News and Southbank Local News.

For Dom, delivering Docklands News provides a great opportunity to get out and about to the different areas in Docklands. “It’s very social,” he said.

Dom said he was a big advocate of Docklands. “I wouldn’t have started that quirky restaurant if I wasn’t a big believer in Docklands.”

And he thinks the next five to 10 years will see big changes in the area.

“The buildings are just going up so quickly,” he said. “I think with the new hotels coming in and more residents we’ll see a lot of changes.”

Dom said there were a few spots in Docklands that he particularly liked to visit.

“I love being down the back there along the Moonee Ponds Creek. I walk the dog down there and it’s very peaceful and quiet underneath the freeway.”

And living in the area for five years, Dom has come to notice many of the subtle, but beautiful aspects of the area.

“I’m often just astounded by its beauty,” he said.

“There was one night there when I was walking the dog and there was a blue light on the back of the boat and there was a swarm of jellyfish behind it and they were all glowing blue.”

“You just see some amazing sights around here sometimes.”

Join Our Facebook Group