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This is the second year
that the Chapter elected to choose Bridport by the sea as our destination
for a Rally. We were in good hands with Mick and Kaye as our hosts, it
was obvious on our arrival that there had been a tremendous amount of
planning and execution on their part to ensure the Rally was successful.
Again this year farmer Barry had allowed us to use a section of his property
to conduct our very happy and successful Rally, Barry and his good wife
visited us daily for our happy hour and bought along his tractor to load
our fire up with timber and logs, what a wonderful and appreciated gesture
on their part. This along with the warm welcome from our hosts set the
mood for a happy and enjoyable Rally weekend. |
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| Across the Paddocks to our Rally | A section of our Motorhome's |
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Bridport, like many villages
on the Tasmanian Coast, in early settlement was only accessible by small
Trading Ketches in the formation of the area, history tells us that the
village was set up around 1839 on the Brid River and became the staging
point for the "Scrubs" the early name given to "Scottsdale"
that is some twenty kilometers inland. Records show that the first Hotel;
named the "Forester Inn" was established and the Proprietor
was the owner also of the Trading Ketch "Coronella" which traded
between Launceston and Bridport and of course was the only means of transport
to other areas of the State. In its early years there were flourishing Timber and Fishing Industries complete with a local railway. Today the Township of Bridport is a holiday village which swells it numbers during the holiday season and is still today a major fishing port and has cargo trading vessels that service Flinders Island and surrounding islands. |
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| Brid River Entrance to Bridport | Trout fish farm, Fishing & Trading ships in background |
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A few of our members
arrived on the Thursday; with the bulk of members arriving on the Friday,
Mick & Kaye our hosts, extended a warm welcome on our arrival and
efficiently parked us and then steered us towards our yellow canopy where
the kettles were boiling on the camp fire for a cuppa. We had several
interstate club members that were made welcome and we again took the time
to catch up with the news since our last rally. We have at least half
of our members absent at the moment who are travelling north to the winter
sunshine with another four groups leaving us within the next month or
two. |
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| Early Arrivals | Settling in by the small fire & boiling kettles |
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Friday evening saw us
settling in by the big fire and there was much laughter as many told their
favourite jokes and had an extended happy hour, there were some late arrivals
and they were quickly parked up and ushered to the fire and made welcome. Saturday dawned a little overcast with the sun breaking through in patches and boy it was sure chilly with a slight frost on the ground, it didn't take long to stoke up the fire and warm up a little. As at the last Rally a group of members went for an early morning walk up into the centre of Bridport for papers etc. though it was a brisk walk up we were spread out like Browns cows on the way back to the Rally site. |
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| The big Fire lit early afternoon Friday | One hour later |
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Stoke up the fire! our
scone cooking competition was set to begin the only stipulation was the
scones were to be cooked in Camp Ovens, some elected to use the hot coals
from the fire while others elected to use their own "Eddie Pots"
or camp fire apparatus. There were many recipes utilised with all types
of ingredients coming to the fore. Jeane and Clarry were the judges of the finished product and were seen to test texture, smell and lightness of the scone entries. After some period of time they selected Ian & Denis (we think Trixie had a hand in it somewhere) and Mick and Kaye Joint winners. Then Chapter Members were then invited to sample the finished product, cheeses, jams and of course cream were used as fillings with everyone agreeing on the judges choice |
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| Camp Ovens in coals cooking Scones | Jeanne judging Scone Competition |
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As a few had bought
along their grand children, of course a trip to the beach was mandatory.
The camping and recreational areas is quite substantial which gives some
idea of how Bridport swells in numbers in the summer and holiday period. Many recreational boats were taking advantage of the balmy weather, though we cannot attest to their catch's or lack thereof; around the headlands there were people surf fishing though there did not seem to be much action. It was interesting to watch the transfer of Trout fingerlings into road tankers for transport by using suction apparatus. You could see the small Trout going up through the transparent pipe. Whilst there, we were to witness a crafty Cormorant go in under the protective bird nets get its fill of small Trout and again slip back out under the net to freedom, it was obvious that this bird has been doing this for some time though we suspect it will come to a sticky end in the near future. |
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| The Budgeon's taking the Grand Kids for a dip | Lone Surf Fishermen in a protected Bay at Bridport |
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Saturday was a full day
had by everyone, with some having muffins and crumpets for afternoon tea
toasted by the fire. Happy hour again was hilarious with jokes and discussions
on what had transpired during the day; the fire was stoked up again and
then the clubs barbecue was lit and sausages and hamburgers along with
onions were supplied free of course to all those attending the Rally.
As our chefs cooked, it was obvious that we would run out before everyone
was served. Not a problem, Mick jumped in his vehicle and within ten minutes
supplies were replenished and all enjoyed the meal and accompanying discussions
though the chefs on this occasion did not sing as in the past! |
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| Tasting of the scones before meal | Our singing Chef's cooking the Snag's,Hamburgers & Onions |
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What an excellent barbecue
there was plenty for everyone plus seconds if required. later around the
fires, that had both been stoked up to create large fires, we sat around
telling more jokes and it was good to hear the laughter and merriment
for it signaled everyone was enjoying themselves. There were very few who went of to bed early for the fires and stars made for a pleasant night and it was close to midnight before people started to amble off to bed with a few hardy types opening up a bottle whisky. |
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| Radiating plenty of heat from fire | Enjoying the fire | Telling jokes and story's by fire |
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It rained during the night, though as soon as the day
dawned (Sunday) it stopped which was great, there were just a few members
this morning going for a walk maybe that whisky affected a few. |
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