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St Helens, a vibrant fishing & farming village located on the East Coast of Tasmania was the venue for our January Rally, with a forest and mountain view to the West and a large Bay and Open Sea to the East.
There is constant movement of the fishing fleet, large and small, as they put to sea and return with their catches of deep sea Trevalla, Warhoo, Scallops, abalone, shark and crayfish (lobster) to mention just a few species of the fish catch landed.
St Helens is also a holiday destination with the village swelling from a permanent population of 2500 to in excess of 20,000 during the summer holiday season. There are events such as the Tuna fishing competition, Rodeo, Sports Carnival, abalone bake off, Rotary Seafood & Woodchop Regatta on the foreshore of the bay, plenty to keep visitors entertained.
Needless to say along the coastal strip of the Bay of Fires there are plenty of free camping spots right on the sea; which are occupied during the summer season and to a lesser extent during the winter months.
Entrance to Georges Bay + Dora Point Campground Fishing Fleet + Tuna Charter Fleet
Thursday afternoon a few members arrived to assist setting up our Rally site for the weekend. A warm day though not to hot, it was great to catch up with old friends again and meet the Boat People from various States of Australia here to enjoy the renowned hospitality of the Tasmanian people. In the evening our guitarist and entertainer Doug had us singing with a couple of Chapter members doing solo's under his Musical direction
Rally site with first arrivals
A section of rally attendees on the Friday

Friday dawned cloudy and a few of those threatening to lose weight strolled down to the News Agency for the morning paper. They were to do this each morning for the duration of the Rally though no one noticed any weight loss. Maybe it was due to the amount of alcohol and food consumed, or was this consumption to create the energy to walk?
The bulk of members arrived on the Friday and soon settled in then headed to our yellow canopy. Though Wayne had delivered wood for our campfire it was just to hot to light up. A few elected go to various restaurants in St Helens and others had a community Barbecue and caught up with the latest news.
Then it was over to the amenity building for what turned out to be enjoyable and hilarious fun filled evening of Trivia conducted by Don. Some team names were quite raunchy though not offensive and the cheating? or was it. What then transpired was hilarious with all methods utilised to curry favour with Don, though to no avail.
Don sorting out team answers Marlene debating answers with opposition
The team with the highest points received sweets as a reward, it wasn't long before other teams started to remonstrate. This forced Don to distribute the sweets to all participants, the shiacking and cheating continued amongst a few. The Solo group performed well running a close second all through the night and were only pipped in the final by one point.
Planning Tactics Waiting for the Trivia contest to start

It was a wonderful night for which we thank Don then it was off to bed for most, others having another happy hour.
Saturday dawned overcast and the morning became a hive of activity with the Sports Carnival underway, this was was one of the reasons (the other being the Rodeo) for us having our Rally in St Helens. We all wandered over during the day to catch the sports and to look at the other forms of entertainment.
Finish of the one thousand metres foot race Finish of three thousand metre cycle race
The woodchop's as always were very popular and it still defies logic how a seventy two year man can win handicap chops, some say it is all in the technique. We were to witness this occurring and in one event the back marker gave his opponents 100 seconds start and still won by a couple of blows.
Merv at 72 years of age still winning! Standing chop event underway
We still marvel at the way these blokes wield an axe in competition from underhand, standing and tree climbing, they are certainly skilled and entertaining. The problem was that our Chapter Birthday boy sat there most of the day getting sun burnt and finishing off cans of beer a few members and others bought for him; while stating "aren't the chops great stuff" we still wonder just what he meant by this statement!
Tree climbing competition Jack & Jill (male & female) sawing final
There were other attractions that members spent time in perusing which included the old cars and motorbikes, though many on display were muscle cars from the 70's including a Goggomobile affectingly known as the Lightburn Washing Machine from the 60's
Ford Muscle Cars Goggomobile Dart

Saturday evening Barbecue of fish, that had been sourced by Greg and Margaret. (Greg being a professional Fisherman.) Margaret took on the cooking role and as in the past the meal was extremely good, Members remarked that the fish was cooked to perfection.
After our excellent meal our music man Doug alias The (temporary) Sheriff arranged a musical evening with his usual excellent repertoire of songs with members joining in for singalongs.
Peter regaled us with his excellent lyrics and poetry, his memory recall considering his age is tops, one of our Mainland members also gave excellent recitals which we all enjoyed.
Sunday arrived and those that had to return to work left the Rally early in the day and those left toured the area and a few went to the local restaurants for lunch.
The Rodeo commenced at 3.30 and proved popular with local and out of town people. Why not; with the number of events and full on buck jumping, calf roping , bull riding plus more and lets not forget the clowns who entertained and protected riders. After the Rodeo proper there were Country and Western bands entertaining.
Buck Jumper unseated Bull riding proved entertaining and popular
Those Members that elected not to attend the Rodeo elected to sit in the shade and chew the fat or knit squares for the shawls that would be stitched together at the next national rally. Later in the evening Doug again entertained us with his music talent.
Enjoying shade from the heat of the evening Peter offering his wood fired home made biscuit delights to members

Monday morning saw the dismantling of our Chapter's yellow canopy and stowing away of all equipment, it was the time to say our final farewells, which takes some time for some.
Some were moving on to continue their wanderings and others to prepare for the next rally which is the Combined Chapters Rally at Port Sorell in just a short while.
It would be remiss of us if we did not acknowledge the excellent job done by Our hosts Margaret and Liz plus Doug, Don, Peter and our mainland guests that contributed, lets not forget Wayne who cut and delivered wood in trying circumstances, a big thank you to all for a job well done. Uncle Dicks Shorts!
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