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What a dreadful week,
weather wise it has been on the east coast of Australia, wind, rain,snow
and hail in most of the states. There were a few members who thought that
it would be dreadful weather for our rally to be held at Clarendon House,
a heritage listed and National Trust property. This was not the case , a little chilly though sunny with little wind and that was the way it remained for our rally weekend. On our arrival at Clarendon House our hosts Brian and Jean were on hand to welcome us and very quickly had us parked up. It was obvious that it was going to be a large rally with the amount of motorhomes on site; especially since most of our members had now returned from their interstate travels. Getting to re-acquaint ourselves with our travelling mates took up considerable time and there was much laughter ring out around the area. |
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| Clarendon House | Convict era outbuildings and servants quarters |
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After lunch many walked
down by the river amongst the shady glens and enjoyed the tranquil surroundings,
though there were no reports of any fish; such as trout being spotted.
Others were setting up their satellite dish which is now becoming fashionable
for those who like to watch television, especially from other states. Our happy hour was excellent as usual with much laughter and discussion of the weekend entertainment by our hosts Brian and Jean plus President Ian speaking on the forthcoming Combined Chapters Rally, members were enthused so it was decided to have a morning tea get together tomorrow to discuss volunteers etc. required to bring about a successful Rally |
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| Parked amongst convict buildings | President Ian speaking at our Happy Hour |
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After our evening meal
we all gathered by the fire in one of the old convict buildings where
our hosts had organised entertainment, first our web master came on line
with our Island wanderers web site and gave a have hour demonstration
and invited members to navigate their way around the various sections,
many were to do this during the evening. Bob was to entertain us with some very fine key board music that had a few up and dancing whilst our ladies came together to do their usual crafty things, in all it was a good night and some didn't finish their happy hour until after midnight. |
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| Ladies and their craft work | Bob on his key board |
Saturday dawned a beautiful
morning with plenty of sunshine, members walked around the various convict
buildings admiring the architecture with a few electing to go into the
main homestead, all were to comment on the amount of servant quarters
and stables etc all still in good repair. At 10am we all came together
for a morning tea session and the Combined Chapters Rally and programme
was outlined. Arising out of that members volunteered with enthusiasm
for the various tasks to ensure a successful Rally. It was then time for
lunch and just relax and get ready for the treasure hunt that had been
organised for the afternoon. |
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Various
convict built outbuilding, including stables |
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We all gathered together to hear what our
hosts had arranged for the treasure hunt and true to form many were as
excited as before heading off to find the many objects on the slips of
paper provided. It also gave us the chance to take in the whole magic of the area with its centuries old oak trees and the many fine old outbuildings on the property. Many were spread out like browns cows so it was not easy to photograph those on the hunt, the only thing missing was the hounds as people went hither and thither. |
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Out
on the Treasure hunt spread out like brown's cows! |
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It took time to find all the objects for they
were spread out over such a wide area and when we passed the old homestead
we stopped to marvel at its architecture. There were many tourists using
the facilities and tea rooms who must have been wondering who this group
of people were laughing, whilst walking around the grounds picking up
pieces of leaves Coney's and other material on the list of treasure to
find to win the competition. Even the train passing by gave us several
hoots of his siren which bought on more laughter and much waving, we are
sure that they sounded their siren more than was probably required. |
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| What a marvellous house that kept capturing our attention during the Treasure Hunt | |
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All in all it was a pleasant way to spend
a fine sunny afternoon and there is no doubt that everyone enjoyed themselves
immensely, as always there can only be one winner and on this occasion
it was John & Colleen. However, it could be said that everyone was
a winner discovering all the little nooks and crannies of the Heritage
Property and enjoying the solitude and sunny afternoon. Well done Brian
and Jean for organising an excellent treasure hunt. |
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| Terry historian of Clarendon House | Julie imbibing |
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Before we knew it, happy hour was upon us
and Terry the Clarendon House Historian was to give a wonderful lecture
on the history of the property including the first owners the Cox family
and as we were to discover a large family indeed, nineteen children! Of
course as is the norm with these midland properties they were all built
on convict labour; free of course only having to supply food, clothing
and shelter. President Ian thanked Terry for such an informative talk which kept everyone enthralled cumulating in many questions being asked. |
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| Patrick snacking before Dinner | Our happy Disc Bowlers |
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We were to visit the restaurant that is attached
to the main house and what a wonderful meal it was we did not hear any
complaints at all, there was a set menu or you could order from the menu.
All meals were of a high standard, which you would expect from this type
of establishment. We were to adjourn to the stables, which is an excellent
meeting room with a glowing fire, Dick was conduct the usual raffle with
the proceeds going to the Cancer Council walk for life project, as usual
it was an hilarious event taking some time before it was finished with
the room ringing out with much laughter. If laughter was a disease then we would have to say that everyone caught it this weekend, even our intrepid disc bowlers who were out playing from the commencement of the rally and in between the many activities that were conducted. Sunday dawned a little overcast with slight drizzle though not to enough dampen our spirits with many opting for the tour of Clarendon House, the unfortunate situation is that you are not able to take photo's inside the house for security reasons. When we were to see what the house contained we understood why for many of the antique pieces are on loan from peoples private collections and in fact from a few mainland institutions, what a wonderful collection and to experience the ambience of the house was well worth the entry fee. Well, unfortunately the time has come to vacate our rally site, and during the morning and late into the afternoon you could see a reluctance of members to leave for home or continue touring. As usual we all said our farewells and look forward to our next rally which is our Christmas Rally, finally it be remiss of us if did not thank our hosts Brian & Jean for such a well organised and wonderful weekend. |
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