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As usual
a few of our members stayed overnight at the Deloraine rest area before
travelling onto our monthly Rally. In keeping with our Chapters Statewide
Rally Charter, we gather this month in the City of Devonport at the
beautiful coastal Bluff area. An area that is located by both river
and sea. It is pleasing to see that the majority of our members have
now returned from touring the country, it didn't take long for returnees'
to renew friendships within the Chapter. Our hosts Eddie & Audrey
were on hand to welcome us and park us in our respective area and make
us feel really welcome. We congregated at our Chapter trailer and unloaded our beloved "Bee Haven" shelter and prepared it for erection, given the blustery weather we were experiencing it was obvious that we may have a few problems. Though in no time at all it was erected and as the weather started to deteriorate even further and with poor weather forecasts for later in the day it was decided that we would dismantle "Bee Haven" as a means of avoiding possible extreme wind damage. |
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Early stage of construction |
"Bee Haven" erected | Brian
addressing the happy hour |
We
then, in its place, erected a wind break where we gathered for our happy
hour, though windy it did not dampen our spirits. Brian, in the absence
of our President, welcomed all including our guests from the Blue Gum
Rovers and Van Demons Chapters, he then outlined the entertainment for
the weekend and read out the birthdays being celebrated by our members
today and in the coming days. We all sang a hearty 'Happy Birthday"
to those members with the usual cheers, clapping and laughter and of course
with some derision. After happy hour we tended to look for relief from the wind plus take the opportunity to re-acquaint ourselves with Dennis and Marjorie T13312, who have remained members of the Chapter even though they now reside in Western Australia. On arriving in Tasmania recently, they hired a Motorhome to come to this Rally and renew their friendships and then move onto to see their children who reside elsewhere in Tasmania. The rest of the evening was spent in each others Motorhomes or just watching television before retiring for the night. |
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Our three
birthday kids |
Having a chat during morning tea | Lighting
of the camp fire |
Around
9:30pm we had a hoon come onto the grounds and do donuts cutting up
the grass and just missing our resident Plovers nest by centimetres. Saturday dawned overcast though warm and windy, some like Budgie were out taking their canine friends for a walk; some on the beach set aside by council for that purpose and others exploring the foreshore along the road. Of course Budgie just happened to wake a few up by knocking on their doors at 6:45am and taking the opportunity to have a cuppa with those he woke. All taken in good jest as we all do in our chapter outings, following on from yesterdays Birthday announcements we had a morning tea where we celebrated our three birthday kids birthdays with a nice cake baked by Audrey (A big thank you to you Audrey). A slice was delivered to all members and guests along with the appropriate ribbing, we enjoyed the moment with them, it would be true to say that much laughter was the order of the day. We then gathered up the firepot and gas cookers supplied by the park and set about gathering wood and lighting the fire, we moved our shelter closer to the bushes for more relief from the wind. Being such a resilient lot in the Chapter we do not worry much at all when we receive a little adverse weather. |
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| Plover's eggs in nest near our Rally site | Exercise beach for our canine mates |
 After
lunch many were to go walkabout and take in the various tourist attraction's
that abound in and around the Bluff at Devonport, for instance we
were to learn that where our Rally  was
being held was the site of the old cemetery and that the headstones
had been moved to a different area of the park leaving the many graves
undisturbed that have been grassed over. Many were to take the opportunity
to view the headstones and tablets and were somewhat surprised to see
that most were from the late 1800's, considering this, the headstones
and tablets were in very good condition and we had no problem at all
reading the inscriptions. One Headstone concerned us for it bore the
name of John Cole, of course the Coles were at our Rally and the husband
happened to be named John! Others were to stay in the camp area and
play disc bowls and have a chat around the fire, given the windy conditions
at times they had problems controlling the discs which caused much
laughter and cries of foul play. |
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Aboriginal
Interpretation Centre & Musuem at Devonport Bluff |
Old sailing
ship coming into port |
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A few were to drop into the Tiagarra Aboriginal
Interpretation Centre & Museum and take in the indigenous history and
culture of the area. They were to view the many static displays on the cultural
history that abound in the precinct of the Bluff , they were to report that
the visit was worthwhile and that the local indigenous people had been running
the centre since 1995, the local Council opened and run the centre from 1972.
Whilst visiting the lighthouse there was an old ketch rigged small ship enter
the port under full sail, it was heeling over with its sails full of the
heavy breeze. This was an extremely good display of well preserved shipping
from another era in time. Many also took the opportunity to take in the views from the lighthouse which gives excellent views to the east and the timbered mountains and south to the city of Devonport and the mountainous region behind the city. There was also an excellent view looking down onto our Rally area beside the sea. |
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| Our Rally site from the lighthouse | Lighthouse at Devonport Bluff |
Before
we knew it happy hour came around and we all gathered by the fire,
we were to receive a presentation from Lyn on the latest in Solar "Attach
a Brollie" which was quite impressive. Four members
purchased the umbrella's after the demonstration and Lyn pledged an umbrella
to our Christmas Raffle, which was met with great applause. We also welcomed Darline as a new member to the Chapter and Brian presented her with her Island Wanderers window placard. Members were taken with the cape worn by Marlene which many badges of National and State Rally's attended plus badges from many areas both herself and Peter have visited over the many years in their travels through out Australia; so much so that Marlene was asked to model the cape, both front and back. |
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Lone fisherman
at the Bluff |
Lyn demonstrating solar brollie | Marlene's
cape of many badges |
We drifted
off for our evening meal and even though the wind was still a little
blustery; many of us gathered after our meal around the fire once
again and much laughter rang out around the Rally site, especially
from Audrey who has such a contagious laugh that tends to get us all
laughing and happy to be amongst our friends once again. It was very
late into the night before we retired a little tired, though more
than happy with the excellent day we all had experienced. Sunday dawned still blustery and overcast, luckily once again no rain, We checked out our resident Plover and found her (him) to be sitting on her (his) eggs again non plussed about all the activity around her (him). John & Colleen again conducted the chapter church service that was well attended and indeed looked forward to by many of our Chapter members, then it was farewell for a few who were leaving early for home or to travel to other areas.  There
were small groups of members gathered chewing the fat, so to speak, and a
few indicated that they would be staying on again tonight for they like the
area. After lunch and into the afternoon many were to depart indicating they
would meet again at our next Rally to be held at the Deloraine craft fair
in early November. Would members please note that your fee for Christmas
Dinner must be in the hands of our Secretary no later than the Cressy Rally
in mid November, please be prompt for there are limited numbers that can
attend the dinner; though bear in mind, if you are not able to attend the
Christmas Dinner this does not preclude you from attending the Rally.Finally, once again we thank both Eddie and Audrey for the wonderful Rally and the way they arranged things for us do, even when blustery weather was the order of the Rally, it is true to say they have become quite polished hosts at the Rally's they have volunteered for, and a thank you to Dick for the fine job done on the registration desk. |
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