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History, timeless nature,
a variety of wines, fine food & accommodation, coastal splendour.
All of this and more in and around the township of Swansea,
a coastal town beside the pristine waters of the Tasman Sea. A seaside
town where the population swells dramatically in the summer holiday
season. During the winter months the area is quite temperate which
the local people and visitors like our Chapter enjoy. The views down
towards the Hazards and Coles Bay are very spectacular. Swansea is
a town where there is plenty to see and do plus shops galore. Is
this the reason for our Rally being held here? Yes of course! As
we parked our Motorhomes we came across a Plovers nest with four
eggs and we were intrigued to see the antics of the Plover in her
attempt to lead us away from the nest. To ensure that the Plover's
and the eggs where not disturbed we built a barrier to protect them.
You could say it took all weekend for the Plovers to accept us. |
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| From campground towards town centre | Plover insert and her eggs near camp |
A few of
us arrived on the wednesday afternoon with a few having an extended
happy hour. Of course our hosts for the weekend Peter & Veronica
were on hand to welcome everyone as they arrived and make sure we parked
up with a minimum of fuss. On the Thursday morning it was all hands on deck to hoist our canopy ready for the start of our Rally on Friday. The work progressed slowly for some, that is the people that had a late happy hour. Then it was beautiful pies and pastries from the newly opened bakery for lunch, they were beautiful. The rest of the afternoon was spent lazing around until happy hour and then over to the hotel to partake in their happy hour. $2 pots and at this price there were many consumed in the period. There were a few who stopped on to dine out and by all reports the food was great. |
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| Mick
driving in pegs |
Yellow
canopy laid out then erected |
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Friday dawned sunny though
a little on the windy side and by days end we were to experience high
winds come through our rally site so everyone rolled in there awnings
and weathered the storm, so to speak. In the morning we went into the village itself and window shopped as well as purchase many goods and of course rolls etc for our lunch. It would be true to say that the woman took the opportunity to check out every shop within the town precinct, of course they checked out the R.S.L. the selected establishment for our Saturday evening meal. Who were the ladies who had a little flutter on the keno and bought tickets from the machines whilst there? We were strung out like browns cows on the way back to the Rally site and the locals found it amusing as we pressed into the breeze. |
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| Happy Hour | Eddie enjoying Happy Hour |
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During the afternoon many walked along the beautiful
beach's whilst other members sought to gain extra practice time with
the disc bowls. We were to experience strange weather patterns from
very light rain to brilliant sunshine with heavy winds for the rest
of the day. |
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| Gathered
for Happy Hour |
Patrick
& Pat discussing bowls |
Chatting after happy hour |
Saturday
dawned warm and sunny though windy and at 9am we had our committee
meeting and followed by our General Meeting where among other matters
dealt with, it was unanimous to have a new all purpose trailer built
to carry our camping gear plus canopy. Graeme, Don and Mick had the
responsibility to research and report back to the membership with their
findings including costing's, the meeting by acclamation thanked them
for the extensive work carried out on the project. After the meeting our Disc Bowls Guru, Patrick, after sorting out the roster called us all together and the competition commenced. As usual games were very competitive, though the wind was playing havoc with the disc bowls at times having a mind of their own. This was to bring much laughter and shiacking from the spectators. Every one was designated a group to play in and early many were eliminated and others went on live another game or two. We stopped for lunch and a massive storm went around the hills behind us during this time, luckily we only had a few spots of rain and when we returned to the afternoon competition we were again in sunny though windy conditions |
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| Gathered
for General Meeting on Saturday morning |
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There was much laughter
at the afternoon session again with the wind still playing
havoc with the disc bowls, they again had a mind of their own as they
were tossed down the pitch. It was great to hear Audrey's laugh again
for it is contagious and bought forth much hilarity. The eventual winners
were Bernard, Colin and Karen with Betty, Kevin and Don the runners
up. |
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Patrick setting up competition |
Competition
on with competitors serious with their shots
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Spectators
at Disc Bowls
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Ladies
at relaxation-meditation class |
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The ladies
attended a relaxation meditation class during the afternoon which was
conducted by Kayelene and by all reports the ladies were pleased with
the outcome so much so that many wanted their partners to attend such
a session or indeed practice upon them. Before we knew it was happy hour again and Peter & Veronica outlined the evenings entertainment at the local R.S.L Club. Veronica then presented three small Tassie Devils to the Runners up of the Disc Bowls competition and Two free nights with power at the Swansea Jubilee Caravan Park to each of the winners. To say that that the prizes were not well received would be an understatement. Alf and Beth T3490 were presented with their window plaque and Island Wanderers sticker and welcomed as new members of the Chapter to much applause. |
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| Runner-up
at Disc Bowls |
Smiling
Winners of Disc Bowls |
The many
raffle prizes |
Our
raffle was conducted with many prizes on offer, the proceeds going
to the local Hospital Auxiliary. There were many tickets sold and the
Caravan Park and the Chapter donated funds which ensured that the Auxiliary
would receive reasonable funds to assist the local community. Then
it was time to shower and get dressed for our evening meal at the R.S.L. |
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| Dinner
at the R.S.L. |
After
meal chat |
Patrick
& Julie enjoying their meal |
We
wandered down for our evening meal and it was well worth the stroll,
due to taking a full table order at a time meant that the service
was quick and the food was excellent. Some opted also for the sweets
which looked great and then it was finish off with tea or coffee and
few ports. There was no
rush to leave the tables and few had more wine and enjoyed each others company. Many elected to adjourn to the bar and watch the Hawthorn vs St Kilda game on the wide screen television one member so distraught that his team was receiving a beating asked the Policeman for a lend of his gun so he could shoot the television set, this was of course declined. It was a wonderful evening overall and it was then stroll back to the Rally site where the fire was stoked up and friendship continued. Sunday dawned sunny and again windy and many were to go off to the local church service and then with great reluctance "Bee Haven", our yellow canopy came down and all the gear packed away in the Chapter trailer. A quick cuppa and then it was time to depart. A group of members were going on safari for the next five days and few moving further up the road for the night, around six Motorhomes elected to stay another evening enjoying each others company. In all it was a wonderful Rally and congratulations and thanks must go to our hosts Peter & Veronica for conducting the Rally and making us all so welcome plus to the Plovers for tolerating us for the weekend. We again indicated our attendance at the next rally at Griffin Park in October. |
| May | September |
October |
November | December | ||||||||
To view
Rally Happenings of previous month/s click on month of choice |
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