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A
favoured Rally site of the Chapter is Myrtle Park where we have
the privilege to witness the changing of the seasons.The wonderful
autumn colours displayed by the many different trees and plants in
this wonderful municipal council operated park are a sight to behold.
The camp area is located by the St Patrick River where you can try
your luck to catch a mountain trout or watch the the platypus at dusk
frolicking in the river, a very popular camping spot utilised by locals,
interstate visitors and other chapters of the Campervan & Motorhome
Club of Australia. |
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St Patrick's River |
Kevin & Alf fishing |
Showing off the catch |
The disc bowls rinks were set out and there was fierce competition taking place amongst those playing with plenty of chiacking taking place. Before we knew it happy hour arrived and President Jim welcomed all to the Rally and then hosts Peter and Wendy were to outline the weekend's activities which was well received. With the chill of the evening descending many were to wander off for their evening meal whilst a few took in the warmth of the fire preferring to eat later in the evening. |
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Disc Bowlers |
Happy Hour |
Peter outlining weekend activities |
 We gathered in the hall for an excellent narration by Len Beadell on the construction of the Woomera Rocket Range and the building of the township and also the construction of the Maralinga atom bomb test site. This was followed by a dvd of the same plus the building of the various tracks and roads such as the Gunbarrel Highway and an outline of how the road obtained its name. Following the construction crews across the deserts and gibber plains showed us the hardships the crews experienced in opening up the virtual centre of Australia. We were seated as if in a picture theatre and there was no chatter at all, which indicated the level of interest in the presentation.A few opted to gather around the outside fire and were experiencing the fog and dew coming down and given the amount of light from Motorhomes etc it gave off an eerie effect. Then it was off to bed having enjoyed the friendship and entertainment, a few were to watch on television the AFL football game in Brisbane. |
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| Breakfast by the fire | Proud pet owners prior to morning walk |
Saturday
morning dawned a little chilly with an early morning fog, Peter was
out early and lit the fire and when we climbed out of bed the fire
was very welcome indeed. We took the opportunity to cook our toast
etc and have our tea made from the billy water boiled on the fire.
A lot of the talk was about football and the excellent evening enjoyed
by all. Many aspects of the night were discussed and many differing
opinions were held on presentation detail. Then it was 8am and time to walk around the park, participants gathered with their pets and casually they set off admiring the autumn tones displayed by the trees with the sun breaking through the fog. Then it was off to the shop to get the morning paper and then back to the fire. Members were gathering talking and laughing for the morning had warmed and the spirit of the weekend was extremely high. |
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Getting professional lessons |
Budgie teeing off |
Our judges measuring from the cup |
10am saw the start of the golfing competition which required contestants to hit four golf balls, the nearest to the hole would be the winner. Easy! oh yeah! very easy! With our golf professional giving advice on how to handle the golf stick and hit the ball etc it was on with the game. The laughter and advice from the audience was continuous for the ball most of the time had a mind of its own, even those who played golf regularly were finding the going hard. The game took over two hours to complete with Ross winning the men's section, Jean winning the woman's section then Jean took out the overall winner of all sections having her golf balls hit the flag pole twice and being closest to the hole. Peter our host, presented Jean with the perpetual trophy. As this is the inaugural Myrtle Park golf tournament Jean shall have ownership of the trophy for the next twelve months. We then broke off for lunch and after that wandered around speaking to our many friends. |
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Ross winner men's section |
Jean winner woman's section |
Jean the overall winner of golf receiving Perpetual Trophy |
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| Lining up for the horse race | The winner and place getters of the Myrtle Park Cup |
It
was time to start the horse races, Budgie had set out a course and
wooden horses were supplied which bought laughter once more. The toss
of a dice determined how many spaces on the track you and your horse
moved and this bought much chiacking and advise from the onlookers.
There were many heats and through attrition we arrived with six horses
and jockey's for the running of the Myrtle Park Cup. Two gelding or
stallions (we are not sure) and one mare. Needless to say there was
much encouragement from the audience and finally the Cathy won the
day and the Cup on her Zebra, John coming a close second on his stallion
and Gordon following up the rear on his gelding, so to speak! The final
race was for fillies and stallions and Dick was the winner of this
section to much applause from the crowd. |
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Cathy
first place, John
second place and Gordon third place.All receiving their prizes from
Wendy our host.
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What a wonderful day plenty of sunshine and plenty of entertainment courtesy of our Hosts. Happy hour arrived and visitors from interstate and other chapters were presented with visitor certificates plus birthdays and anniversary were celebrated with much cheering. Raffle prizes were drawn and there was certainly many to select from for the winners. Our Hosts presented the gifts and trophy to the winners of the competitions early in the day and with much applause our hosts were thanked for the wonderful weekend and then they outlined the evenings entertainment in the hall. |
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| Eyes down with plenty of frivolity | Just having a chat before their turn arrives |
With a dew falling and the fog making an appearance we all adjourned to the warm fire in the hall, it wasn't long before to circles were formed and out came the strange dice and the game began. Around and around it went and it was obvious that it would be sometime before a winner in both circles would emerge. Being enclosed the noise level was very loud, which you could say due to everyone enjoying the game and friendship on offer. So it was off to bed all being a little weary by now with all the entertainment. The fog had come in and the air was damp. There a few who opted to watch the AFL football in the warmth of their motorhomes before going off to bed Sunday dawned sunny with little fog, Budgie had lit the fire and the kettles were boiling for those of us who liked to soak up the sun whilst having breakfast. The early morning walkers were strolling around the park along with their pets stopping of at the shop to collect the Sunday paper. The sunday service was conducted by our Chaplin Clarry and then at ten o'clock the Pets dog parade was conducted. It was obvious that the owners were very proud of their charges. In all there were 9 dogs and they had to perform various discipline's to win the section. As part of the competition they had to show the judges the many tricks that their owners had taught them. It was something to behold as all the spectators knowing the many dogs and their owners were surprised as to the many tricks performed. Finally the judges awarded the following:
 Kaylene walking her pet in the Obedience section of the event |
However,
the judges were kind and awarded a Smacko to each dog in the competition.
Unfortunately the camera battery's went flat so we are devoid of any photo's
of the competition other than the one above. More wood went on the fire, though it really wasn't required other than to boil the Billy for coffee, tea etc. Everyone was sitting around enjoying the sunshine and with lack of breeze it was really a nice day. Some had to leave to return to work and others to pack to go interstate in the next few weeks. There were many that decided to stay on another night and use the tea rooms with its nice warm fire this evening before departing for home and other area's tomorrow. Finally, we have to say that our hosts Peter and Wendy certainly had plenty of entertainment during the rally weekend, which included dragging a load of wood to the grounds for our fires, so thank you both it is greatly appreciated by all and the weekend was excellent including the weather. We meet again in the south of the state of Tasmania at Old Beach in May for our next Rally. |
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