carters_beach

past events

around the campfire

Victorian members Carters Beach weekend meet

weekend of 20th Saturday, Sunday 21st of August 2005

I may just start calling these week-ends “Rolande’s Magical Mystery Tours” as I always seem to pick the spots we have difficulty actually finding.

This time Holly and I were caught by the curse as well.

We had spent the previous week traveling Western Victoria and NSW up to Broken Hill. Fine weather all ‘round, until we headed for the week-end meet.

We spent four hours traveling in rain from Robinvale through to Echuca, where we stocked up on supplies, (and bought raincoats – didn’t pack any, eternal optimists that we are.)

We found the turn off from Strathmerton, as most others had, followed the Carter’s Beach sign until the gateway into Barmah State Forest. Having been told the beach is actually outside the forest my normal male instincts kicked in – “nah, this can’t be correct”.

What followed was 90 minutes of Holly and myself exploring Labbett’s Beach and other areas further East, while those members who had already arrived were enjoying the dry weather and company.

In frustration I finally called Rob Martin, who was sure to be on-site to be greeted with, “There are half a dozen of us here, having a great time with the surfboards out and sunny weather”

Mmmmm…… must be in the wrong spot. After a bit more “exploring” we finally returned to the first gate, drove a short while to see the CT’s set up on the beach. Apparently we arrived just as the rain started, figures.

Said a couple of quick hello’s then set up the CT for the night in the rain. By then the group included

Greg and Marge in the Cub

Dale in the Aussie Swag

Tony and Chris in the Oryx

Ian and Penny in the Kimberly Kamper

Mike and Sheryl, (and Maggie) in the Ultimate

Rob in the CUB

Ron tenting it

Paul and Leanne in the Southern Cross

Roy and Anne in the Off-road caravan

Kevin and Karen in the Aussie Swag arrived soon after we had completed setting up, making 11 CT’s set-up on the Friday night. A good start to the week-end

The rain continued so many retired early to wait for the better forecast on the Saturday.

I can safely say the rain continued all night and promptly stopped at 7.00a.m. At which time Holly decided to see how our CT held up to the first long rain it had been exposed to. Splosh, splosh and a pair of now wet socks soon answered the question for her. As we were soon to discover we had had a shower inside the tent as well as outside, with our clothes, carefully hung on chairs the night before, as well as the bag which contained most of our remaining clothes soaking wet as the canvas failed to hold out the rain.

Other than a couple of small leaks from other CT’s all came through well and were greeted with overcast skies, but no rain, on the Saturday.

A number on Koalas in the near-by tress provided a distraction as about 10 of them went about their business

Time to get out for the meet ‘n greet with the other campers.

First stop was Mike and Sheryl’s Ultimate to view Mike assembling his new you-beaut fireplace he had designed and learning that redgum firewood was not always the easiest to split. Mike also added sand tent pegs to the “must have” list, a few borrowed from Kevin and the Ultimate’s awning was up.

Kevin decided to fit the canvas walls to the awning on the Aussie Swag, (for those who were at Copeton, yes he did bring ALL the pieces this time). Photo’s of a happy Karen were then taken as the now warmer awning area provided good shelter from the wind.

Greg and Marge were well set up in their CUB, while next door Paul and Leanne’s Southern Cross displayed Paul’s well made slide out kitchen and drawers. For anyone wanting to build there own, this is a good example to follow.

Further down the beach Tony and Chris told of learning how when it rains the water runs off the roof, straight over the canvas above the bed area and onto the ground, a constant gurgle, gurgle accompanying this.

Roy and Anne had almost all the luxury of home in the off-road caravan; I must admit Holly and I looked on with some envy late on Friday night in the middle of another heavier burst of rain. Then Ron was very comfortable in the tent, parked closer to the river than the rest of us had attempted

Ian and Penny had the Kimberly set-up and all dry. This is the first opportunity I had had to actually stand under the awning for an extended period, (enjoyed the coffee greatly, thanks, apologies to Penny for taking the second cup!). I instantly had thoughts of extending our awning a bit to create some extra room.

Dale in the Aussie Swag and Rob in the CUB completed the list at this stage, with campers spread about 100m down the beach. We like each other’s company but apparently not too much; it almost required binoculars to spot the Aussie Swag down the other end of the line.

Carlisle and Sarah arrived in the afternoon in a test Cameron Camper, as did Jeff, Catherine and the kids in the Dingo Off-Road. The final arrival was Rob’s cousin Danny with his two kelpies “Ms Ruby” and “Aunty Shearer”

So, 13 CT’s in all for a week-end away many km’s from home for most. I listened as owners came from Wollongong, Canberra, Ballarat, Geelong, Bendigo, and Warnambool, etc.

Certainly a wide spread and much more than I had expected when first choosing the location, (thanks go to Tony and Chris for this, it was their suggestion).

By Saturday afternoon, with the prospect of further rain, Holly and I decided it would be better for us to pack away our CT dry and return home early to think about the leaks further and investigate solutions. There have been many posts on the Yahoo! Site if anyone is interested.

Of course, we took the rain with us; it continued most of the way home and was raining on Saturday night as we retired for the evening.

Needless to say Carter’s Beach remained generally dry, and large camp fire had been lit, more camp chairs were gathering around. I was happy that at least we could take the rain away for the other campers so they could enjoy the rest of the week-end. Judging by the stories the Koalas provided some entertainment on the next two nights also

Thanks to all those for helping make the week-end a success, and thanks again for the distances traveled.

Look forward to suggestions for the next week-end away, possibly before Christmas at a location closer to Melbourne for those who are unable to travel the longer distances.

WHO CAME TO THE WEEK-END

Greg and Marge in the Cub Spacematic

Dale in the Aussie Swag Off-Road

Tony and Chris in the Oryx

Ian and Penny in the Kimberly Kamper

Mike and Sheryl, (and Maggie) in the Ultimate

Rob in the CUB Kamparoo

Ron tenting it

Paul and Leanne in the Southern Cross

Roy and Anne in the Off-road caravan

Rolande and Holly in the Dingo On-Road

Kevin and Karen in the Aussie Swag Rover LX