• Alan (Cobb Extrodinaire) & Kathy (Better ½ of Alan) sorting canvass for the first time????
• Kate (Canine Champion), Paul (??????), Minky, Bella and their good friend Chloe, catching the fly screen bug.
• Helen (Keeper of the Panadol), Peter (Keeper of the expensive light), Jake & Benji, some of the early arrivals.
• Rick (Hows your shower) & Carol (The wheelie BBQ informant) in their, Trek Camper with the quick draw camera.
• Noel (See my new????? It’s got a maget!)  & Cathi (Owner of the New???) in their New Australia Day Green and Gold Aussie Swag- However the Camper tent was still on top, in case the other one ran away on its wheels
• Rob (Dress up expert) & Diane (Good looking tiger lady) with Jordan and their fully set up (Shower and not at all minimalistic) Campomatic.
• John (The BIG map man) & Penny (Better ½ of John) who decided not to deploy the fly veil this time.
• Stephen (Father) & James (Son) in their father and son Trakshak.
• Hosts Gus, Jill, Erin, Clancy, Jayden & Bree with Puppies, who rivalled Rex for the biggest tarp of the group.
• Rex (The gadget man) and Anne (the very patient and well read) in their trailer from The Camper Factory Redlands, with its Bells and Whistles set up complete with “REAL” coffee… (Sorry, John its true)
• Richard (The D & M Master), Sharon (The original scoobie master), Rhianne (Erin’s best friend) and Patrick (Gameboy lover) in their Cape York Adventurer (hmmmm need to look into those electrics, Richard)
• Robyn (Crossword queen) and Gerry (with the cool jacket) in their Travel sleeper, camping in the boonies.
• Tahlee (Aka Cheryl)  in her cute little Camperette
• Visitors
  • Colleen (Nice to meet you) in her soft floor camper
  • Karen (Jill’s friend), Brian (Tent Master)  and Ryan (son of Karen) in their trusty Dome Tent

    WOW what a list of attendees…… Gus was duly impressed and would like to give an official vote of thanks to all who braved the outback for this very hot meet.

 

    Well…………Robert may have beaten us with his write up from ‘the lake’ but it was interesting to note from the pics that jackets & jeans abounded, while the “Cranky Rockers” were sweltering in swimmers, singlets & shorts with 40+ temps for most of the w/end & the one open air cold shower copping a hiding for the duration.

 

    The early arrivals (Tuesday) were greeted with some oppressive heat that didn’t let up all night with the temp still at 35 when midnight came around. This was to set the scene for the whole w/end.

 

    More hardy souls turned up on Wednesday, to be melted with the rest of us & many a “jeez it’s hot” expounded.

 

    Thursday saw the last of the wilting congregation arrive, although some left it as late as possible to show up even though the nights were starting to become bearable by then.

 

    All in all a great turn out and a brilliantly laid back, relaxed weekend. The weather was a little trying hitting 43 at some stage, so I was told. This was not totally unexpected and “air conditioning” was supplied by the hosts to each camp in the form of a spray bottle which was actually very refreshing even if the water in the bottle was not particularly cold.  Nights were not too hot though and Happy Hour was extremely well attended on Thursday and Friday night, Saturday Night saw many in attendance debunk to the Club for dinner and an air conditioned interlude. Thursday happy hour was where Gus was presented with a laminated photo of his very own Bunnings store (One day he may even get to go inside one).

 

    AUSTRALIA DAY………….What can we say, it just oozed “typical”, stinking hot with very little breeze. The patriotic flags were out (although there was an unobtrusive “stars & stripes” banner languishing in the heat), more “bloody hell it’s hot” & lots of trips to the shower, (the kids nearly wore out the water hole & had a well trodden track to it that even the adults were trudging along by now). Friday night was the official “Glow” night and the kids had a ball making coloured ropes and Frisbees. 

 

    The virtual campfire roped them all in on Saturday night and just beautifully completed the ambience for the evening. With total fire bans in place, campfires were on the extinct list, & so we were faced with the conundrum of what to use as a “pseudo happy hour fire”. The more inventive among us produced a multitude of “proto types”, till it was agreed that Alan’s LED with the old cereal bowl on top would be accepted by all & sundry. Yes, Alan we feel that a few more design attempts and it will certainly be the most “Handy Item” to have around camp. 

 

    Once again the cowboys came galloping into camp, but this time with strawberries clenched between their teeth to complement the traditional tastes, whereby Brian was heard to say “Thank god…………no coffee”, & even Helen consumed a whole cowboy on her own!!!!! Much better than Jill who decided to leave the circle, to go and have a shower, via the scenic route (it takes longer that way but she says the stars were beautiful without a torch). So is this sad and pathetic effort good enough for a mention for the Golden Peg awards this year???? Maybe there are many people in the group who can get lost travelling 150 metres.. OOPS maybe not. (I’m sure it was a LOT further than that says Jill).

 

    Saturday saw a minor reprieve from the heat & with Dianne’s suggestion to use the shelter shed as a venue for morning tea, the troupe trundled down………  All the happy campers found a shady spot and were quite happy to sit and chat a while.

 

    Official thank yous and welcome were exchanged and the $60,000 question was asked. Who is hosting the next weekend? (And) Where is it going to be? Noel and Cathi had a spot picked @ North shores (Noosa) and a couple of invitation to members weekends were bandied about, but, alas not a definite date as yet. We can tell you from experience. It doesn’t have to be that hard. People will come and join in and if they don’t………Well, you still get to have that weekend away experience any how. We await the confirmation of the NEXT meet.

 

    But meanwhile back at Cranky Rock - John was gracious enough to provide some entertainment on Saturday by attempting to drive his car off without disassembling his shower… Did anyone notice… Sure did!! It got Gus off his chair in a flash grasping for the camera, however, Rick had already taken photos… Bugger it is so hard not to be noticed. This may be a good entry for the Golden Peg award this year.  I was personally wondering if this was a newer quicker way to pack up – you know … just take out the tent pegs and hook the camper on and off you go?

 

    Thanks also need to go to many, To Alan for the Virtual fire and the scones, To Cathy for perseveering for the weekend, Sharon and Richard who are involved in real estate deals and took time off. To Rex and Anne for supplying the cool spot for Jake and sundry others at times, also for sharing their very special album with us. To Peter and Helen for the personal Bunnings Store. Rick & Carol for the BBQ plate cover in black (cause we don’t have a real bunnings). To Tahlee for showing all the kids the goanna up the tree. To Gerry & Robin being far enough away we could pretend we actually did some exercise to visit. To Diane & Rob for the suggestion of the Morning Tea meeting place. To Kate & Paul for keeping a close eye on the vandals for us. To Cathi & especially Noel for the Lamingtons (we imagined they were nice). To John & Penny for the tech tip on the quick shower pack up. To Karen for taking the Group Photo. To Brian for pouring as many cowboys as you can get out of a bottle (or two) As you can see there was not one person who did not contribute to the weekend and so united we had a ball.

 

    Well this camping weekend thing didn’t break the drought for us, so I suppose we will have to try some other method to get it to rain…………..

 

 

                                  Cheers……Jill & Gus