AUSTRALIA DAY 2016

27/01/201627/01/2016 ~ creakingbones

We celebrate Australia’s National Day on the 26th January every year. The day is declared a public holiday Australia wide.

It’s also the day upon which Australian Commonwealth Honours are awarded and Australian of the Year is announced.

At the Local Government level, outstanding citizens are recognised for their community work and a naturalisation ceremony is held awarding Australian Citizenship to new residents who qualify the the privilege.

Here in Goulburn, a country New South Wales town of some 24,000 residents, the Australia Day festivities are held in Victoria Park, a large central park complete with a public swimming pool complex, a skateboard park a velodrome and various other ammenities.

The focus this year was, as always, on the young and young at heart.

Apart from vintage and veteran car and motorbike displays, martial art contests, pipe bands, jugglers on stilts, young musicians and stalls galore, not to mention Volunteer Bush Fire Brigade units, Emergency Serices Units, a static Police display and many more, one of the stand outs was the climbing wall.

It was fascinating to watch young children and sometimes their parents, climbing the wall in an effort to reach the button at the top of the climb which when pressed activated a siren blast. More kids reached the button than did their dads or mums.

The day’s activities are like a magnet for photographers. The climbing wall and the skate board park provided great opportunities as did the formal ceremony and the crowds in general.

Here are a few images to show you how Australia Day was celebrated here in Victoria Park.

Australia day 2016_26Jan2016_0015 copy 2 The young learners were more interested in the fire engine display.

Australia day 2016_26Jan2016_0067 copy 2 Goulburn Mulwaree Council Mayor Geoff Kettle addressing the crowd in Victoria Park.

Australia day 2016_26Jan2016_0074 copy 2

Mr Warren Brown, Goulburn’s 2016 Australia Day Ambassador entertaining the crowd with an amusing address.

Australia day 2016_26Jan2016_0039 copy The fabulous and challenging climbing wall.

Australia day 2016_26Jan2016_0061 copy A typical stall on Australia Day in Victoria park.The great mural on the wall of the swimming pool complex adjacent to the skate board park in Victoria Park.

On leaving the park, like many many others, a cup of tea and lamingtons helped cement the fantastic feeling of being a fair dinkum Aussie bloke living in the greatest country in the world.

Now, what is a lamington you may well ask?

Sorry, that’s a story for another day.

Hoo roo

BACK IN THE DREAM TIME – ANOTHER NOSTALGIA TRIP.

22/01/2016 ~ creakingbones

Many moons ago, my wife and I were members of the Sydney Cycling Club, obviously based in Sydney, NSW, Australia.

We both trained hard, often cycling more than 400 miles per week. I’d leave home at 5am each day in order to reach Centennial Park, about 20 miles from home to join up with other club members for many more miles around the park before riding into work about 8am.

My wife would leave home sometime later and ride to her workplace, about 25 miles from home. Both of us would link up around 6pm for the ride home.

On Sundays we would ride into Centennial Park, about 20 miles then ride in the club bunch to various destinations, usually about 100-120 miles round rip, then ride home, another 20 odd miles.

We were all weather cyclists, fully into carbohydrate loading before and during each ride and we lavished our spending money on our cycles, lycra cyclists clothing, and for me of course, gadgets.

The funny part of it all was that no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t cut the mustard as a racing cyclist.

We both held racing licenses issued by the Cycling Federation of Australia and really enjoyed racing, representing our club, along with many other club members in cycle races all around the State.

On the occasions when we travelled by car to a distant race meeting, we carried the bikes on a special rack on the car’s roof. We had a Ford Cortina at the time and the bikes were worth far more than the car.

In common with many other club members, we weren’t satisfied with only having one bike each. Oh no.

Firstly there was the bike to ride when training, then there was the road racing bike, then there was the special criterium race bike and of course, the touring bike. Luckily my wife wasn’t into criteriums and had sold her touring bike, so we only had six cycles hanging in the shed.

SCC017copy

I had two bikes made to measure, one was for touring in Reynolds 531 tubing by Monty Young of Condor Cycles in London. Reynolds 531 was chosen because it was great for a touring bike as it could absorb shock yet was reasonably rigid. My other was a road bike by Clay Kesting of Sydney. Clay chose Reynolds 653 as it was less subject to flex and transmitted more energy to the back wheel. It was also lighter and more responsive.

My other bikes, an Alan aluminium criterium frame and a Colnago Master in Columbus tubing were specialist bikes purchased from bike shops that specialised in road racing.

All our cycles were fitted out with top of the range Campagnolo Super Record Group Sets, Cinelli bars and stems, rolling on Mavic rims fitted with Clemont single tyres.

Later on my wife made the switch to Cinelli fames after Clarence Street Cycling in Sydney concluded she would be a great cycling ambassador for the shop. They even kitted her out with a taylor made pink lycra cycling suit. Very swish indeed.

Then, in a further act of generosity, the store owner presented her with a rare Cinelli ladies frame cycle, in pink of course, kitted out with full Campag Super record.

Of course that led to the purchase of two Cinelli Road bikes, both fitted with all the top notch Campagnolo Gear and all the other top shelf items to go with such magnificent frame sets.

Over thirty years has passed since those heady cycling days. My wife still has her two beautiful Cinelli road bikes. No longer ridden but still kept in 1st class condition.

I sold off my magnificent cycle collection to help fund my move into motorcycles where I no longer get puffed up hill.

Now I have only one road bike left, a British Raleigh in Reynolds 653 tubing, all Campag Super Record of course, Mavic Rims and Clemont 6 tyres.

We still dream of our days on the bikes, the friends we made, the crashes we had, the races we enjoyed but never got placed and the fun we had on those wheels.

Neither of us have ridden for more than 20 years and it’s far too late now to regain our road legs.

Let me finish with one further image:

SCC010

Here is yours truly crossing the finish line in a country race called the Sundowner Classic. It is a two stage road race, over two days of course, covering well over 100miles.

Am I the winner in front of the crowd of five people?

Not a chance, bone motherless last. At least I finished the race.

Hoo roo for now.

THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION,’la Legion Estrangere.’

16/01/2016 ~ creakingbones ~ 2 Comments

Yesterday I was searching my personal records for some family information and came across an array of paperwork and photographs dating from my early school years, through my first jobs, the commencement of my military training and leading through to my retirement.

As a school boy in the 1940’s and 50’s it was from books and stories from relatives and family friends returning from wars that stirred our fertile imaginations and our dreams of excitement.

The French Foreign Legion was a regular discussion point at school and I recall being totally absorbed in the novels, ‘Beau Geste’ and ‘Beau Sabreur’, written by ex French Foreign Legionnaire, P C Wren in the early 1900’s.

These discoveries and recollections from my youth reminded me of two Legion related events.

In 1992 whilst working in Paris, I was fortunate to attend a massive military parade on The Avenue of the Grand Army. The last contingent in the parade was a battalion from the Legion. The Legion prides itself on being the first into action and the last to leave the battlefield. The latter is reflected in the way they march to the accompaniment of their military bands. I can’t recall the length of their stride or the number of beats to the bar from their band but suffice to say they are both significantly slower than all other French military units.

The second event dates from 1959 not long after I’d been commissioned in the 30th Infantry Battalion, The New South Wales Scottish Regiment of the Citizens Military Forces . The Legion and its legends were often the subject of spirited (alcohol induced) discussions in the Mess after parade.

The day after one such discussion, I wrote to the Legion’s major barracks in Marseille expressing my intention to enlist.

By the time I received a reply in November, 1959, common sense had prevailed and my original intention had totally evaporated.

The reply from the Legion was amongst the papers I discovered yesterday and it is reproduced here in full.

Foreign Legioin001

Back in the day I had a smattering of school boy French and fully understood the content of the letter which became the subject of much mirth both at work and in the Mess.

I still have my copies off Beau Geste and Beau Sabreur and I’m going to reread them starting tonight.

One thing is for sure, as I’m now over the age of 40 and I won’t be reapplying.

Hoo roo for now

BACK, BUT NOT WITH A VENGEANCE.

13/01/2016 ~ creakingbones ~ 10 Comments

It’s been a while since my last post and a lot of water has passed under the bridge during the time( read money out of the bank). Nothing dramatic mind you, just time consuming small, annoying events that crop up in every household over time.

For example, our beloved 1984 Landrover referred to always as Mr Brown, (no guessing his colour) required a new set of tyres and tubes in order that he would pass his annual inspection with flying colours. Simple you may say. Not quite. In a metric world, a 32 year old motor vehicle with 16inch rims presents a bit of a dilemma in the fitting department. Tubeless tyres need not apply.

Are there any relatively cheap modern tyres that will safely fit? Perhaps, but sourcing them presents a challenge, particularly if you live in a country town.

In short, Mr Brown was fitted with five modern, metric size tyres and tubes. They look absolutely fabulous. They run quiet, are safe in the wet, last forever according to the salesman and cost only A$300.00 each. On top of that was a fitting charge and an extra charge for disposal of the old tyres. Oh yes, mustn’t forget the wheel balance fee.

I don’t mind admitting that I needed a beer or two after paying the bill.

However, on the positive side, Mr Brown is now sporting the very best of tyres available for a 1984 Landrover. He is a beauty and deserves the very best.

On the negative side, his proud owners are now on bread and water during their cash recovery stage.

This parlous state of affairs was exacerbated by our pet cat, Tom, requiring urgent dental treatment. I always thought that regular dentistry for humans was an expensive exercise. I can tell you I was way off beam.

Feline dentistry puts the human variety to shame.

On the positive side again, Tom is now eating as if there is no tomorrow. Just between you and me, if he has to be kept on the super expensive, post dental, feline specialist dental health diet, there certainly will be no tomorrow. I mean for me, not Tom. She who must be obeyed would never consider skimping on our two cats.

Then, the 20 year old ride on lawn mower turned up its toes after rendering magnificent service for all of those years.

After a diligent search, I was able to purchase a second hand mower with only 35 hours on the clock. Just another A$2500.00 but that included a beaut little trailer.

Why a ride on you may ask. Well, mowing an acre of grass with a push mower is not recommended for individuals of mature age. Ride ons are the only way to go.

I could go on, describing in great detail how the automatic timing system for our water bore has gone on the blink, requiring our acre of grass, not lawn, grass to be watered by hand. I’ll spare you the detail.

The Harley needs some TLC too but Mr Brown, Cats, Ride On Lawnmowers, Christmas presents, insurances, vehicle rego fees, council rates etc have pushed the Harley to the far end of an ever expanding list of ‘Must be done soon.’

Well, that’s the end of my whinge for today. Should you decide never again to bread my blog, I fully understand.

Hoo roo for now.

TAKING A SHORT BREAK

16/10/201516/10/2015 ~ creakingbones ~ 11 Comments

G’day, things have been pretty hectic here at Cassa Creakingbones for a the past few weeks now with no break in sight. As you can guess, when time is at a premium some things have to be temporarily set aside .

I’ve reluctantly taken the decision to take a break from Random Ravings From Downunder for a while until things return to normal.

That means too that your great blogs will be minus one reader during my break from the screen and keyboard.

Keep well, keep writing and hoo roo for now.

THE KANGAROOS RECRUITING MARCH RE-ENACTMENT, PARADE IN GOULBURN, NSW, AUSTRALIA. SEPTEMBER 2015

29/09/201529/09/2015 ~ creakingbones

Australian military forces were actively involved in World War 1 from its commencement in 1914 until its end in 1918. Men from all walks of life volunteered for service and there were a number of initiatives in place to encourage that recruitment.

One such initiative became known as the Kangaroo March. The Australian War Memorial, Canberra, records that the recruiting march, named the Kangaroo March, started in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales in December 1915 and gathered potential enlistees along the way to Sydney, a distance of 350 miles. Groups of recruits joined the march from Narrandera, Tumut and Young, all towns along the way to Sydney. To retain the march’s country character, no recruits were taken on after Campbelltown, a town on the outskirts of the City of Sydney.

Although there were other recruiting marches around the State, the Kangaroo march was the longest of them all.

The Museum records state that the military authorities attempted to stop the march here in Goulburn, intending that they should enter camp for training, but the march continued on to Sydney. The marchers staged a strike in Goulburn and again in Sydney over leave, both strikes led by Australian Workers Union members who had been recruited at Galong and Goondah, other small towns along the route.

Many of the Kangaroos were allotted to the 55th Battalion, which arrived in France in 1916.

One of the Kangaroos, John Ryan of Tumult, was to receive the Victoria Cross, Australia’s highest award for bravery. Other awards to marchers arising from their combat experiences included two Distinguished Conduct Medals and 7 Military Medals. The following image, taken from the Australian War Memorial archives shows some of the Kangaroos marching towards Sydney in December, 2015.

THE KANGAROOS MARCHING TO SYDNEY, DECEMBER 1915 - COLLECTION H16093 - AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL. — THE KANGAROOS MARCHING TO SYDNEY, DECEMBER 1915 – COLLECTION H16093 – AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL.

The re-enactment marchers paraded along Auburn Street, Goulburn on the morning of Saturday 26th September, 2015. The salute was taken by the Governor of New South Wales, His Excellency, The Honourable General David Hurley, AC, DSC, the former Australian Defence Force chief.

Arrival of the Kangaroo marchers coincided with Goulburn’s SpyFest festival weekend with George Lazenby, a James Bond movie star as the ‘star’ attraction. As a consequence, with both the SpyFest and Kangaroo march parades along Auburn Street only an hour apart, the parade route was teeming with people wanting to catch a glimpse of Lazenby, an old Goulburn Boy, travelling in a vintage Aston Martin car, and the Kangaroo marchers.

I made a number of images of the Kangaroo parade and I confess I found it to be considerably more interesting than the SpyFest parade a short time afterwards. The highlight of the SpyFest parade, apart from the presence of Lazenby, was the seemingly never ending parade of vintage and current Aston Martin sedans and convertibles.

In fact, I only made three images of the SpyFest parade compared to well over a hundred at the Kangaroo re-enactment.

The following images are a selection from the Kangaroo march parade. The inclement weather didn’t deter the crowd and the rain erased for both the Kangaroo and SpyFest parades.

KANGAROO MARCH - GOULBURN — KANGAROO MARCH – GOULBURN

CHERISHED MEMORIES FROM 1992

06/09/201527/01/2016 ~ creakingbones ~ 3 Comments

She Who Must Be Obeyed has declared that Cassa Creakingbones shall be cleared of all ‘unnecessary paraphernalia.’

Now as a bloke, I’ve absolutely no idea what unnecessary paraphernalia includes so, to be on the safe side, I’ve rummaged through my files and relics of my working life to find anything that may, even remotely, fall within the category of ‘unnecessary paraphernalia.’

After three days of diligent examination and searching I’ve found absolutely nothing that can be discarded. That includes the contents of garages, the workshop and my studio. Everything contained therein is essential to life style maintenance and cannot be discarded during the forthcoming Council Community Clean Up or at any future time.

I should add that my decision has not yet been ratified and may later be rescinded in the interests of peace and harmony.

However there was a positive side to my diligent search. I uncovered some mementos from a 1992 overseas study tour I undertook way back in 1992, researching the causes of juvenile crime and methods of its prevention.

Back in those days it was the custom to exchange some identifying item with the individual or individuals who were assigned to assist you. Often the insignia of our national air carrier QANTAS, “The Flying Kangaroo’ was used but I preferred to give my organisation’s official badge and it was always warmly received.

THE NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE INSIGNIA. — THE NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE FORCE INSIGNIA.

Translated from the Latin, the NSWP motto means, ‘ Punishment swiftly follows upon crime.’

About 15 years ago, in a moment of misplaced generosity, I gave a collector of police memorabilia quite a large number of items including badges and the like I’d been given during the 1992 tour. Fortunately, the hunt for ‘unnecessary paraphernalia’ has turned up the following pieces from my study tour that fortunately missed out on being given away:

The following three remain from my time in Canada.

The following remain from my time in the United States of America:

MY FAVOURITE L.A.P.D. — MY FAVOURITE FROM THE L.A.P.D.

My visit to the LAPD Police Academy was a real eye opener and I may complete a further blurb about the place at another time.

THE EMBLEM OF THE FBI COLLEGE QUANTICO

Unfortunately, I was never a student at QUANTICO, the famous FBI training college. However I was fortunate to make a fleeting visit there as I passed through Virginia en route to New York City. What an extraordinary academy. Law enforcement the world over could learn a lot from the way QUANTICO operates.

After the States, the next port of call was the United Kingdom. New Scotland Yard was an eye opener as were the other English and Welsh Police Forces visited. Unfortunately only one memento remains:

One of the most surprising section of the tour was France. The relationship between the sworn police officers and their civilian counterparts was absolutely positive. There were clear lines of responsibility and the division between operations and administration was clearly delineated and appeared to work seamlessly. The French police with whom I came into contact went out of their way to demonstrate their effectiveness, reliance on an effective and experienced chain of command and a clear understanding of community expectations. I was fortunate to go on several operations with Detectives and their competence was unquestionable. Fortunately I had an interpreter as my schoolboy French is appalling.

These are my remaining mementos from my time in France:

0709_0002 copy — THE INSIGNIA OF THE CRS – A MOST EFFECTIVE TOOL AGAINST EXTREME CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.

AN OFFICER'S IDENTIFICATION BADGE — AN OFFICER’S IDENTIFICATION BADGE

My visit to the National Highway Patrol’s Headquarters was a revelation in more ways than one. In the Officer’s Mess I had my first, and last, taste of horse meat. This was followed by a thrilling demonstration of motor cycle riding skills, both solo and with sidecar.

One of their well executed tricks was for a number of BMW outfits, each crewed by a rider and two others in the sidecar, to tear around the demonstration area at speed then for the two in the sidecar to climb onto the bike, lean the whole and remove the wheel from the sidecar, all whilst travelling at speed, then replace the wheel and continue as if nothing had occurred. Great to see.

All together I was away for a little over three months and came back bristling with great ideas and expectations.

Did anything ever eventuate from the lengthy report I submitted upon my return. Like most bureaucracies, the wheels revolved slowly and sometimes for no apparent reason changed into reverse, only to regain forward momentum when some external stiumli was applied.

I retired two years after my submission and I’ve no idea what took place after that.

Do I lie awake wondering what might have been?

I’ll leave you to guess the answer to the question.

Hoo roo for now.

TREES

30/08/2015 ~ creakingbones ~ 9 Comments

It’s a constant source of amazement to me how totally unrelated events can coincide, resulting in a further event of a like nature.

Today is one of those days. Not having created a new blog for a few days I was scratching my head for a subject as I read other blogs that had recently arrived.

Firstly, I came across Temasek Garden’s response to Cee’s Black and White Challenge. Pekebun had chosen ‘Trees,’ for her response.

Then I remembered that my camera club’s challenge for September is, wait for it, ‘Trees!’

To that end I’ve been ‘tree’ hunting for the competition where the image limit is six per member, three in the print category and three in the projected image category.

Eureka, a subject for today’s blog, thus bringing three unrelated events to a conclusion.

Luckily where I live, trees are an abundant part of the natural environment. Most of our streets are tree lined and the town is fortunate to have two tree lined rivers nearby. Actually, the Wollondilly River bisects town and is only a few hundred yards from my front door.

So, I only had to go for a short walk to get five of my images and the sixth is from the banks of the Darling River, many hundreds of miles from home.

The Darling River by the way is the third longest river in Australia. It is 1,472klms (915 miles) long and traverses some of the most arid areas of my home State, New South Wales.

Geography lesson over, back to my images for September’s comp:

STANDING ALONE ON A WIND SWEPT HILL NEAR HOME.

ON THE BANKS OF THE WOLLONDILLY RIVER JUST NEAR HOME. INFRA RED IMAGE.

LOOKING OVER THE WOLLONDILLY RIVER NEAR HOME. INFRA RED IMAGE.

AN OLD MAN ON THE BANKS OF THE DARLING RIVER NEAR BOURKE, NSW.

AUTUMN LEAVES ON THE ROADSIDE OUTSIDE HOME.

AN AVENUE OF TREES IN A ROADSIDE PARK NEAR HOME.

The infra red images were made with my Nikon D100 converted to only make infra red images.

THE WATTLE – AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL FLORAL EMBLEM.

24/08/201524/08/2015 ~ creakingbones ~ 13 Comments

The 1st September in the Southern Hemisphere marks the official first day of Spring.

It’s also celebrated here in Australia as Australian National Wattle Day. The day is significant for us because on the 1st September, 1988, the wattle was proclaimed as Australia’s National Floral Emblem.

Most Importantly, the wattle is also included in Australia’s Coat of Arms which was proclaimed in 1912.

AUSTRALIA'S COAT OPF ARMS WITH THE KANGAROO, THE EMU AND THE WATTLE. — AUSTRALIA’S COAT OFF ARMS WITH THE KANGAROO, THE EMU AND THE WATTLE.

Back to National Wattle Day, when we should all, by tradition, wear a sprig of wattle on our lapel or somewhere else on our clothing. In all of my life I’ve never seen this done.

Perhaps it is because the beautiful yellow blossoms of the wattle are one of the great causes of hay fever people experience during spring and summer.

When She Who Must Be Obeyed and I were deciding what to plant on our bare ground block of land we decided to add an occasional wattle to the variety of eucalyptus native to our area we thought would grow well.

It’s 15 years now since we planted over100 tube stock trees in our back yard including a few wattles. The wattles are fast growing and provide great protection for other trees and shrubs whose growth is considerably slower.

As time passed, many more wattles sprung up through self seeding and now flourish around our yard.

Fortunately we are not hay fever sufferers to any marked degree and therefore we can really enjoy the yellow blossoms in all of their beauty.

Here are a few images of our wattles wearing their beautiful bee attracting blossoms.

FABULOUS FOLLIAGE FROM ONE TREE. THE BASE AREA IS A LOW GROUND COVER WATTLE. — FABULOUS FOLLIAGE FROM JUST ONE TREE. THE BASE AREA ON THE LEFT IS A LOW GROUND COVER VARIETY OF WATTLE.

THIS BEAUTY IS DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM THE KITCHEN WINDOW. — THIS SELF SEEDED BEAUTY IS DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM THE KITCHEN WINDOW.

TWO DIFFERENT WATTLE TYPES AND OUR SOME OF OUR RESIDENT MAGPIES.

The eucalyptus in the background were tubes we planted over 15 years ago. At the time of planting they were about nine inches tall. They are now well in excess of 20 feet tall and provide safe nesting for many native birds. They also form a pleasing sight barrier between us and surrounding residences.

All of our trees are basically drought proof, one of the reasons we planted them in the first place.

Now, our city’s occasional water problems have been solved and we are thinking of adding some european trees to the mix, just to give that little touch of deciduous difference to our evergreen surroundings.

I was going to hold this post until the 1st day of September but enthusiasm got the better of me.

Hoo roo for now.

BREAKFAST, LIES, COFFEE AND A LITTLE BIT OF ALL WHEEL DRIVING.

16/08/2015 ~ creakingbones ~ 11 Comments

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I are members of our local Landrover Club. I say local even though the club is based in Canberra, our Nations Capital. It’s only a 100 klm drive from home. Just down the road really.

On a regular basis the club organises what is known as the Breakfast, Lies and Coffee trip. If there happens to be a bit of driving ‘off road’, then that’s a real bonus.

Yesterday, Sunday, we met up with 17 other club members and their 10 vehicles just out of Canberra to start our BLC run. Departure time was 8am and after a short briefing by Russell, our intrepid trip leader, we were on the road, exactly on time.

Our destination was a little orchard and cafe called Wisbeys Orchard Cafe in a location called Araluen.

After about and hour and a half of uneventful driving on bitumen roads we arrived at our destination.

Breakfast & Lies 16-8-15_20150816_0004 copy 4 — OUR TEN FOUR WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES IN THE PARKING LOT AT WISBEYS ORCHARD AND CAFE, ARALUEN, NSW.

The staff of this delightful orchard cafe, under the watchful eye of our hostess, Robyn, served us all in record time with our individually ordered a la carte breakfasts, coffee or tea.

OUR HOSTESS ROBYN ATTENDING TO OUR BRECKY DELIGHTS. — OUR LITTLE GROUP HAPPILY DEVOURING OUR BRECKY DELIGHTS.

After breakfast, and in a surprise move, orchestrated between Robyn and our trip leader, Russell, we were invited to follow Robyn in her Landrover Defender 110 to her private, off road, valley view point Robyn refers to as Champagne Hill. We were a really privileged group as previously, only family members had been welcome there.

THROUGH THE GATE AND WE WERE ON OUR WAY TO CHAMPAGNE HILL.

After following Robyn on a pleasing hill climb with 360 degree scenic views we reached a spot on Champagne Hill were we anchored our vehicles and walked a short distance uphill to our observation spot.

Robyn waited for us near a fallen tree that provided ideal seating for those of us not quite as sprightly as we once were (I mean me). After taking in the wonderful panoramic valley view, we posed for the compulsory group photo, courtesy of our hostess, Robyn.

POSING FOR THAT IMPORTANT GROUP PHOTO WITH AN AMAZING BACK DROP SCENE. NO WONDER IT’S CALLED CHAMPAGNE HILL.

On the way up to Champagne Hill we had passed through a mob of curious Black Angus cattle. On the way back down, Robyn invited us to watch her hand feed them with the fodder she had piled roof high in the back of her Defender.

Before we started our descent Russell, our trip leader, gave us a briefing on the narrow dirt road we would be traversing should we decide to accompany him to the small mining village of Captains Flat. He advised that on the way a short stop would be made at Clarke’s Lookout, a worthwhile break. Many of us decided to follow along.

The descent nearly over, It was fun to get a dose of rural life first hand and the cattle were most obliging as we all looked on.

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL. — UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH ROBYN’S FAVOURITE FAT CALF.

After farewells, we left the farm and those of us heading towards Captains Flat followed our trip leader’s vehicle. He was spot on in his briefing, the road was narrow, winding and in places hard to comprehend how two vehicles travelling in opposite directions could pass each other. Steep drop offs abounded and concentration was required. Fortunately the dirt surface was well maintained and presented no problems.

It wasn’t long before we reached Clarke’s Lookout and it was well worth the drive. A wonderful valley view presented itself, framed nicely by trees.

THE PANORAMIC VIEW FROM CLARKE'S LOOKOUT — THE PANORAMIC VIEW FROM CLARKE’S LOOKOUT

Breakfast & Lies 16-8-15_20150816_0056 copy 2 — A FINAL YARN BEFORE HEADING HOME AFTER A GREAT MORNING’S RUN.

Breakfast & Lies 16-8-15_20150816_0057 copy — THE CONVOY READY TO DEPART CLARKE’S LOOKOUT FOR THE RUN INTO CAPTAINS FLAT AND THEN ON TO HOME.

It won’t be too long before the club organises another brecky run, it’s a great way for the members to get to know each other, not demanding on the vehicles and the breakfasts, all I can say is, ‘What bloody rippers.’

Hoo roo

	communicatingcreativ… on GOOD BYE 2023 AND HELLO 2…
	creakingbones on GOOD BYE 2023 AND HELLO 2…
	HogriderDookes on GOOD BYE 2023 AND HELLO 2…
	Waking the Wombat on ADJUSTING TO THE NEW LIFE…
	Waking the Wombat on HOME ALONE.

CREAKINGBONES

Random Ravings from an Old Bloke Down Under

AUSTRALIA DAY 2016

BACK IN THE DREAM TIME – ANOTHER NOSTALGIA TRIP.

THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION,’la Legion Estrangere.’

BACK, BUT NOT WITH A VENGEANCE.

TAKING A SHORT BREAK

THE KANGAROOS RECRUITING MARCH RE-ENACTMENT, PARADE IN GOULBURN, NSW, AUSTRALIA. SEPTEMBER 2015

CHERISHED MEMORIES FROM 1992

TREES

THE WATTLE – AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL FLORAL EMBLEM.

BREAKFAST, LIES, COFFEE AND A LITTLE BIT OF ALL WHEEL DRIVING.