The weekend of
Friday to Sunday the 10th to 12th of November 2006 was
extremely well organized by Alvin and Kathleen.
To ensure we claimed camp site 28 Alvin and Kath arrived early (Wednesday) at the National . This site was large enough to accommodate all the vans, tents and camper trailers going on the trip. To their dismay someone was already camping on the camp ground, but with a few quiet words they were able to secure the site prior to most members arriving on Friday
To ensure we all had a
great time Kath and Alvin brought a tinnie and an inflatable ca
noe,
Spot a canoe, Gerry an inflatable boat and Garry a canoe.
Soon after Kath and Alvin set up their camp site Spot arrived followed later in the afternoon by Graham and Jock.. When they had all set up Alvin took Jock for her first ride in the tinnie. For a first timer she thoroughly enjoyedherselft and the next day graduated to the inflatable canoe with Kath.
Thursday was spent lazing
about the Katarapko creek bank, doing some fishing using shrimp bait caught on
the spot. Alvin and Kath had a lovely paddle in Spots canoe and on returning to
base overturned it with both of them ending up in the creek thoroughly soaked.
That evening when everyone was getting ready for bed, Gerry and Bev arrived
having driven the back way (on dirt roads) from Wellington.
When Jen and Ian arrived
at lunch time on the Friday everybody else was there having a very relaxing
time. Gerry was keenly watching his inflatable boat as it quietly lost pressure
in one of the compartments. The fish were sucking the bait off the hooks so all
in all the fables about fishing in the group remains in tact. Mid afternoon
Wendy and David arrived followed by Brad and his new purchase the 13.5 foot
phoenix. Gerry and Spot busied themselves over Gerry’s boat and eventually
found the hole, patched it up and prayed that it would remain up over night to
be checked in the morning.
We were all sitting down to a great tea of Pasta with Bolognese Sauce and salad made by Kath with Garlic Bread made by Alvin and Spot. We heard another vehicle arriving. It happened to be the farm ute driven by Stuart, accompanied by Denise. We finished the evening meal with a slice and some very tasty early season apricots.
Saturday was a morning of rest, every one gathered around admiring Brad’s new purchase. Later in the morning Garry Ruth Hallam arrived with their three grandchildren to make a full compliment of members for the trip.
We all congregated at
1.30pm for the afternoon activities, either a drive around the area or a walk
through the Ngak Indau Wetland Trail. The local school children had done a
wonderful job with naming plants and highlighting the trail. On the way back to
camp Denise gave us a rundown of the flora in the area and the regeneration of
the park.
Brad thought he would show his prowess in Spots canoe and he suffered the same fate as Alvin and Kath. We all agreed that Spot had the canoe well trained when strangers paddled it or there was a remote control to bring everyone to grief.
At Happy Hour Alvin and Kath put us through our paces with a quiz about the weekend and the Club
A sample of questions is:
What is the name of the park?
As the crow flies, how far is it to Loxton? Answers ranged from 3km to 20Km. Correct Answer 5.4km
The Club visitor, what is his last name? Answer Brad “How do expect me to know. The answer was Andrews.
Name the creek adjacent to the creek? Answers were Green creek, Brown Creek, Correct Answer was Eckerts Creek
Club by laws, what is the correct depth for a
bush toilet? Answers ranged from 100cm to 1 metre.
People went to their own caravans for tea and all congregated after to swap stories and generally have a good time.
During the night it rained which continued into Sunday morning. Everyone packed up and left late morning to early afternoon.
On behalf of everyone on the trip I congratulate Kath and Alvin on their planning and execution of the weekend.
Ian Williams
