 Our camp at the complex
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We left home on Friday morning for the run through town with Jan & Dean, to meet with Len and George and Herma at Cavan. Denise and Stuart, as well as Leone and Greg had left the night before to stay near Koolunga, on the Broughton River at a place called White Cliffs. As the convoy neared Snowtown, we received a phone call from Stuart to ask where we were. We decided a lunch stop at Red Hill would be the go. Red Hill is a nice little place with a clean park in the middle of town and a barbeque, clean toilets, picnic table and lots of shade. Bev and I wandered over to the small shop in the main street for some food and got to talking with the proprietor. I mentioned to her that Bev spent about a year in Red Hill at the age of ten while her father helped build the original bell-bottomed silos. She asked what year that was and also asked what Bev’s surname was at the time. Much to Bev’s delight, she found Bev’s name in the annals of history of the town – she was listed in their centenary booklet as one of the children who attended school there. Well, after all the excitement had died down, we all headed off to Crystal Brook and arrived there mid afternoon to set up camp. We were relegated to the back blocks (we wondered whether that had anything to do with our attendance at the Burra AGM a couple of years ago), but as it turned out, it was probably the best spot in the park. We had one of the few trees in the place nearby which gave good shade during the day and the sheep sheds behind us which provided excellent shelter during late afternoon. Whilst we had to endure a few remarks about “animals in the pen” from passers-by, we could tell they were only jealous of the shady spot we inhabited (the animal noises made by some of our group probably didn’t help). We had made bookings to eat at the pub that night, which was within walking (staggering?) distance. When we arrived and after shuffling the tables around so we could all sit together, we ordered a few drinks and inspected the menu. When the waitress came to take our orders, Denise asked if she could have vegetables with her meal instead of salad (not an unreasonable request one would have thought) and after some discussion, the waitress said she would go and ask the cook. After a while, she came back with the reply that vegetables were not an option, because if they did it for one, then everyone would want them! There is a choice of two pubs in the town and I know which one we won’t be going to next time. Back at camp, we spent the remainder of the evening sitting around in the usual circle, chatting over a few drinks. Saturday morning and we were off on the tag-along through the Southern Flinders along the Bridle Track. Quite an easy drive, but spectacular scenery from the top of the range made it well worthwhile. We arrived back for lunch and basically sat around in the shade until 3:15 when it was our turn to go and play in the Crystal Brook Creek. In the meantime, Keith had arrived and also booked himself a place for the creek run. The creek area accommodates the local motor-cross and trail bike club activities and provided us with some challenging terrain. Certainly a few of the drop-offs down the creek embankments were very steep and once committed, there was no way to go but down. It was at the bottom of one of these down hill sections that Keith discovered the vulnerability of GU tail light assemblies. So, the first job back at camp was to remove Keith’s bumper section, replace the light surround with the few clips remaining, repair the broken wires and put it all back together – good as new! Saturday night dinner was held in the footy clubrooms. The meal was excellent and the staff of the footy club need to be commended for their brilliant efforts in getting some 400 meals prepared, across two sittings, in record time. Entertainment for the evening was out on the oval where Billy and the Boys entertained us with some country music and some old time favourites as well. Raffles were drawn (I actually won a camping chair, which was a big surprise with my record at raffles) with lots of excellent donations of prizes from local businesses. All in all, a very enjoyable night. The next morning saw us staring to pack in readiness for the journey home. The AGM was conducted at 10 am with a pretty good attendance by most clubs. I won’t go into the meeting details here though – read the minutes! On the way home, we stopped once again for lunch at Red Hill and then decided to journey back through Koolunga to check out the spot where the others had camped on the way up. A great little spot, I must say. From there we cut across country, headed south and re-joined the main highway at Two Wells. Overall, a great weekend away, great company, good driving and looking forward to doing it all again at next years AGM in Mildura. Gerry Paay |
