Fifth Day at Narrabri
Today was one of the best! We went to watch the Yabby Races and entered 2 of the scheduled 3 races We won !st prize in 2 of the contests ! After the events ( and they are very funny) the unfortunate winners/losers et al were all cooked and eaten !! I have never seen a Yabby,let alone race one,the only edible part is the tail leaving so much waste !.Then later on came came the BIG event The Gangsters Ball.Most people dressed for the occasion appropriately and I held the bus up with my machine gun (fake) Entertainment was a Jazz band and the evening swung along nicely.Alcohol was permitted and I went thru 2 bottles of white !! Some of the dress ups were amazingly good and our next door neighbours looked good in their outfits.We still have 2 days left and Saturday the Rally is open to outsiders who in turn are allowed to sell their market wares on site
The Yabby Races Narrabri 2013
Day 4 Narrabri
Evenings are getting nice and cool now and thankfully fires not to far away from here are getting under control.Nightime Thursday we were entertained by Elvis impersonater Royden who had the captive audience rockin in the aisles Out of almost 2000 spectators who was selected to do the Hula on stage ? yeah me ! Twas great fun tho and I,m still laughing and of course the bonus was people coming up to me afterwards and chatting ;such a buzz ! This is the 4th night on a trot we have had great shows with 3 more to go afore we start heading off home for a well earned rest !! One audience member went to the trouble of making his face up Elvis style! Great fun
Narrabri Day 3 onto Thursday
Wednesday was spent in Narrabri City Centre ,buses are run every 10 mins from the rally site and are free !After having an excellent lunch in the Tourist Hotel Annie did general stopping while I sat outside chatting to locals.Evening in the Marquee entertainment was provided by the talented Roydan Donohue and he sang mainly ole classical Rock & Roll songs and were age appropriate for the ageing nomads.During the evening there was a very brief thunderstorm that brought some cooling rain,but ssdly lasted only short time Thursday was a great day with the main event being the very competitive Disc Bowls Knockout We have never played this in a competition and the 2 games Annie & I entered (mixed and mens) were as losers in the very first rounds !! Ah well next year maybe The competition was in full splendour as competitors from all over Australia looked great dressed in their Chapter Colours ! The meeting is a great success and yet again we have made some great friendly people.One in particular is a Maori Lady living in Queensland and her name tag is Black Bess ! No prejudices involved and she insisted that is what we call her,great personality Bess.During the interval we went over to the Cotton Stand and was shown how to grow it and make use of it,the staff were very good in answering questions and we had a great laugh ,Annie has secured seeds to plant at home.The weather is cooling own a wee bit things are just a little more bearable.We still have tonight’s entertainment to go and we are still enjoying this retirement
Day2 Narrabri Rally
Its getting to be very hot during the day (a complete fire ban has been issued for the state of NSW !) fortunately the evenings are cool and the huge Marquee has been air conditioned .Annie has been to seminar on how to felt make teddy bears ( I gave it amiss) We attended our Chapters Happy Hour and was greatly entertained by 2 singing guitarists .We have been selected to playign the mens and mixed threesomes at Disc Bowls ( a game unique to CMCA) We decided to stop for a bite at the Village Food Centre,but it will be the last time ,bread was stale and the sausage over done ! Night ime we were entertained by an Aussie Rock singer from the early 60s ( sorry Aussie,s I haven’t heard of him) and his kind of music was very good Lonnie Lee and the Leemen .Lonnie (born 18 September 1935) is an Australian singer. He was raised on sheep property in Rowena, New South Wales and has been performing since the mid-1950s. At the peak of his career, Lee had eight top 100 singles on the national charts. Seven of them peaked in the top 40, including three top 20’s and two top tens. His highest peaking song on the national charts was a #2. He achieved five Gold Records. His last hit was ‘Sad Over Someone’ (1969).
Lee got his first break in 1956 with a performance on radio 2UW’s talent search, Alan Toohey’s Amateur Hour where he came second. In February 1957, he won an MGM contest for ‘Australia’s own Elvis Presley’ and in 1959 recorded his first record for Leedon Records called Ain’t it so, which he wrote with Johnny O’Keefe and which became his first national hit. He also formed started Sydney’s first Rockabilly trio. At this time, Lee made his first of many television appearances on the ABC’s rock and roll television show Six O’Clock Rock as well as Bandstand and for a bloke of 75 he looks exceptionally good for his age
note the excellent calibre of people we are associating with, all that white hair and shiny pates Great!
Narrabri Rally & nearby Places
We are currently at Narrabri in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, 521 kilometres (324 mi) northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highway. At the 2011 census, Narrabri had a population of 5,890 and attending a rally with around 850 motorhomes have turning up.Numbers are down (I ve heard cos people cant get here due to the horrendous fires in NSW (fortunately away from us) First day was hot and we are well away rom th main activities,but a bus picks up every 10 mins to the site and free buses into town I forgot my CMCA tag and boy dint others let me know I actually felt naked for a while !! The nights entertainment was provided by a Country Band and featured a runner up from X factor ( think it was 2012 not sure) however he has a brilliant voice and goes by the name Justin Standley,the bloke with the hat .He said entering the competition would help him find his daughters he had been searching for,for a few years.Within 2 hours of the show they made contact and are now reunited (wheres me tissue >) We have contacted fellow travellers in the Sunshine Coasters Chapter(known thru out Australia as the friendliest and fun loving people you could meet !) The Cactus plants are considered a pest and eradication strategies are in place to kill them off
Our Boat Club and the Oktoberfest celebrations
In our Boat Club an Octoberfest beer day was held and a German traditional Band were the order of the day.One of my belated brothers (George) attended some of the original ones in Germany !! Reminds me also of friends of mine the Barz family in Western Australia.German food was available in the dining rooms and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours in the ever popular club (of which we are members) his is a fill in Blog until we set off yet again on a Motorhome rally commencing coming Friday
Quiet time at home in Hervey Bay
The bus has been serviced we have a new windscreen,mud flaps replaced,just a few more minor jobs and we off to Narrabri for 10 days (all being well) to the RV/Motor home rally and there will be around 1100 RV s in attendance(these meetings are held at 6 monthly intervals at venues around around Australia) We have 12 days to wait afore we head off on that particular trip the theme for end of rally ball is the roaring 20,s should be a hoot ! Weekend just finisher an open day at Hervey Bay Historical Town was held and it was very well organized and attended,demonstrations included rope making,whip making and general farming tips all very interesting.One particular scene for me was the Olde Blacksmith Shop (I served my time as a young bloke in a workshop similar to the one displayed and I specialized in Wrought Ironwork making furniture staircase infills and gates) Hopefully I will register with the place after Xmas in the hope I may learn more about my forgotten trade of yesteryear On the same day at the other end of town a Fishing Competition and Market Day was held,sadly unable to make that one .Next week we will have a day out at Woodgate Qld as we have been selected to organize a Chapter meeting for next June and we have yet to select a theme for the weekend gathering.This year is quickly going by and we still have quite a lot to do that will take us to mid January 2014
Last Hurrah,Roma and an expensive Turbo Hose
We have finished our long trip and ended up in Roma,a favourite spot for me,not because of the scenery but the marvellous cattle sales held her.Today it is the turn of the magnificent Bulls and from what we saw were going fairly cheaply because of poor,dry conditions through out the year and farmers generally were experiencing hardship ! The animals paraded before us were fantastic and will have a life of roaming the massive farms that are abundant in Australia sowing their wild oats and living a life most men would envy !
Our patch up job in Charleville lasted around 100kms before we were once again reduced to slow travel.We stayed at Roma for a couple of days as the new Turbo requird had to be flown from Goodiwindi (the service was great,ordered one day,arrived the next) and SUCCESS ! the problem is now sorted at at an expensive $650 !! The bus is now in care,having a well earned service.Noticeably our tyres are in good nick whilst a travellor had FIVE expenve (new) tyre blow out on the trip (Moral is Expensive isn’t always best )
End of a Fantastic Trip and now …WE HAVE DONE IT !! We are currently at home awaiting our next trip in just over 2 weeks to Narribri Rally
Watch me play Didgeridoo
Geoffs Life After Work ! 