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Mitsubishi 4WD Owners Club of Qld (Inc) |
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Corroborree May '09 |
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Corroboree May 1 to 4 2009ATTENDEES
The term “corroboree” means “a celebration of the Australian Aborigines, consisting of dancing or singing, held at night by moonlight or a bush fire” or, alternatively, “ any large or noisy gathering”. As you will see as you read through this report, the recent Four Wheel Drive Queensland Corroboree, held at the Kilcoy Showgrounds, and hosted by the Ipswich 4WD Club, certainly fulfilled most parts of the above description!! Picture a small country town approximately 145 kilometres from Brisbane, tidy well laid out showgrounds, with a substantial area available for every make of tent, camper and caravan, undercover shelter from the heat, with some flushing toilets and hot showers nearby, at least 230 four wheel vehicles, (16 of those from our Club) fresh air and sunshine and mild fine weather. This is what participants enjoyed, along with great company and trips. Wish you had been there?? We did miss you. The “check in procedure” flowed smoothly. From a marshalling area in front of the Registration Centre, friendly Ipswich members to facilitate sign-in, collection of a “sample bag” full of interesting information and any merchandise ordered, we were directed to more Ipswich members who sent us down a marked lane to even more members who showed us our specific Club area. All the Ipswich members were outfitted in a bright fluro cap and a fluro vest and were thus easy to see or recognise. Most of the Friday afternoon was spent in setting up, discussions with Ipswich members on what procedures they had found to work and those they would modify, and chatting to members from various Clubs. We then had our first happy hour, situated between the Newmann’s and the Gordon’s caravans. Although this was a large Club group, it was not a noisy gathering, or not at that time anyway!! The noise was over in the Registration Centre, with a queue of 4WDrivers keen to put their names down for the trip they had selected for the next morning. There were 18 trips on offer, with 3 or 4 trips setting out at approximately 30 minute intervals, from 8am. Once that important task was performed, it was back to the happy hour gathering. Saturday dawned bright and clear and members set off to the marshalling area. This area was well laid out, with large numbers suspended high over the four lanes with these being divided by ribbons. This set out certainly made it easy to ensure you were in the right area for your trip. We had decided to go on an easy/ medium trip that traversed private property, as we would probably not have this opportunity again. Others enjoyed the hard trip or a variety of further easy/ medium trips. Unfortunately Errol Gordon severely damaged a finger while helping to repair damage to Greg Dunstan’s Patrol, necessitating a long visit to the Caboolture Hospital. Hope you are improving now Errol, following surgery. Candidate for the hard luck award? Saturday afternoon saw the tribal gathering, with the Country meeting of the FWDQ. An explanation of activities over the last 12 months was given, along with financial and insurance updates. Rodney spoke on the 8th Australian Gathering in 2010, also incorporating the Queensland Corroboree to reinforce dates and venue (11 to 15 June 2010 at Pomona Showgrounds) and indicated we proposed to open registrations on 2 November 2009. We were able to distribute fliers to each Club, and individuals, on next year’s Gathering including to those who had remained in the camp ground during the meeting, enjoying an extended happy hour. In this way, we were able to publicise the Gathering to almost everyone who was at the Corroboree. Thanks to Sue Akeroyd and to Bill Parker for attending to these hand-outs. Then back to our own happy hour and subsequently to the evening’s entertainment with singing predominating, and a few, including Bill and Jen Parker, up to dance. We had to rely on the moonlight, or the occasional brazier, as no fires were permitted. This was probably the largest and noisiest activity over the weekend. Sunday there were the same 18 trips offered. These returned by about 3pm, in time for children’s activities and the traditional Interclub Challenge. There was a substantial gathering for these events, with children young or old, either participating or cheering on their team. Great fun and encouragement for contestants in a sack race, egg and spoon or 3 legged races or team tunnel ball. The piece de resistance was the tarp erecting- a team of 4 blindfolded members (Graeme Clarke, Rob Ellis, Rodney Metcalfe and Mike Stewart) being directed by Graham Thatcher. One member, who shall remain nameless, who had been originally coerced, (as we all were) to participate missed the start, necessitating a late replacement, but then stood close by so he appeared in the photos!! Sunday night, another gathering of the clan occurred, this time near the camper of Lloyd and Sue Akeroyd. After dinner, members wandered over to the entertainment area to listen to karaoke and raffle prize draws. The need for warmth from a brazier meant we regathered in our area to listen to and join in with Greg Conlon playing his guitar and Kerry singing. Another fine day dawned on the Monday. Most of us took it easy and packed up steadily, with a few participating in one of the 8 trips on offer. Ipswich Club had offered us any of the disposable material on site, including pink painted stakes (used to mark out drive areas and the marshalling area), and all the signs (Club names, speed and lane signs) so several members wandered around collecting these. Having this material will save us both time and money in hosting the Australian Gathering. Overall, a great feat of organisation by the Ipswich Club and its band of many willing helpers. And so onwards to next year when our Club has the responsibility to organize the combined Australian Gathering and the Corroboree. That activity will be loud and noisy but again without camp fires. Let’s all ensure it is a great success. Rodney and Mary Metcalfe View the photos in Lloyds album at Picasa - 2009 Corroboree and here are some of Greg's pics ...
And some of Debbie's photos .....
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