Moore Park 2007

Participants in order of appearance:

First to arrive on Monday were Don and Margaret however their peace and quiet was short lived because on Wednesday David and Loretta, Graham, Denise and Sonia arrived around lunch time. Eric and Helga arrived a little later and Allen and Laurel rolled in after dinner.

A trip or two into town for a bit of shopping and a look around was the order of the day plus visits to local farms and markets for lychees and other fruit and vegetables.

Garry and Gwen arrived on the Friday and it took them a day or two to settle in to life at Moore Park. Garry was spotted walking far too fast on one day but soon adapted to the relaxed lifestyle once he slowed down a bit. Mornings were spent enjoying ticker walks or swimming and afternoons were mostly spent with an early Happy Hour enjoying Eric’s homemade Baileys and other delightful libations.

On Saturday night we all headed to the local restaurant to celebrate two wedding anniversaries; Garry and Gwen’s 43^rd and Eric and Helga’s 20^th. The food was superb, especially the desserts.

On Sunday we all headed for the markets and bought up big on fruit once again which caused Don to comment that we’d all turn into fruit bats with so much fruit and suggested a visit to a pie shop for a bit of dietary balance.

Dick and Margaret arrived mid-morning and Eric amused himself taking photos of Don resting after watching Dick set up his nanavan. Next to arrive were Terry and Lucia. Happy hour was taken up with discussions for Christmas dinner with David announcing he had ordered 4 chickens to which Don commented that would be enough for him but what about the rest of us. If all goes according to plan it will be a feast and a half!

Monday and it was time to hit the shops for Christmas day food and last minute shopping and all, except Don who offered to look after the many dogs, headed into town clutching wads of notes and credit cards.  

Christmas day began around 8.00 with a magnificent champagne breakfast with ham, bacon, eggs, fruit juices, cereals, fruit and toast to rival a 5 star hotel. This was followed by the opening of presents and then it was time to get dinner under way. Well you could not wish for a finer feast with great friends; we had roast pork, lamb, chicken, ham, several vegetables and fruits. Gwen then produced a magnificent plum pudding and as soon as everyone had their first helping Margaret S produced a huge Black Forest trifle which blew us all away, it was simply superb. The champagne, wines and beers still flowed copiously and Eric had a bottle of some volatile German wine which only a few were game to sample.

Lunch sort of blended in with happy hour and by tea time no one could face any more food except Eric that is who had another huge helping of Margaret’s trifle. Steven and Debbie then arrived as the festivities were coming to an end everyone disappeared to bed quite early.

Boxing day was a quiet recovery day as Lew and Joy, Michael, Ross, Greg and Sue, Glenn and Lyn and Tony and Lorrel arrived throughout the day. At happy hour the next day’s activities were announced.

Thursday morning and Don led a convoy of nine vehicles to Kinkuna. The sand was soft in a few places and a big high tide prevented us getting onto the beach. A few bogged vehicles held us up for a while and on the way out we came across a dopey Toyota futilely towing a big nanavan . We had a pie for smoko at Woodgate, gave Maminos ice creams a miss and had lunch at the Apple Tree Creek pub. Ian and Ann arrived just as we got back and it was then that we first heard the doom and gloom of the impending cyclone due to wreak havoc on our little bit of heaven.

Friday and Steve phoned to enquire about the weather. We told him the sun was shining and all was well, even if it was not quite true. Garry and Gwen decided not to risk the cyclone and headed for home just as Steve and Cathy arrived. Mike led a convoy of three to the Betsy Bomber and cut 10 minutes off last year’s time of 12 hours. Eric and Greg did a recce of the Watalgan Forest and the rest of us met them at the Avondale pub for the usual delightful lunch.

Back at camp we phoned Huby Jinx to invite his washed out mob to join us in Paradise but they were heading for home to lick their wounds and dry out. At happy hour discussion centred around the weather which was still quite good with no wind and only the odd shower. Were we really in the middle of a big storm or were we just lucky?

Well Saturday was bright and sunny so Eric led a trip through Watalgan and to a new lunch spot at the Tirroan pub, just outside Gin Gin, Ross led a trip to the old railway tunnel and Mt Perry for lunch and Don led a trip to IGA for cheap hams and to a health food shop which sold what was reputed to be the best pies in town, sadly they were not very good at all! That night we headed to the bowls club for dinner and lost money on the poker machines. Then it was back to camp to check the lotto results and batten down for the storm of the decade.

Sunday morning and still no storm, not even a gentle breeze. In fact there was not a cloud in the sky, the sea was like glass, the birds were singing, David and Greg were still asleep and all was well in Moore Park Heaven. Storm, wot storm!! We were beginning to think it was a media beat-up. Greg led trip to RSL for breakfast and then on to the markets.

Monday was a quiet day spent in camp with dinner at the bowls club. On Tuesday five of our party headed for home and the remainder went to the historic old Wallaville pub for lunch. Tony started eyeing off some of the old buildings and Don told him this was the next big real estate boom, buy now! On the way back we ran into some very heavy rain, our first and last sign of a storm, and meandered our way past the Cordalba and South Kolan pubs which we entered into the GPS for next year.  

On Wednesday another five departed for home and the rest did their own thing with Don and Greg going to the Burnett Heads pub for lunch to see if the service had improved as last time we were there we had a three hour wait. They reported that things had improved quite a bit and that Greg had a big win on the pokies.

Despite continued reports of gale force winds and torrential rain the weather remained quite good so we thought we’d try our luck at the Bucca pub. Sadly it was no better than our last visit with “do not” signs plastered all over the place so it was on to our old favourite, the Avondale Tavern, for another superb lunch. We also checked out the Yandaran pub which we also earmarked for next year.

By Friday we were running out of places to go and someone mentioned Bingo at the Bowls Club. Well why not we thought. Greg got away to a bad start because after they called the first five numbers (very slowly) he called out that he could not keep up. Well it turned out just fine for him as he won $200 and reckoned Bingo was a great game after all. David won $30 and Eric won $40, a profitable day all round!

On Saturday we pottered around camp and on Sunday all except Eric and Helga headed for home. Just as we neared Caboolture we at last got our storm!! Well it rained pretty heavily and that was about as close as we got to any cyclonic conditions.

Most have booked to go back next year, not only because we like the place with such beautiful weather, a variety of places to go and things to do, especially the bush pubs, but because it is simply getting harder to find suitable camp sites anywhere on the coast. If any other members are interested in Moore Park 2008 they will need to book quickly.

Anon   

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