Australia Day at Cordeaux Dam 2023 Australia Day
29 January 2023 / Story by Senia Gaunson Photos by Rob Wilkins (and others)
Australia Day 2023 brought together 66 members and guests from near and far to Cordeaux Dam on a very warm summer’s day, a gentle breeze offering relief and flapping the flags around. As each group arrived the burning question on their lips - Are there any lamingtons left? And there were! There was almost a lamington crisis, all the local bakeries around Lake Heights were closed until the end of the month, the cheek! A quick drive to Costco resolved the problem, there were plenty to go round, and a few to send home.
Bob and I were up at the crack of dawn, loading the Subaru (no way the ND could carry this load!) with shade shelters, chairs, flags, cricket sets, thongs, Jenga etc. etc. and not to be missed, the Lamingtons! We arrived at 8am and yes, the cabana, with boiling water for teas and coffees and electric BBQs was all ours, success! By the time we’d spread ourselves around in readiness, the first group, Sydney, led by Bryan and Ann Hicks were arriving, closely followed by Illawarra, led by Bryan and Fiona Shedden and a little later (they had much further to travel) RPM, led by Graham and Gillian Fletcher, great to see life member, Jean Cook joining them. South Coast, led by new convenors, Geoff and Rose Smith and finally Canberra, led by Rod Nicholas and yes Rod, there were lamingtons for you as well, thank you for making the long trip over.
We “capped” and welcomed our new Illawarra members Shane and Lindy Richardson, who we’re sure will fit into our MX5 family perfectly.
Bob and Steve Gaal got busy recruiting players for the inaugural cricket match, which grew once play commenced, with a spectacular one handed catch, Brendan on the boundary, being taken by Dante Boyd just before lunch.
Lots of chatter, and some recruiting for run organisers and run leaders, new regalia officers (for Sydney), stories of snowy and rainy holidays to England from Kirsty and Steve and Dewi, meant we almost missed the Thong Throw before groups started to head home to avoid the storm approaching. So much chatter, Jenga didn’t even make it out of the bag!
We managed to grab most of the crew for a quick Thong Throw, which was great entertainment for all, particularly when the breeze picked up the lightweight thongs and they landed back at the throwers feet.
We had some worthy winners:
In the men’s division Paul Byers and Bryan Shedden were a close 1st / 2nd (we judged them both 1st as there was so little in it), with Steven Gaal a close 3rd.
In the women’s division, new comer, Dante’s mum, Honie Boyd was a clear 1st with Fiona Shedden 2nd and Libby Kooyman 3rd.
The Thong Throw Champions
Great effort everyone and thank you for the laughs! Hopefully everyone managed to beat the storm home and had no car mishaps. Even with all the controversy around Australia Day’s date this year, we celebrated the joy of mateship, Aussie traditions and our beautiful little cars. If you missed it, keep an eye on the website for next year!
