We're staying in Townsville for three days. We've nearly done all the clubs here so Jean contacted Toni at Magnetic Island via Messenger to get our names down for Friday afternoon Bowls. We caught the barge over. 40 minutes. It's a nice little clubhouse. It reminded Jean of Maldon in Victoria. The main difference is a view of the ocean. It has a nice outdoor area. Not surprising. We met Greg who organises things. Jean chatted with Ron, James, John and Ken (Noddy) who wer

We've been wanting to come to Marlin Coast Bowls Club for a while. We'd been given the number for Crackers the Caretaker when we were somewhere in Australia. We wanted to meet him. We rang Crackers to find out when they have social bowls. We had a great chat. He told us to turn up for Friday afternoon rollups. It's a great social occasion. Crackers told us it was probablyTerry from Port Fairy who gave us his number. It's a nice little clubhouse. Crackers told us it's

We did a little tour of Cairns and visited two clubs. Stratford and West Cairns. SRATFORD We went first to check out Stratford. We thought we wouldn't get a game there. They were putting up a new shade out front. It's very nice. We met Darren (Dusty) who told us they were devastated by floods and are just rebuilding. There's a separate bar. A local artist painted the toilet doors. It's only the second club we've seen that has a photo of the King. The green is still recover

While we're at Proserpine we decided to drive the 50 minutes to Bowen to get a Sunday game and to see the other club Wangaratta. We got our map photo. The bowlers all hung at the bar. It's a very old clubhouse - 1923. It was donated by Mr and Mrs Ezzy. There's a nice trophy case. Carol and Col came for a chat. They've just moved here from Tamworth. There's just one green. It's Tiger Turf - Jean's favourite - under cover. They are the Bowen Bandits. It's triples today. They

Yet again we didn't plan to do more than take a photo at Proserpine but our caravan park was just next door and the members were very friendly. The bar is separate from the main clubhouse. Mike was the first person we met. He came out when we arrived and gave us the rundown on everything abut the club. He gave us a Proserpine scorecard as a keepsake. Ken came over for a chat. There is just one grass green. It's the Brian Cooke Green. There's an old fallow green. The plovers

We're on our way to Cairns. There are lots of clubs we didn't do last time we were up here. One club, on our way, is Marian. We popped in to get a photo there and discovered a tournament so we decided to write a little blog post about it. We got our obligatory photo for the trip map. Jean went in to get a photo of the bar. The bar lady ducked because she doesn't like photos. There are long lines of photos of the ladies' and men's past Presidents. We asked one of the bloke

Yes we've been silent for a while. We came home for six weeks after our WA trip to see the kids and grandkids. Since then we've travelled 2,000km. We're on our way to Cairns. We've stopped along the way to photograph some clubs but today we'll finally get a game at Sarina in Nth Qld. It's a good-sized clubhouse. When we say "We'll get a game." We mean Mal. Jean has a cold and injured her rib in a coughing fit so is in too much pain to play. She'll take photos for t

The Labor Club is evicting Jean's club - Weston Creek Bowling Club from of its premises. The club is to leave at the end of June - just one month away. The members are hoping to re-home at Canberra Bowling Club until they can get a new home. We came for our final game in Stirling. Everyone waited in the clubhouse for the card calling. Mal's brother Michael (in the middle) is a member of Weston Creek with Jean. Multiple pennant flags adorn the greens. There are three green

So we made it across The Nullarbor, through SA and Victoria. We stopped in Ararat Victoria for Jean's sister Ellen's birthday then made it home to Canberra. No sooner had we turned up at Mal's club Tuggeranong Vikings when our mate Hughey asked Mal to take his place in the Major Singles. Mal jumped at that. We'd had a nice time in Ararat with Ellen for her birthday. The Vikings club is doing renovations for the next year so there's no access to the clubhouse. The boys wer

We're finally on our way back home after 2 months in WA. We've done every bowling club in WA but one - Scaddan. It's the last one on Highway One before we get to the Nullarbor. We've been welcomed to stay the night. Quite fitting we think! We peeked through the window. The clubhouse looks cosy. There are nice gardens. Roses out the back and Hibiscus out the front. Jean's been talking with Trudi via Messenger. Trudi said we could park here overnight. Mal rang

We're on our way back home. We only have five more WA clubs left to do. Jean's been in touch with Albany Bowling Club via Messenger. Secretary Mark told us there's a game on Wednesday and that we could park our caravan there overnight. We've done our best to get here for that! When we were in Denmark (35 minutes away) we called to find out what time they started. We spoke with Kevin who took our names. We got there too late to play social. They were already on the grr

We rang Ellenbrook's President Robbie to find out if there's social bowls. He said no so we asked if we could roll up on Thursday. He said yes - after midday. We turned up. Robbie was the first person we met and he said "Actually we've got a game on today if you want to join us!". We jumped at the chance. It's a nice clubhouse with a friendly bar. We liked the plaques under the bar for founding and other members. They are the Black Swans. The bowlers all sat outside. T

We popped in to Willeton while we whizzed around country WA visiting all the clubs. We met some lovely people there so decided to write a blog. The ladies were all sitting having a nice chat when we arrived. Jean had a great conversation with them all about our trip. There is an impressive array of Pennant flags. Marg went and found an old over-sized Swan shirt for Jean. They have new dragon shirts now! There are two synthetic greens. The sky was stormy over the g

We've already been to North Beach Bowling Club. In fact we've done all the WA clubs except those on highway 1 for our trip home. We're having a little break so came back for a nice game of Fours. The Beach Bar inside the clubhouse is nice. Mal met Brian at the desk. He told us to make ourselves comfortable inside. All the 40 bowlers sat together happily chatting. They were all very friendly. People kept coming up and introducing themselves. The Pennant flags were im

So we're finally in Perth. We're doing six to ten clubs a day so we can get to all of them before we leave late April. We weren't going to do a blog today but met some lovely people at Kardinya.. The ladies were sitting inside. Jean had a great chat with them about our trip. They're all a bit tired after Pennant finals. They are The Kardy Kats. There are lots of trophies. With pictures of special events. There are two synthetic greens with pull-over covers. This is t

So we've been criss-crossing WA to visit all the bowling clubs before end of April. Today we did eight clubs but we finished with a great visit to Collie. It's a nice clubhouse with a long inviting bar. Inside are lots of bowls memories. Jean met Ladies Captain Kerry working in the kitchen for the Pennant barbecue. President Hans is sitting out because he hasn't been well. One of the members told us Collie is the coldest place in WA. That made us feel quite at home! Th

We're still zig-zagging across the WA countryside to get WA to get all the clubs done. YEALERING Yealering is a tiny town that's lucky enough to have a bowling club. The only sign was initials on the gate. WICKEPIN We were surprised to see people at Wickepin on a Tuesday. They were there for Pennant finals. The ladies were sitting inside waiting for the final in the afternoon. There are some great Pennant memories on the wall. Marge (The club's oldest member) and son Gr

In our bid to finish the 139. 8 remaining clubs in WA before we leave late April - we're doing lots of clubs each day. Today we went from Northam east to Narrembeen. We started in York. YORK Ou r first stop was York Recreation Centre. We got the obligatory photo with the sign. It has two plastic synthetic greens. We were excited to get to Beverley because we met some of the people in Northam yesterday . BEVERLEY We wanted to come to Beverley Bowling Club because Jea

We did seven clubs today. We weren't going to write a blog - just take a photo - but we unexpectedly ended up staying at Northam Bowling Club and got to watch them play Pennants against Beverley so yes we'll write it! We left Merredin this morning and stopped at six clubs before we got to Northam. We started at Doodlakine, Then Kellerberrin. Next was Tammin. We popped in to Cunderdin And Meckering, Before we drove up to Toodyay. After that we landed down at Northam. We we

Jean's been in touch with Merredin Club via Messenger and they said we could could park our caravan there. We were supposed to arrive Thursday but they said players were coming back from Country Week in Perth on Friday so we'll stay two days.. It's an old-fashioned clubhouse with a long bar. There are some great memories on the wall. The sign says "Home of the 15,000". It's a little out of date. It refers to the ANZAC weekend tournament. Prize money is now $20,000.