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We drove over to Kurri Kurri (called Kurri) from Cessnock for Mal to play Friday bowls with the men. There's a board out the front with Pennant results. Clearly the Ones have done well. Jean walked around the back and met Craig the Greenkeeper. Cody the Assistant Greenkeeper came out while we waited for the club to open. He asked if Mal had his name down. He went inside and arranged it. It's a nice big club. It has an electronic picture board which displays notable players. Including Xander who we met the other day at Greta. Jay organised the game. He saw Jean's Melton shirt and told us he's from there. We sat with the boys while Mal waited to play. Jean chatted with John who saw us the other day at East Cessnock. There are three greens. Out the side are a grass and one synthetic The boys played on a grass green out the back which Craig was rolling. It's the Rees Duncan Green. Surrounded be a lovely Orange Trumpet Vine . The rest played three-bowl pairs. Mal, Jason and Gordon Played two-bowl triples Against Allan, Steve and Kevin. Second Mal put in a good'n first end. A few ends later he did it again. The boys were very friendly and asked Jean lots of questions while she watched. She went out to buy some cat food. When she got back Jason told her " He's playing really well. " He proved that. They came inside for drinks. Mal's team was runner up. Kurri - Mal thoroughly enjoyed himself!

During our fun time yesterday at East Cessnock we were told to turn up at 9am to bowl Thursday at Bellbird. It's a nice little clubhouse. With an outdoor seating area. There's a nice photo array of Pennant teams. They have a comp called 'The Boozers' Cup. It's an actal beer tap on the trophy. Tooheys sponsors it with a keg. It's 100 schooners all the winners get them. The seats are donated. When we walked in we saw Dave and Merv who we met yesterday at East Cessnock. Maurie (Mozza) looked after the draw. There's on old carpet synthetic green. It's seen better days but runs ok. The John Bedford Green. There were six of us. Enough for one game of three-bowl triples. Stan, Jean and Merv. Played Mal, Dave and Mozza. Mal got a Toucher with his first bowl. Later Jean got a toucher then a second. Our skips Stan and Mozza were bowling brilliantly. It was a pleasure to watch. Then Mal got three. Jean took the kitty but it rolled out. After 16 ends we came in for drinks. Mal's team won the money. Mal wins again at Bellbird.

Just west of Newcastle there are five clubs together. We went to Paxton yesterday, Bellbird tomorrow, Abermain and Kurri on Friday and Saturday. Today Mal plays with the retired boys at East Cessnock. We dropped in on Tuesday get Mal's name down to play Wednesday. It's a big club! They are 'The Comets'. The comet is on the green. Mal chatted with a bloke who pointed to Louie saying he's the one to talk to about bowls. Louie took us over to meet Lief Selby the Greenkeeper. He's a former bowls world champion. We'd actually met him at his old club Shellharbour which was near Jean's parent's house. He'd made a calendar to save the club. There was Ladies Pennants on. We saw Barbara who we met at Denman. There are three synthetic greens. One indoor which seems to be set up for exams. One open And one under cover. The cover was erected in 2012. It's a men's game today. Retired Bowlers. Kerry and Daniel looked after the money. Daniel asked Jean if she'd like to play. She said " Yes please! " We stood and chatted with Ted. John, Jean and Kerry Played Ross, Todd and Daniel. Ross said " We're layed back here. We rib each other! " Dave, Mal and Mick Were against Merv, Les and Brian. It's the first bowling club where we've seen fridges to keep the beer cold - and coke! It took a long time to work out the grass. The green was super fast. Jean had to give it a full rink on the backhand and a rink and a half on the forehand. She finally did it though! Mal struggled as well. Jean saw him do a wrong bias. He corrected it though. Jean sent out a hoot because her bowl stayed up. Then Danny knocked the kitty back to her. She let out another " Woo hoo! " Skip Mal took kitty and gave his team shot. Mal won by two. Jean lost by, well alot! They were pretty funny. We enjoyed the company. Nice time with the boys at East Cessnock.

We drove today from our overnight at Greta Workers to the little town Paxton. It has Ladies bowls here today so Jean will play. The clubhouse was locked up so Jean had to get a photo through the screen. Then she saw a lovely memorial wall. Angela turned up while Jean was out the front taking photos. She said Mal could play but he'll go and check in to the showground. All the ladies sat by the green and waited for the game to start. There's one plastic synthetic green. It's the Tim Phillips Green. The rink markers are old bowls. Jean didn't have to pay to play because she's a traveller. That was nice. It was Zelma and Jean. Jean skipped. Against Gloria and Carol. There were two games. One Fours and on Pairs. Twelve players in all. The ladies wanted to practise for Pennants. Jean found it a little tough but second end she put in a beauty. It wasn't easy to get the weight. But she kept getting in there - to take shots off the opposition. Jean and Zelma didn't win but we had a nice game. Paxton - memories and memorials!

We drove the six minutes it takes to get from Branxton to Greta Workers Club. Jean got permission from Ross the CEO to park our caravan there. There's no social bowls on Monday so we'll have a rollup instead. It's quite a big club. It previously owned the Miller Park Bowls Club. It's a big clubhouse. With a lovely indoor/outdoor seating area. We met Ross when we arrived. Mal wanted a beer before our rollup. We were the only people in the club. We parked our van in the right place - behind the shed. There's one grass green. Ross said it's reputed to be the best in Newcastle region. It's had some work done on it recently. Aerating or something. Jean felt good today. She got a four but they weren't close. Mal was having trouble with weight. He tried his best. His grass was awry. He said " I reckon it hasn't been rolled !" Jean told him Ross said the Greenkeeper is away so he's probably correct. But Jean got in there. Mal surrounded her. Jean was really happy with how she bowled. Then suddenly Mal got his mojo back! And kept it! Karen and son Xander came down for a Rollup. Karen plays here. Xander is 16 years old, plays for Kurri Kurri and is in the NSW side. Karen said she saw our post from yesterday on the Miller Park Facebook page! Even though we no longer keep score Jean's pretty sure she won today. Mal, not so much! Mal stayed in the club for beers and met Doug and his doggy Tiger. Greta - we met a young champion!

We drove to Miller Park after our successful game at Denman. It's a bowling club at a pub. Jean's been in touch with Faye from here. She told us there's no social bowls but we're welcome to roll up. The place definitely has a pub feel - though modern. The life members are on the wall. Jean asked Carly the bartender about the green story. She said the Miller Park Bowling was owned by Greta Workers. Greta sold it because it was losing money. A local named Dale McNamara bought it and fought hard to reopen it as an establishment. (Carly and Kiwi Dazz) Dale rebuilt the building as a pub and put in a plastic synthetic green. The bowler's came back and call themselves 'The Phoenix'. Back from the dead. They have a Pennants team which has had success in the three years its been open. It's an unusual Pennants scoreboard. Mal wanted a beer before our rollup. He sat and discussed bowls tactics with Kiwi Dazz. Dazz was the Greenkeeper for eight months. Everyone was interested in Jean's Gulgong shirt 👕. Dazz joined us in our rollup for a few ends. Jean went first as usual. She did ok once she worked out the grass. Mal had his go then Dazz. His grass was good. Almost perfect! Jean got cross when Mal placed Dazz' bowls around the jack. She wanted to get a photo of her shot bowls. She threw hers down in anger and managed one accidentally. We came in and had a drink in the pub. Who's heard of bowls at a pub - they have in Miller Park.

We drove just half an hour from our nice stay in Merriwa to the little town of Denman and its Bowling Club. We'd heard on the grapevine it has social bowls on Saturday so came for that. It's a quaint little clubhouse though quite modern outside. It was opened in 1957. There are some great photos from the 50's and more recently Including of the opening of the Women's Club in 1949. The greens are (as usual) named after men but the club does appreciate the ladies. It has a really good outdoor seating area. There's an impressive array of old Pennant flags - twenty-four in all from 1951 to 2004. Jean had to do washing so Mal walked down from the caravan park early and met Snow. Margaret organised things. We were so happy to finally get a game after so many rollups in the little country towns. There are two good looking grass greens. Mal rolled up on the front green. It's the Irwin Green. It has a little plaque on it that says in 1985 it was named to celebrate the 50th Anniversary. There's a pretty little river beside the green. There were 18 players so we played three-bowl triples. Three games. Here they don't score shots just Win and Lose each end. They draw the overall winner out of a hat. It was Joyce, Jean and Graham. Against Barbara, Graham and Denise. Neville, Mal and Snow. Against Graham, Bro and Margaret. Mal put one in early. Jean put one on the kitty then took it out with her next bowl! 😞 later she did it again when she had a Resting Toucher! Jean made the boys wait while she got a photograph of Mal's bowl. Later Jean ran down after her first bowl to get a photo. Amazingly she didn't take it out with her second bowl. Mal and Jean both won on ends. There's a wheel to determine the jackpot. The jackpot is complex. The winners decide how many numbers for different jackpots. Jean drew her team who, decided on four numbers (N/S/E/W), then picked out her rink but didn't spin up the money. We met such nice people. They welcomed and joked with us. At last a game for us at Denman

We stayed two nights at Coolah Sports Club . After our very ordinary rollup we moved on to Merriwa. Jean has a special place in her ❤️ for the town because her family used to billet students from there for Sports exchange when they lived in Gulgong. We pulled up out the front and met Craig. Craig took us on a tour of the surrounds and showed us where to park our caravan. We'd arrived around 11:30. Craig was mowing around the green. He told us people start to arrive for drinks from 2pm. Jean walked down and met Ron one of the Greenkeepers. The club opened at 2:30 when we came down for our rollup. We charged our camping battery 🔋 out on the smoking deck. We met Ken who's been bowling for 50 years. He told us he's the only player who's won every championship. He gave us some Merriwa stickers that we can give to Hoppy at Herberton. The club has one grass green. With some old fabric shades. Ron mowed then rolled it before our rollup. We met the other Greenkeeper Bruce. He got us mats and jacks. Jean took to the mat. We both got our grass and weight Ok. Jean had three shots but Mal took them out. She's reminded of when he did it to her on Valentines Day and the smartarse bowler who told her he was only trying to kiss her bowls! He kept annoying Jean when he got shot. Until she did it herself again! Jean walked ten minutes to IGA to buy some wine while Mal sat for a beer with the boys. Merriwa - fond memories and fine rollup!

We drove half an hour from our unsuccessful stay at Binnaway this morning to the Coolah Sports Club where we'll park our van. There's an RV parking area by the green on the golf course. The clubhouse is small but cosy. It has a nice trophy case though it's a sports club so lots of trophies from other sports. There are two greens - upstairs-downstairs. They said we should roll on the bottom one. It has some sort of insect holes all over it which bumped the bowls on their way down. We went down and rolled up on Thursday Mal went out. It was sooooo slow after the rain! It took all our muscles! Jean stepped out nervously. Mal got cranky with the slow green and just threw his bowls down the back. It was hard to get our bowls up. Mal managed to get a couple. Jean was over the moon to put one on. We gave up after a few ends. Much too hard! Coolah - we needed muscles!

We stayed t he last two nights in Coonamble and got a game . We drove two hours today to the little town of Binnaway and its bowls club. Jean phoned about social bowls. It's usually Sunday so just a rollup today. Jean also asked if the bartender if we could park our van there. Initially she said yes but then she came to the door and said insurance won't allow it. We walked around the clubhouse and Sue the Bowls Captain came out to greet us. It's a tiny little clubhouse with a good bar. The black and white President photos are nice. There are two grass greens. One out the front And one out the back we rolled up on. It has a semi-permanent shade and cute little white seats at both ends. Jean had a go. It was slow as...well is was about nine seconds! Mal took his turn. We got our grass ok but weight was rubbish. Mal started to work it out. We finished our rollup then decided to drive on to Coolah Sports Club where we know we can park overnight. Bye Binnaway - on to Coolah now!

Since we decided not to stay at Mendooran , we drove on to Coonamble. We know they have bowls on Tuesday morning so we'll be there in time for that. It's a nice modern clubhouse. There's a display of former Presidents. With a hall of fame. We came in on Monday to get our names down. The bartender called out and we met John, Trevor and Barry. Mal thought Barry looked familiar. It turns out he's Mal's ex-brother-in-law. When we arrived Tuesday Audrey, Jenny and Terry walked in and they welcomed us. Dennis and Audrey looked after the money. It only cost us $5 each to play. There's just one synthetic green. It looks like there used to be two but the other is now a playground. The new green is plastic synthetic. It's The John Whiney Memorial Green. There are quaint metal shades. They said they usually get 6 to 8. Today with us there are twelve players. JJ, Jean (Skip) and Don Against Rob, Ron and Dennis It was Jarrod, Mal and Audrey against Terry, Jenny and Allan. Mal forgot to take a photo of the opposition but we met them all earlier. Jean's team was 5 up then Dennis came in and knocked it back to one. Mal dropped a beauty. Jean was two down when she played weight and picked up kitty for one. She said " It's fun playing skip. I get to save us sometimes! " Skip Mal did it too. Jean moved the kitty and picked up a four. Mal was very impressed with JJ's Parramatta Eels Indigenous shirt. Mal won 21 to 7. Jean won by two but won the day. Coonamble - a win for both of us.

We'd heard about Mendooran at some of the other clubs like Trangie . Sam from Dunedoo told us Mendooran closed a couple of years back. We didn't make it in time for Sunday morning bowls so decided to come on Monday for a rollup. The club was closed. Jean peaked in the window. It seems they all sit out here. The first green we saw didn't look good. Mal said " We won't be bowling here! " But there was another much nicer green, though it did have some weeds. We decided not to stay. As we were leaving Steve showed up. He said the club opens at 3pm. He said it's sad we missed the game yesterday and invited us to come back. We decided to drive on to Coonamble where we'll play tomorrow. Maybe next time Mendooran!