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We're very happy to be on our way to north-west Victoria. We've stopped in Cohuna for a roll-up and a home-cooked meal. It's a tiny little country clubhouse. The honour boards are impressive. There are impressive permanent shades. Jean's been talking with Barbara via Messenger. She told Jean there's practice on Friday night and the ladies cook a $10 meal. Jean said " We'll be in that! ". When we arrived Jean called in to see her. Trevor and Ursula served us at the bar. The seats are donated in memorium. The garden is lovely. There are three grass greens. The middle green is nice. The bird protects. We walked over from the free-camp. Everyone was so friendly. Tania called us over to roll with her. We were against Ian and June. Mal started well. Jean raced down because she was certain she had shot. Alas Ian pipped her. Jean felt better when she scored two. Mal did a beauty. Jean nearly got him. We came inside. Everyone was ready for dinner. We sat with Ian and friends. They told us Johnny Farnham got his first gig here in Cohuna. It's being remembered tomorrow night at a concert for the town's centenary. Dinner was Chicken and salad. We met Stephen the President. He gave us a shirt. Jean went to say goodbye to Barbara. The ladies snuck her a piece of passion fruit sponge. Cohuna - we felt so welcome!

We're staying in Mulwala on the Murray for a couple of days. Yarrawonga is a stones throw away across the river. We've come for an evening tournament. It's a tiny little clubhouse with friendly natives. When we were at Yarrawonga-Mulwala Golf on Tuesday, one of the Pennant players told us they have a Wednesday evening tournament. We came to Yarrawonga and met Evelyn who said they are a team short. She found us a third and put our names down. The guys were relaxing after a hard Pennant game. There are two synthetic greens. This one is flat carpet. They've just spent $25,000 on new lights so they're having the tournament to test them out. The other looks like Tiger Turf. Evelyn found us Eugene who reckons he's a gun bowler! WEDNESDAY We got a sad call at lunchtime on Wednesday to say a team had pulled out and they had to cancel our entry. We were a little sad. Missed out at Yarrawonga.

Mulwala is on the NSW side of The Murray and Yarrawonga is in Victoria. They are very close to each other. We came to tick off some we haven't done yet. CLUB MULWALA Out the front is a great old RAAF plane. We were hoping to get a game but forgot about Tuesday Pennants. There are two grass greens. They played Pennants on the bottom green. This is the top. The TW Mullarvey green. They were at home against Corowa And Howlong. YARRAWONGA-MULWALA GOLF The Golf club is just a block away from Club Mulwala in NSW. Golf bags everywhere. A Lyre Bird sauntered around. It's a big club. It even has a cinema! There are two grass greens. They are proud to be the Border club. They'd played today at home against Yarrawonga. One of the guys told us two of the ladies are Australian champions. Third left and fourth right. The Yarrawonga guys told us there's a Tournament there tomorrow night. We'll check that out! Nice to visit the border at Mulwala and Yarrawonga Golf!

We're in Albury for a couple of days on our way to the NSW Central Coast for a party. We stopped in at North Albury Bowling club on Saturday and found out they have social bowls on Sunday morning. We put our names down. We liked the 'Life Members Bar' in the clubhouse. Former committees adorn the wall. There's a little outdoor area off to the side. Hard to catch the Hoppers flag! Frank's Retreat has lots of good plaques. There are two nice grass greens. This is the top green. It's the Alexander Collins Green. North Albury is the home of 'The Hoppers'. There's a cute little wind sock. Des asked why we were taking photos. We explained about our trip and the blog. Jim came up to say hello. He rememered us from when we met him at Tumut. SUNDAY Titch and David looked after the draw. We played together. Against Butch and Des. It was Jean and 11 blokes. A lot were away. Too tired after Pennants yesterday! Mal was bowling well but kept knocking up their bowls for shot. We were down eight-zip. Jean finally got a couple in. We managed a three. Mal got shot. We dropped a five then a seven. No coming back from that! Jean snuck one in. We came inside for drinks and interesting conversation. Bowl with the Grasshoppers at North Albury.

We left Victoria this morning on our way north for a party on the NSW Central Coast. We've stopped in Albury for a couple of days before heading home for a day. The first Albury club we came across was Lavington. It's a Penrith Panthers club. We checked out the little clubhouse. With the past Presidents above the bar. There are two grass greens. Pennants was happening on the bottom green. It was running really fast Mal said. The top green is nice. It's the Frank Tracey Green. It was opened in 1985. It has a cool green speed indicator. Des saw Jean moving towards the club and came running up to investigate. She explained about our trip and the blog. He said he understood but had to be careful! The club is owned by the Penrith Panthers. Lavington was playing Pennant against Dederang. We enjoyed our visit there last January. Caught red-handed at Lavington :-)

We're on our way north for an 80th birthday party for Jean's first cousin once removed (in law). We've stopped in to the teeny tiny town of St James to see the Bowls club. FRIDAY Wikicamps told us we could camp in the back of the pub next door but it was abandoned and all locked up. We asked at the bowling club and they said we could camp out the back. We had a great view of the silos. Inside the club is a fantastic brag wall. The ladies in 1974 had great success. There's a painting of the club logo. Below is GJ Coles - the founder of Coles Supermarkets as he opened the club in 1964. More about that below. With a great photo of a roller. It has a long verandah out the back by the green. The scoreboards are donated in memorium. It seems Steve donated the drink fountain. John helps with the green There's just one grass green. It's the Bert Roberts Green. It has nice permanent shades. John left us a mat and Jack for a roll-up. We had terrible heads. Jean said " But I've got you surrounded!" While we were rolling up Jim and Dorothy left us some oranges. Jean was happy because she can make a Thermomix Whole Orange cake! They came in their golf cart. The drive it everywhere in town. John told us St James boasts the first ever GJ Coles store in Australia. The silo art celebrates that. Apparently the Coles family had six sons who got knighted for various things. Dorothy and Jim told us there's food tonight at the Golf club next door. The town only has 123 people so there's nothing here. We were worried about what we were going to do for Friday dinner. St James Golf Club SATURDAY We stayed for a little while on Saturday so we could see the Pennant players arrive. They were against a team from Mytleford and also from Corowa. We've visited both . We met club Secretary Doug and Gavin. Jean asked Gavin how many members the club has. He said " Enough for two Pennant teams. Nobody get sick! " A tiny team in a tiny town of St James!

We're in Melbourne for just a couple of days for some medical appointments. Between appointments we decide to check out a couple of clubs. Both were closed. The first was Footscray Park with a little visit to Flemington-Kensington where we'd been before. We saw the clubhouse through the window. There's a long under cover verandah. It has two grass greens. The new Footscray Hospital sits behind the green. It's named for the Dawson Family. The other green has a very long name! An old Scotsman gives green speed. There used to be a third green. Not so now. It's a very old-fashioned club. The shades are quaint. The other club we visited was Flemington & Kensington where we played pennant for Melton. We forgot toe get photos when we were last here. We saw a little bit of Melbourne at Footscray Park and Flem-Ken

We popped in to Tarwin Lower when we were in Gippsland in January this year. But it was all locked up. They told us via Messenger that we could park our caravan there so we've come back for a camp and a roll-up. We found a nice spot to camp by the clubhouse. It's a nice little clubhouse with a cuppa always on. It was opened in 1990. Achievements are proudly displayed. There's a good outdoor entertainment area. Jean's been talking with Dave on Messenger. He met us when we arrived. Dave introduced us to President John. There's one carpet synthetic green. It's a Tiger Turf copy. The permanent shades are great. Each end is named for a life member. Rod and Brian were having a Singles championship. We waited for them to finish. Rod won. Dave Rolled up with us. Kevin joined in. Mal had a go. He bowled two beauties right to the ditch. The rest of us went in! Jean was nervous. The boys were really good bowlers. Jean said " I'll never get a photo of my shot bowl ". Then Dave knocked the kitty over to her. She jumped for joy. Next end Jean nailed it. The boys spent all their following bowls to take her out - with no success! Jean told Mal he had to do a photo-worthy bowl. He did it. We came in for drinks. Jean ordered a Chardonnay. Kevin explained about the Tarwin pour. They're famous for it. We loved the Tarwin pour. PS : Before we took off to Koo Wee Rup in the morning we stayed to watch the first half of the first Tuesday Pennants game of the season. They played against Wonthaggi where we went earlier in the year.

Jean's been in touch with Yarram Country Club via Messenger. They are very excited about our visit and invited us to play Sunday afternoon Barefoot with them. It's a nice little clubhouse with a bistro and pokies. It has a long verandah by the green. Inside the honour boards are in the hallway. Mick, Glenn and Brett had just played first round of the Pairs. We chatted with them afterwards. There are two greens. One is grass. The other is a carpet synthetic. The Westwood Green. A bowler shows wind direction. There were only seven players in all. We played a game together. Against Jeff and Bri. It was soooo windy our bowls went nowhere near the Kitty! Jean took the kitty and cried " How the hell did I do that?! " The group decided to play Skins which we'd never played before. Everyone joined in with two bowls each. How it works is the player with the furthest bowl, or if the bowl goes out of bounds, that bowl is out of the game. If you get a Toucher you get a bowl back. They put the 1970's music on. First end Mal lost a bowl. Darn wind!!! Jean got in the mix next end but nowhere near shot. Next end Jean got shot but lost her other bowl which went out. Jean went out of the game next end and Mal the one after. We both blamed the wind! Jeff won! Nick cooked the sausage sizzle. The sizzle is a regular Sunday afternoon thing. They offered $20 to the person who could get closest to the sign - corner to corner. Mal won! A nice sizzle at Yarram! Rosedale On our way to Yarram we stopped in at Rosedale for a look. Jean had been in touch via Messenger. They told her it's a tiny little club so they don't have social bowls. We wanted to check it out anyway. We couldn't get a good photo though the glass. There's a kind of outdoor area. At least there's a barbecue! There's one grass green. It looks un-mowed. The Lions Club donated it - the Maurice Clark green. Hi little Rosedale!

Last time we were in Victoria we left a few clubs down south so we could drive down from the Far South Coast of NSW on our way to the north-west. The first club is Stratford (Stratty) . The town is on The Avon River. Sister City to Shakespeare's home town. Jean's been talking with Secretary Gordon on Messenger. He asked us to phone him the day before we arrived. Mal did that. They had a great chat! Gordon said we could park our caravan here. All around there are signs that say 'Maffra Community Sports Club'. We think that's the home of Maffra Bowling Club where we had a great time in January. Perhaps they're a sponsor. It's a tiny little clubhouse. With an outdoor entertainment area. There's one plastic synthetic green. It seems there used to be three greens. The permanent shades are sturdy. Gordon invited us to their social gathering Friday afternoon. We came in and chatted with the members about our trip. President Marg looked after the bar. Gordon got us a mat and jacks for a very windy roll-up. Mal went in for a drink so Jean put all hers down. She had two lovely shots - even with outrageous wind. Of course Mal had to do better. It was tough in the wind but Jean managed two shot s in a caterpillar. Mal forgot to allow for the wind. Jean nailed it. Going into the last end Jean was up 5 to 3. She told Mal to do a photo-worthy bowl. He put the kitty in the ditch. Mal cried " Five all! ". Jean replied " I think you'll find it's 5-4! ". He said " But I called my Powerplay! ". Jean shook her head. Stratty Bowls - fun with the locals .

On our way down the Far South Coast of NSW we saw on our map that we hadn't been to Bombala . We were surprised about that. We turned up at the caravan park and Mal said "We've been here before!". Turns out we have but didn't record it. We did have a blog though! The club was very familiar. We met Pete again. He remembered us from last year. Last time we were here there were a few things we missed. All the old photos and trophies. A memorial garden. With bowler statues. And memorial tree. Jean got to play this time. We played again on the top green. This time Mal got a photo with Specs. Jean played with Warwick (Kojak) Against Pete and Eileen. Mal was with Neil and Janet. Against Chris, Faye and Aurora. First end Jean nailed it. As did Mal. Second end Mal did it again. Jean was pretty happy with how she bowled. Jean and Kojak won by two. Mal won 21-8. Nice to see old friends at Bombala. February 2024 - A fast game for Mal on grass at Club Bombala We drove three hours on Tuesday from Bairnsdale to Bombala. Last night I sent my last post for a while to BowlsTalk Vic . Now we're in NSW and ready for a game at Club Bombala. TUESDAY We stopped in at Club Bombala to check things out. We found out there's bowls on Wednesday so will stay an extra night. It's a nice little RSL Club. Bombala is famous for Platypuses and has them on the carpet. The ladies had a 40th and 50th celebrations. It would have been 60 in 2022 but for amalgamation. We met Pete and found out he's a bowler. He told us he'd see us tomorrow. There are two nice grass greens. The bottom one looks quite long. It needs some work. Specs the Assistant Greenkeeper was doing just that. Karen looked after the money. The guys sat around to discuss horse-racing before the game. Jean had a UTI so said if they had an odd number she'd sit out. There were seven. Mal played a game of three-bowl triples - eighteen ends. We're back in NSW now so only one game - not two or three! They swap positions after six ends. Mal, Peter and Don played Tony, Karen and Athol. Don told Jean Athol was Club Champion eighteen times! Apparently they call him ANZAC - for a minutes silence - because he takes his time on the mat. They played on the top green. Noel and Barry were playing a singles championship at the same time. Peter said if his son wins his game he plays the winner. There was just one game of social bowls. It was 31 degrees so a few didn't turn up. Karen said they usually get ten or so players on a Wednesday. It was a fast green - the opposite of Howitt Park . Jean waited patiently for Mal to do a photo-worthy bowl. Mal got his grass ok but struggled a bit with weight. The boys said " He did great bowls while you were shopping at IGA! " " Typical! " Jean said. Barry won the Singles. In the end it was a close game. It didn't start out that way! Mal's team was two shots down with a toucher in the ditch. Don said " This kitty's begging to be put in the ditch! " Mal nailed it. They were doing well. Don in particular who took shot from Mal! The score was 12 to 11 then they got a five! Mal's team won 19 to 13. Everyone came in for a drink afterwards. Mal had a great time. Mal told Jean that Athol coached Jamie Reynolds early in his career. Jamie played in Canberra. Even though Jean sat out - we both had a nice time. Bombala - Mal really connected with them.