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We dropped in at Bell & District Bowling Club on our way to Emerald / Rubyvale to meet Jean's high school friend. It was a bit of a disappointment so we didn't stay. There was nobody around. Jean looked through the windows. There are tow joined buildings. One seems to be the bar. Bill has a watering hole. There's one poor quality green. It hasn't been mowed for a while and is patchy. Jean said "I don't think we'll be rolling up on this!" We're off now to Jandowae. Hope it's a bit better! Bell - disappointed we didn't get a rollup!

We're on our way to Rubyvale to see Jean's High School friend Louanne who is gem hunting there. We came to Crows Nest for a rollup and had a great time. The club has a nice bar. There's a great photo array of past Presidents. And an impressive Honour Board. In the loos there's a club info package. The first person we met was Don. Dave helped Jean plan our travels. On the fence there are some acknowledgements of donations. And a memorial seat. With a nice memorial garden. There's a great sundial. Wednesday Social was in full swing The boys said we could park our caravan at the club and gave us some water. It has one grass green with a lovely little garden in each corner. We took our time to get to our rollup. Jean sat at the bar with the boys. Mal sat drinking all afternoon with the boys so the shadows were very long when we got out for our rollup. Jean went first. She said "We should roll up more often when you've been drinking all afternoon!" Mal wasn't doing bad despite the drinking! We had to move the van. It was getting late. Jean was waiting, waiting to cook dinner but Mal was standing in the carpark keeping the guys from going home. Crows Nest - talking, talking but lots of fun!

Jean wanted to come to Bramble Bay because she saw their shirts when she was at Club Pine Rivers the other day. She wants to buy one. We thought we'd try and get a game and if we can't we'll roll up. We're told there's Tuesday afternoon social bowls. We had a day off yesterday. We drove up to Wild Horse Mountain to catch up with Jean's older sister Alison. It's a good-sized clubhouse with a high ceiling. On the electronic Honour Board they seem to have had success in Pennants. The smoking area looks out over Bramble Bay. We met John and Terry in the office. Terry got on the phone to find some shirts 👕 for us. Tom sorted us out. Jean now has a shirt to replace her Weipa shirt when it gets ratty. Jean met Robyn, Di and Jude who do bowls coaching for University of the Third Age (U3A). Jean met Robyn at Brighton on Friday. There are three good grass greens. We played on the right-hand green. It's the Jack Baxter Green. All the seats are donated. So we're the scoreboards. There were four games x two. Jean and fifteen blokes. We played together. First game was against Ashley and Ken. Jean did well first end which often happens. Jean was over the moon with her Toucher. Then Mal consolidated. Mal was really struggling with weight but he finally worked it out. It was hard with the tail wind but Mal nailed it. We lost it next bowl though! We won 11 to 9. Next game was against Barry and Matt. We weren't having much luck - we were getting flogged then put in a few good ones. John Edgar the Men's President chatted to Jean. He gave Mal a stubbie holder and gave Jean a badge for her hat. We were down nine shots then caught up. We lost by three. We came in for John to do Presentations. We didn't win - there were no two game winners. We sat and chatted with President John, Terry, Barry and organiser John for ages about Bowls, footy and our adventures. Bramble Bay - we liked the people!

We're staying a couple of nights at Brighton Bowls Club. It's Sunday so no bowls but we've decided to go to Club Pine Rivers for a rollup. People have said it's good there. It's a big clubhouse. Apparently they are the Pirates. It has a nice photo array of past Presidents. There's two synthetic greens under cover. When we got here there was the Moreton Bay district Novice Singles playing so no rollup! We were pleasantly surprised to see Mal's winning Lead from Kallangur yesterday - Val. Val introduced us to Michelle who just bought a caravan and wants to do what we're doing. We sent her our trip map and the Blog. After the Ladies' games finished we said bye to Val and made our way to Brighton. Pine Rivers - would have been good to roll up under cover!

We're staying a few more nights in Brisbane because we got offered accommodation at Brighton Bowls Club. Today we'll bowl at Kallangur Memorial Bowling Club which is a stones throw from Jean's niece Joelle. Chairperson David invited us so we said yes! We arrived and met Reg at the table. David had put our names and positions down. The clubhouse has a relaxed atmosphere. Apparently they are the Kallangur Roos. A kangaroo guards the pokies. Tables have ads on them. Never seen that. The club has two grass greens. The Triples comp was in full swing as we arrived. We saw a nice memorial by the drink fountain. All the seats are sponsored. There's a bowlers area by the back green. It has a good ✏️ drawing of the clubhouse. With pictures of the Lady Presidents And the Male Presidents. We played on the far green against each other. It was Fours. Des, Jean, Hale and John Played Tony, Val, Graham and Skip Mal. Jean struggled a bit on the very slow green but she finally scored two (with a little help!) Mal was all over it - having a ball. At one point John's team had shot then Mal took the kitty back for four. Problem was his great bowls were never in the head! Jean started to work it out. Mal was The star of the show with his weighted shots but he didn't need to do much because his team played so well. 27 to 12. Kallangur - Mal wins again!

We were going to leave the big cities for a few years but Jean had to get her Thermomix serviced in Brisbane. Geoff from Brighton had been following our trip and invited us to play Friday. Of course we had to come! Geoff is the Greenkeeper. He saw us arrive and met us at the door. He told us this is the friendliest club around here. We met Gary, Jimmy and Steve at the table. It's a nice little clubhouse. It's 'Barracuda Stadium'. The bar has 'Lamenter's Corner'. We guess if you have a big loss! They are proud of their last year's Pennants. There's the Merv Chant Memorial. Apparently Macca is the "Stirrer of the Month". We met Senior Vice President Jack. Michelle the club Chairperson came specially to meet us. There are two good grass greens. We played on the front green. The T. Clark Green. The guys decided that because Geoff and Graeme are "The Ambassadors of the Club" they should play pairs against us. We played together. There were two greens of bowlers. There was a boom box with old groovy music. Jean's first bowl was brilliant. "Might be the only one. " she said. Mal put three in. Jean had four. She said to Geoff "Don't you mess up my photo!" He did! But Mal fixed it! Mal was playing so well! There's another club Eventide that got kicked out of their clubhouse. They play here Tuesday and Friday. Michelle said we could park our van here. We'll stay Sunday to Tuesday and come and play with them. We were 11-all going into the last end. They scored one. Jean thought we were evenly matched although Graeme is left-handed but played right-handed due to surgery. We wouldn't want to play him when he's normal! We came inside for presentations. They have lots of prizes. They take photos of them all. At the end Michelle presented us with a gift. A shirt, stubby holders, pin, a cloth and fly stoppers. Brighton - Geoff was right, a very friendly club!

We came to Warwick on Tuesday on our way to Brisbane to get Jean's Thermomix repaired. We checked out Warwick Bowls Club - one of the three clubs here. The club was closed. The sign said it's only open two hours a day. Bowls is the 3rd Wednesday of the month that's tomorrow. The park next door is very pretty. Jean photographed the tiny little clubhouse through the glass. A nice photo of the official opening in 1913. Oldest club outside metropolitan Brisbane. We saw the nice Centenary memorabilia. There's an under cover area by the green. With memorial seats. There's a dedication of the opening of the current clubhouse. The club has one grass green. When we came back we met Pat, Carol (Secretary) and Little Faye in the office. Parking is hard to find. We had a chat to Barry about it. He said the club has 40 members. Inspector Russell Reynolds came to chat with Mal. He told us lots of history about Warwick, Brisbane and surrounding cities and towns. Four games were arranged. Two triples and two pairs. Mal played pairs and Jean played triples. It was Jean, Geoff and Ray Against Pat, Ken and Jim. Mal played with Faye Against Clark and Michael. The green was tough. It was so narrow on the clubhouse side. Jean had to bowl backhand at the jack. She got shot a long way away! Mal was doing well. Jean was over the moon to score a Toucher then Ray came and got one as well. The opposition was five shots up. Mal put one down with weight. He took the kitty for one! We came in half way for a lovely afternoon tea. We came out. Jean got the Skip's hat off for her Resting Toucher. Then she lost it 😞. Mal's team went down. Jean's team was down the whole game. Second-last end they got a five to make them even going into last end. They pulled a rabbit out of the hat with three beautiful shots and a win! We came inside and sat around the table. Mal's opponents won the donated KFC vouchers. Warwick gave us a good game.

We're on our way to Queensland. Our last stop in NSW is Bingara then we're headed over the border to Texas. BINGARA We stopped at Bingara Sports Club intending to roll up but it didn't quite work out that way. The club was closed. The bowling greens are across the road with a little shed. There's a nice dedication, a former President There are two grass greens. We photographed the front green. We had to park a distance away. The mat box was locked and we didn't fancy walking back to the car to get our bowls and floor mat. We decided photos were enough and headed for Texas! TEXAS Texas is a tiny town with a bowling green. A nice little clubhouse inside with a few regulars. There's a good covered seating area by the green. We had some spectators! Lou the bartender showed us where the mats and jacks were. We had a chat with Archie, Gerry, Dino and Dave. Vintage was also there. He claims to be a wino! Vintage introduced us to Dave the Games Director There's a nice grass green. The scoreboards are donated by local people and businesses. Jean took off. She was very happy with her bowl. The crowd roared! Then it was Mal's turn. Of course he had to try to do better! The spectators cheered the bowls more than they heckled! Then Jean drove Mal's two shots out and left the kitty. Woo hoos from the crowd! Not to be outdone...... After our rollup we talked for a while with Norm and Eddie. We enjoyed our time in Texas. Bingara and Texas - chalk and cheese!

We came to Barraba from Our rollup in Manilla. We were able to park our van there. We met Joy, Blue, Beryl and Peter (not bowlers) in the carpark. They showed us where to park our caravan. It's a pleasant little clubhouse. There was a band playing. Apparently there's music every second Sunday of the month. The 'Rugged Rustlers'. They were very good! The playing was fantastic! Beautiful music. A man named Johnny Grills joined the band. He was a good singer. There was another guy supporting them. There were two grass greens. We rolled up on the front green. Jean took off. She did OK on the grass. Mal took his turn. He did a little better. We were pretty close! Mal took the kitty into the ditch for Jean. We came back inside to listen to the great music. We got our photos with the musos - Johñy and Merv. Anthony Baxter the guitarist was very accommodating. He gave Mal a signed copy of his CD. Unfortunately we were asked to move our van. The caravan park across the road has some sort of arrangement. We're going to adopt their Farewell song as our bowls trip song. (Click to listen). Barraba Bowling Club - well woth the visit second Sunday of the month!

We dropped in to Manilla on our way to Barraba for a rollup. It's a nice small clubhouse. We met Jasmine the bartender who's been here three years. There's two synthetic greens - plastic. The old-fashioned shades were cute. We rolled up on the front one. Mal went first. He put one at the back and said "It's quick! About 15 seconds. " Jean took it easy. If Jean gets shot Mal has to do better! The green suited Jean though. Jean threw four bowls back so Mal could do a photo-worthybowl. He did a good one. A Toucher but knocked the kitty over to Jean. We had to get going to Barraba so just did a few ends - but we liked it! Manilla - a little visit but a nice one.

We arrived in Tamworth at 10:30 on Sunday. We had to get the caravan set up for our seven day stay quickly so we could get to South Tamworth to see our mates from Murrurundi play in the Sectionals. SUNDAY It's a pleasant-looking clubhouse. Everything is bowls themed. Even the pokies! It's known as South Bowlo. There are two nice grass greens. And a bowls shop! Jean put our names down for Wednesday. She messaged her nephew Matthew's wife Emma. Her parents Kathy and Tony play here. We're told they are good players and nice people. Jean's related by marriage but we've never met them. We arrived to the Sectionals in full swing. Murrurundi had just caught up after being down 11-1 against Bendemeer. The Murrurundi boys wanted Jean to take a photo of them. We're looking forward to coming back Wednesday for our game and to meet Emma's Mum Kathy. (Tony is 🎣 on the coast.) We decided instead to go to North Tamworth which only has bowls on Wednesday. Instead we put our names down for Friday. Kathy doesn't play on Friday so we dropped in after our Wednesday game to meet her. FRIDAY We came back Friday for our game at South Bowlo. We met Graham at the desk. We played on the far green. It's Green 2. It's 2-4-2 Pairs. We played together Against Terry and Richard. There were three triples and two pairs games. First end Jean put one in the ditch and one on the kitty. Jean was doing ok but's Mal's Fours were struggling with the super fast green. Jean met Des with his very cool South Bowlo wheelchair. Then Mal worked it out and we started to catch up. Jean did six wrong biases with her bowling arm so got a bit down on herself. She didn't want to play any more. Even so, she wasn't doing too bad. We lost but at least we hit double digits! We came inside for drinks. One of the guys suggested we give our trip map to Bowls Organiser Neville to put on their page. South Bowlo - a sad result but a good time overall.

We drove an extra ten minutes on Saturday - Pennant day - to Valentine Bowling Club so we could meet our old friend Neville Beeton with whom we played at Tuggeranong. We met Neville on the green when we arrived. Neville is, of course, Mal's ex-Father-in-Law. He was married to his Ex's mother. It's a gorgeous locale. A Marina on one side and a boating channel on the other. Neville introduced us to Rob Gray the President. It's a nice spacious clubhouse. Mal wanted Jean to take a photo of him with the bus. We arrived too late to get a rollup - everyone was rolling up for Pennants. They called the cards (with Manly defeating Parramatta playing in the background just for Mal!). Four teams here today: Valentine vs East Maitland (The Griffins - a Griffin on the shirt), Swansea, And Soldiers Point. There are two plastic synthetic greens. We asked Rob if we could roll up on the carpark green but it was a no go. Jean was very happy to see a green dedicated to a woman, well, a couple! Neville was skipping The Fours. Mal said "Yes. At our club they used to say 'Neville Beeton can never be Beaten!'" Jean said "Has Neville done a good bowl yet?". Mal replied "No but it's early days yet!" Next end Neville's pink bowls knocked out their shot for one. We stayed a couple of hours but had to get back to feed Jerome. Valentine was up on all three games when we left. We said goodbye to Neville after he played his best bowl of the game. Great to see an old friend at Valentine.