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When we arrived yesterday we drove to four clubs to find out about social bowls and put our names down. We went to Benowa, Nerang, Gold Coast and Mermaid Beach. Today we play at Mermaid Beach. We met Glenda and Harry at the desk. The inside of the club is nice - long and thin. They have their Pennants framed on the wall. There's a bowls shop. Mal bought some spray. We played on the front green. Mermaid Beach shirts have Parramatta colours so Mal had to spend the pension on a shirt. He said "Look, it has an 'M' for Mal!" It's triples. Two games of eleven ends. Jean played lead with Mal and Laurie. They tossed a coin as to who would skip. Mal skipped. (Laurie, Mal and Jean) We played against Brian, Peter and Bruce. The 48 players played on two greens - eight rinks - four on each green. First end Jean and Laurie's yellow bowls had it worked out for five. Peter came in and cut it to two. I asked Bruce "what' was "Live in Queensland " from the shirts. He said "That's a good question!" One of the ladies said "It's the shirt you get when you volunteer at The Australian Open." The club has a few of them. The green got tougher. It was quick and Jean's bowls went horizontal again. She switched to backhand with a little more success. We were down a few. With four ends to go. Mal was narrow a lot but saved the day. He got one. His magic shots did us proud. Brian with his brown bowls just kept out-drawing us. We drew 11 all and won on ends - 6 to 5 and went to play winners Darryl, Steve and Cheryl. Darryl and Cheryl are here on holiday from Napier NZ. They are indoor bowls champions. It showed! You wouldn't believe it, we drew that game as well and won six ends to five! Exactly the same result! Hard to win the money with a zero margin! Here is the logo: Let's bowl with the mermaids!

When we arrived in Ipswich on Tuesday, we drove around to all the clubs. North Ipswich was closed but we saw a bloke in there and knocked on the door. He gave us a bit of history and information about bowls in Ipswich. He let us in to put our names down and Mal rang Neil to find out what time. They are the North Ipswich Steamers. Denise told Jean there was a railway workshop nearby and the workers started it as a Railway Bowls Club. They've kept the train. They had their 50th anniversary on 2005. We met Dudley in the office. Des and Gloria introduced themselves. Des was the organiser. Russell sold Mal some raffle tickets. The clubhouse is nice. Chair (John McLeod) came over for a chat. He told us he was the first player signed to the Canberra Raiders. He also played for Wests. We had a lovely chat about his footy days. There are two nice grass greens. We played on the lower green, It's the RC Weatherhog Green. Jean was very pleased to see Labor Members as sponsors. They are rare in Queensland which is one reason Jean doesn't want to live here. There's a nice little trolley for bits and pieces. We played triples - two games of twelve ends. Jean was lead for Mal as skip with Dudley. (Jean, Mal and Dudley) For the first game against Skip Tom, Rhonda and Denise, who is John McLeod's wife.. (Rhonda, Denise and Tom) Jean put down some good bowls. End 5 she took kitty with her third bowl for shot. Mal bowled beautifully with his new XGs. So many times he got us out of trouble. Dudley also bowled very well. Someone said before the game "Dudley's a great skip!" Jean said "Well if he's a good skip, he'll be a great second." They said "He's also a number one lead!" His blue bowls were always in the head. Tenth end Jean put in three beauties. Mal was happy. Second last end it was 12 to 2 our way. Dudley and Mal did it again for four. We came in at half time for a cuppa and bickies. Jean told Rhonda she played yesterday with Rhonda Harris. She told Jean there are three Rhondas who play together from North Ipswich, Ipswich and United (East Ipswich). That one is Rhondda double D. Second game winners played winners so we played Keith, Ken and Rod. Second end Jean took kitty then Mal consolidated It was a tougher game. Score was even. We kept getting one or two then Keith would come in and pinch shot. We went down five with three ends to go. That was the death knell. We went down 15 to 8. Even so, we got the money for 1st game winners. North Ipswich - chugged along to start but the train got away from us.

We went to East Ipswich (United Sports) when we arrived on Tuesday and got our names down for 12:30 Saturday . Rhonda from North Ipswich told Jean the club has been bought out by a parent club that doesn't care about the bowlers. The have sold off some greens. They are building units. In the carpark we met Gaetan from Mauritius. The club was buzzing. It seemed like a real workers' club which Jean loved. At the desk we met Bob and Steve, who is the new club President as of Today. (Bob, Gaetan and Steve) The club has one and three-quarters of a green. They had to shorten it for corporate bowlers. It used to be a services Club. There's a memorial. They play fours on Saturday to practise for Pennants, which starts in June. Jean played lead with Dave, Merve and skip Andy. (Jean, Andy, Dave and Merve) Against Ken, Bob, John and Bev. Mal played second with for skip Gonzo with Craige and Dutchy Against Alan, Boomer, Greg and P Woodward. Jean played on the lower green, Mal on the upper. It was a fast green. To start with Jean was nowhere near it. The boys measured nearly every end. Jean went and checked out Mal's game. The boys declared "He's been a foot away all game!" He bowled one closer but they were two down. He played weight and knocked up his team's bowl for shot. Jean finally got one in the head for two! It was a tight game. We came in at half time for drinks. Ken and the boys are members of 'The United Barflies'. They told Jean the purpose is to consume as much alcohol as possible and play a few ends along the way. Jean was ecstatic when we went back out and she finally drew a good one. The skips called her down to take a photo "Before someone stuffs it up on you!" Mal continued to bowl well with shot. He said "I love the way they joke and niggle each other." Jean's team lost the plot towards the end and went down. Last end Mal did his team proud. They said "Come on Gunner!" "The visitor read our rinks really well. " They won 18 to 10. Mal chatted with Greg Riley who asked us to remember him to Andrew Howie when we get to Broadbeach. He told Mal he'll send him a Barflies shirt. United - most fun we've had at Ipswich.

When we arrived in Ipswich yesterday we drove around the four clubs to put our names down. There were a couple of workers in high vis in the Ipswich club. They told us it's closed but let us in to write our names down. Ipswich didn't have a list for Wednesday. We found out that Swifts club building was condemned so the greens are now fallow. Ipswich had another list up so we wrote a message. We got a call at 7am to get our names down and find out they have morning tea 8:30 and bowl at 9. We arrived 8:30 and met Chris, Sue, Lee and Julie in the office. They told us it's three-bowl triples. After paying $15 on The Sunshine Coast we were ecstatic to pay just $10 and discovered we get lunch as well. Pauline at the bar let Mal get some money out. We went upstairs before the game for morning tea. Mal struck up a conversation with Charlie whose name is actually Des. Jean joined them then Sylvia and Kay saw us sitting alone and came to Join us. Sylvia is an office holder and Kay is the coach. Sylvia told us the Club 113 years old. The club has an impressive array of past Presidents. They are all volunteers except the greenkeeper. It has some aged features. And, what Mal called, 'all-weather steps'. The President welcomed us and wished us safe travels. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. They kept coming up to say hi. There are two nice grass greens. We played on the lower green. It's the BWE Duce Green. He's a past President. There were enough players to fill two greens which was nice for a change. Jean played lead for Michael and skip Rhonda. (Michael, Rhonda and Jean) Against Pauline, Robyn and Ray (Robyn, Pauline and Ray) Mal played second for skip Anita with Ann. (Ann, Anita and Mal) Against Al, Fred and Val There was no wind, so the line was pretty true. Jean liked the grass and bowled ok. Luckily Michael bowled better. Robyn, Jean's opposing lead, has only been bowling since February. She put down some great bowls. Jean usually pipped her but she did really well. Ray told Jean he's going to play at Chinchilla. Jean told him about the Cactoblasters. Mal seemed to be having fun with his lot - joking around. It was 11 all on end 12 and Mal got shot. He kept it. It was 15 to 12 Mal's way. His skip Anita took the kitty back for 5. We played 18 ends. Both our teams won. Jean's by ten, Mal's by 6. Then we came upstairs for lunch. It was a nice ham and salad roll with a teacake They have a lovely draw - 5c a ticket. Jean won two things. As we were leaving Al said to Mal "You will win more than you lose. You are a great bowler!" Ipswich - nice people, nice food nice bowls!

Jean's sister Alison will cook us a baked dinner tonight so we're staying one night at Golden Beach. We rang a few days ago to get our names down for Pelican Waters on Monday but were told it's full. We put our names on the reserve list. We got a call as we were leaving Maleny this morning to say we have a game as a few people pulled out. The club's a few hundred metres from the caravan park but Alison dropped us off from her house. We arrived and Ian showed us where to go. Mal left his wallet in our car so Jean paid our money to Carol and Stan the Man in the Games Office. Jean sat with the ladies. (Georgina, Rosalie, Annie and Kaye) The Pelican is on the shirts And everywhere. It's pairs. We played together. Mal liked the club shirt and wanted to buy one. We played against skip Ron and Bill. We had all blue bowls but Jean's red ones. The club has two synthetic greens. It's that carpet Jean likes. We played on the far green. It's the Syd Lingard Green. It must be the same fellow named at Headland Pacific. Both greens were full. It was pretty quick. Jean was short but got it first end. It took us a while to get the weight but we worked it out half way. Alison came to watch the last few ends. In the beginning it was 7 zip. On the last end we needed 7 to win (had six bowls) they got one. We came inside for a rousing welcome. Pelican Waters - a good pair beat us.

We're going to Jean's sister Alison's place for a baked dinner Monday night. We tried to get a game at Pelican Waters that day but names have to be in week before. We decided instead to play Scroungers at Caloundra on Sunday afternoon. It rained heavily all the way there from Maleny. We rang to make sure it was still on. They said it's been raining on and off but it's not called off. We kept driving. We arrived just after 1:30 for a 2:30 start. Some bowlers were already there. (Mary, Pip and the bowlers) Mal gave our Money to Mary. She and Pip explained how it works. They gave us a minus 8 handicap. It's what you do to visitors who don't know the green. Make sure they can't win. (Mal, Mary and Pip) It was a quite busy Mother's Day at the club. There was a singer. The game is Scroungers with two games of four players - 3-bowl. Mal played against Barb, Sheila and Leonie. (Barb, Mal, Leonie and Sheila) Jean played against Pip, Robbo and Horst. (Jean, Robbo, Horst and Pip) Yobbo had an interesting approach to how to treat visitors. He had a go at Jean because she was working on her blog and didn't kick bowls back first end. "It's poor etiquette!" He said. Jean thought " Yes. I know those kinds of people." It put Jean in a bad mood. She was nowhere near the head plus lost 3 with a wrong bias. Mal did better. He seemed to have the mat a lot. Last end Jean rolled a short end. She got a full count until Horst took the kitty for second. Neither of us won. Mal said if he was on scratch he would have. It took us both 3/4 of the game to work out the green. Mal said his opponents were funny so at least he had fun. Caloundra - rude people take the fun out of the game.

When we were In Maleny yesterday Joseph told us we could get a Saturday game at Mapleton. Jean got on Messenger and talked with Mark. Mal rang and spoke to Ed to get our names down for 12:30. We met Ed at the bar. Then Mark came and introduced himself. Jean sat and chatted with Ros. She's from Canberra. She lived in Farrer. The club has one grass green. When we arrived the paid greenkeeper was rolling it. They have fixed scoreboards. The clubhouse is nice and cosy. There were six teams, four pairs and two triples. Pairs played each other and swapped after one game. Triples played each other both games. Jean played with Jeff. Against Martin and Ray. Mal played with Sandra. Against Martin and Graham. We loved Martins moustache! Jean liked the Pennants the club has won. Even though it rained the whole time we played, Jean and Jeff played well. Jean wasn't that close but often it was enough. Jeff and Mal both won so we played each other. It was spouses against spouses. Jeff and Jean kept getting shot and Mal kept taking it from us. Mal and Sandra were going up by ones. Jeff and Jean got zip. Jean thought they'd have to do a nudie run. Then Jeff and Jean got a shot then a multiple and got a bit of confidence. Mal said "The turning point was when you got that 3-bowl wick shot!" Jean was shocked when she asked Jeff the result. Jean and Jeff won 12 to 5. We came inside for drinks and results. (Mal, Jeff, Sandra and Jean) The winners had 30 shots. We didn't care - we had a lovely time. To top it off, one of the ladies gave Jean some chocolates for being a visitor. Mapleton - rain, rain, rain but fun!

We arrived at Maleny Friday morning from Maroochydore. Mal had rung Thursday to discover they play bowls today. When we arrived Joseph welcomed us and told us about other clubs we can play at in the area. We're told he's having heart surgery next week so we wish him well. Mal paid the money to Brett at the bar. Mal bought two badges. Brett told him they had 70 of them. They had a group of American tourists come and the bought the lot. They ordered 200 so they have heaps now. Brett said the local Publican in the 30s had a rink in the yard. He owned all the land and eventually built a couple of greens next door. The bowls club grew and the Publican gave them a 100-year lease. They ended up owning the land in 1955 for very little money. The publican's descendants are still involved with the club. The club has one synthetic green. It's the WHR Burnett Green - named after the Publican. The green is kind of plastic. We haven't played on that surface before. There's a nice memorial in the garden. Then Jean met Alan the Games Director. He said the club just spent $6,000 to refurbish the green. The game is Scroungers. Three games with three people who play with four bowls and Jean's group of four played with thrèe bowls. We score closest 3 then 2 and 1. Brett told Jean if anyone scores a full count they get a chocolate. Mal played against Ben and Les. (Les, Ben and Mal) Jean had Kay, Rob and Brett. (Brett, Kay, Rob and Jean) The radio station played 70's music in the background. It was great. Jean couldn't work out the weight. She said "It feels weird!" Mal did a little better. He scored three many times. The game was very relaxed and friendly. Jean got excited because she thought she had shot and a 3. Alas it was Brett. Mal got second and third. He said he loved playing with his new XGs. He said "A few times I had muscle memory of my Aero Optimas and missed the shot." Jean finally got shot. She rolled her short end. She got shot but, as usual Brett took it. She said if he did it again she'd swear at him. Jean got the mat again she thought she was going to get a chocolate but Rob snuck in. Gay stepped out because her knee was bothering her. Jean came third! Mal won. He said to Jean " I can bowl you know!" Brett told Jean the club celebrated its 85th birthday last year. They got out some old photos. They came inside for drinks. They have a draw. Everyone who plays gets a ticket. Jean got asked to draw. She said she gets asked everywhere she goes. She suggested Mal do it. He tried to pull his number '5'but pulled Jeans. Jean won $50 at the local brewery and restaurant. Dinner sorted! Mal won the day with 47. He got a bottle of wine. We went to Brouhaha to spend our winnings. We met some bowlers who were there to run the raffle for the club. (Don, Ben, Margaret and Mal) They were such lovely, friendly people. We will miss them! Maleny - We Scrounged out a win.

Someone from the club told Jean Nambour Bowls Club plays Bowls Wednesday afternoon. We couldn't get anyone to answer the phone on Monday and Tuesday. Mal rang at 11 but was told they have already done the draw so we couldn't get a game. John said he'd look after us for a rollup. It was Lara and Ararat all over. There's no way to contact the club beforehand to get our names down because nobody is home! Jean was told one could leave a message but the phone just rang out. We arrive early but can't get a game. We suspect no visitors ever come here. We arrived at 11:30 for our rollup to meet John. (John and Mal) John told us they were going to roll the green first for their game so we went inside for a drink. Jean bought a badge for $2. We sat and chatted with Slatts. He and Mal told each other their golf stories. The club has two nice-looking grass greens. The Croquet Club is next door. Jean loved the display of Pennants. There were no roses (too hot) but nice yellow flowers. They were playing a social game - we couldn't join them - but we rolled up next door. Mal got his new XGs out. First rollup with them. Jean took first blood with three Then Mal got a one. Then he remembered how to bowl with XGs. It was quicker than we thought, then Jean worked it out - "Less backswing!" Jean practised driving without much success. Jean gave up - Mal went up and back. Nambour Bowls Club - no visitors welcome here!

We popped in to Mooloolaba the other day, when we went to visit Erin Redfern, to put our names down For Friday. Mal got a call to say they were full. We put out names down for Tuesday 8:30. We arrived at 8am to meet Errol and Trevor at the table. There were already lots of people there. The club has two nice-looking synthetic greens under cover. And an old grass green out the front. We played on the right hand green. It's that flat carpet a bit like Weston Creek (only better quality). It's just as quick - 21 seconds! There are nice memorials on the seats. The game was pairs - 2-4-2. We played together against Grahame and Rick. (Mal, Grahame and Rick) It was tough to start with but we worked it out. Jean then bowled out a metre past the next rink number, just missed the neighbouring head, and took kitty off the T for shot. It was 7 all on the 9th end (of 12). Mal bowled a sticky first bowl to give us one. Then he put another on it. Next end Jean got two then Rick took second then Mal took it back for two. Last end Mal put down two beauties. We won by one. We went inside for tea and bickies. Jean had to put money in the wrong bias tin. These places with expensive green covers have to grab their money back somehow we guess. Gail came and introduced herself. She lived in Canberra 38 years and played hockey with bowler Lois Walters. Our second game we played Peter and Mark. They are good bowlers here to get a feel for the green for a championship. We got three. Jean had to take a photo before we lost them! We got a seven then they got a five. Jean and Mark had a great chat about the downfalls of the new rules and bad behaviour like that of the Tuggeranong Women's Bowling Club. We were five down and Jean drew shot. Mal said "Have to get a photo of that!" Three drives later we went down two. The final score was 30 to ten - not us! But we had a ball! We came inside to commiserate and talk about the lack of a narrow hand. While we were playing Jean told Grahame about when we got our bowls stolen and how much Mal misses his XGs. He said "Why don't you trade them in?" Jean asked where he'd do that Grahame said "Here. See Paul at Bowlers Paradise!" Jean went in and did a big sell job about size 5 with Parramatta logo. We got a set of XGs for $335 with trade in. (Paul Bowlers Paradise) Mal cried with sadness over the loss of his Eels logo then cried with happiness that he now has XGs. Mooloolaba- they tested us, we came to the party but they were too good for us.

When we were at Club Maroochy the other day we put our names down for Monday 2pm. We arrived nice and early. The other day we were impressed with their three nice grass greens that the State Fours were played on. In the office we met Col, Carolyn and Dan. (Carolyn, Dan and Col) We played on the front green By the deck but there were people playing on all three greens. The club is smallish but has pokies so doesn't have that nice little bowling club feel. The game was 2-4-2 pairs. We played together. It was purple day. Clubs around here seem to like uniforms so Jean wore Mal's Geelong City shirt for the right colour. Glenn, who is visiting from Brisbane took our photo so we took his with his dog Ralph. We sat on the deck for a drink while we waited. Mal read Ian Smith's email which said all Tuggeranong Pennant grades bar the Ones got into the semis. He was happy. He really misses playing with them. Brian and Jo came and sat with us and we talked about our pussy-cats. We played against Peter and Anne. We just couldn't get the weight. Jean took to driving all she did was cut them down. After six ends it was 1 to 15. Jean finally got two but they didn't last. Suddenly Mal got two and we were off. We'd worked out the weight. And again. We lost by fifteen but we thought we were going to get a nice, thick coat of clear paint! We didn't embarrass ourselves. They were good bowlers and we took too long to work it out. We came inside for drinks. Col welcomed us. We had a good chat. Club Maroochy - we almost got shellacked!

We're trying to get a game every day while on the Sunshine Coast. We saw that Nambour Heights has Barefoot Bowls on Sunday arvo. We don't really like that but a game is better than a rollup! The club, (known as 'The Heights ') has one nice-looking, unnamed grass green. We arrived at 2:30 for 3pm. There were only a few people there. We met Brett at the table. There was a nice outdoor area adjacent to the clubhouse. Someone from the club told Jean on Messenger Sunday afternoon is known as 'Mikey's Chook Run'. Brett asked Jean about our trip. He said "You'll like Nambour Heights!" Mal sat and chatted with Peter for a while. It was all pretty relaxed. They all seemed like friends The scoreboards are donated. There were two games. One triples and Mal and I played each other as skips in a game of fours. It was just twelve ends. Jean's team was Garry, Pete and Kev. (Jean, Pete, Garry and Kev) Mal's was Sheryl, Geordie and Gayle. Brett replaced Gayle later in the game. (Sheryl, Geordie, Mal and Gayle) The music was fantastic. 70s rock! They allow drinks on the green which is unusual. There seemed to be more onlookers than players. Lots of heckling. Jean and her team played particularly well. If the team was down Jean would come in and take shot. She enjoyed playing skip for a change. Mal on the other hand couldn't work out the green. A nice change for Jean. Jean's team won by thirteen. We came inside for drinks and raffles. Jean's team had a plus 13 which would usually be enough to win a chook but were pipped by the triples at 16. Brett introduced us. They gave us some stubby holders to remember our visit to Nambour Heights. Lucky, because the skip had to wear the Cock Hat (for the top cock). Nambour Heights - hugs and kisses all around!