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We're in Hervey Bay for Mal's family reunion. Yesterday we drove by Pialba Bowls Club. We tried to ring Thursday but no answer. Jean suggested Mal ring 8am Friday to see if there's morning bowls. We got our names down for 9am. When we arrived we met Karen and Garry (Gaz & Kaz) who used to live in Banks where Mal lived. Their kids still live in Tuggeranong. Gary gave Mal a cap. He said everything at the club is done by volunteers - except for the paid greenkeeper. Then Jean met Sandra and Ian at the bar. They have two nice grass greens - they say best in the region. They have nice club shirts. We played in front of the clubhouse on the Jack Kramer Green. It was nominated pairs so we got to play together. We had a full green of people for pairs. We played against Garry and Frank who we'd met earlier. We both worked out grass and weight pretty early. It was quite quick. They had great American country rock playing in the background. Then Aussie rock. Was cool. We often had all the back bowls. Mal tried to use them - to no avail. Jean took refuge from the sun on the beautiful wooden seats which Frank said cost $350 each - Donated by members. Jean captured Damon having a rest. They had brilliant clear blue sky. It made Jean a little homesick for Canberra. Mal did his best but Garry and Frank were good. It was tough! They got seven up - we pared them back - then seven up again. After being down the whole game we got one and one and one. We'd have shots and Garry's Orange bowls took them off us. We drew four on the last end to draw. Jean said "If nothing else I've had a lovely time chatting with Frank." Frank used to do maintenance in the club. He organises Friday morning. He told Jean he was on the trains for 30 years. (Frank and Mal) We came inside for drinks. They have a nice welcome sign on the wall. There is nice artwork of fish, A Parrot, Landscape And a bird. There's also a funny cartoon. The club has a lovely feel. We had fun. A nice draw for a change at Pialba.

Jean's been communicating for weeks with Selina from Mundubbera Bowls Club. Selina said we can leave our caravan at the club with power and water for two days. We are over the moon about that. We were to rush there on Tuesday morning for bowls but Selina told us they have a wake at the club that day so have moved the social to Wednesday. Selina put our names down. Selina is a gun bowler. She's won many state singles championships. She does all the jobs at the club: President, match, cook, cleaner, marketing etc. (Selina and Mal) When we arrived on Tuesday we had a great chat with Barry and Ann at the bar. We came in about 8:45 on Wednesday for our game. First people we met were Libby and Sue Lederhose who is a local artist. (Libby and Sue) Sue looks like a great artist. Her artwork adorns the club walls. It's an eclectic mix. Then we met Barry who says he is greenkeeper/slave. The club has one grass green. It seems well kept. It's a nice little clubhouse - cosy. It has a weir just behind. It has a nice old clock. Donated by members. The club has two Barrys: Barry One-foot and Barry Two-foot. Barry One-foot lost his foot in a bad motorcycle accident years ago. To pick the team's players choose a bottle cap. There were fourteen people so we had two games of pairs and one triples. Mal played 2-4-2 with Finn against Barry and Alan. (Barry, Mal, Alan and Finn). Jean played lead for Beryl with Barry (Beryl, Jean and Barry) against Christine, Sue and Selina. (Christine, Selina and Sue) Jean often started with shot but was a bit wide. Didn't last long, Sue and Selina (and Barry) were too good. She got one that lasted to the skips' bowls. Kept it. Barry tried Jean's two-backswing approach with his purple bowls and it worked. He might take it on. On the last end Selina's team had shot. On the changeover Beryl said to Sue "You need ten to beat us!" Mal played the greenkeeper Barry who Mal says was "Dead-eye Dick". Mal said he tried to follow Barry's line. Barry worked that out and put bowls in front. Mal said for his partner Finn, it was only his tenth game. He bowled well. Mal said Alan was unsteady as he bowled. Barry told him to put his hand on his knee. After that he nailed it. Mal said "They beat us by a lot!" After the game we all sat around in a group for drinks. The club members all seem like friends - they know each others' business - in a good way! They are like one big family. Selina told us the Club flooded Australia Day 2013. Tradie members from Ferny Grove Bowls Club in Brisbane came and helped them clean up an rebuild. They were able to open up October that year. They have a big carnival every year attended by many clubs. It's already full for next year! Mundubbera - nothing can wash away the enthusiasm here!

We arrived in Chinchilla from Goondiwindi about midday. We set up the van, did the washing and hung it out then followed the instructions from Wazza in reception to the Chinchilla Bowls Club. When we arrived we met Julie who used to be the club Secretary. Julie was a font of information about Chinchilla and the club. She got us a mat and jacks for our rollup. There were some folks on the green when we got there. Jean asked Julie if it was a final. She said "No, just social bowls." Jean queried this because the sign didn't say social on a Monday. Julie said "We play every public holiday." Good to know! Julie introduced us to Annette (who works at our caravan park) and Barry. We told them all about our trip and discussed our heading to Hervey Bay. (Julie, Annette and Barry) Julie's husband Peter left the game and came over and introduced himself. The club has two nice grass greens. We played on the one out the back. It's the Norman Emmerson Green. It has a fancy sign which was donated by past Presidents of Condamine Bowls. It has cute little flags at each corner. We really liked the scoreboards. Jean quizzed Julie about the 'Cactoblasters'. Julie explained that it comes from the Cactoblastus moth which got rid of the prickly pear infestation decades ago .She explained that when they went away to events they liked that other teams had names and nice shirts. The club wanted that. They thought about the Watermelons, because Chinchilla is the watermelon capital of Australia - they didn't like that idea. Julie said what about an insect - the Cactoblaster. She found a design and they put it on their shirt. Now they are the Cactoblasters! The green was really fast. We did OK, we had some tight heads but a few went in the ditch. Jean mostly kept Mal to one shot. Julie took video of Jean's best end. Chinchilla - we had a (cacto) blast!

Goondiwindi (pronounced "Gundawindy or Gundy") is our first Qld town on our way to Hervey Bay for Mal's family reunion. Yesterday we drove to find out where the Goondiwindi Bowling and Croquet Club is located. It's easy to find. Just off to the left at the bottom of the main drag. Jean had been in touch with Maree, the Manager on Messenger many months ago to find out when they have social bowls. She arranged the trip so we could be here on a social bowls day. Maree put our names down for today. We arrived really early. Jean asked Maree about the MacIntyre River - her river - which flows behind the club. She gave us some instructions and we went down. The club has one grass green looked after by volunteers. It's nice but when we came yesterday it was covered with storm debris. It's a cute club with a friendly bar. There are heaps of great old photos: There's one of the original clubhouse. We met Greg who owns Foodworks. His shop got broken into last night. Shame, it's a nice shop - local produce. All the bowlers hung out for a drink beforehand. Maree said she'd wait until everyone gets here to decide the format but it's two games of ten ends with a small break in the middle. There were 18 so we played three-bowl triples. Mal played skip with lead Jean and Chris from Southport Gold Coast. (Mal, Jean and Chris) We played against Jill, Gary and Charles. Jeff showed Jean his bowls shirt with the racehorses. She said "I remember Gunsynd - The Goondiwindi Grey!" There is an old fallow bowling green next door. Jill said there are only a few Croquet players. When they play, which is not often, they do it on the bowling green. The green started really slow. Hard to get the weight. We got a seven. Their faces dropped. Mal was having so much fun. When they had shot he'd take the kitty. The club had such a nice, relaxed atmosphere. It's the people. Friendly and welcoming. Four ends to go and we got a six. Jean said to Chris when we go to Southport we'll play triples together. She agreed enthusiastically. Then they got a six which made it 24 to 14 with two to go. They got a four to put them six behind going into the last end. It finished 24 to 19. They scored eleven shots in two ends. With that effort they should have won. Steve called the results. The winners had plus 16 so we didn't win the Easter chocolates. Get relaxed at Gundy!

It's Good Friday and we arrived in Collarenebri at 10am. Checked out the bowling club. It's closed. We decided, out of respect, not to roll up here. It's a cute little club. The website says it's open 7 days - that is except Good Friday and Christmas. It has one grass green. In a tiny town of 650 people one wouldn't expect it to be so nice. Shame we couldn't roll up on it. Apparently Collarenebri is the home of the Cod. We liked the flags - including the Indigenous flag. Because we didn't have a rollup we decided to check out the Tattersal's Pub. There's no caravan park so we are in an RV area with no power and water. We needed to find out if we can get food there tonight. We can. We enjoyed a drink at the bar - an unusual experience. Collarenebri - lovely little club and pub.

Our second stop on our trek to Hervey Bay is Bourke. We went for a rollup and were surprised by the facilities. We went to the front desk and told the guy there about our trip and said we wanted a rollup. He got a mat and a jack for us, we said we wanted two jacks. He said he'd have to go out the back and get one. We said OK, we had to go and get our bowls bags. We looked at the nice fountain on the way out. The club has two nice greens. One is grass, one is synthetic. We met Ernie the synthetic green installer. He's just installed the new synthetic green. No club members have bowled on it yet. He said it was ready but we agreed the club President would likely be annoyed if the first people to bowl on it were visitors. We decided to roll up on the grass. It had lots of ant holes on it. Mal was warned that, because it's Jean's 61st birthday - he's not allowed to take out her bowls! Jean went back inside to get the mat and jacks. Mal waited patiently. She came out with a wide grin on her face. "Mal, they gave me a birthday present!" Mal got a non-birthday present. A nice new bowls cloth. We loved the Bourke Bowling Club jack. The club house is quite big and modern. Jean recalled from her uni Sports Psychology course that when one practices, one should have a purpose. Jean decided today that she would practice taking Mal's bowls out. At first she didn't have any success. Then she got a couple. At one point Mal was on the jack and Jean played weight. She put the kitty in the ditch. A woman walking by called "Great bowl there!" That bucked Jean up. Mal started to give her some instruction on how to play weight. It didn't help much! Still, she feels a little bit more confident now. Bourke Bowling Club - nice birthday present for Jean.

Today is the first day of our trek to Hervey Bay for Mal's family reunion on 14th April. From here on in we stay only a day or two in places. Today it's Cobar NSW. We stopped in at the bowling club for a rollup. As we arrived there were three blokes sitting having a smoke, a beer and a chat. They were Greg, Gary and Mick. Jean asked if they were bowlers, they were. She told them about our trip and that we were there for a rollup. They showed us the mats and Jacks and wished us a good time. Mal came up and started to chat with Greg about Malua Bay on the NSW south coast - he's from there and told us we must go and see the new club. Of course Mal used to live in The Bay so he knows it well. Greg showed us photos of when the Malua Bay Bowling Club burnt down. The club has two nice grass greens. We rolled on the one by the carpark. It's the Jimmy Bruce Green. We were pleased to see scoreboards - we haven't seen them at any club in Victoria. Mal was hanging for a roll. It's been a few days now, Jean has forgotten how to bowl! Mal kept getting shot or taking Jean out. The grass was very nice to roll on. It looked good. We were impressed that a club in The Outback would have such nice greens - especially in a Golf club. A nice change from the synthetics we've had in Victoria. Mal got four shots. Jean tried to take them out but to no avail. As we were leaving we met the GM Jason who seemed interested. The boys must have told him about our trip. He asked how we liked the green - we gave him a good report. The boys asked how we went. Mal grinned "I won!". Jean said "As if that's going in the blog!" Cobar - nice greens for an outback town!

We drove up to Broken Hill from Mildura this morning. We were very excited to see the Outback. While Mal set up the caravan, Jean drove around town to the two bowling clubs. She put our names down at North Broken Hill Bowling Club. When we arrived we met Ron and Bill at the table who organised the game. They introduced us to Charlie the licensee at the bar. Then we sat down and had a big discussion about the the new bowls laws with Peter and Barry. It's a nice little club. It's quaint inside with a pool table at the back. Ron and Bill welcomed us as visitors and called the cards. We went outside. We saw the scrub out the back. The club is on a mining lease so the neighbour is a mine. The club has two greens - one grass and one carpet. The carpet has a roll-over cover. We played on the carpet. They pulled the cover over. It wasn't too hot but it was lovely and cool under the shade. It was three-bowl triples two games of ten ends. There were four rinks. The green is the same lovely carpet as Coomealla. Easy to bowl on. Jean played lead with Bob and skip Dustin (Bob, Dustin and Jean) against Tony, Brian and Alan. Jean thought it was all pretty blokey. They were loud and ribbed each other constantly - though she thought it was friendly. A lot of the members we spoke with are former miners. The club is sponsored by a pharmacy. It was tough at first to get the weight. It was about 16 seconds. Just let the bowl fall out of the hand. Jean's team had all red bowls. They got two in the first end then lost two threes. Then they got a six. Jean's bowls went all over the place. No idea of grass or weight. Dustin's team lost by heaps. Second game they played against Gags, Dennis and Ray. All the bowls were red. The mats were interesting, locally made. Dustin's team won the first two ends. Jean started to work out the grass and weight and they began to score some shots. Last end it was even. The opposition scored two for a win. Mal played with Ray and Lloyd. He doesn't remember the names of the people he played against. He isn't sure of whom he took photos. (Ray, Mal and Lloyd) Mal struggled with grass. He was far from the star of the show. Nevertheless, at one point the team got six shots. Later they had four, then the opposition came and stole shot. They won their first game by eight shots. Second game Mal's lead Ray had a bad back so another Ray came in as a replacement. He doesn't remember the names of people he played, nor did he get a photo. but they won by two. Mal's skip Lloyd put down awesome shots when they were needed. A local artist Wayne Williams bowls at the club. He was here today. We might go and check out his gallery. They gave us a cloth to remember them by. North Broken Hill - those miners can bowl!

After our success at Mildura yesterday we were chomping at the bit to play at Workers next door. The club has two nice greens. When we arrived we talked briefly with Ron, who used to live in Melba Canberra and Wayne. They were sitting in the makeshift outdoor smoking area. We went and paid our green fees to Mick and Peter in the office. Then we sat down for a chat with Jim and Graeme. (Mal, Jim, Sylvia, Shirley and Graeme.) The clubhouse is nice and has a welcoming feel. We saw a nice hand-made wooden trophy - it seems for Barefoot Bowls. The club has a great photo on the wall of the 100th anniversary of the steamer Melbourne. Mal introduced himself to President Col Gowers at the bar. We went out to play two games of twelve ends - two-bowl triples. There were six teams. We played on B-Green - furthest from the clubhouse. It's a nice grass green - one of two. It was quick. First game was Geoff, Mal and Graeme against Ross, Jean and skip Jim (Jim, Jean and Ross) Mal and Jean were second against second. A good competition. Mal took shot first end. Ross had a unique delivery style with his stick and walker. Jean's (Jim's) team did well, scoring twos and threes. Jim;s black bowls saved the team's bacon or built the count many times. Peter heckled Jean about her constant note and photo taking on her phone and her bright orange socks. Jim's team finished with a four, a five and a three to win 22 to 8. Second game Jean played Peter, and Mike and Sylvia from Renmark. (Mike, Sylvia and Peter) Jim's team did the same - got threes and won 14 to 10. Mal played David, Robert and Longy. (Mal, David, Longy and Robert) He lost 20 to six. David said "We had lots of laughs anyway!" We came inside for drinks with the boys. The overall result was that Jim's team tied on 58 points. After a count back on ends they won 18 to 15. Jean got our $20 green fees back. As we left Jean walked down to look at the Murray. She said "I feel really Australian being here!" Mildura Workers - bowls by our river.

We drove around when we arrived on Wednesday to find out when clubs play social bowls. We got our names down for Irymple, Workers tomorrow and this morning 9am at Mildura Bowling Club . Were used to sleeping in now so we had to put two alarms on. The two clubs (Mildur and Workers) are side by side. Never seen that before. We were told yesterday that all four greens used to belong to Mildura but they got too much to maintain. When Workers lost their club, Mildura offered them two greens. It's nice. We arrived and met Judy and Wally in the office who organise Tuesday bowls. Then Jean sat for a chat with Chris from Leopold in Geelong. She comes up here this time every year. Wally introduced us and told us the format. is 2-4-2 pairs - two games of ten ends. We played together. There were three women, Chris, Judy and Jean with thirteen blokes. We played on the top green A. against Werner and Graeme. There were little centipedes all over the green. Despite this it was nice to bowl on. Heavy in the dew. It was really hard to get the weight. As the sun came up it got very muggy. We were glad they played in the morning. They were good bowlers. They got shot almost every end but Mal took the kitty back - twice for four. We won 14-7. We were good and ready for our second game. Second game we played against Joe and Bart. The Magpies came down to clean up the centipedes. Lots of bowlers were worried they'd collect them when they bowled. Jean described her bowling as "Shit bowling with a few pearlers." Mal replied "But when it counted." We won 17 to 4. Last end we had them surrounded. Joe came down with his bowl, took kitty, followed it and pushed it to Mal. A nail in the coffin. Joe bowled really well. On our way inside we were impressed with the garden memorials for Betty Parry and Jim Bunney. We won overall - fifteen dollars each. First time for us in over a hundred clubs. After the game we met and chatted with Chris who just came down to say gidday to people. Mildura Bowling Club - finally a win for us!

When we were at Irymple on Wednesday, we saw that Red Cliffs had a Fours tournament on Sunday. We drove out on Thursday to put our names down. There was no list so we rang the number for Michael and he came down to meet us. He is the club Secretary. A real talker but lovely - and helpful. He introduced us to President Maurie who was there to play in a Pairs final. (Maurie and Michael) Michael showed us around the club. He proudly told us about their two representative members: Dot Jenkinson who was a national champion and John Giddings - state rep player. They've named the greens after them. He told us the tournament is 'Legends Day'. It's sponsored by the families of two former stalwart members who have passed. They were Alan Cooks and Noel Edwards. When we arrived On Sunday Michael introduced us to Annette chairperson of the ladies committee. Maurie and Treasurer Ros welcomed us all and gave the conditions of play. There are two synthetic greens. The older one, says Michael, can get up to 22 seconds. Very quick. We played on the front green - the John Giddings green. It runs slower, about 15 seconds. There were fourteen teams. They included our friends from Irymple, Mildura Workers, Nangiloc, travellers from Cairns, Wentworth and Coomealla. We played together. Jean played lead with Graham from Irymple, Mal as third and skip Steve from Red Cliffs. (Mal, Steve, Jean and Graham) We played against Matty, Cocka, Johnny and Toby from Nangiloc. They won the first couple then Jean got shot and we were off. Next end Mal got a (deliberate) wick in for shot. Unfortunately they kept picking up ones to beat us. We'd have three shots then skip Matty would take them off us for one. We went inside for lunch which was lovely. The ladies had decked the club out beautifully. The spread was delicious - barbecue and salads - real country hospitality. We went out - tummies full - for our second game, We played Keith, Peter, Mick and John from Mildura Workers. Jean and Graham did well. If Jean didn't get shot, Graham's Red Aeros did. After six ends we were square. We had the mat a lot. When they got one up, Keith decided they needed a long end. He put one on it. Jean bowled one closer....then Mal tapped it over to them. Last end we needed three to win. Jean did it again for one. We got two for a draw. Third game we played Geoff, David, Tania and Tom (The President) from Coomealla. They liked a joke. Graham told me they play Pennants in Division One. Second end we got a seven. Good start. Mal put one at the back for good measure. We told Tom about how unhappy we were about our experience at Coomealla. He suggested, if we are unhappy, we write a letter. We might do that. Four ends to go they needed 13 to win. Jean got shot and the boys complained. They tried but it stuck. Dave said "We had a plan, but the plan didn't work!" We got two. They tried to call a powerplay the next end (wrong game) but to no avail. We won a prize for highest winning margin last game. $25 each. Red Cliffs - a loss, a draw and a big win against div one players.

We drove around when we arrived on Wednesday to the three clubs in Mildura and put our names down. Today, Saturday it's Irymple at 9:00 am. We arrived at 8:30 and introduced ourselves to Lorraine and Graham in the office. Then we met John who Mal chatted with about Pennants and Geelong football club. They have nice placemats of the club uniform. They were created by Julie. There is a good outdoor social area named 'The Cauldron'. With the masses of sultana grapes that grow all over Mildura, it's not surprising that the club is sponsored by Sunbeam Foods. The club has two really nice grass greens. The front one hasn't been mown for a while. The second green was being rolled as we got there. We played on that one. We played three-bowl triples- two games of twelve ends. There were eighteen players with five women and thirteen men - three games. Jean played lead for skip Bill and club Secretary Anne. (Bill, Anne and Jean) We played against Gary, skip Ivor and lead George. At one point George said, with surprise in his voice, "They're being nice to me!" Jean quizzed "Is that unusual?" One of the other players called "Yes, they are all mongrels here!" Of course they were all smiles. Some of the instructions given were pretty funny. There were lots of little innuendos. Jean said "This club is a worry!" They all agreed. Mal played lead with John and skip Tracey (France Tracey and John) against Max, Rod and skip France At one point John said "We're having some bad luck." Mal replied "Yes. You need to take a photo before France bowls. When we leave the head we are five up. He bowls and we go down two!" Later on Tracey called "Up and back. We need to score 11 to draw!" Towards the end of our 1st game, Anne introduced Jean to her husband Ian who is the club President. Of course we know we are in the country when the bowls club is sponsored by a farm supplies business. Last end it was 11-all. Lost by one. We came inside at half time. Jean berated Mal about his lack of reliability taking photos of his team and bowls. The barman Brendan piped up and said "What about the barman?!" Jean said "I don't usually get volunteers to have their photos taken." Brendan said "Best barman in Mildura!" Ian came in and welcomed us. He then showed us a TV ad the club has had made. Second game we played ten ends. Jean's team played Mal's first opposition Max, Rod and skip France. Mal and Jean both picked up. John said to Mal "You were just warming up the first game weren't you?" Jean took shot first end. Towards the end a lovely Butcher Bird paid a visit and sang beautifully to us. Last end France needed three to win. Jean scored three then Rod took it. Anne then took the kitty back to Jean. It was one and a measure when the skips stepped up. Jean's team got two for five up. Mal's team was ahead all game (he thinks). The opposition needed four to win. They got it. We went inside for presentation. There were two two-game winners so neither of us had a chance still... Irymple - we had a blast.