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We had a day off today. We decided to go to City of Geelong Bowls Club to watch the Premier League. When we were at Bareena on Wednesday we met Laurie, Mick and Wayne. (Wayne, Mick and Laurie) A couple of them play in Premier League and Jean asked Wayne to explain it to her. It seems Premier League is a competition that sits above Pennants division one. It's the best of the best. We think there are ten clubs in it. Bareena played City of Geelong. Jean read some of the history of City club. There was a club Geelong West which folded after 100 odd years. The then amalgamated with Drumcondra BC to form City of Geelong with a brand new facility. Bareena had two woman who played lead and second. City had three who played lead, second and one skipped. They also had a junior who played second. When we arrived they were on the third end and Bareena was up and stayed that way. Bareena thirds played really well. They got their teams out of trouble many times. The skips did well also. They got lots of cheers and high-fives. The tactics were also very good. You could see them thinking about where the kitty would go if driven and covering it. Bareena was ahead by six or seven shots until about the 60th end when city caught up. The City junior Harry was a bit of a star. He put his blue-orange bowls on the kitty frequently. It was so exciting! One shot in it to the very end and a couple of dead ends to boot. Last three ends it was 49 all. It came down to one rink - rink two - with two ends to go. Bareena needed four to draw. Skip Ryan Moved the kitty to score four and even it up. Last end there was doubt about who had shot. City skip declared and the umpire measured. City won. It was so much fun to watch. Hey Bareena - thanks for the entertainment.

When we were at Bareena on Saturday we put our names down for Wednesday. Daryl rang Mal to confirm and told us to ask for him. We met Daryl when we arrived. The club is over 100 years old and has a lovely old clubhouse. They call themselves the Badgers. The club has two nice synthetic greens. It's fake grass. We played on the wide one in front of the clubhouse. Daryl introduced us to our skip Jim. (Mal, Jim and Jean) Like at other clubs, they played two-bowl triples with three games of ten. There were 30 blokes and six women. First game we played against Laurie, Mick and Wayne. We bowled well but the opposition were Premier League players. We were completely outclassed. We think we'll go to City to watch them play on Saturday. (Wayne, Mick and Laurie) The second game we had Martin, Tom and Joe as our opposition. Tom didn't like my short ends and wasn't happy when we got shot. Tom and Jean told each other jokes. He was pretty funny and nice. We lost by 11. After the first game we went inside for drinks. Our last game we were against Russel, Dave and Big Kev. (Russell, Dave and Big Kev) We all improved heaps in the last game except Mal kept missing the target by a nanoskerick. We won though by four shots. Bareena - thanks for the laughs!

Last week at Pennants we put our names down to play today at Geelong Cement. We arrived just after 11:30 for a 12:30 start. When we arrived we met John who organises the game and Gail. John found me another club Jean didn't have on her map - Normanton. Then we chatted with Andy who told us the club is named after the Geelong Cement Works. Four women played and fourteen men. It was three games of triples - eight ends two-bowl. Jean played lead for Graham with Stuart. (Stuart, Jean and Graham) They played first game against Jackie, Peter and Rob. Jackie was adamant she wouldn't have a photo on the internet. Jean said "I hope for her sake she doesn't win Pennants - she'll be all over the internet!" (Rob and Peter) Jean took a while to get her weight. Her team was down until the last end when it got a full count for a win. Mal played skip with John and Wayne against John, John and Brian. At first he was worried - every time he came up to the head they were four down. He was able to cut them down but then they got a three and Mal couldn't peg them back and they went down 4-8. Second game Graham's (Jean's) team played against John, Greg and Brian. They lost by four. (Brian missed being in the shot) Third game was against Andy, Terry and Ron. Jean gave Andy some sport psychology tips to help improve his use of the bowling arm. Jean mostly took shot but it didn't last long, her teammates came in and saved the day. Graham's team won by eight. Mal gave his lead and second some constructive direction and they picked up brilliantly in the second and third games. Mal won his second two games against Jean's first two opponents Jackie and John. Mal said "My team really came together and they nailed it. They play in the fours but today they played above themselves." He won both games. They were runners up and got $15. Jean got a raffle prize. When she bought the tickets she told the lady selling she felt lucky. Lots of people came and asked us about our trip. John told Mal "Your missus is the best on the green". Jean was chuffed to hear that. Geelong Cement - great teamwork!

We had a look at our spreadsheet and worked out that Lara, 30 minutes north-east of Geelong, is one of the few places with a game on Thursday. We put our names down online and Mal rang and left a message. We didn't hear back so nervously drove out. Pretty scenery in parts. We were told by someone at another club that they were a bit snooty. We didn't want to believe that. We turned up and they said they didn't get our message and were full up. They'd need two more people to get us a game. No offer to call someone or accommodate us. They said we could roll up but, after the welcome we've had at other clubs, we were so disappointed we just left. We drove to Geelong Bowls Club and met Laurie and Tino who were very friendly and invited us to play on Monday. That cheered us up. When we say we're travelling around Australia to play bowls in every club, we mean except Lara! Lara - thanks for nothing.

We went to City of Geelong and Belmont in the morning to buy some shirts for my Canadian friend Jonathan Knight. Afterwards we went to Eastern Park for a rollup. When we got there they were finishing a Pennants game against Leopold. They were winning 44 to 24 with one end to go. We found out at Belmont that Tuesday Pennants used to be women's so men are only allowed to play lead and second. They said that rule will change soon and they expect some women will refuse to play. We met Sue who directed us to the mats. They don't leave jacks out so we had to use our own. Sue said she goes north for winter and we might see her at Seaforth in Qld. The club has two very nice grass greens. We played on the front green up to ten. Mal was unusually happy - because he was winning. Jean finally scored one on the last end to make it 5 to 12. Ronnie came out and asked if we had a blog. We said yes and Jean gave him the address. Others inside asked about it and Jean promised to sent a copy of today's post to the club's Messenger. Eastern Park- thanks for you interest.

When we were out and about at Pennants on Saturday we met Jerry from RSL and told him about our experience at RSL. He said "You need to ring me, I'll look after you". He was so nice we decided to break our golden rule and come back. There were seven rinks of triples. We played three games of ten ends. 35 blokes and seven women. It was three games of two-bowl triples. See my other post for a description of the green. We said hi to Gerry again then we met Mal Quick - older brother to Jim Quick who Mal played with at Tuggeranong Vikings. Our team was Jean lead with Rick Killick second and Mal skipped. (Jean, Rick and Mal) First game we played Leslie Gerry, and Gerry. (Leslie and the two Gerrys) Mal and Jerry had a real skip tussle. Jean got two shots Leslie took them off her then Rick came in and moved the cat back for three. Jerry then came in and drew shot. We lost by four over all. Second game against Pat, Rosemary and Ian. (Pat, Rosemary and Ian) Rosemary skipped, Ian led. Good drawing by all. Last end we were four down. Mal came in and took shot then Rosemary took it off him. Mal came in with his second bowl and took the cat back for three. We won 14 to 2. (Nobody knew what I meant when I called the Jack 'The Cat'. It must be a Ballarat thing.) Third game we played against Rob, Jock and Brian. Mal stood in front of the sign for the local Labor member. We started out well - won the first two ends. Then they got a couple on us. Rick bowled like a champion all three games. We had some heads where the shot changed several times. We were two up on the last end then scored a five. We won 14 to 7. Everyone came and chatted with us during and after the game and asked questions about our trip. It was lovely. Geelong RSL - we're glad we returned.

We drove 25 minutes to Winchelsea for a rollup and arrived at 11. There was not a soul there. We found a list for a game of triples that day, we figured it was in the afternoon. We put our names and Mal's number down. The club has one carpet green. It had plastic snakes on it as well as an owl and two pussy cats. Gerry from RSL explained that the snakes keep the bats away. Apparently the bat poo is oily and damages the synthetic surface. We went for a drive and got some early lunch to fill in time. We came back at 12. Still nobody around. We went for another drive and visited the markets. We walked back at 12:20. There was still nobody there. We figured since there were only nine other names down they decided not to go ahead with the triples match. We didn't want to disturb the snakes so decided not to roll up. We decided instead to scrub our names off the list and go home. We had some things to do at the shops. Winchelsea - perhaps they'll give us a call anyway.

We did our (now customary) drive around the city clubs during Saturday Pennants to find out about social bowls and put our names down at three clubs. We met some lovely bowlers and landed at City of Geelong for a rollup. The club is known as City Thunder. We didn't find out why. It has two nice carpet greens. One in sunshine And one under a dome. We rolled up on that one. The steps down to the dome were scary. Jean hung on with white knuckles. As usual Jean struggled and Mal nailed it (that's so annoying). We were warned by Gerry from RSL who we met earlier that the wind is outrageous under the dome. He was right. Jean had to bowl out past the next rink number forehand away from the clubhouse and practically straight coming back. Jean did her best but Mal had it completely worked out. Not telling the score. Let's just say Mal lots, Jean few. Jean remarked that she's aware she's getting much better on this trip but hadn't considered Mal would improve his game as well. City of Geelong - windy under the dome!

We went to the Geelong RSL for our first Geelong rollup. We got there and it started to pour with rain so we had a drink instead. There was not a bowler in sight. We even asked some old blokes if they were bowlers. They just looked at us. We waited 20 minutes until the sun came out then we got the mat and jacks out. The green was the same as Weston Creek - carpet and quick as buggery in the wet. Jean's wide bowls just went narrow. Mal's Aeros were, of course, right on it. Jean started to just play weight. Once she put the kitty on the boundary but all her bowls went in the ditch. Even when she successfully took out Mal's shot bowl she didn't have any in the head so Mal got two. When it was eight-zip Jean said "If you can get two this end that will do us!" He got four. Jean didn't score a shot. Just in time. The rain started again. Geelong RSL - where are the bowlers?

We arrived at Smeaton Bowling Club and were welcomed by Rhonda who told us she's been bowling for 50 years. She started when she was 20. The club has a Synthetic and a lovely grass green. There is a gorgeous landscape view from the grass green. We could see the rain coming from miles away. Jeff turned up and we decided to play a game - Jeff and Rhonda against Mal and Jean. The green was lovely - a little quick which we liked. We scored a two on the first end then they scored a three on the second. Then the rain poured down. It's what wed call a quick loss. (Mal, Jeff, Jean and Rhonda) We went inside the tiny clubhouse and were impressed with the awards we saw. After our game we met some of the boys having a drink. They called themselves the "pisspots from Smeaton." (Jeff, Graeme, Rob, Slim and Macca) Smeaton - a quick rollup and a wet trip home

We put our names down last week to play at Webbcona but had a clash with Daylesford. We met some nice people there and couldn't wait to get back. When we arrived for our long-awaited game we met Wally and Peter - with whose wife Jenny we played with at Sebastopol. Peter told us about his cousin a champion blind bowler. We chatted about NRL, AFL, basketball. (Wally and Peter) The club has two very nice grass greens and a Synthetic. Bruce told me the front green is the best in Ballarat. We thought it was nice. A little quick. It cost just $5 each to play. There were three games of triples with 16 blokes, and Shirley and Jean. Two games of twelve ends. Jean lead for Pat with Mike as second in the first game against Bruce, Shirley and skip Bob. (Bruce, Bob, Jean, Pat, Shirley and Mike) Jean took a while to get the grass but once she did she bowled well. The thing is she'd get a shot or two then Shirley or Bob would take it off. The skips both bowled exceptionally well. They both stole shot from the opposition many times. Mike and Pat played valiantly but they were just too good. Pat's team lost 9 to 10. Mal played second with Peter and skip Alan against the two Ian's and skipper Bill. Bill told Jean his wife Lois told him we played with here at Daylesford last week. (Alan, Mal and Peter) Second game we played each other. First end Jean had shot and Mal took it with two bowls. He bowled really well. On a really long end he put a bowl on the edge for shot. The wind was ferocious. Jean had to bowl over to the next rink number on the forehand going towards the club and less than a metre of forehand grass coming back. Mike turned it around with kitty and toucher in the ditch for four. Pat consolidated with one on the plinth. It wasn't enough. Pat's team lost again 9 to 13. (Mike's toucher in the ditch and Pat's bowl on the edge) We sat with the boys after the game and had a great chat. The players were all very friendly and interested in our trip. Jean won a prize for some reason. Mal's team won overall $10 each. Webbcona - a great bunch of blokes (and ladies).

We dropped in to Sebastopol Bowling Club on Sunday arvo to put our names down. They told us to call Monday. We did and got into a triples game. We had nice friendly chatter with a few players before the game. There were people there from Webbcona, Memorial and other clubs. The club is kown by the locals as Sebas. It has three nice greens - two grass and a nice synthetic under a dome. The only one in Ballarat. The club facilities are lovely. The synthetic surface is a tight carpet. The only negative was there is no shade on the grass green. We played two games of 12 - one on grass, the other on synthetic. Big adjustment. Jean played lead with Jenny and Helen from Webbcona against Bill, Mal and John. (Helen, Jenny and Jean) Jean bowled quite well - within a metre most times. Mal was hit and miss but when he was on he was on. Mal's team won something like 16 to three. Second game Jean's team played losers, Mal played winners. Jean was against Neville, Keith and Ron. Neville was a bit of a card but Jean would put two shots on and he'd kick her out. The girls kept getting second shot every end, both games. They kept losing but kept their opponents honest. Secons game Mal was against Mick, Paul, Geoff. Mal found it tough going from grass to carpet. It took a while to get his weight. He did eventually but it didn't matter. His opposition were club champions and were eventual runners up. He had a chuckle at his lead Bill. Bill couldn't see so the skip had to stand over the kitty so Bill knew where it was. Mal said "Bill bowled some pearlers!" (Geoff, Mick, Paul, Mal and Bill - Skip Robbie was organising) After the game, for the raffles they draw out a position. Jean won a $15 voucher to the club as Helen's lead. They congratulated us on our trip and gave us each a commemorative pen. Sebastopol - lovely banter.