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Jean rang the Rochester Bowling Club on Wednesday to find out about social bowls. She spoke with Lady President Jane McCallum who said she'd try to find someone for us to roll up with on Thursday. Rochester is another old Victorian club - over 100 years. Jane met us in the morning and suggested the three of us play what they call 'Scrounge'. (President Jane and Mal) The club has three nice greens. One is extra wide and would fit 9 or 10 rinks. They only play seven. The edge of the green is left fallow. We played Scrounge with Jane. Green was very fast. First bowls in the ditch. (First end our bowls in the ditch) The game goes: roll the jack and leave it where it lands. Shot bowl scores 4, second three, third two and fourth one. One point off for bowl or kitty in the ditch or killed end. (Mal works it out) Mal lost many shots in first couple of ends then worked out the weight. Jean bowled ok but was no match for Jane. (Mal, Jean and Jane) Ended up 21-29-45. We'd heard, and Jane told us that 90% of houses in Rochester flooded. The green had a river running across it when the Camaspe River burst it's banks. The Greens at Moama has a tournament on Friday to raise money for Rochester. Contact the club on Messenger to donate. We're leaving tomorrow for Bendigo but gave a donation. We don't normally eat lunch but decided to spend some money in the town. We bought a Weber cover and stuff for the caravan in Mitre 10 and lunch in the Rochester cafe. We met nice people. (Rochester Cafe) Rochester - best wishes for the recovery!

We came to Kyabram because they told us via Messenger they had social bowls on Wednesday but they were still on holidays. John the President welcomed us for a rollup. It's another club over 100 years old. John told us Kyabram (Pop. 7,000) is the biggest town in Australia not on a major highway or a river. The club has a nice barbecue area there. And unusual drink stands. Rob Sceny the greenkeeper explained about the problems they've had and the plastic on the green. He said a former greenkeeper threw raw fertiliser on it years ago and killed it. Rob rolled the green and we started a singles game. Jean scored the first three then another. We managed to get the line for a while, then the wind came up. Mal's narrow bowls fared ok but Jean's just stayed out. At one point she aimed her bowl at the jack for grass and got close(ish). Jean got bored. She said "I don't mind losing if I can get a bowl down". When it was Mal eight to Jean's four she suggested we play to ten. She just threw her bowls down without care, scored shot and gave up. Score eight to five. We really wanted a game. Two rollups in a morning is a bit much. Kyabram, please, no more wind!

The little town of Tongala (Pop. 2,000) is on the way to Kyabram from Echuca. We decided to stop for a rollup on our way. We met Possum the green keeper who got us a mat and jacks then rolled rink 10 for us. He says he's been bowling 43 years. Possum said it's been tough keeping the greens this last year. He told us the greens have black beetles and the birds can hear them. They come and pull up the grass and ruin it. They have things up on the lights to scare them off but they don't work very well. At Echuca they told us the greens here were terrible. We disagree. They aren't in fantastic shape but are good enough. We struggled a little to get the right weight but did have a few tight heads. Possum sat and watched us and told us stories about the club's success. We got a sense of the rivalry between Tonnie and Moama. Apparently there's a bit between Kye (Kyabram) and Tonnie as well. Mal was in his usual form and won ten to six. Jean needed six on the last end (fat chance with only four bowls). She scored one. Mal decided early in the game the winner would win the dead frog. "What are you going to name it Mal?" Tongala, sad birds still sing!

We managed to sneak Jean in to play triples with the boys. Only cost $5. Jean wanted to play with the women in the morning but there was no way to contact the club to put her name down. When we arrived at 10 they were already on the green. The women also were playing a singles championship. When we arrived it was 23-22 then Lois scored to make it 23 all. Then Lois scored two pearlers to win. A riveting game with beautiful drawing. (Mia draws a shot as Lois watches) The club has a lovely separate facility by the back carpark. It's called 'The Greens' There are one and a half under cover synthetic greens with 12 rinks in all. The half rink is apparently the TV rink. They just had a big tournament here with a grandstand on the green. Lots of people walked past us and smiled or waved. Friendly, even if hard to contact. Then there are two grass greens that look ok. The amenities are fantastic. They include outdoor under cover seating areas and a bar area inside (it was closed when we were there). It was lovely playing in the heat under cover. There were 48 players on eight rinks. A good rollup. We played 15 ends then swapped rinks and opponents. Jean played lead with Tom and Alan against lead David, Laurie and skip Allan. (Skip Alan, Jean, Allan, David and Laurie) [Tom went missing] They were all pretty good players in their own way so it was a fun game. The leads tussled, the seconds tussled and the skips tussled. (The two Alans play) Second game they played against Les, Geoff and Stuart. (Geoff, Stuart, Jean, Alan, Tom and Les) Mal played lead with Brian and Ian in first game against Brian, Tony and Baros. (Brian, Tony, Baros, Brian, Ian Smith and Mal) Second game against Rob Gregga and Kev. (Gregga, Kev, Ian Smith, Rob, Mal and Brian( It was a bit hard to follow as the skips kept the cards and didn't put the score up. After the first game winners played winners and losers played losers. The overall winners had something to do with margins but it was unclear. Nevertheless we had fun. Mal's team won the first and lost the second. Jean's team lost both narrowly. Moama - a lovely place to play.

We arrived at Echuca Bowling Club around 4:20. The website said had to have our names down by 5pm for a 7pm game. We met a bloke who told us there'd be no social bowls tonight but he gave us some jacks for a rollup. Echuca Bowling Club celebrated 100 years recently. It unusually has four greens A, B, C and D. We were told they are regarded as the best in the district. We rolled up on Green D rink 23 of 28. First bowl down was way short. It had recently been watered and was heavy. We had to take half usual grass. Coming back toward the club Jean's bowls just stayed out. She had to take just a foot of grass to get the right line. Once she worked it out she was right. She rolled short ends on a heavy green which suited her bowls. Mal struggled with his line in the wind - even when he rolled long ends. He was quite frustrated. All he could do was to kill the ends to take shot on the T. (Mal takes shot with a toucher in the ditch that killed the end.) That said, the green was lovely to bowl on even if tough. The final score was 26 to 14. We finished just before six. On our way out we met Helen and Laurie who pulled up for a roll. They are relatively new bowlers. They told us they recently went to Torquay which has 800 members and they couldn't get a roll. We'll take note of that! Jean takes a win again. A new theme it seems.

Mal rang the Deni RSL and spoke with Wayne Bradley. Wayne said it was unlikely there'd be social bowls today but we were welcome to have a rollup. We met Wayne and his wife when we arrived. They took our photo and said they'd write about our trip on their Facebook page. That's very nice. We spent a week in Deniliquin. We were supposed to visit all the surrounding clubs but we had so much fun on Jean's (Dad's) cousin Jo's farm (Mal on the mower and Jean yabbying and cooking) we only had time for the two Deni clubs. We figured most would be closed for Christmas anyway. We liked the Deni RSL greens. Particularly their names. We met greenkeeper Darrell who told us the green was slow. We thought if felt spongy to walk on (though quite comfy) but about right weight wise. One side was quite narrow - likely due to the breeze. Couldn't bowl over the white line. As usual Mal took first blood then Jean scored one. We agreed to play to 15. When it got to 1 to 11 (guess whose way) Jean thought "Great, we can have a drink at the club and then go back to the farm and eat the yabbies we caught!" She decided to practice her skip shots. With all this practice she's getting better at playing on-shots and kept taking out Mal's shot bowl Then she got a four and soon it was 10-13. Mal wasn't about to have that. Each time she took shot after that he took her out. Ended up 10 to 15. We enjoyed our rollup. After our rollup we chatted with greenkeeper Darrell about the green, cod fishing and yabbying. Hey Deni RSL, see you on Facebook!

We stopped at RICH River Golf Club, on our way to Echuca Caravan Park for a rollup on Friday as nobody round here has Friday bowls. They charged us $10 each for the rollup which is highway robbery. That said the greens were immaculate and the staff put out our mat and jacks for us. Mal rolled a long end and told Jean to bowl first. She struggled with a heavyish green which was narrow both sides. Mal scored and kept scoring. Jean thought it would be a short game - though we were determined to play to 25 to get our money's worth. It was six-zip then Jean scored a two (Jean was 'Home', Mal was 'Visitors'). She immediately rolled a 21 metre end (her favourite). This time Mal struggled. All his bowls were heavy. Jean scored two fours in a row to put her on 10. Mal got cranky then. Jean's sports psychology came in to play. He kept trying to drive Jean off and, of course, kept missing (because he was cross) and all his bowls went in the ditch. Jean crept up. Mal got a few but couldn't catch up. He tried to roll ditch to ditch to shake Jean but her confidence was high. The last end it was 23-17. Mal had shot but tried to take out Jean's 2nd and third. He missed and took out his own shot. Jean picked up two for an unusual but hard-won victory. Yay! Finally a win for Jean!

Jean got onto the Lockington Bowls Club Facebook page and had a chat about social bowls and our trip. We couldn't play social there but they organised a couple of folks to give us a game. That was so nice. It took just under half an hour to drive from Echuca. We couldn't believe it when we saw their greens. One is normal size, the other had 11 rinks! Greenkeeper Les reckons that's the way they built them in 1950 when it was made. It was a pretty little club house. Comfy and inviting. For a town of only 800 people the greens are beautiful. They have two greenkeepers old Les, who does rolling and watering. Our two playing mates were Ken (apparently club champion) and Dave the barman. Ken and Jean played Dave and Mal. We also briefly met Brian the whiskey maker. (Dave, Ken, Mal and Jean) It was 11 - zip to Ken and Jean after 6 ends then Dave and Mal scored one. We had pretty tight heads mostly. Mal and Jean nailed the grass, though it was a bit of a mystery exactly what grass to take. Met Brian briefly. We liked the boys' pennant stickers. They have a sponsor. The boys called it when it was 13 to two. Ken and Jean scored one last shot. The boys shouted us a drink after the game. We had a lovely chat about all things bowls. Locky, great green to play on!

We stayed at Jean's (Dad's) cousin's farm just outside Deni. We drove into town for some Christmas Eve shopping and a rollup at the Deni Bowlo. One green was full of dead hoppergrasses. We decided to do just first to 10 because it was hot and the club was closed for the Christmas break. The box with the mats and jacks was locked so we used Jean's yellow jack and a bowls polishing sleeve for our mat. The green was a reasonable pace but very, very narrow. Our weight was fine but we took one third the usual grass. The bowls left a track on the grass so after a few ends we just followed our previous lines. (BTW: If it's close in a rollup - we ALWAYS measure!) Jean bowled Ok but Mal bowled better and won 10 to 2. Deni - poor old grasshoppers!

We arrived early at Jerilderie in case bowls started at 10am. We were told by the caravan park lady it's on at 6pm so we could relax. The Jerilderie Sports Club was so close to the caravan park we could still get our wifi signal. We got there to find out it's done for the year. We wouldn't have enjoyed it though as it's Barefoot Bowls. We decided to have a rollup instead. There's only one green and it's synthetic. It was much slower than expected. After her blinder yesterday at Narrandera Jean thought she could do Mal today but the surface suited Mal's bowl marginally better than Jean's. Even taking half the usual grass on both hands she just couldn't find the line. Jean didn't feel like taking photos. Mal fared better but swore every second end. It wasn't fun. It was muggy - even at 5pm - and Jean wanted to go home and cook pizza. It was 6-5 Mal's way then Jean scored a resting toucher. Mal then drew a shot that nudged Jean's out 3cm. Mal's was 2cm. Mal won 7-5 and Jean gave up. Pizza time!

We rang on Tuesday to get our names down for Wednesday at 1pm in Narrandera - The Redbacks. Mal's been looking forward to visiting Narrandera because he has their spider shirt. We got up at 7:30, were ready to leave at 8:40 then the wheels fell off. We got the caravan stuck on the power and water poles. When we started out we were two foot off but the van was going to hit the power pole as Mal drove forward so Jean told Mal to back back and straighten up. Did that a few times then got stuck. Mal's pretty good at driving and reversing the van but hasn't quite learnt exactly where to put the wheel. Anyway a lovely fellow named Phil came along and helped. We unhooked the car, moved it and hooked back up and drove out. Phil. What a legend! By 9:30 we were on the road to Narrandera. We stayed at the showground because it was just a 10 minute walk to the club. Around 12 we met Pete, who Mal spoke to yesterday on the phone. It's supposed to be mixed but again Jean was the only girl. There were three games in all. One triples and two pairs. Mal played skip in a triples game with lead Ken and Fred against Geoff (who got out of hospital that morning), Kevin and Skip John. Mal discovered John was a state player and he said the other two couldn't put a bowl wrong. However Mal's team, though they started out ordinary they came good. Mal said "I took my hat off to Fred 5 times he bowled that well." In the end Mal's team won by five shots. Their rink made lots of noise and he really enjoyed their company. (John, Geoff, Ken, Mal, Kevin and Fred [we think]) The pairs game was 2-4-2 with Duncan & Louie against Pete and Jean. Most of the bowls were red, which is unusual. Jean felt she bowled really well. One side was very wide and her bowls handled it beautifully. Pete was a talented skip (most of the time) 😁. (Louie and Pete watch Pete get a perfect shot) Every time Pete asked her to draw a bowl out on that side she did it. Pete started to say "This is your favourite shot!" (Louie, Jean, Duncan and Pete) Mal was very proud when the girl behind the bar asked if Jean was his wife then said "She's a really good bowler!" Jean was proud too. The trip is improving her talent. Both Mal and Jean had a great conversation with the boys after the game. Narrandera- a great bunch of blokes.

Just one night in West Wyalong. Enough time for a little rollup. It took us a nearly 2 hours to drive from Cowra to West Wyalong. Jean remembered the town as having no trees. It does but they are sparse. We set up the van, hung out the washing then walked 10 minutes to West Wyalong Bowling Club. There are three greens. One is out - a bit overgrown. The other two looked a bit rough but were nicely mown. The one with the sprinkler on it looked the best. The box was locked. We found an old stained mat and used Jean's yellow jack. We decided when we got there to only do six ends. The club was closed and we were both really thirsty. The green had some kind of chemical on it. We made sure to wash our hands. It was quite slow (not as slow as Woodstock) but the line was pretty true, though Jean had to bowl forehand from far right of mat. Jean's Almark Edge Plus won the day. Mal's Aeros found it hard to find the line. He just drove and got six shots to Jean's eight by taking out her shots. We did our six and then walked back to the van. Another little win for Jean at West Wyalong.