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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.

We drove the 20km out of Cowra for a rollup at Woodstock. The Cowra people warned us it was really slow. We weren't prepared. Club was closed but we peeked in the window. Looks inviting. The green was pretty dodgy. Weedy patches everywhere and the grass pretty long (for a bowling green). First bowl sent down was way short. We threw barely legal kitties and still struggled. Jean's Almark Edge Plus have more turn so she was able to get them in - taking half the usual grass. Mal's Aeros had no chance. He scored three shots while Jean scored two fours, a three, two twos and a one. After end four Mal said "This is doing my head in. Up and back!" At 16 to one Jean felt it was a rare but uninspiring win. Soooo slow at Woodstock!

We drove just under an hour from Boorowa to Cowra for a Sunday morning game. Left at 7:15 to park the van and get there by 9. We saw some people go through a gate so we followed them. Went into the club and there was not a soul to be found so we sat down outside and waited. Mal remarked "There's nowhere to put our names down". The cleaner heard him and said "In the office!". We followed him to a room where all the bowlers were and introduced ourselves. There were three games, one triples and two pairs. Mal played skip with Bob against Sandra and Steve. (Mal and Steve. Sandra and Bob were off at the pokies.) Jean was lead for Dennis against Wendy and Lisa. (Mal couldn't work the camera. Dennis and Jean top, Jean and Wendy below. Lisa left early) The sunday game is free. That's a nice change. It was a really fast green. Jean bowled pretty well but Wendy was on fire! So many times Dennis and Jean had three or four then Lisa came in with an arsey bowl and took shot. Coming into last end it was 11 all. Jean had two shots then Lisa drew 3 narrow shots inside Jean's. Jean pouted then remembered she had fun. Mal said Bob and Sandra played really well. Steve had a bit of bad luck with his bowling arm and didn't get his line and length. Mal and Bob jumped ahead but then the opposition made a comeback. They got a 1 then a 3 then a 2. Mal said to Bob "We need to step up a gear!" They did and they won 22-10. Last end Mal put the kitty in the ditch. The Cowra group told us we should check out Woodstock - 40 minutes away.. We have an extra day up our sleeves so will do that. The green is very slow apparently - will take some adjustment. A win for Mal and a loss at for Jean at Cowra.

We were determined to come back to Boorowa to check out the green we missed on our last trip - at the ex-services club. It took longer than we thought to get there because Waze sent us towards Goulburn. We had to turn around. Then we followed a sign to Boorowa and ended up on a dodgy gravel road. Caravan got very dirty. We didn't get a game so had a game of singles on the 'John Crowe Green'. What a close game! There was a max of 3 in it all game and we kept swapping the lead. We're both bowling really well. We had really tight heads. Jean took the opportunity to try a few 'skip shots' and took out Mal's shots several times. On the last end it was 24-20. Mal had 3 shots. Jean took the kitty and killed the end. Mal decided that the rule was the kitty goes on the T. He got 2 to win 26-20. We thrilled ourselves at Boorowa Ex-Services club.

We drove half an hour from Crookwell to Taralga for another twilight game on a Friday. Mal rang the club to put our names down but they said "Just turn up." The drive out was good. They'd repaired a lot of the potholes but there were a few spots where half the road was missing. We were worried about coming back in the dark. We were unimpressed that when we got there there were boys in Christmas shirts kicking footys on the green. Apparently they were there for a Christmas party. They turned out to be nice young blokes and became our cheer squad. The folks at Crookwell told us we'd have a good time at Taralga. We got there at 5 and waited for the bowlers to arrive. We chatted with Bill, a former bowler who gave us all the stories. It seems all the bowlers had been to a punter's club do and weren't up to a game. Bill recommended we have a rollup. We did. The green was patchy and super-slow Jean didn't have the muscle for long ends. Still, we put down some good bowls and were soon noticed by the party boys who let out a huge cheer for every good one. It started out annoying but got to be fun. Mal was called "Dad" and Jean "Mum". In the end "Dad" won by one shot (of course!). One of the boys came over and congratulated us on our great bowling. We didn't reaĺly like the music they played. A bit loud for us oldies. We had a talk with Ken Croker (who was also impressed) about our trip. He seemed to like our idea. Taralga - what a hoot!