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We were supposed to go to Colac this week before heading north to Mildura but we have to wait around Geelong to pick our new mattress. We left Jean's cousin Jenny's house and came to Barwon Heads. The club is fifty years old. They are in the process of building new club rooms. They have to knock it all down but they want to leave the ladies toilets because they are very quaint. When we arrived we met Doug, Tony and George. Tony said he played Pennants at Belmont on Saturday and heard about us and our trip. The game was fours - two games of ten ends. Tony said they usually have a dozen or so players but today they had 32 so we came on the right day. That's eight teams on four rinks. Tony said the club has two teams in the Pennant finals on Saturday. The club has one synthetic green. It's a pile carpet. There is a little sculpture of a bowler made from bowls. Jean played with skip Joyce, Merve and Denis against Gary, Bruce, Peter and Jan. Jan said she's going to Yeppoon in July. Perhaps we'll see her there. Jean found the grass outrageous going backhand towards the club - more than twice usual grass but the same side going the other way - forehand - the grass was true. She said "This green does my head in!" It was good when someone moved the kitty. Joyce's team lost. Jean's second game was against Jackie, Doug, Judy and John. She managed the grass a lot better on a different rink. Joyce won convincingly with some excellent skip bowls. Mal played skip with George, John and Norm. First game was against Ray, Ken, Jan and Rob. He lost. He said Ray was just too good for him. Mal played the second game against James, Judy, Ean and Robert. At one point Jean asked him how he was going. He paused and said "One to 17." Jean said to skip James "That's good, he needs to be taken down a peg or two!" He replied "We call that the Barwon Heads welcome!" Jean asked Doug what was his overarching description of the club. He said "It's just a friendly little country-style club." Jean liked that. Barwon Heads - the country club.

Thursday Jean had to hang around for the guys to put in the new caravan air conditioner. Jean went out to Point Lonsdale during the week to find out about social bowls. She told Mal to ring at 9. He did and got his name down. (Mal just took random shots and didn't write names down so apologies if people are incorrectly named or not named in photos.) The club has two carpet greens. It ran about 14 seconds. Wind was not really noticeable. It was a nice cool breeze. The format was unusually fours. They played two games of ten ends. Mal's team was Daryl, Mal, Gerry and skip Ian. (Gerry, John, Ian, Trevor and Warren) First game was against Ken, Garth, Rob and Malcolm. (Mal said there were some great shots played. Both skips tended to favour the draw shot. He said "At no time did my skip ask Gerry to drive a bowl off. I saw the sense in it because he was a great draw bowler." After the first game they went inside for a cuppa and a chat. Second game was against Warren, John and skip Trevor. (Mal loved that sign) That's when they all started to make mischief. Gerry kicked one of Warren's bowls into the ditch and hid the other two under his jumper. Mal said "He looked around in disbelief and didn't know what to say. We were all trying not to laugh." (Garth) Mal liked that the whole lot of them were pretty funny. He also liked that they gave him a name tag and everyone took the trouble to introduce themselves. (Mal's skip Ian) Ken the bartender saw him in the line and served him ahead of others. They were all ok with that. "I felt like I was a long lost member of the club." Point Lonsdale - Mal feels like he belongs.

Jean went online last week to put our names down because we'd been told it was hard to get a game with so many members. We've been in Torquay a few days. Jean's cousin Jenny has driven us past a few times. Jean dropped in just to make sure. Our names were up top. Jean walked in the door and Gary said "You must be Jean. You are travelling around?" We arrived and met Helen, Gary and Jim in the office. They were doing the draw. Before the game, Mal had a nice chat with Jim and Frank. Jim told us about when the Bunnings roof came off on the wind, went across the highway and landed on two houses. Frank told us about their 'Shark of the Week' trophy. It's given to Pennant player each week for doing something (usually dumb). All the seats are donated by club members. The club has two greens. One grass green, a bit patchy, and a nice eight-rink synthetic. They plan to build a new synthetic green adjacent to the park. We played on the grass - was just a bit slow. Ran well. Check out the view! Mal loved it. We met Brett who told us the club has 1,000 members. They were Australian club of the year a few years ago. They had a movie 'Blinder' made here with Steve Bisley who played a game with Brett's bowls. We played two-bowl triples. Two games of 13 ends. 10 points for a win and one point each end won. Mal skipped on rink 11. Jean led on rink 12 for Steve and skip Gary against Rob, Bob and Terry. Jean got bowls closish but the opposition got them closer. She often had bowls behind which Gary used well. Mal played with Keith and Hazel against John, Ryan and Roma they lost and played game two against Jean's team. Jean thought they were going to have to do a nudie run. At one point they had five shots (when they needed a full count) Mal came in and drew shot. Jean didn't want to admit she was cross and proud at the same time. Mal won. Afterwards we met Don, the oldest player in the club at 97. Torquay - thanks for the view!

We took the weekend off to hang out with Jean's cousin Jenny. On Sunday Jean rang Anglesea to put our names down for Monday. We drove 25 minutes there hoping they got the message. When we arrived we met Bronwyn and Dot who organised things. Jean rang the club again on our way and Dot asked what position we like to play. She put us in the same team. Jean led and Mal skipped. It was unusually fours. Two games of ten ends. There were only four teams, so just two rinks. We played with Carmel (second) and Rick (third). (Carmel, Jean, Mal and Rick) Our first opposition was Sue, Jim, Stuart and skip Roma. (Sue, Stuart, James and Roma) The club has two synthetic greens. They call one "the horrible green' we played on the good one. Jean felt a bit flat, probably because we've had a few days off. She put a couple of good bowls down but (as usual on synthetic) struggled a bit with weight. Mal saved our bacon a few times but it wasn't enough. He found it hard to get both line and weight which is unusual for him. We lost by 6. We went inside for a cup of tea, a biscuit and a chat. Then we went back out for the second game against Max, John, Bronwyn and skip Merle. (Merle, Bronwyn, Max and John) Jean and Rick did two pearlers and Jean said "That's it for me, I've done my good bowls for the game." She was right. Mal didn't do much better but the team did ok as a whole, we only lost by two. The club members seemed to be good friends with each other which was nice. We met President Ben with whom Jean had had Messenger chats months ago about social bowls. We stayed for the raffle and jackpot draw. We didn't win but it was a bit of fun. Anglesea - would've been good to have something in the head!

Mal was given instructions to ring all the clubs we'll visit in Victoria over the next month to find out when they play social bowls. Yesterday he rang Ocean Grove and found out they play today. He put our names down. We arrived at ten for an eleven o'clock start (early due to expected heat). When we arrived we met Barry and Peter in the office. Barry asked if we could say a few words about our trip during presentation. Jean relished the idea - Mal, not so much! The club has two grass greens and one synthetic across the road. The grass surface looked a bit iffy after the immaculate greens we played on at Belmont yesterday. It wasn't too bad. A bit slow, took 1/3 usual grass. One of the members was putting out the numbers and boundary pegs while we waited. We played two games of two-bowl triples with ten ends - 30 players on five rinks. Mal and Jean both played second. Mal played with Mike and Noel (Mal, Mike and Noel) against Adele, Dave and Graham. Mal put down some great bowls. Jean played with Ken and Yvonne (Jean, Yvonne and Ken) against Brendan, John and John. Tall John with the the striped red shirt is the club President. In the first game Jean played really well and often had shot. Ken's team won by 14 shots. Second game Jean's team played Bob, Mozzy (Maureen) and Graeme. It was 32.5 when we started. They ring the bell at 34. Called at 6 ends. Ken's team all dropped the ball a little. They lost by 5 which made 9 up overall. It was enough to win the consolation prize - our $10 back! Mal's team played Barry, Grant and Dan. They lost by a few shots. It was so lovely and cool inside. After Jean gave her speech they gave us a stubbie holder, cloth and pen. Ocean Grove - a fine game despite the sweat!

We came to Belmont last week to buy some shirts for my Friend Jonathan Knight. It was the closest club to our caravan park so we really wanted to play there. The club has a great sculpture of a bowl out the front. We then came back and put our names down to play on Wednesday. We turned up to a lovely welcome. As we arrived, in the carpark we met Karen and Robin who were organising things for an upcoming event. We had a lovely chat with them about our trip. Inside we met Bowls Director Kevin. We sat and chatted with members for half an hour before the game. They were very friendly. Mal got right into a deep conversation with Wally. The club is unusual in two ways: first it has four greens. Second they are all grass. They are absolutely immaculate. The best we've seen so far in Victoria. Jean played on green A. Mal played first on B then moved to A. They played beautiful 50's 60's, 70's and country music on the loudspeaker. We had two games of two-bowl triples twelve ends. Every player gets their own card because we change teams. Individuals win prizes. Jean's first team was Ron, Jean and Terry (Terry, Jean and Ron) against Ken, Terry and Mave. Jean got shot with her second bowl. Didn't last long. In fact they often had three or four and they were taken or cut down to one. Jean's team lost by five. Jean's second game was with Terry and Rhonda against Geoff, Frank and Dale. Frank is an official measurer and he measured everything - even the obvious ones. Frank was a card. We had good laughs. Jean's team was level with two ends to go and lost by two. Mal's first game was on green B. He thought the were in for a hard day. The lead and second (he forgot their names and didn't get a photo) bowled short. Third end though they came good and put pressure on the opposition. They won by 6 shots. He was mortified to discover he'd have a different team for the second game. Second game was with lead John and Mave against Herb, Tom and Barry. (Mal, Barry, Mave, Tom, John and Herb) They played on green A and the team's bowls went through at 100 miles an hour. The wind was up and they couldn't get the feel of a different green. They were ahead for a while but lost by two. When we came inside they welcomed us and told us to come back. We'll do our best but we still have 2,120 clubs to visit! They gave first and second prize to leads, seconds and skips. We didn't win anything but had a whale of a time. Belmont - such friendly, funny people

When we went to Pennants Saturday before last we met Sue and son Ash from Highton. Sue is the proud Mum of a young son who, with his Highton teammates, won a National Fours championship. A bunch of guys were rolling up on the top green and the synthetic. Terry and Arthur helped us. They told us Pennant practice was about to start and they were going to get 80 Barefoot bowlers on the synthetic. They told us to roll up on the grass which Jean was very happy about. We started to roll up. Mal got a couple then Jean got a couple. After Mal got a four, every time Jean got shot Mal drove it off. No fun. Jean just threw her bowls down and gave up. Highton - Happy Valentines Day Jean!

When we visited Geelong Bowling Club on Friday - after our Lara disaster - we met Laurie and Reno who invited us to play on Monday. Laurie has been bowling 2 years. He started in Barefoot Bowls with his wife Cecilija and Brother Reno. Laurie organises Monday bowls. When we arrived we had a great chat with Bernie, Ron and Greg. (Bernie, Ron and Greg) The club has two grass greens and one synthetic. We played on the synthetic 'Corio Club Green'. The club history says Corio club was dissolved and members joined Geelong around 2000, and built the new green. The game we played was what we've become used to - three games of two-bowl triples - eight ends each game. There were four teams on two rinks. They were Ron, Ray and Mal; (Ray, Mal and Ron) George Cecilija and Laurie; Bernie, Frank and Max; (Frank, Max and Bernie) and Bernie, Reno and Jean. (Jean, Bernie and Reno) We both skipped because there are lots of new bowlers. Jean said "This will be interesting!" Jean's team members were both new bowlers. Jean was impressed with how they bowled. Second game of Jean's all her opponents were new bowlers - less than two years. A few ordinary bowls but many pearlers. Jean wanted to cheer every good bowl from both teams. Jean bowled a few good skip bowls to take shot but her team laid good foundations. Jean's team doubled the opposition score. Third game Jean's team lost by eight. Mal had a better day, first game of course he beat Jean's team 8 to 4. Second game he played Max's team and won 8 to 6. (Mal's team discusses tactics) The third game they played Laurie's team (that Jean beat) and got done 4 to 9. He wasn't happy about that. (The boys) We went inside. It was great because we'd played all teams so met everyone. Mal's team was runner up. He got his $10 back. We had great chats. Frank gave us great tips about where to catch a fish on Wingham Wharf. Geelong Bowls Club - lovely little group of bowlers.

Again when we were out and about for Pennants last week we put our names down for a Sunday mixed pairs game at Bell Post Hill. It took us 20 minutes to drive there. We arrived 8:30 for a 9:00 start - in uniform. No luck! We waited an hour and nobody turned up. Eventually we rang Secretary John (whose number we found on the website) who told us it was cancelled due to a clash with Championof Champions. We decided instead to go to nearby Norlane for a rollup. We met Ken there who was hilarious - a real talker and entertaining. He opened up the mats and jacks for us and the clubhouse in case we needed it. Ken told us about the damage the floods recently caused to their carpet greens. One green has been pulled up. The other has just one rink available (rink 1). We rolled up on that. Mal's bowls lept running over stones. We didn't score because Jean just wanted to practise long ends which she rarely plays. Mal was on it. Jean initially struggled with both line and weight. A lot of her bowls landed in the ditch. She started to work out the grass but couldn't get the weight. Afterwards Jean checked out the clubhouse. Cute. Jean, the queen of short ends, "I've got a way to go with long ends!" Norlane - thanks Ken for everything.

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!