Only about 15 people showed up this year, maybe the cold showery weather had put some off ?
Camp was in full swing as we arrived, but 2 minutes later 2
young lady
Park Rangers in a Triton showed up suggesting that next time we check for a fireplace to have the fire in as they are building more and don't want people having them just anywhere.
Sheepyard flat is probably the biggest campground complex we know of with many dozens of campsites set on beautiful green fields under large gums along side the Howqua river.
Stunning place really.
Afternoon now and we wanted to tackle some fun river crossings.
A friend had just got a new ebay winch which had accidently been shipped with a plasma rope for no extra cost and he had been bragging about it.
We were up for a challenge and it was still almost 10 degrees but everyone seemed a bit lazy and were relucant to trade a decent fire for some recovery practise so we compromized on a non-threatining scenic tour.
So we lead off about 6 cars on a trip up the mostly 2wd track to
Bluff hut.
Everyone was in the Xmas spirit mood as we headed off out of
camp.
Over the radio came the message "Girls - Eye's left", someone was having a shower by the roadside completely naked.
The road got progressively worse as we headed up the steep muddy 2wd road to 8 mile gap and on a couple of severe switchbacks wheels were slipping.
We were the only ones to have our mud tyres fitted, so we promptly looked for a really muddy track and found a short one near the closed 16 mile jeep track.
It was raining a lot now as we were high in the hills and everyone followed us into the quagmire. I was sure I could have got one or two cars stuck but it wasn't to be. Despite the mostly AT tyres even the Rexton got out.
The new V8 troppy tray then even got through with a lot of care, wheelspin and direction changes.
With plenty of mud now covering the cars we drove to and inspected the newly re-built
Bluff hut, it seemed only half the size it was before the fires burnt it down, but it was good to see it replaced with the support of some clubs.
Some other huts are lost forever.
Under constant rain the reverse journey back to
camp was quite skatey with 2 or 3 cars just sliding in the muddy corners. Extreme care was needed here and we sat on about 20km/hr to assist saftey. We had already encounted a freshly downed tree, fallen bike and several horses on the road.
Almost back at
camp we noticed a small helicopter had landed in what seemed an impossible place to land and we watched in amazement as it took off straight up between the tall gum trees.
Going on dusk now, the rain had stopped, and everyone seemed to be having a good time.
The lemon cannon in the next
camp was working overtime, but too many people now seemed to be riding there trail bikes up and down without helemts on.
Our Pjamas Party was starting now so it was time to change but I don't have any pjamas and the average age of those in Attendnance was 50+ so I just put on a bathrobe and let everyone guess.
We played the usual Xmas games but lost both our tins of shortbread to other players but ended up winning one of our favourite items - another pack of Ocky Straps.
Being a country based club, farmer members grow there own stuff and one had provided 9kg of export quality Cherries and they had also gone into trifles to die for.
Cherried jelly over cold custard and serious farm cream was enough to make anybody deny their diets.
Fireworks then blasted out from the where the helicopter had landed and we enjoyed a short but
well presented and colorful display as the exploding star shells contrasted eerily with the gums against the night sky.
Even though our crowd was small, we weren't to be outdone and Sonny and Cher showed up in the form of some lady club members mimeing them.
Their costumes and acting seemed to have more life in them than the originals.
They were just excellant and they even had props of a battleship gun turrent and simulated a couple of famous scenes and almost brought the house down when swinging their legs over the gun turrents.
The audience was even provided with sailors caps and a huge stack of jaffa's.
(remind me to check the club's balance sheet)
In an amazing coincidence one club member had brought up two singing toy dogs - and they sung " I got you babe " , in tune with our troupe.
Well not quite in tune as the night was getting on and standards were seriously slipping.
Was after midnight now, and apart from one idiot, who rode his noisy bike to the nearby
toilets without lights and helment, everything was quiet
A good time and good nights sleep was had by us and I believe all nearby campers.
Noticed that throughout the night the interior lights on a school
camp bus parked about 80m away were on and next day we told the driver who seemed a little put out when we suggested they check things.
One press of the starter button confirmed he wasn't going anywhere. Perhaps it was an image problem with some 20 school girls hanging around getting ready to board the bus, but the driver said he'd be ok and sent us off.
Sure enough a bit later, we were all sitting around our campfire and over came the wife asking for assitance.
0ne of our Patrol drivers took over a serious set of jumper leads and got the Toyota coaster bus going.
Lovely sunny day, and it was hard to say goodbye after such a sucessful gathering so it was a Merry Xmas to all and a Happy new year, both there and here.