Meetings: Held the 4th Thursday of each month (excluding December), at Leongatha Community House, 16 Bruce Street, Leongatha.

Next Meeting: 26th February, 2009 at 8.00 pm

Editor’s Rambles:
Before starting to put this newsletter together, I re-read our last one and noted that it was actually raining as the December newsletter was being compiled. Well, that was the last real rain we’ve had for two months. How different it is now. Our frog pond is nearly dry and the garden is parched, but these things seem trivial in face of the devastating loss of life and property last weekend.
Thank you to all those people who keep the reports, photos and other items for the newsletter rolling in. Leaders, don’t forget to appoint someone to do a report on your activity.

President’s Report: Half way into February and Hot Cross buns already appearing in supermarkets - it seems this year will pass as quickly as 2008.
I was in a light hearted mood after returning from the club’s camping weekend at Tidal River, but the Sunday evening’s graphic news reports on television of the extreme damage to land, loss of homes and lives weighed heavily on my mind. We had heard the news via radio but seeing footage from all the fire areas, really bought it home. NATURE RULES. Flood damage in Qld and the dreadful events in Victoria - we must never take things for granted, and as a club perhaps we can help in some way with tree planting etc when things settle down.
On a lighter note, the start of the year at Kay Walton’s sounded like fun, the twilight bike ride to Fish Creek - very successful, Lynn’s party - special, Kerry’s Melb bike ride - an adventure, and the evening walk to watch the Shearwater birds returning from sea to feed their young - an amazing sight. I’ve enjoyed all the club events I could attend although the hot weather has made me lazy and I’ve opted out of some activities. Thanks go to members who support leaders even if it has been warm, but we should take care when travelling to areas that are dry and bush fire prone (although after Saturday 7th - where is it safe?!) We can always reschedule an activity for the cooler months rather than put ourselves at risk.
I hope members continue to enjoy and support the club program. Please let us know of your ideas, and, to our extreme hikers travelling in Tasmania, please stay safe.
Regards Val

Walk Reports

Boxing Day Bash Boxing Day dawned warm and sunny so it was perfect for my first visit to Tim and Marg’s Boxing Day Bash. Arriving at their magnificent property I was surprised not to see a lot of people. A neighbor came with his guests, a man and his son who were visiting from Papua New Guinea. They were lovely people and really interesting to talk to. Imagine living on an island, having no rubbish, no running water, no shops. Their trip to Ripplebrook was quite an adventure for people who’d never even visited their capital city; but they made it to Melbourne airport after a lot of confusion at Brisbane and were pleased that their friend was waiting for them at Tullamarine. We all sat under the shady trees and enjoyed garlic prawns cooked by Tim, cold meat and salad and later dessert. Tim and I walked around the property and I was most impressed by the beauty of their home. A lovely day, thanks to Tim and Margaret.
Lynn

Twilight Cycle..Jan 10th

An evening twilight cycle from Meeniyan to Fish creek,
Seems almost everyone was there, great way to end the week.
I often list all riders and have fun with rhyming names.
But there were so bloody many I don’t think I’ll play that game.
I should however welcome new faces who may become new members.
There were Maggie and her daughter Kim and also there was Glenda.
We also showed Rick how to ride slow, and I’ve not forgotten Peter.
And though hers is not a new face Joanne has a shiny new three wheeler.

A rather pleasant cycle with the setting sun upon our backs,
Bike riding’s just an active way of sitting while you chat.
We ordered our meal before we rode. I opted for the fish,
Though I also heard the chicken was a rather nice-ish dish.
Pre-dinner celebratory drinks for Lynne who’s turning sixty.
With purple tiara and magic wand, is she a princess or a fairy?
Cycle or stroll over from the park to the Orange Roughy.
Some changed into neater attire, most kept looking scruffy.

So onto the main event, wine, laughter, food, talk and beer.
Huge birthday cake, the obligatory song, and a rousing birthday cheer.
The full moon is risen but it’s not fully dark.
As smaller groups on the homeward journey embark.
A last wine or coffee, or a chat out on the porch.
Paula and Steve search Fish creek for a lost head torch.
Chiam’s bike security system is really top class
Though without bolt cutters it’s also a pain in the arse.

Pat and Ros are not leaving till the night is quite black.
So we leave them alone as we’ve now all hit the track.
A mild and windless evening, moon shadows on the cycle path.
Slow riding is the safest but it’s more fun going fast.
Soon we are all back in Meeniyan, at least I think we all arrived.
But breath testing of some drinkers showed they were not fit to drive.

Steve

Turning 60
A big thank you to everyone who helped me to celebrate my 60th Birthday. It was lovely to see so many at my barbecue and it meant a great deal to me. A special thanks to Val for twice buying me a mauve fluffy tiara stating I was “princess for the day”. Amazingly, 60 is no big deal and I’m looking forward to lots of adventures with the club in 2009. If I’m still around when I turn 70, I might do it all over again.
Lynn

Random Rhymes from A City Cycle

Marg asks another cycling group why they ride such silly bikes.
Soon she’s pedalling around the carpark on a recliner trike.

Was it lunch or was it brunch, at the Anglers Rest?
The sun not over the yardarm and we’re on a drinking quest.

A challenging little hill-climb underneath the western bypass.
A good test for angina, but summiteers were sparse.

Dry, brown and dusty Brimbank park, ice creams at the Lazy Lizard.
Lily does a detour, she’s training to become a hill climb wizard.

Prime scotch thistle country, Melbourne’s sun parched western plains.
Cycling beside a rubbish filled, slimy, concrete drain.

Come on a Kerry bike ride, join in some verbal Kerry bashing.
Her route choices are disgusting, she deserves a good tongue lashing.
But …
Was it action and reaction? Was it just instant karma?
For if you criticize you may soon feature in a missing person drama.

David says that a ten percent attrition rate is fine.
Losing around eighteen percent, that’s not even borderline.

Back to Kerry bashing, let’s continue that tongue lashing.
For surely she must bear the blame when cyclists go missing
But…
Beware the roadside mattress, for as you cycle past.
It may grab you by the pedal and throw you on your arse.

Wonthaggi women’s fitness group are a bunch of real goers.
They all want to keep on cycling ‘cos train travelling is much slower.

Thank you Kerry the ride was great.
I think it’s best to stay your mate.

Steve

Shearwater Adventure
Twelve of us met at the Wonthaggi Guide Park at 6 pm and then travelled in convoy to Woolamai on Phillip Island where we were joined by Kaye and Angela. We stopped at a small park near the beach for our barbecue and two of us enjoyed our barbecue while the others hopped into their pizzas and burgers. At about 7.30 we were ready to set off along the beach towards Cape Woolamai.
We walked at a brisk pace and there was quite a bit of short sprinting to negotiate around the snags on the beach without getting caught by the incoming waves. I managed to get wet up to my knees when my water bottle fell into the sea and I had to retrieve it. Along the beach and up the hill we went, stopping to look at the granite, the lookout towards San Remo and at the beacon at the highest point on the island. Right on cue at dusk, thousands of shearwaters started coming back from their daily sea journey to land and enter their burrows. It was an amazing sight and how they found their own burrow out of all the holes in the ground was even more amazing. It was quite dark by the time they’d all landed and we could hear their “talking” as they entered their burrows and presumably greeted their chicks.
A bit of effort was necessary while we were trudging up and down in the heavy sand, but it was certainly a good aerobic workout. Fortunately, some of our group had remembered their torches or head lamps because it was really dark by the time we reached the Woolamai Beach car park and located the track back across to Cleeland’s beach. A short distance of 400 metres brought us back out onto the beach and what we thought would be low tide. What a surprise to find the tide line higher than before, making it necessary to negotiate the side of the sand dunes above the snags this time. More people joined me with wet feet and we all had further aerobic exercise!! The light bearers were generous to us no light people and showed us the way through the dead branches. Quite an adventure indeed! Soon we’d left the snags behind and all that was left was a walk along the beach back to our starting point. This seemed a bit further away in the dark and took us a while to locate. Did you know that the yellow emergency signs along the beaches are lit up in a bright blue colour at night? We didn’t either, but we know that now. We found our exit off the beach just after one of these blue triangles - very handy. The walk was really a wonderful experience, perhaps a little harder than easy, but how many of us get to walk amongst the shearwaters in the dark? We were all safely back at the starting point by 10.30 p.m.
Thanks to Val for planning this fine adventure and for the great company of Marg, Tim, Lily, Kerry, John, Julie, Sue, Charlie, Val, Kaye, Angela and our visitors, Linton and Martin.
Lynn

Charlies Weekend at the Prom
After packing up my little camper trailer, I set off on Friday afternoon for Tidal River. The forecast for Saturday was unbelievably hot, but the Prom’s always cooler isn’t it? Arriving at the check point I asked if they were expecting such a hot day tomorrow and was told 39 degrees - quite hot. Also told it wasn’t recommended to hike anywhere as rangers wouldn’t be available to assist if anyone got stuck or hurt, they were all on fire alert due to the Gippsland fires. Looked like a more relaxing weekend was going to be the agenda, sounded fine to me
I drove down Avenue 5 looking for Charlie and whoever else might have arrived, but couldn’t find anyone. Then I spotted Sue’s car and concluded that they were off enjoying some adventure. I backed in and was just about to set up the camper when Sue and Charlie arrived on their bikes. They headed off somewhere else after promising to come back and help. I had the camper up and the pegs in when they came back and was very pleased that they could assist with the annexe - compared with their little tents, I was to have the height of luxury. Ian and Val arrived soon after and we went off to ride along the river and to the end of Norman Bay on the hard sand at low tide. Touched the rock of course!
We queued up at the bbq to cook our meat - no gas fires allowed unless in a caravan. Soon we noticed that Angela had arrived and set up, and also Polly and Dennis in their caravan. The night was pleasant and our meal was enjoyed under the McDonald’s annexe and washed down with a bit of vino, a very cheerful time was had by all.
Saturday dawned clear and sunny, so after breakfast we headed to the beach with our boogie boards and spent the morning frolicking in the waves - it didn’t seem too hot at all! However, this all changed when we got out of the water and went back to a very hot camping ground. Walking wasn’t advised, we’d melt. We all seemed to have the same idea and took ourselves to the river where we sat and chatted in the water and the shade for the remainder of the afternoon. The wind was strong and gusty but we were sheltered and almost too cool sitting in the water. We could see clouds of sand billowing at the end of the river and hear tents being blown over in the strong winds, but all was well with us.
A late happy hour, an even later dinner, a little walk along the river, more vino, more chatting, but now a sombre note crept into our conversation as we listened to the ABC on Ian’s radio and heard about the fires at Kinglake and Traralgon South. What a shocking thing to be happening so soon after the fires at Boolarra. How fortunate that there weren’t fires at the Prom! The evening cooled again and we seemed to be in a fairly sheltered spot in the camping ground and settled down comfortably again.
Next morning we packed up to beat the possible showers and with the exception of Ian, we went off on the Tidal Overlook walk. Dennis had taken sandwiches for smoko, I’m not sure how far he thought we’d be going. We stopped and enjoyed the views and none of us minded the light drizzle that was starting to fall. Arriving back at camp it was decided that morning tea was in order so Ian obligingly boiled the kettle and Polly invited us over to her annexe (which was fortunate because the drizzle had turned into fairly heavy rain). We had coffee, tea and biscuits as well as sharing Dennis’s sandwiches - no need for a coffee shop break this weekend, we were self sufficient!
All in all a really great weekend, thanks to Charlie for organizing it and to Val, Ian, Angela, Polly, Dennis, Sue and Lindsay for their congenial company and good conversation.
Sadly, once we arrived home the true horror of what had been unfolding for thousands of our fellow Victorians was only too evident. How blessed we were to have been able to enjoy a lovely weekend in such a beautiful place and then how sad to hear the next day that a fire had started near Sealer’s Cove and all visitors to the Prom were evacuated. Fortunately no-one is living in the vicinity of the Wilson’s Promontory fire in contrast to fires elsewhere in our lovely state.
Lynn

Packing For Tassie
In only 15 sleeps, 5 of us are off on a major expedition to Tasmania’s South West. We’ll be flying into the airstrip at Melaleuca, leaving a food stash there, walking for 9 days around the SW Cape, returning to Melaleuca and walking out along the South Coast Track for another 9 days. If all goes to plan, we’ll be waiting for the minibus to pick us up at Cockle Creek and take us to Hobart for a much-anticipated shower and feed!
Issues to grapple with at present include:

• How many pairs of socks should we carry?
• Is it worth taking a pair of bathers or will our clothes be so grotty that we’ll want to wear them into the sea for our swims?
• What’s a good tool for removing seafood from the rocks and is a pair of goggles a good idea?
• Should we hire an epirb or just hope for the best and pray none of us has a heart attack or snake bite?
• Are the Ironbounds as bad as previous SGWAAC walkers found them to be?
• Will the rowboats be left one on each side of New River Lagoon?
• Should we swim across Horseshoe Creek or wade through the chest-deep Horseshoe Inlet on Bathurst Harbour?
• How much chocolate should we have waiting in our food stash?
• Finally, exactly how much toothpaste and sunscreen will we need for 19 days?

Miscellaneous Notes

• New Year’s Eve at Kaye’s went well, starting with some kayaking at 3pm, then a seafood dinner where Charlie was introduced to prawns. At midnight several out of date flares were let off with surprisingly bright results.
  Thankyou to Kaye & Gary for their hospitality.
• Sue Marriott has a Mosquito Net Tent for sale. Sleeps 2. $50 Ring Sue 56635276
• Walkerville North Ride - This ride will leave from Koonwarra, however, those who want a shorter ride could start at Tarwin Lower. Gear can be transported by vehicle if you don’t have panniers, and Sue is doing the catering for dinner and brekky.
  For further info and to book, ring Ros 5664 2358
• Linda Chisholm would like us to support:

• Tuesday Day Walks have been in recess over the dry summer months, but Chris and Kerry are eager to start these again, probably on the coast until we get some rain. Ring Chris 5662 5226 or Kerry 5664 7440
• McLaughlans Beach Day Walk will now be held on July 26th and may include an overnight stay at Woodside Caravan Park the night before. Ring Polly 51740189

Walks Program

For the web version of Footprints, the walks program is located on a separate page and is kept up-to-date with changes as they come in.