MARCH 2007

President: Ray Lawson – “Pegray”

We are well into the New Year and hope that you have all the “Get-Together's” in your diaries already (See inside back cover). A large number of these have been arranged around this great country of ours, for you to get to know the members whose voices you only hear on your radio otherwise. So check the calendar. Our Club is known as “the friendly club” and I personally thank those who have arranged ‘Get-Together's’ in WA, Victoria (where we had great roll ups) and southern NSW (still to happen). Please keep up the good work!

Phone Ron Hanley for the Contact Lists in your area. He will help you with the ‘in house’ arrangements and suggestions on how to run such an outing, and to organize the insurance. Ray & Peg will be attending outings planned for this year in the Eastern states and will be happy to meet up with new members. We also look forward to renewing old friendships.

Don’t forget to book your camp site for the HF Radio Expo at Casino Village 24-29th April. Phone 02 6662 1069 and make sure they book you into the ‘Mini-Rally site’ with the rest of the club members. Be ready for the AGM on Sunday at 9:30am, an event not to be missed.

Continue to keep a lookout, on your travels, for anyone you see with 2-way radio aerials on their unit. Talk to them about what the Club can offer them. Tell them about our free connection to Telephone Interconnect and the small cost of short calls. The old saying “If each member gets one new one, the club will grow” is important for us. Please help us.

If you need any help, in any way, but especially with your radio, just contact any one of our committee members, using the phone numbers from page 2.

Vice President: John Swift (Field Officer)

With the growth of our Club comes recognition and nowhere is this more obvious than in the number of suppliers that are to attend our HF Expo in April. Both Barrett and GME are indicating that they will attend, as well as Codan. This can only be good for us and you will see, by the program that they are each to sponsor a breakfast.

A large amount of building work has been done in the Bush Camp Area at Casino Village. A big vote of thanks goes to the members of our HF Club for the work they have carried out there, to help Terry improve the site. All these things put together help make the HF Radio & Communications Expo the highly respected event it now is. The Expo program is included in this mailing; we hope to see you all there. Remember this is your club and needs your support.

With summer nearly over it is time to think of future events, one to remember is the CMCA Rally to be held in Barcaldine Qld. 20-27th May 2007. We would really love to see you at our stand and if you could help Ray “man the stand”, it would be greatly appreciated.
Our Club motto is “Safety first and friendship always”. This high goal is achieved regularly, but I would like to point out it doesn’t matter how hard our base operators try to contact you, if your radio is turned off, it is very difficult to achieve.
I will not be standing for the position of Vice President at this AGM, so this is the last Report from the field I will be writing. I have enjoyed my time on the Committee and as the “President of Vice”. I wish to thank all those people who made my job such a pleasure.

Secretary: Ron Hanley Secretary: Ron Hanley                                               
The new members are coming in thick and fast, 318 at the time of going to print (24 since the last NATA [Newsletter]). These applications keep us very busy, processing the information.

We are still having trouble getting photos from members, for our “Rogues’ Gallery”; every- one must be shy. Members keep telling us, that they want to know what other members look like, so get those photos coming in! Remember, a head & shoulders portrait, taken digitally and sent by email to the secretary as required. These will be set out, 40 to a page, so that you can put them with your Selcall List or in a folder or on the wall near your radio. We need old members as well as new.

A big thanks to Roy Watkins from WA for his help with the setting up of a new set of skeds in the morning; with helping to organize the new WA members’ applications; and with running two ‘Get-Together's’ on New Year’s Eve and Australia Day. A mighty effort! Another big ‘thank you” goes to Denise Ryan for all the work she has done, getting the club finances onto an MYOB system and sorting out the various anomalies associated with this task.

Elections: Voting:- there are 581 ballot papers (314 memberships) being sent with this issue of NATA for the positions which are being contested. It is important that you have your say in the composition of the Committee, so make sure you (and your partner) vote and sent in. Read the instructions on the letter and voting slips, then get the envelope sent to the Returning Officer, by 5:00pm (NSW time) Thursday 26th April. Don’t forget to add a postage stamp!

Treasurer: Denise Ryan

Listed below is the Club’s financial position as at 30/01/07

The Telephone Interconnect accounts have been reconciled. Those who have gone below the $25.00 limit, will find an invoice with their newsletter. If anyone has any questions or queries re their TIC account, please do not hesitate to contact m on 0417 267 660 or email me on treasurer@hfradioclub.com.au

Thank you from all the committee, see you at Casino and remember:-

Make sure you have your radio switched on, somebody maybe calling you.

Trivia - How observant are you?

1. What building in Darwin is known locally as “the Wedding Cake”?

2. The Gascoyne River at Carnarvon is referred to as “the upside down” river.   Why?

3. You pass the sign “You are entering the 26th Parallel”.   Where might you see this?  What is the significance of this sign?

4. Why does the telescope in Carnarvon have worldwide significance?

5. When feral animals were removed from the Francois Peron National Park (near Monkey Mia). Two important steps were taken to keep unwanted animals out.  What were they? (Answers p10)           

Guidelines for Reports & Articles for NATA (News Across The Airwaves)

Length Maximum 1 page, approximately 1000-1100 words excluding photos. Where photos are included, decrease word count by approximately 45-50 words for each photo measuring 5x4cm (reduced insertion size). Anything larger, reduce words accordingly.

Number - We are trying to include only 1 ‘personal’ article per member per issue.

Reports - These are to be written by a member regarding a Club event (e.g. ‘Get-Together's’) and are not classed as ‘articles’.

Approval of Articles - All articles will be submitted to the Secretary for approval. Articles maybe sent to Editor or Secretary.

Advertising Non-HFRC Events -  Articles that advertise events that the HFRC has not organised maybe included, but will incur an advertising cost.  Currently:  Full page: $320py; ½ page $160py. Thus a ¼ page ad would cost approximately $20.00 per issue. Where block colour or large coloured areas (eg photos) are required, the charge will be slightly higher. Inclusion in a Calendar with only minimal information, eg Event, dates, venue & contact details, would be at no charge.

Members Selcall Numbers: Members submitting articles and reports are requested not to include Members’ Selcall numbers – refer Privacy Policy on Page 2. Thank you.

Photos - Should be accompanied with a list of photos and names of the people. Thank you.

I trust this will make writing and submission of articles easier for members, and save disappointments where articles are reduced to fit these constraints. The greatest constraint is the postage weight factor, and by adhering to these guidelines this should not be a problem in future. Editor

A Guinness World Record Attempt – Are You In?

We have recently discovered that the CMCA is attempting a Guinness World Record for the longest line of motorhomes. Apparently a motorhome club in Italy currently holds the record at 672 vehicles. We would like to be involved as a Special Interest Group and have all the HF Radio Club members who are going to the Rally, together in the line (complete with banners etc). The information thus far from CMCA organisers, is a starting time of 8.00 AM on Saturday 19th May.

Would those HF Radio Club members who are going to the Rally, please contact Ron Hanley on 02 6662 1622 or by mobile on 0418 675 451 or via Selcall, so that we can keep you informed with the details by either phone or email; i.e. as we become aware ourselves. We are hoping to have everyone meet up at one of the staging points and join the line from there. Hopefully more detail will be available by the Casino Expo.

One of the advantages of being involved is possibly getting into the rally site for Saturday 19th May and having one free day! The rally organisers are going to site as many rigs as possible, after the Record has been verified, photographed etc.          

 Ron Hanley, Secretary

A Blonde Joke!

A blonde goes to the post office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards.  She says to the clerk, "May I have 50 Christmas stamps?"

The clerk says, "What denomination?"

The blonde says, "Struth! Has it come to this? Give me 6 Catholic, 12 Presbyterian, 10 Lutheran, 12 Anglicans and 10 Baptists.”

Paterson Rally November 06  (Full report as promised in last issue)

On Friday 10th November 2006 the HFRC Paterson Rally officially started. Some members, how ever had arrived before then. Stan & Helen were on hand on Wednesday to do the leg work which ensures the success of these sorts of gatherings. During the course of the day 29 people in 18 units arrived & settled in. During the morning Stan, hauling a serious sized chainsaw, in company with Frank, Rob, Maurie, Leo, Kimbo, John & perhaps some others, acquired a good sized pile of fire wood for our evening campfires. Others used their time catching up with old friends & making new ones.

Everybody seemed to be in good spirits. At about 1530 who should arrive, totally by surprise, & without any notice but Denny, in company with his friend Don from Toowoomba. They had made their journey in 14 hours in Denny's ‘troopy’. The return journey would take them much longer. It was a real surprise & one could sense that this was going to be a good weekend. For some strange reason, Denny's arrival seemed to signal Happy Hour & before long we were all seated in one circle, swapping tall tales & true. New member Reg Roberts soon had us spellbound with his divining rods & his magnetic character. His demonstration was very impressive. When Leo, under instructions from Reg to not let the rods move, did all in his power to stop them moving failed, the rods moved in exactly the same place and way as they moved for Reg. It was hard to believe that there is not some thing in it. After happy hour we all went off to have dinner & afterwards gathered at the fire bucket for a real pleasant after sundown get together.

Saturday started slowly & by lunch time another 14 people had turned up in 3 units & a few cars, among them were Cliff (Associate member) & his son Bill, Terry, Campbell & Wendy, & Vice President John. The catered lunch was really good to eat & good value. Bob (Jazzabel) was starting to make his presence felt as MC for the day, organising lunch & generally running the show. After lunch a raffle was held, whereupon Denny won the first draw. We thought that was a bit of a fix & when he chose a food hamper instead of the many choices of alcohol, alarm bells rang & we thought we might have to call a Doctor, but it seems he knew more than us because he was to return to the winners circle 5 more times. We all heaved a sigh of relief when he chose alcohol every time after that so we knew he was back to normal. I must tell you that there is no truth in the rumour that Denny had bought all the tickets, but to be fair to him & to those who know him, he did buy quite a few & that is one of the ways he supports this wonderful organisation. Raffle over, it was into the
General Meeting. GM out of the way, Happy Hour began. Ken & Shirley arrived & reunions started all over again. After dinner that night we were treated to Shirley & her keyboard, with Maurie chiming in with voice & spoons. Their efforts are always appreciated & I know, Denny really appreciated it so much because he was filmed drinking Tooheys later in the night! I know the Queenslanders by now are speechless in disbelief that he would commit such a soulless act, but it is true & copies should be available to all by mid December. The night went on for some time for some & finished at a more civilised hour for others. Denny's trip must have been very tiring because he disappeared about the same time as the cold beer ran out but that is another story.

Early Sunday morning Den & Don set sail for SE Queensland & for the rest of us, we either had a very slow day or made preparations to depart. Ten units remained Sunday night & everybody was gone by 1000 Monday. Many thanks should go to Stan & Jazzabel especially for their efforts & also for all the other people who contributed to such a successful gathering.      

Barry (Bazza) Muggleton

Hi, HF Members,

Just a short note: I had the good fortune to meet up with Bazza+Glenice on my trip back from seeing my daughters for Christmas. Had a good chat, stayed o/night, thanks to their hospitality. Also had the opportunity to check out his top radio spot on headland. What a location, everyone came up full strength, stake yaw claim Bazza! Ha ha!  Looking forward to seeing quite a few of you at Major's Creek in March, as I won't be able to leave the farm for a long period because I'm experiencing drought conditions, like a lot of others.  ALL THE BEST TO ALL MEMBERS 

Lowood Christmas 2006

As promised in the last issue of NATA, some photos from Lowood.

Answers to Trivia Questions

  Picture this

A woman was flying from Seattle to San Francisco. Unexpectedly, the plane was diverted to Sacramento along the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft, the plane would re-board in 50 minutes.

Everybody got off the plane except one lady, who was blind. The man noticed her as he walked by and could tell that she was blind because her Seeing Eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight.

He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the Pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said “Kathy, we are in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?”

The blind lady replied, “No thanks, but maybe my dog would like to stretch his legs.”

Picture this:

All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the Pilot walk off the plane with a Seeing Eye dog!

The pilot was even wearing sunglasses. People scattered. They not only tried to change planes, but they were even trying to change airlines.

True story … Have a great day and remember: THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR!

BUSH CAMP SHELTER

T’was the end of January when they all gathered there,
Fine men, and women, from here and there,
To erect a shelter in the Bush Camping ground.            
They dug out the holes
And erected the poles
Then the roof was next on the plan.

There was Terry, and Dan,
Two Johns, Ray and Stan,
And a few others whose names I forget.
They hammered, and sawed and glowed with sweat
Peg’s fresh scones and tea were a treat.
By evening the smell of the roast lamb filled the air
As Helen & team served the tucker – good fare.
Then over the rafters Terry threw a light
The shelter it was now a fine sight.

Next day they worked with paint can in hand
And cleared even more of the land.
The gaps in the roof were soon hidden from view
And a ‘top-knot’ sat high on the ridge.
A few more nails knocked in here and there
Rendered it all finished, safe as a lair,
And ready for everyone’s use.

So when you come to the Radio Expo
To the Bush Camp you must surely go
And see what they did – a very fine job.
All the men from Radio Club
Now it’s ready for use as a shelter that is,
Not for laundry for sure, so give that a miss
And we’ll all enjoy the Bush Camping scene.

Heather Newport

Did you hear about the man watching the five council workers, they arrived at 7.00 am and set up their chairs, then after looking up and down the road somewhat concerned sat down and waited till7.30, still looking up and down the road , then with a short discussion and a shrug of the shoulders, two of the men got up and started to measure along the footpath verge. After one of these men had marked a spot and the two had sat down and had another short discussion, another of the men got up, strolled over to the truck, took out a shovel, and proceeded at leisure to dig a hole, then returned to his seat. Another long discussion took place, with much pointing up and down the road, till finally the forth man got up from his seat and strolled over with his shovel , filled in the hole and resumed his seat. At this the fifth man got up preceded to the truck, took out a watering can, filled it and proceeded to water the filled in hole. After watching this procedure continue for some time curiosity got the better of the observer so he strolled over to enquire just what is going on. Well, the man whose only job was holding the measure said, “ well it’s like this, the man who puts the tree in the hole hasn’t turned up for work today.”  

From Ken & Shirley

The Passing of Shirley Jordan – A Tribute to a Special Lady

Shirley and her husband, Jim, with a small number of other like-minded people, started the HF Radio club in 1998 at Beresfield. Later, as Secretary, she worked endlessly for the Club, organizing radios with their frequencies, doing all the paperwork for licences, arranging meetings, organizing membership, running raffles to raise funds for the Club, and so the list goes on.

With the passing of time, the Club grew and grew, much of this as a direct result of Shirley’s enthusiasm and hard work. She was respected and liked by everybody in the Club.

Shirley died on 29th December 2006 at 00:05 and her funeral was held in the Paterson Catholic Church on 2nd January, following which she was buried at the Paterson Cemetery.  Shirley will be greatly missed by Jim and all their children, as well as her many friends.

HFRC ELMORE GET-TOGETHER - 1ST-3RD December 2006

16:30 signalled the official beginning of the Get-Together at The Old Field day site, Elmore. Brian & Joy Kelleher, who had arrived earlier in the day to prepare for the weekend, opened the weekend with a short introductory speech, welcoming all from near & far, and presenting everybody with a shoulder bag containing The 12-volt shop catalogue and a pamphlet regarding cheap camping in Gippsland. After time spent getting to know everyone, and putting faces to voices, most people retired for an early night.

Day visitors, Dave & Marilyn Field, joined the proceedings for the day and Queenslanders Maurie & Shirley, and Frank & Hazel made their presence felt. Frank & Maurie spent much of the day helping newer members operate their radios better, & providing information about some of the functions of their radios. Their help was invaluable, with Frank even isolating a problem associated with how the unit had been fitted.

Morning Tea continued with information exchange, questions and answers, and radio protocol. Lunch was followed by most members having a go at Disc Bowls. Happy Hour saw a 100% turn out, followed by a catered BBQ and a progressive raffle, then entertainment by Maurie, on the spoons & Shirley on the keyboard. “Muzza” added to the enjoyment with his pleasant singing and guitar. A roaring campfire added to the atmosphere.

As usual a few members started moving out during the morning, but the disc bowls continued unabated throughout the day. The evening was a quiet one, with good feedback being received regarding the technical support members had received.

Brian and Joy had organized the weekend with great care, resulting in a very successful weekend. Thanks to them all.                                                                             

Barry Muggleton (Bazza)
(Unfortunately I can’t name these people as I don’t know who they are. But I’m sure some of you will be able to name them. Editor)

The Annual General Meeting Agenda 2007
Notice:  Members are hereby formally given notice that the
2007 Annual General Meeting of the H F Radio Club
is scheduled to be held in the Club House at Casino Village
69 Light Street, Casino NSW 2470 at 9.30am on Sunday 29th April 2007
The agenda for the meeting shall be as follows:

General Meeting Agenda 2007

It is planned to hold a General Meeting of members present at Casino immediately after the Annual General Meeting.

Voting and Proxies at the AGM
Under the terms of our current constitution, all voting members of the Club have the right to appoint another member of the Club as a proxy, provided that:

[see Rules 32 (Voting) and 33 (Appointment of Proxies) of the constitution for further details]                                
N.B. Where a couple, travelling and/or using the radio together, has been granted membership of the Club, each member of the couple is considered a member of the Club and is allotted one vote.  Thus, each can vote independently of the other and each can appoint another member as their proxy, if they are absent from the meeting.

Nominations for the Committee for 2007/2008

The only nominations received by the closing of date 11 February 2007 were for:-

Vice President: Bazza Muggleton (2 years)
Secretary: Ron Hanley (2 years)
 3 Ordinary Committee Members. Denny Sharpe, Roy Watkins and Bob Locking (1 year each)

Therefore, as per our Constitution, the above members are elected for the number of years stated, as from the closure of our AGM on Sunday 29th April 2007.

Two members have been nominated for the position of Treasurer: Denise Ryan & Freda Madden

Denise Ryan (currently acting treasurer)	Freda Madden

A postal vote will be conducted for this position (i.e. Treasurer) and the results of the election will be announced by the Returning officer at the AGM.

The position of President currently held by Ray Lawson continues for 1 more year

CASINO VILLAGE NEWS

Casino Village continues to receive regular rain and our grass remains green and lush. It would be wonderful if this rain could be shared with less fortunate regions, but we are truly a fortunate region

April will be a very busy month. If you are thinking of coming for our six weeks of events, then please book promptly. It promises to be one of the busiest periods the Village has seen. One such event is the Charity Safari, which will commence from here at the end of April and head towards Barcaldine. For all events in April and May, guests and residents will receive an arm band which will enable them to attend any venue at any time. Day visitors will pay a small fee.

The Summerland Olive Growers are utilizing the Village Green for their annual festival March 31 & April 1st. There will be all the information you could wish on olives and their processing, as well as a variety of foods, Mediterranean music and general market stalls. This is the first time we have hosted this event and are sure it will become an annual “must visit” on our calendar.

Easter as always includes activities like our eggs-travaganza, and if you are very good, the Easter Bunny will come to visit you.

For a weekend of magnificent bush poetry come along for April 19-21 and enjoy a wondrous array of talent including Jim Haynes (who doesn’t remember Jim from the Mudgee Rally), Terry Regan, Jack Drake and our own Robyn Tesch. There will be workshops to assist your creative writing skills and we are anticipating an interesting assortment of poetry styles. CMCA and HF Radio Club members John and Betty Ebsary have created a stunning hand made wooden perpetual trophy and while the weekend is not competitive, we would welcome an audience choice.  The successful poet will receive a miniature engraved trophy to keep.  Make sure you collect your selection slip from the office on arrival. Check out our website for the program for that weekend and book your workshops when you book your site.

The second annual Radio and Communications Expo (April 23-29) follows immediately after the Bushman’s Heritage.  We expect quite a few guests to utilize the bush camp area for their stay.  This area is restricted to self contained vehicles only – you must be able to show your CMCA self containment certificate before being allowed to this section of the Village.  Thanks to the dedicated HF Radio Club, we now have a 10 metre square shelter.  Thanks to Geoff and Brenda Napthali for the flooring – it’s amazing what conveyor belts can do!  We have ordered a 6000-gallon rainwater tank, but this may or may not be installed by then. You must have a current ‘self-containment’ certificate to use this area. The program for this Expo will be on the Village website and the HF Radio Club website. With an increased number of seminar presenters and ‘train the trainer’ workshops, you will have plenty to occupy your time.

Before you leave the Village to head to Barcaldine for the CMCA Rally, you can participate in the second Australian Disc Bowls Festival which will be run from April 30-May 5. Once again, it will be a choice of social or competitive, round robin style play so you won’t get knocked out. The grassed area behind the Club House has been extended to allow more courts as we have quite a few caravanners coming to challenge the motor-homers! The Coffee Shop will be open daily with sandwiches, Devonshire teas, cappuccinos, lattes, and more. So ladies you don’t have to worry about feeding that man of yours!

Unfortunately, the local committee that runs Beef Week has decided it can’t get sufficient volunteers to make the effort viable at present.  Knowing how CMCA members are always willing to pitch in and help, residents and guests here are currently putting up their hands to assist.  Please check our website and the Beef Week website to make sure this is happening before you come.  If it’s not, we will endeavour to create our own Beef Week activities so you won’t be disappointed. 

All the Village People look forward to seeing you here in the near future and to sharing our time with you!
Chrissy Eustace (Director)

A Not So Short Story from Denise (Acting Treasurer) & Bob

August last year we set out from Emerald, Qld on our quest to see the great wonders of our Western states. Along the way we have encountered a few mechanical challenges but also have had many adventures. We met so many interesting people, and have seen many of the great landscapes such as the breathtaking gorges in the north, the beautiful sunsets over the beaches and various other unusual happenings of nature that are spread over the great plains of our western states.

One of the enjoyable challenges was becoming the acting treasurer of our great HF club and now watching it grow as every week new members from all over Australia join our HF family. I hope very much to continue to hold the position of Treasurer at the next election in April, as we are thoroughly enjoying the experience.

We made some really great friends and some of them have joined our club and no matter how far we roam and even if we never see them again, we will still be able to talk to them over the air-waves. We have spoken to many of them on the skeds and will continue to talk and listen and hopefully meet more members as we continue our travels. It’s really great to put a face to a voice. Travelling around, we have met up with members whose radios were not working correctly or they just didn’t know how to use them and even some who have never actually used their radio, so if Bob couldn’t fix it, we soon put them in touch with someone who could.

One memorable incident was when WA had its perfect storm - where a cyclone coming down from Port Headland met a low pressure trough coming up from the southwest. We were right in the middle at a small town called Munglinup just 100km west of Esperance, when they met and cut all power & land & mobile phone services from the very small township. The rain bucketed down & the wind rocked our motorhome to the point I was feeling seasick. The road was washed out towards Ravensthorpe & water lay feet deep every where & 100s of very large trees were down on the road through to Esperance. Our HF radio became the only communication to the outside world (so to speak) for the town community and we used it to notify our base that we were OK & the Interconnect phone was used for the people who were stuck there with us to call their families to let them know they were also OK. We survived with no damage and after three days we moved onto Esperance.

The next incident was only a couple of weeks later when we were leaving the west. We set out from Norseman around 3pm Friday to start our crossing of the Great Nullabor Plains, planning to stop at one of the many roadside rest areas for the night.

Well, 135km from Norseman our gearbox decided it didn’t want to cross the Nullabor and all the gears neutralized. We coasted to a stop on the fog line of the road (not a good spot) but the road had steep drop offs so nothing much we could do. Bob placed the hazard signs out along the road as the road trains don’t slow down for much out there. Then we looked at the phone - uh-oh - no Service. So out comes the trusty HF radio & we put a selcall into Merv at the Albany Base who in turn got onto the Norseman Police to get us some help. With much communication over the radio it was organized to send a truck out to tow us back to Norseman. At 8.30pm the tow truck arrived and it was a nine ton truck and we were close to 20 ton all up with the bus and the trailer. The trailer was too big to put on the back of the truck so it was tow us ‘as we were’ but then we found out he could only tow us with chains as he didn’t have any other device. We then made the decision to go forward to Balladonia which was a roadhouse only 50 km away. 2½ hours later after a few stops to reconnect the chain we made it into Balladonia. At  11:30 we crawled into bed - very tired.

Next day Bob investigated the problem but couldn’t find anything obvious, so we tried getting through to someone to tow us back to Kalgoorlie which we were informed was the closest place to fix it but no one had a truck big enough to tow us so we had to wait until Monday when places re-opened.  Maurie & Shirley, who were heading west, stayed with & supported us. Thank you both.  Monday came and phone call after phone call but still no one to tow us - we would have to try Perth. One last call by the manager of the roadhouse brought a friend of his with a road train who was three hours away heading for Ceduna with two empty low loaders big enough to take us. First time he had been across the Nullabor with an empty truck.  By 8pm our bus and trailer were all loaded on the trailers and heading for Ceduna. We followed behind in our Jimny and after the great wait to cross the Nullabor we didn’t see much of it, but we did see the Comet very clearly!

HF Radio Club in Western Australia The Western Australian members have been slowly growing in numbers, and have more than doubled in the last 6 months. Several social gatherings were held late last year and early this year to let all the new members meet, get to know each other, learn more about their radios and program the newly acquired HF Radio Club channels.

A New Years Eve party and an Australia Day Celebration  weekend are the most recent events which were located at the Property of Roy & Jane Watkins in the Chittering Valley 60 Km north of Perth. A total of 33 members and friends gathered over several weekends and enjoyed the tranquility of "The Hidden Valley" in the beautiful Chittering wine country.  The weather played it's part with the mornings perfect for bush walks and the evenings just right for socialising and relaxing in friendly surroundings under the stars. The mid-day temperature and afternoons were also just perfect for downing a few coldies, so all in all everyone had a great time enjoying the great selection of food and discussing past and future trips around this great country of ours.  The music was pretty good too.  The next event is planned for the long weekend in WA on the 3rd-5th March 2007. Mark your calendar and get yourself along to a happy weekend in the Valley. Call Roy or Jane if you can make it and want more details or directions. Phone 08 9571 0614 or email royjane@bigfoot.com

NQ ‘Get-Together’ Weekend Townsville Show Grounds

Thursday 9th –13th August (Inclusive)
Cost per unit per night including power. ($10.00)

We, the HF Club members of North Queensland, will be holding a weekend ‘Get-Together” at the Townsville Show-grounds from 9th - 13th August (inclusive), and invite all HF club members travelling in our area at the time, and especially those who may wish to join our club in the future, to come along and enjoy the hospitality and friendship we offer. 

August is a very busy month in the twin cities of Townsville and Thuringowa .  Besides the racing carnival at Cluden Racecourse hosting the Townsville Cup, the Multicultural Fest will be held on our beautiful Strand. 

Magnetic Island is only a short boat ride away and is an excellent day out. With over 90% of the Island declared a National Park, most of the Island is the same as when Captain James Cook named it in the 1700s. There will be heaps of other activities, for the push bike riders we have excellent bike tracks along the river and Strand, and we may even venture up Castle Hill one morning to have breakfast and watch the sun come up over Cleveland Bay.

We need numbers so we can plan the weekend.  For bookings and more info. please contact B.J. and Kay, (not switched on all the time, when not travelling).  We will be at the “Barky Rally” where we will have a stand promoting our “Dam Fine Rally” at the Weir school in June, and also our HF Club get together at Townsville in August.  Alternatively you can contact us on the following numbers 07 4723 3545 or mobile 0427 173 100 or email: bjandkay@iprimus.com.au   Travel safely and hope to see you all in Townsville in August, if not before.  B.J.

2007 CALENDAR

The Three Little Pigs

Three Little Pigs went out to dinner one night. The waiter came and took their drink order.

“I would like a Sprite,” said the first little piggy.
“I would like a Coke,” said the second little piggy.
“I want beer, lots and lots of beer,” said the third little piggy.
The drinks were brought out and the waiter took their orders for dinner.

“I want a nice big steak,” said the first little piggy.
“I would like a salad plate,” said the second little piggy.
“I want beer, lots and lots of beer,” said the third little piggy.

The meals were brought out and a while later the waiter approached the table and asked if the piggies would like any dessert.

“I want a banana split,” said the first little piggy.
“I want a cheese cake,” said the second little piggy.
“I want beer, lots and lots of beer,” said the third little piggy.

“Pardon me for asking,” said the waiter to the third little piggy, “But why have you only ordered beer all evening?”

(You’re gonna LOVE this…)

The third little piggy said, “Well, somebody has to go ………‘Wee, wee, wee, all the way home!”

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Topical Travel Hints 

Do you know that 80% of Awning damage Insurance claims occur whilst the vehicle is left unattended? If you are leaving your vehicle for an extended period of time, it is in your best interests to bring in your awning. The inconvenience and cost of repairing, replacing (that is, if you can still find such parts or replacements) can be a long and onerous process.