Australia Day 2023

Once again we had a VERY hot day here on the Central Coast so the 140 or so residents that decided to attend all crammed into our Centre which was nicely air conditioned thank goodness.

It was an early start for Michael and Steve who manned the barbecues to prepare our sausage sizzle lunch, there were many hungry residents to feed.

Of course the ladies of the Social Committee were also hard at work early preparing the Centre.

At the appointed time the crowd arrived. Somehow everyone managed to squeeze in but social distancing was not easy to maintain.

Our resident band, The Gunnadoers, kept the place jumping for most of the day with some appropriate tunes. They always do a great job and are well appreciated.

Before lunch the raffles were drawn and the happy winners Paul and Gill are shown below.

Then lunch was served…

Sausage sizzle, lamingtons, beverages of all types were on offer… And they were well received.

There is always one in every crowd… but Bob, above, rates a special mention….

Here are some more residents enjoying the day;

    

While the band was taking a well earned break, Kevern and Gary hosted one of our regular and hotly contested Australia Day activities..THONG THROWING.
Below is a pic of the Alloura Waters Perpetual Trophy which is inscribed with the winners names each year. Really, what could be a better trophy than an old fence paling with a pair of thongs nailed to it with some galvanised clouts???
(Winners are able to take the trophy home and proudly nail it to the front door of their villa for the year but surprisingly no winner has yet taken up this opportunity in the 5 years that the competition has been running…)

This year we had a ladies and a mens section. Ted won the mens section and Rose, pictured below,  won the ladies section.

Once again, surprisingly, neither winner wanted to take the trophy home and display it for the coming year.

Another great day in our village
Well done to all who helped to make it a success

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Australia Day 2022

Hooray… at last.. despite still having Covid limitations on numbers at indoor gatherings, we were able to have unlimited numbers outdoors (with appropriate social distancing) so that is what we decided upon.

The original plan was to have a sit down lunch catered for by an outside spit roast caterer but that was thought to not be practical due to high temperatures outside in the middle of the day, so we reverted to plan B which was to have a twilight sausage sizzle with lamingtons to follow and this turned out to be a perfect choice.

Ironically, while we could allow almost unlimited numbers outside for the first time in ages, many residents still decided to stay away due to concerns over a severe outbreak of the latest Covid strain in NSW. Some that attended said that they would also have stayed away if the event was held indoors. But in the end about 85 residents came along and enjoyed a fun evening. One of these years we may be free of any Covid restrictions, fingers crossed.

A big shout out goes to our resident signwriter, The Phantom (alias Ted) for the great backdrop sign to our event. It is claimed that he produced this in just one days work.

And a team of residents contributed to the set up of the outdoor area in the morning.

Steve and Michael (not in picture) got an early start cooking the sausages and onions.. yummy..

While Brenda and Gill were vigilant in collecting moneys for the food and raffles. Not much got past them.

And as usual, the bar did a roaring trade…

Once the crowd had arrived it was time to eat..

Peter and Paul were among the first in line to get a sausage..

Sandra and Avril made sure everyone was well fed with our other cook, Michael, keeping an eye on things to make sure all got a good serving.

After a feed our in house band, The Gunnadoers, got to work to entertain the gathering with some good old Australia Day tunes.

After the band had finished, several esidents stayed on to enjoy the evening and a few drinks…

It was certainly good to get back to an almost normal full scale event in our village. We seem to be slowly shaking off the Covid shackles… FINGERS STILL CROSSED..

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Australia Day 2021

Australia Day 2021 saw our Social Committee not only struggling with Covid restrictions  but also an extreme burst of hot weather well into the mid to high 30’s. To say that it was warm would be very much an understatement.. it was damn hot.

But after a very quiet 2020 due to Covid limitations with only a few small events in the village, the Social Committee members were determined to put on a good show for Australia Day 2021. So it was decided firstly that we should hold the event outdoors to allow more people to come along and secondly that we would hold a twilight event for the first time to avoid the main heat of the day.
Covid limitations still decreed that we could only have 60 persons along so unfortunately we had to turn some away, it was a matter of first come first served reserving an available seat.

But.. it all turned out OK on the night..

Naturally the bar was open.. (but it looks as if Don had already sampled some of the stock)

The barbecues were hot… (Looking good Hamish)

Dinner music was provided by our own resident band, the acclaimed GUNNA DOERS playing a selection of oldies but goodies which soon had toes tapping..

Yes, we do have two drummers….

Everyone else settled down to eat, drink and be merry..

This was billed as a twilight event and once the sun went down it became much cooler and quite a pleasant evening outdoors. We managed to talk the GUNNA DOERS into performing another set while many stayed around enjoying the evening air.

Grant managed to get in on the act playing the “Monkey Stick”.
(For those that dont know, a monkey stick is a percussion instrument made up of a plank with bottle tops)

And so after a rather warm and uncomfortable start our event finished in a quite pleasant evening outdoors in our courtyard.

A big thank you to the Social Committee, it was a good start to 2021.

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Australia Day 2019

(The webmaster was not in the village for this function but has been able to gather photos and stories from kind contributors……)  

It was an extremely hot day in the village for this years Australia Day celebrations. The Social Committee was surprised to see such a large number of residents attending to the extent that they had to erect more tables and seating to cater for the large crowd. It was reported that they even ran out of Lamingtons!!!!

Among the early arrivals, Gloria (on the left) later read an Australia Day poem which was well received.

It was great to see some family members, young and older, also joining our celebrations

There was a range of clothing and hats appropriate to the day to be seen…

Just some of the large crowd

Chris, Ronnie and Dorothy were the luck winners of the meat tray raffles. Chris had only attended for 5 minutes before winning….

And here are some of the other happy attendees who enjoyed the day …

But of course, the highlight of our Australia Day celebrations here in the village is the hotly contested “Thong Throwing” competition. This year Don and Rob officiated and kept the crowd under control.

There were many contenders and each had their own unique throwing style….

But this years winner showed everyone how it is done..

After having her name inscribed on the Perpetual Trophy for 2019 Judith was clearly delighted with her outstanding performance…. Congratulations Judith.

Happy Australia Day

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Australia Day 2018

In what is becoming a recurring theme we again assembled inside the Centre, mainly due to the heat and humidity outside, and once again well over 100 residents attended our celebrations.

It was great fun to see so many “dressed up” for the day….

With the barbecues heated up it was time for lunch..

Soon it was time for the meat raffle to be drawn. Beth and Rosemary did well.

However, James caused a protest because he was married to the organiser.. Is there fishy business going on here???? Perhaps we should refer this on to ICAC for investigation???

The surprise entertainment for the day was a medley of tunes presented by our “inhouse” band, the Gunna Dooers which soon had toes tapping…

The final event was a knockout competition between a long line of “Thong Throwers”

Here are just a few of those eager to win and get their name onto the coveted Alloura Waters Perpetual Thong Throwing Trophy as the champion for 2018. Last years winner, Don, elected not to re-contest this year.

There were thongs flying in all directions, someof them quite threatening, but the eventual winner was Heather with a magnificent throw while Robyn was a close runner up.

And so another successful Australia Day event came to an end and a fun time was had by all. Maybe next year we will get outside for a change..

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Australia Day 2017

In what was almost a repeat of last years celebrations, 100 plus residents gathered and once again we were confined to the inside of the Centre, but this year it was mainly due to the high humidity outside and the sudden appearance of loads of mosquitoes..
Not to worry, our Social Committee, with the aid of several helpers,  got to work and had the venue suitably set up in no time at all.

With the barbecues fired up outside it was not long before everyone was enjoying lunch..

After lunch it was time to draw the meat tray raffles.

Some wore comical hats but they were not as numerous as last year. Perhaps we need a hat competition and some prizes as encouragement next year.

Here a few more happy diners….

After lunch it was time for some fun.. First up was a 10 minute locally produced slide show with  backyard cricket as the theme which soon had everyone chuckling….

Then Joan on the piano and  Allan on vocals led us in the singing of the National Anthem..

Followed by Lyn, one of our talented resident Poets, who read us her latest Australia Day poem. (Due to a communication breakdown no photos are available of Joan, Allan and Lyn actually at work, apologies to them. But they certainly did us proud on the day.)

The final event of the day was the second year of our thong throwing competition which was hotly contested once again by residents.

And here are just a few of the hopefuls..

And so another enjoyable Australia Day in our village came to an end. Perhaps if the weather is kinder next year we may actually get outside and have a game of backyard cricket.. Now that would be fun…

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY

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Australia Day 2016

This year we saw roughly 100 Allourians gather again in our Centre to celebrate Australia Day. Last year we were confined to the inside of the Centre due to bad weather and this year the forecast was for a repeat of this. So having set up for an indoor event, wouldn’t you know it, there was bright sunshine all day outside.

First order of the day was lunch. Both barbecues were running flat out while some residents bought along fish ‘n chips, sausage sizzles, seafoods, salads, and other goodies.

And of course for sweets, lamingtons and a cuppa is the way to go.

The day would not be complete without the meat tray raffle…

And the raffle winners were…

John, Bob and Clive were well pleased..

Following lunch it was time to move on to some entertainment and a bit of fun..

Then it was time for the Inaugural Thong Throwing Contest here at Alloura Waters…

Away we go….

Here are a some other photos from the day…

And so another Australia Day draws to a close.. a good time with a few laughs among good friends.. we are a lucky mob…

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Australia Day 2015

And so it was, that after quite a few weeks of hot sunny weather we awoke on Australia Day to a dull rainy day which did not look like improving any time soon. But it takes more than that to deter over 110 Allourians from having a party to celebrate our great nation. We simply moved indoors this year.

Once again our residents entered into the spirit of things and many took great care to ensure that they were appropriately dressed for the day.

Other residents joined in with their dress…

 

But what would Australia Day be without a lamington or two??

And a good barbecue..

And very important, the meat raffle..

Several well dressed animals also got into the act…

 

And the tables were well decorated by some very clever ladies….

 

A most enjoyable day was had by all.. And the raffle raised over $110, a good result.

Yes we did sing the National Anthem with great gusto, and a few other old favourites as well.. And Wes reminded us how lucky we were to live in this great country with a special poem…

And finally, many thanks to the hard working volunteers who put in such a stirling effort to make this a very special 2015 day..

Your reporter

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Australia Day 2014

After a doubtful start to the Day, about 90 Residents enjoyed our Australia Day Celebrations.

We all sang the national Anthem, followed by a few words from Jim who reminded us of how lucky we are to have such a gathering, safely and peacefully, when in so many other countries this would not be allowed.

The Raffle made  $227.00 and the  prizes were won by John,  Heather, Ann and Elaine.

Thank you Janet for stepping in and running the day so well, with  the help of the usual generous helpers. Julie was unwell on the day. Get well soon Julie!

A Very Enjoyable Day

Here are some more photos;