Last Updated 30-Jan-2008
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
the following
are only recollections by a few people if you disagree with our failing
memories please let us know
...there has always been some difference of opinion about this -the
idea was apparently born at the 1979 Munich Beerfest. Tim Oliver screamed
out as loud as possible from bay 13 that anybody near his folks place in
Sydney come New Year 1980 call him and they could have a piss-up at his
folks house.
It was held on the Australia Day long weekend. It went from
Friday till the following Monday. Approx 100 turned up and the folks, their
friends and the neighbours god bless them never quiet got over it. A double
Decker appeared from Brisbane with approx 30 pax parked outside. His folk's
house rock and rolled for three days. Tim remembers Rex Julian called from
New Zealand to ask would somebody collect him from the airport as he was on
his way. The whole weekend was a buzz. Believe it or not Skroo and Jude,
along with Bill and Liz James and Mick Carroll were all present. There was
no formal organisation, from memory Carmel passed the hat around and they
all chipped in. Every body crashed in the Decker or in the folks house or in
the backyard. Considering it was a suburban home it was a mighty effort from
all concerned and we all new that this had to be held annually!!!!!
BYO accommodation and the usual hilarious game of cricket at nearby oval. (about 750m away).
Was this the year the boys managed to get the rust bucket of a wreck from the paddock, going and almost wiped out a few people as they did a celebratory lap. Not to mention knocking over the "portaloo" whilst it was being used
Rumour has it that a certain Kiwi left the reunion one night to walk back to his motel and came across a 5m high fence. Thinking that was not going to ruin his short cut (drivers are good at short cuts), he proceeded to climb up and over it (eventually) without much injury. Coming back the same way in the morning he was more refreshed, not to mention smarter and this time decided to walk around it as it was not only a 5m high fence but it was only 8m long....one of those "wayward ball" fences on a golf course....
We believe it was here that the inaugural "wee willie" contest was first held and won by Sexy Rexy despite some very stiff (or not so stiff) competition. A nice game of golf was had by those thinking of getting away from the drinking for awhile. There was no actual competition just a round of Ambrose. Some lads stuffed beers into their golf bags and thought they should hide them when a club official came towards them on a golf cart - dropping off a full esky as he passed ... well that was the end of the golf.
Moreton apparently enticed (handcuffed) a young lady (of the night/entertainer) onto the boat across to the island. A nice young lass in white high heels with nearly no dress. She was stuck there for the weekend.
The year Mark Gibbo yelled "four" followed very quickly by "oops" as a local golfer was "shot" between the shoulder blades and "dropped like a sack of spuds" by Gibbo's wayward "cruise missile"
The site of the "Inaugural Boat Races Trophy" (any photos please) won by Derv, Jonathon (Derv's brother), Kerry Obst, Russell Facer and Jamo.
Boat Race Trophy won by Derv, Russell Facer, Jamo, Doug & Jude. The golf trophy was won by Whitey.
Australia Day Long Weekend Fri 23-Mon 26/1/98. The venue was Woodman Point Recreation Centre which was once an old quarantine station. 72 punters turned up. Cost was $155 for the weekend. Approximately 13 doz bottles of wine were consumed along with approximately 1500 cans of beer and 1 can of lemonade (who was it). A highlight for Derv was an early morning call to prayer courtesy of Jean's "wailing" alarm clock. And how could we forget, (we can't he won't let us), yes "Whitey" won the golf again. The Boat Races were won by Filthy, Smokey, Pusshead and Declan (the Perth reunion beer walla).
Firstly, the committee of the Adelaide Reunion (Sandy, Greg C and Greg P) would like to thank Bill James for his contribution towards the reunion by putting together the brochure folders, laminating the Pamplona photos and for the payment of the first mail out. Thanks to Kim Craven for all the time and effort that she put into the Pinyartas (those Spanish things) and for helping out with the kids. Also to Paul Lauderman and Bean for their contribution to the notice board and photos from London and to Peter Yates for bringing over the employment folder from London. Thanks to everyone that gave a hand over the weekend. It was much appreciated.
Lastly thanks to everyone for going to Adelaide for a very successful reunion. There were 80 people of Friday, 88 on Saturday and 74 on Sunday and 6 kids. They consumed 77 cases of beer, 118 bottles of wine, 1 bin of Sangria and 4 bottles of "43" (that's not including the warm up drinks in the local pubs on Friday, the wine on the winery tour on Saturday, and the booze at the golf club on Sunday!!!) Not bad for a group of (old) fogies.
Golf was won by Mad Max, Ladies Golf trophy won by Carmel. Boat races won by Smokey, Fife, Derv and Russell Facer. Adelaide also held the inaugural Children's Boat Race - strictly non alcoholic. The kids decided that the adults shouldn't have all the fun. The winning team was: Scott Michell, Sam Morse and Ryan Gilbert-Wilson.
A great weekend was had by all who attended with Saturday night being the biggest night with approximately 200 "reunionees". Saturday night was Beerfest Night and didn't Larry Michell, Andy Morgan, Peter Browne and Tim Oliver (left) look good in lederhosen. 6 kegs of beer were on tap, not to mention a large number of schnapps bottles with the old "ein for the mitte" heard quite a few times. Illawarra Shores staff coped with the crowd and large consumption of alcohol well - giving a very impressive effort in the boat races. The child carers managed to keep the children entertained during the day with bike riding, teddy bear picnics, obstacle courses and archery. By night they managed to match it with the rest of us not to mention coming up with some of the best (and foulest) jokes on the Sunday night after the Boat Races (won by Huge One, Sexy Rexy, Budda and "obscured in photo" -let me know).
Sunday saw 40 golfers on the picturesque Calderwood Golf Course. Supporters drove between teams ensuring fluid intake was maintained. The Ladies winner was Carmel Smith (again) with Crim carrying off the Men's trophy with his usual flair - better luck next time Knuckle. Sunday night was Boat Racing Night & Joke night and probably the funniest night any of us have had at a reunion.
All in all it was a successful event and with the support of the raffles they managed to put $1500 into the central account. The committee would like to thank Mark Mitchell for his donation of a handmade wooden "Decker" bus won by Dave Evans. Thanks also to Bill James and Flight Centre for the $1500 travel voucher won by Lew Cody.
Held over the Wellington Anniversary weekend (19-22/1/01) Another fine Reunion was put on by the Kiwis even managing to put on a nice summers day for the cricket game and a cold winters night to sit around a fire and have a few beers (although some still found they were too hot and had too many clothes on and needed to cool down a bit). 104 people (including a doz or so kids) turned up. Quite a mixture of "old f..kers and "young ones" as it was so aptly put at the final of the Boat Races on Sunday night.
The Men's Golf was a tie this year shared by Marc Meder (ex Enterprise Hotel manager) and Mick Barden. I think one of them took the trophy and the other the newly donated (by Curly) "Green Jacket". The lady's golf was won by Carmel Smith (again - come on girls someone has got to knock her off). The "Old F..kers" Dillon, Jude, Rex & Russell were beaten in a photo finish in the Boat Races by the "Young Ones" - Trev 'Ratus' Mews, Mike 'Gumboot' Martin, Pete 'Cockmonster' Cochrane and Heidi 'Suckem' Normington. Well with nicknames like that the "old f..ckers" didn't stand a chance.
A great job was done by the committee with a nice setting, nice food, plenty of grog and accommodation straight from the set of "Chicken Run" ( as my kids informed me). The Hot Pools in town gave a few of us a nice relaxing swim and a place to fart after a night on the grog without anybody being able to tell the difference. More details when I get the committee's final report.
Hi all, sorry it has taken us a little while to get back to you with this summary of the 2003 Reunion .... it took us a tad longer than anticipated to recover! We hope you enjoyed it as much as all us locals, including the sandflies!
Friday night
142 people arrived by Friday night of which 10 were surprise guests but it
was lovely to see you all and just as well we had ordered extra meals in
anticipation of those that had booked flights or driven for miles but forgot
to tell us they'd taken Monday off work to attend the annual weekend!
The evening was the usual hugging, kissing, catching up meeting new friends (great to meet some first timers who will definitely be back, won't you please?).
Saturday
Pleasantly surprising how many people (42) got up 'early' to make the
excursion to the Eumundi Markets and Brewery. The erection of the Top Deck
Greek Taverna commenced about 2pm. The amount of people helping with the
erection was phenomenal, and as an unbiased spectator the amount of
testosterone flowing during the erection was a sight to behold. The
festivities began with the compulsory sculling of Ouzo as the entrance fee
(over 170 attended), extremely well controlled by Trevor Carroll using his
best investigative skills to detect those that tried to avoid the gauntlet,
funny that there were none! The array of Clientele was nothing less than
grandiose, even Jackie.O (aka Maz Morse) made a magnificent appearance (we
hadn't expected such great fancy dress, if we had planned a prize for the
best costume Jackie would have won it hands down). Nicous aka Dave Bood the
sleazy Greek Waiter excelled himself in presentation and hospitality never
forgetting an order. Caesar and a few of his Roman imposters attended along
with Nana Miskouri (who despite requests couldn't please her fans due to a
throat condition), the Greek builders with abundant bodyhair were there in
force to do any touch ups on the erection and art work (courtesy of Art
Director Ros, Sister of Nicous). The number of Vestal Virgins present was a
huge surprise (and disbelief!).
Well done to everyone for a fantastic effort on the Sat night, it was memorable. Loxley has some great photo's that we'll endeavour to put on the web site. Also many thanks to Mel and Dave Lafferty for supplying/moving/regulating the juke box. Gordon (and his very cute and talented blues guitarist who was last sighted in the pool with the Vestal Virgins around 3am-ish), thank you for a great late afternoon/evening/early morning of incredible musical entertainment. Oh yes, we must thank Mad Max for his impersonation of Jethro Tull and Peter Yates the rogue Roman Soldier for entertaining the kids.
Raffles
People contributed $995 to the raffles this year and we're not surprised!
Noddy (Derek Rossiter) donated 2 special items of interest. Derek had been
working on and planning a wall plaque of the now defunct Overland Experience
by Decker for his personal viewing/pleasure. The result was a spectacular
Work of Art, so much so Derek had another one made (at his expense) to
donate to the raffles. If anyone would like to place their own order for the
Overland Plaque please contact Noddy on e-mail caravan-admin@powerup.com.au.
Tom the Pom was the winner of the Overland Plaque which he had been heard admiring all weekend. Noddy also donated the framed photo that he'd got at the 2000 reunion and decided to re-enter into the raffles which was won by Rosie Treasure. The Flight Centre Grand Prize of $2,000 (courtesy of Screw) was won by Eric Butler.
Sunday
It was extremely evident that the merriment of Saturday night had taken its
toll and amazing that 43 people made the golf. This year's champions were
5/8 (Greg Lloyd) and Jude Coulter.
Sunday Evening
AGM at 4pm, then Boat Races. Winning ladies team was Bev Davis, Michelle,
Ruth and Heidi (aka Effy). Winning blokes Beaka, Max, Light Blue and John
Welch.
Crim requested the whereabouts of 170 stubby holders? The general sentiment
is that Fife had them! Will he raffle them in 2004?
Monday
Minimal attendance for brekkie - not surprising. Cleaned up including the
all nighters, Nancy, Colin, Nicous, Max and Fife, then most people headed
home .... for a rest. Max got ejected (from his allocated seat which he was
apparently sleeping in) from his Qantas flight in Mudjimba and was forced to
take the next flight several hours later. Nancy if you're still wondering
how you got to Bruce Miller's house you might like to thank Dave Reed!
Alcohol Consumption
Not entirely surprised there were a few sore heads over the duration as 288
bottles of Wine, 192 bottles of cider and 3,960 bottles of beer were
consumed.
Balance/Profit
$5,084.52
The 2003 Committee would like to thank all who attended for making it a great weekend, and here's looking forward to seeing you again in NSW in 2004.
- Jackie Hain
Well another reunion has come and gone and the Leeton boys
excelled under extreme last minute changes to the venue and a very last
minute objection from the dear sister at the boarding school about the large
amounts of booze being delivered to the cool room. Just like the days on the
road the Top Deck crew managed to overcome the problem and rise to the
occasion.
Richard and Tey's wedding went smoothly (under the circumstances and venue)
the annual “Foreskins” golf tournament was great, actually it was
exceptional (I won it)
And I believe the bowls tournament was a great success (I didn’t attend, too
pissed and too hot at that time of the day).
It was great to see Loft in all its glory and to ride in her around town
brought back fond memories of my days on the road. Catching up with the old
crew and talking about the old days and the new directions in our lives is
always fun.
The AGM brought us up to date with what is happening with the Incorporation
(thanks to the president and committee, keep up the great work) Next years
venue (city only) is Sydney and will be organised by what we call the “new
crew” after 1990 with the assistance of some of the old crew, Filthy put his
hand up and I am happy to assist if needed, so a changing of the guard is
about to take place, lets wish them all the best and lets all make the
effort to turn up and show our support for the younger crew that some of us
have never met.
The return trip to Sydney for Linley, Mick and myself proved to be a small
teki tour via West Wyalong ,Cowra and Bathurst and also proved to be very
expensive, yes I am going to the police man’s ball this year and it only
cost me $565 for the ticket, not to mention the 6 bonus points. Yes that’s
right as an ex driver I should have known better, but remember the bus would
only do 80k flat out the Merc unfortunately will go a lot faster than that
and I was.
Thanks again to the Boys in Leeton, job well done. Looking forward to Sydney
2005, retaining the foreskins cup and catching up with everyone again.
The “Captain” Tony Stephens, driver 85,86,87 Greek sailing 87
This report has been compiled by an unbiased participant whose views may not be those of everybody. So if you are disappointed with this report, bad luck.
The Venue.
Can only be described as stunning, 350 acres, 3/4 of it pristine forest with the remaining 1/4 a working beef property. The sleeping arrangements were appropriate with most rooms taking in 6 with their own ensuite. A few lucky couples and families had a little privacy. All in all it was organised perfectly.
The venue had two bar areas, the larger at the bottom end of the venue buildings was the most used, the upper at the dining rooms was rarely used, mostly by those seeking an elusive favourite wine or beer. The lower larger bar appeared to be in constant use for the entire event as always a few diehards carried on the all night tradition. The lower bar also enjoyed panoramic views across green lush fields to a magnificent ridgeline backed up by the majestic Mount Warning. A large pool and located between the two bars, this provided a distraction for the small number of children on site, also for a few others who are will forever remain children.
The meals and service provided by the venue can only be described as being excellent, they did not miss a turn from the first moment to the last. The bar choices were considered by most to be very good, the guesstament on needs was right on the button. Only one complainer was detected, but he complains about anything, he should remain nameless, but Robbie Good for Nothing knows who he is.
Friday Night
There were a few issues upon arrival, the over zealous parking officer attempt to wreak havoc upon tired arrivees, but he was soon ignored and everything went well. Reception was also considered to be flawless with the issue of rooms, a bedding pack, shirts and coasters all carried out like clockwork. The night proceeded as they normally do, full on. As has become the custom, the BBQ was fired up at around 1am by 5/8 who managed to placate the throng of hungry revellers. Memories of Friday night are few.
Saturday Activities.
Other than the usual drinking, bullshitting and bagging there was a wide range of activities on hand. The venue itself had the large pool, pool rooms, TV room, volleyball, Botje, playing fields for soccer, rugby and cricket as well as well marked bushwalks into the forest and woodline. For those seeking to spread their wings, Sunstate provided a coach for the pensioners tour. The coach driven by Stevo (a current TDT driver) did the rounds of the Northern Rivers. Stevo's was reported to be in the horrors a little as it was said that it was like looking into the future, him driving for Trafalgar. For others seeking to get rid of a little sweat, Moose led a group on the waterfall trek departing from the venue up into the forest and the base of the ridgeline. Seeing that Moose had a successful career as a driver, it was no wonder that his group did not find the waterfall, but did manage a couple of hours in two metres grass doing ever wider circles in an attempt to locate the exit, as the waterfall had long before been crossed off the list of objectives. Another sweaty mob of 6 took on Mount Warning, a thousand metre monolith situated a few km away in full view of the bar. It was a 9 kilometre round trip reported to take 5 hours return. During the first kilometre, the only discussion was between Tim and Max on who was going to Chunder first. The group was led and left by a startled gazelle, Mrs Prong. The final 200 metres was a vertical rock face, support for this climb was a single length of chain. Again Mrs Prong led, Mr Prong who is a little shaky with heights had a more terrified look on his dial when reassured that at this height, if you fell, you would only fall once. The other activities enjoyed that day were a visit to the local pub.
Saturday night.
Aussie night, was a tremendous success, many very fetching outfits by many, some went to great lengths in their attempt to pull that major prize of a bottle of cheap bubbly. But it was well patronized and enjoyed by all. The night carried on with the dressup, dancing, bullshitting and for some it did not end. But for many the 1am sausage and onion sizzle provided fuel for the opera de flatulence in the dorm rooms during the early hours.
Sunday.
The golfers took off early for one of the most beautiful courses known to man, the first prizes were won by the usual suspects. Others remained at the venue around the pool, played botje, played volleyball while some took off and actually found the waterfall. One other thing was also noticed, the committee members were on the go doing their thing, keeping everything available and keeping the venue clean, as were the venue staff. The golfers returned and it started again, the AGM. This year the AGM would have been completed with all business attended to but for two vocalists, again they should remain nameless but whirly and Hewitt know who they are. New Zealand has it for 2009, as with the Kiwi's normally being the 2nd cousin, that is second best to the Aussies they will be out to better the 2008 reunion.
Sunday night
After an excellent meal, entertainment commenced in the lower area with a live band and vocals, boatraces and the usual bullshitting. Looking at our crowd, one thing can be said without question, as it is said in the sacred ode 'age shall not weary them'. This TDT crowd with a probable average age of 50 still act and carry on like they were 20, although I think the mornings are getting a little difficult to handle.
Monday morning.
We were all up early like spring chickens and returned to our other lives.
Photos, anybody can upload their 2008 reunion pics onto the site, all are encouraged to download their 5 favourite photo's from the reunion. Resize photos to 100k or so to save resources on the server.
Updated: 30-Jan-2008