"The friendly club in the heart of the Bay."
The Maroochydore Beach Bowls Club is located in the heart of the beach suburb of Cottontree. Within a radius of 400 metres are several hundred bowlers, resident here for a couple of the winter months. They are mainly New Zealanders and Victorians with a sprinkling of representatives of other States. Bowls here is an all-year-round activity and something of a tourist attraction. While players are expected to be affiliated bowlers, there are no questions asked and no requirement to be a member of these local clubs. While there are longer events, the norm is half day tournaments starting at 9.00am and 1.00pm, usually two games of 12 ends. Many of these are "open" or optional as we would say making it easy for couples to play together. Playing fees are expensive by our standards at $6.00 per half day, longer events are quite a bit dearer, for example $17.50 per player per day, although this includes lunch. Cottontree is a very compact area, 5 minutes to the beach, the river, the local shops and the bowls club. The adjacent library is available to visitors, all services being free, including internet connections.
We are now into our third week on the Sunshine Coast and after a shaky start it is now living up to it's name. No wonder we always feel at home here as we are continually bumping into friends from previous years. Many members of Omanu, the Mount and other Tauranga clubs spend time here. We meet them on the greens, the coffee bars and on the street. Regulars here are Bill and Margaret Hill from the Mount. The very first tournament we played was won by a team including Derek Dean, our local Dorchester representative and Tauranga South member. Visiting the Mooloolaba Bowls Club to watch a major tournament, we cheer on a team which includes Maurice Hickey - Mount bowlers Ray and Noeline Mace who have an apartment nearby are also supporting. Playing in the event was the great Australian Representative Kelvin Kerkow. We didn't stay until the end but when we left, Maurice's team were holding fourth place.
One of the great pleasures we New Zealanders have is getting together to view a game of rugby involving the All Blacks. We were joined by Brian and Mavis Cotter for the game against Argentina at 11.00am on a Sunday morning. Brian celebrated the victory in typical exuberant fashion (no, he didn't spill his wine!). The major events are the tri-nations and Bledisloe Cup matches. A loss to Australia means the Aussies give us hell for weeks to come.
Of course, not all the folks here are bowlers. last week we had lunch with two other Mount couples. David and Noeline Mackintosh, former managers of the Airport Storage off Hewletts Road and Keith and Beryl Ryan, formerly Ryan Aluminium, spread their time between the Sunshine Coast and Mt Maunganui.It is surprising how many people you meet here that you have known in the past. Just yesterday I came across two former colleagues from 30 years ago. But it is still mainly bowlers here, Matua bowlers Charlie & Val Wallis with ex Matua, now Katikati friends Alf & Noeline Williams are in residence.
The All Black Victory against Australia on Saturday, 8th July really lifted Kiwi spirits here. On Sunday Kiwi bowlers took on the Aussies at the Beach Bowls Club. The event was preceded by National Anthems and entertainment from a very impressive Maori group, including a well received haka! Forty two teams of fours participated. The result of this first test of three was a draw, ten games each with one game drawn. We will up the ante next time.
Players from BoP included Ken and Bev White, Leo and Lynlie Edwards, Brian and Mavis Cotter & Val Coxhead from the Omanu Club. Jim and Adrienne Lambert from Tauranga South, Mitch and Lorraine Grafas & Russell and Bev Bai represented the Mount. Many of them are pictured below.
Maroochydore is a little different from many of Queensland's more well known tourist destinations like the Gold Coast, Noosa and even adjacent Mooloolaba. The 'tourists' here are almost invariably retirees escaping their colder home cities. There are few hotels as such, most of the accommodation consists of apartments owned individually as investments or for the occasional stay. There is an increasing number of taller, say 12 storey, blocks plus many 12 unit, 3 storey blocks in all price ranges. Just 15 minutes walk up the river from Cottontree is another area of units close the the other bowling club, the RSL Swan Bowls Club. They have just been holding a two week long "Bowls Carnival" incorporating Men's, Women's and Mixed Pairs, Triples and Fours. The Whites and the Edwards, along with quite a few other BoP bowlers, have been competing in it with limited success. Mary Hingston and Margaret Adams were runners-up in the Women's Pairs while Ken and Bev White were 'top of the losers' in the Mixed Pairs, coming fifth with three wins and a draw. Along the way, we played against Brian Campi, well known to many for Bowling Tours he led to Australia and elsewhere over the years.
By mid-July, just about everyone coming to the Sunshine Coast has arrived. The 'Prelude' bowls tournament was held at one club only, the Swan, over two weeks. Commencing immediately afterwards was the 'Sunshine Coast Winter carnival'. This is a gigantic three week event played at around a dozen bowls clubs. The clubs involved cover 80 km from Noosa Heads in the North to Caloundra in the South and many top bowlers play.
As well as the 'names', there are plenty of club bowlers around to contest and sometimes win these events. Several tours of New Zealand bowlers pass through the Sunshine Coast at this time as well as individual arrivals. From our personal viewpoint, we continue to meet old friends. Over the past few days we have renewed acquaintance with half a dozen old friends from our former clubs of Burnside in Christchurch and Kensington in Whangarei. As well, lots of BoP types are in town. Clive and Rae Rogers are part of a tour party visiting the Coast. They have games arranged at several clubs before going on to Hervey Bay and then the Gold Coast.
More Omanu visitors to the Coast are Moxhay & Ann Adams who are staying at Coolum, about 15 km north of Maroochydore. Coolum is the home of a major Australian golf tournament held at the golf course of the Hyatt, Coolum, which is of international standard. The excellent local bus service allows them to travel freely around the coast. Visiting the Adams currently are Ray and Josephine Connolly.
Coming up this weekend are two major events. Number one of course is the All Black/Springbok game to be broadcast here at 5.30 pm on Saturday, a must-win after after the Wallabys gave the Boks a lesson last week. This will be enthusiastically viewed by all the Kiwis here! Those with access to Foxtel, the Aussie version of Sky TV will be watching with their friends, others will be at the big screens in the RSLs and Surf Clubs. The second event is game two of the Aussie/Kiwi bowls confrontation at the Maroochy Beach Bowls Club. Wish us well.
Saturday's encounter with South Africa was all we expected, a lot tougher than the previous week, but the good guys came out on top. Similarly with the netball, it is always good to beat the Aussies. Even the basketball - a game we don't follow too closely - was a win to the Kiwis. Sadly the New Zealand bowlers couldn't do as well in the second test with the Aussies with a narrow 1 game loss to Oz. There was a bit of drizzle, and the heavier track did not suit the thoroughbreds! We gave them a good go though. The usual crowd from the previous test were present, also Peter & Nancy Daly from the Mount and David & Sue Meek from Rotorua.
One more week passes together with one more rugby test. The Aussies really thought they would win this one and they got very close! They fancy themselves against South Africa next week in Sydney and still rate themselves to win the tri-nations. Unfortunately the defeat syndrome didn't rub off on their bowls team and they finished off the third test with a good win. Ah well, there will always be next year. The Maori Concert Party performed again and were well received by all.
This week we also welcomed to the Coast Laurie & Jan McLeay from Rotorua. They distinguished themselves on the weekend by winning the Perrant Trophy at the Maroochy Beach Club. This is a fours event in which they played with fellow Rotoruans David & Sue Meek.
Coincidences are not infrequent when you spend time here on the Coast. The Whites had arranged to have lunch with the Connollys and the Adams in Coolum. We were met at the bus stop and within five minutes we bumped four other club members! President Des & Jeanette French with in-laws Jim & Ann McQuillan. The ten of us proceeded to the Coolum Bowling Club where we enjoyed their $4.50 special lunch. Days later, along with about 10,000 other people, we were at the famous Eumundi markets when who should we see but the Frenchs! The Connollys have now returned to New Zealand, the McQuillans and Frenchs will not be far behind them.
It is getting quite a bit warmer now, at the Brisbane "Ekka" (for non-Australian speakers, 'Exhibition') the temperatures peaked at 28 degrees yesterday. The Ekka is an annual event similar to a New Zealand A & P Show. It has some scary rides, to be avoided at all costs, plenty of candy floss and hot dogs plus all the usual rural type happenings. Each day of the 10 day show has a public holiday for one or other of the Brisbane suburbs so it is crowded all the time. Great for families and kids.
Now we are into mid-August things are changing here. The sun and blue sky that we came here for is there in abundance. There are very few new arrivals (although Tauranga South's Bruce & Elaine McClintoch made a brief appearance at Beach Bowls last week) and plenty of departures. We said farewell to the Lamberts and the Victorians are all starting to pack their bags. They have little else on their minds but the upcoming 'Pennants' season even though Melbourne weather is no better than NZ weather in September. With fewer visitors, the greens here are emptier - we are all starting to think of our return home and the new season.