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GEMBOREE, DEVENPORT, TASMANIA
Our GEMBOREE Trip by Trish Flynn
On 29th March 2010, after much planning and anticipation, a group of 23
set off for Devonport. The trip south from Bundaberg to Melbourne, where
we were to board the Spirit Of Tasmania, was a direct drive down the Newell
Hwy with overnight stops at Goondiwindi and West Wyalong with one night
in Melbourne before our daylight crossing of Bass Strait to Devonport
We arrived at The Argosy Motel around 7.00p.m. and settled in for dinner
and an early night before a very busy three days in Devonport which included
not only time at the GEMBOREE but also fossicking, sightseeing and a trip
to the limestone caves at Gunns plains.
Trish Flynn and Will Stratford attended meetings each afternoon as the
reps for our region , The Queensland Gem Clubs Association (QGCA). The
competition for our QGCA GEMBOREE in 2012, hosted by the Bundaberg club,
was approved and a trophy proposal by QGCA for a new trophy for metal
casting was also accepted. The new trophy will come into effect at the
2012 GEMBOREE. The J&R meeting was also very fruitful with the new
judges training manual for cabachons being distributed, other manuals
will follow as they are completed. A query from the Gympie club concerning
wire wrapping was also discussed and a positive outcome was achieved.
Our region was well represented in the competition with prizes going to
Craig Maughan of Bundaberg, Dennis Doherty of Gympie and Shirley Walsh
of Maryborough who also collected a trophy. Congratulations to all of
you.
By the time we left Devonport on Monday April 5th, the bus was already
heavier with GEMBOREE purchases, rocks and mineral specimens from our
fossicking trips to Penguin and Mt Bischoff along with chocolates from
Anvers Chocolate factory at Latrobe and Christmas Hills Raspberry farm
(chocolate coated raspberries are to die for), cheeses from Ashgrove and
various other souvenirs from the Devonport region.
The following four days were no less hectic, as we toured across to the
east coast , down to Hobart and Geeveston, before turning north again
and heading back to the mainland via the central roads of Tasmania. To
give a full description of these days would take pages so I will briefly
list the many attractions which we all enjoyed. Firstly was the scenery,
absolutely magnificent with a variety of mountains, forests, agricultural
and pastoral landscapes. Our “tourist” places were all just
as enjoyable. Natureworld at Bicheno which features the Tasmanian Devil,
The Beconsfield Mine Heritage Centre, Spiky Bridge, the historical town
of Richmond, Hobart and its Botanical Gardens, Cadbury's , Moorilla Winery,
Geeveston Woodworks Heritage Centre, the Tahune Forest airwalk, Chudleigh
Honey Bee, the murals at Sheffield township. Our accomodation during these
four days was good and the camaraderie that had developed amongst our
travellers and our “Coach Captain”, Trevor was really great
and helped to make the distances between stops a pleasure. We also had
a daily trivia quiz and lucky passenger number draw, which ensured that
everyone had at least one novelty prize to take home.
Our trip back to the mainland was a night crossing of Bass Strait, with
breakfast on board before heading up the East coast towards home over
the next four days. First stop was Morwell in Victoria and a tour of an
open cut coal mine. The overnight stop was Lakes Entrance, a lovely seaside
spot. The next day we headed to Batemans Bay via Eden, and Bega where
we had a quick visit at the cheese factory. The following morning saw
us heading towards Maitland for the night. We had a stop at Mystery Bay,
a beautiful spot, and did a quick bit of fossicking on the beach and untold
numbers of photos of the bay and its cave and rocks. A quick visit to
the Motor Life Museum at Wollongong. Lunch in Sydney where we had an hour
and a half to explore Circular Quay and the Rocks area (lots more pics).
Our final day saw us leave Maitland with a long day of travel ahead of
us to Bundaberg.
An added bonus for some of our travellers was that they wee able to have
brief reunions with friends and family at some of our overnight or lunch
stops, this not only made it more enjoyable for them but we were all pleased
to see the joy they got from these visits, some with family members that
they had not seen for several years.
We finally made it home around 11.45pm April 13th weary but with a lifetime
of memories
Photos of trip
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