Thanks for a Great Rally at Quilpie

Dear BOG Committee,

Once again you have excelled yourselves, putting on a top rally (sorry – muster!) at Lake Houdraman. The environment was truly what our Bushtrackers were designed for, and the Quilpie Shire Council’s support with water, dump pits, garbage collection, firewood and marquees etc made life pretty easy.

We had a really enjoyable week, making new friends, and catching up with old BT buddies. A special thanks to Sampson and Delightful and Kilcoy Yowies, who were over with their shovels and rakes, clearing a patch for our awning mat, before we’d even unhitched! (Stephen was recovering from major surgery 6 weeks earlier).

The Camp Oven Cook-off was heaps of fun, and the spit roast was done to perfection. The locals made us very welcome, especially after our evening en masse at the Bowling Club when we visitors outnumbered members in a light-hearted play-off under lights after dinner. It was a great way to interact with the local community and they obviously appreciated the financial ‘shot in the arm’ the town received, quite apart from the charitable donation the BOG made.

Unexpected icing on the cake for us came on the last night, at the catered dinner, when we won the Webasto heating system. We were overjoyed, as omitting a Webasto at the time of construction of our BT 3 years ago is something we have regretted for about 2 years 9months. Rest assured, the prize is very welcome, and we’ll be making sure Webasto know that too.

In the 2 years we’ve been on the road, we’ve been looking out for future muster venues, but discarded several possibilities, because we were using Copeton Dam as a yardstick. Now we’ve seen what can be done with a paddock beside a tree-ringed lake, we’ll be widening our criteria in the hope of coming up with some constructive suggestions.

Congratulations to the new Committee Members and office-bearers, and warm thanks to Bob, Brian, Keith and the team, you did a great job.

Cheers