What a wonderful night it turned out to be!
04 May 2016
What a wonderful night it turned out. Originally at the beginning of the February Club Meeting, only 6 names were on the list. By the end of the meeting, Outing Officers Meagan and Eric were delighted that 20 names were down. By the actual night the number had grown to 30.
The Burswood Water Sports Headquarters is on the shore to the west of the under construction new Crown Casino Hotel. Recruitment Officers and hosts of the evening Val and Glen Coles had gone to considerable effort to arrange table and chairs inside due to the wind, with tablecloths on the tables. They also provide all the makings for tea and coffee and a substitute barbecue was arranged as the installed one took ill the afternoon before. A feature of the evening was the members moving around the table to talk to each other.
What surprised most of our members was how few other people were there; we were clearly the majority. Cars were parked metres away enabling the easy transfer of goodies from boot to table. A ski boat was in attendance taking anyone for a moonlight ski. Regular boaties were impressed how quietly it moved at speed across the water. As the sun set, the wind eased considerably and we all took the chairs from the hall out onto the lawn to perfect weather conditions.
Just after 10:00 pm when the lights at Gloucester Park had been extinguished and the slither of the moon had descended below the visible horizon, the fireworks began. Two barges containing the pyrotechnics were moored about 200-300 metres off shore. As a result, the display bursting in the sky appeared to be nearly over our heads. And what a display it was. Being contained to a small area, the colours were vivid and the patterns of explosions were very close to each other. The word that came to many to describe the patterns were that they were “pretty”. Seeing the explosions virtually over your head is distinctly superior to seeing them silhouetted against the distant sky.
At the end of the evening the question most asked was how do you get your name on the list for next year. By their generous invitation and excellent facilities, Val and Glen have a permanent task ahead of them.
®