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Annual Australia Day Challenge ...
2018 AUSTRALIA DAY CHALLENGE
What a fantastic day we all had among friends at the annual Australia Day celebrations at the Yacht Club. Weather-wise, the day was perfect, so the fun and games began. This year's event was organised by the Cooloola Dragons and once again, they managed to come up with .
This year's "Challenge" included a new selection of silly novelty games that only the erudite minds of our Dragon friends could come up with. They included:
- Dragon Boat time trials
- Thong Relay - yes, this involved thongs, but not the kind you're probably thinking off. These were the large blow-up plastic li-lo type and provided much fun and opportunities for skullduggery by the relay participants;
- Dinghy racing in Sailability's Access 303 dinghies;
- Croc Chasing - form a conga line with the first person wearing a croc head and the last person the croc's tail and try to set the fastest time around the pegged out course ... which is in the water!
- Thong Throw (throwing thongs at various targets. The winner was the team who hit the most targets);
- Knock 'Em Down: Chucking tennis balls at tin cans lined up on a plank of wood;
- Boules - an oldie but a goodie;
- Woggly Relay - ever tried running with a pool noodle between your legs and handing it over to a team-mate without involving hands? There was also a tinsel-decorated Australia Day hat that had to be worn by the person with the noodle.
There were musos on hand to provide light entertainment and a Ukelele Band serenaded everyone during lunch. The Challenge concluded with recitals of Aussie poems and songs, and awarding of the Best-Dressed Man and Woman. After the scores were tallied, the Olive Dish Trophy was awarded to ... (drum roll) the Grotty Yachties. Congratulations to all - the Dragons - especially Norma Sanderson - for organising the day and always being at the sharp end where FUN is to be had, and Sailability for their great effort in all events.
The day concluded with an Aussie lunch that featured classic Aussie picnic food such as salads, sangers, steak and Lamingtons for "dessert". A wonderful day was had by all. If you missed the event, check out the photos below ...
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Event photography by Julie Hartwig Photography.
2017 AUSTRALIA DAY CHALLENGE
A beautiful summer day presented for the 9th annual Australia Day Challenge. Members of the Tin Can Bay Yacht Club and our our affiliated clubs, Sailability Tin Can Bay and the Cooloola Dragon Boat Club enjoyed a day of fun and silly games on and off the water. Sailability organised this year's event and derived a new selection of silly novelty games to challenge the combatants.
The "Challenge" included games that only made sense to Aussies:
- Orange Races (2 people held an orange between their foreheads - no hands allowed - and walked a short course to drop it in a bucket. The winner was the team with the most oranges in their bucket);
- Sponge Toss (throwing soaking wet sponges to a team mate who caught them, squeezed the water our and threw the sponge back. The winner was the team who filled their bucket first);
- Thong Throw (throwing thongs into a wheelie bin. The winner was the team who got the most thongs in);
- Bean Bag Throw (throwing bean bags between the rungs of a step ladder. Each gap in the rungs was worth a certain number of points and the team scoring the highest was the winner);
- Kayak Relay Chaos, Dragon Boat Drag Racing and sailing races in 303 dinghies.
The Challenge concluded with recitals of Aussie poems and songs, and awarding of the Best-Dressed Man (Len Druce, aka The Corridor) and Woman (Kay Muir aka Captain Crook). After the scores were tallied, the Olive Dish Trophy was awarded to ... (drum roll) Cooloola Dragons, who dedicated their back-to-back win to much loved life member, former president and coach, Gayle ("No Excuses") Barnett who passed away on 18 January and whose memorial service had been held on 25 January.
The day concluded with an Aussie lunch that featured classic Aussie picnic food such as salads, sangers, sausage rolls, cold chicken, watermelon and Lamingtons. A wonderful day was had by all. If you missed the event, check out the photos below ...
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Event photography by Julie Hartwig Photography.
2016 AUSTRALIA DAY CHALLENGE
Once again, members and friends gathered at the "yachtie" on Australia Day for the 8th annual Australia Day Challenge. This day of fun and silly games on and off the water brings club members together with the members of our affiliated clubs, Sailability Tin Can Bay and the Cooloola Dragon Boat Club. This year, the yacht club held the organising reins and as usual, the day kicked off with Bacon & Egg Muffins. Then things took a departure from the norm with the presentation by the Sandy Bay Very Amateur Theatre Company of their pantomime, "Seaderella". It was an event to behold and set the tone for the rest of the day. The weather tried to interfere and though it rained heavily at times, the "Competition" saw games that only made sense to Aussies, including Thong Throwing, Beach Boules, Kayak Chaos, Dragon Boat Drag Racing and a sailing dinghy relay race. After a break for an Aussie BBQ lunch, there followed recitals of bush poetry, including Dragon Gayle's hysterical recital of "The Seafood Raffle", which had all present rolling in the aisles and crying tears of laughter. Best Dressed Man and Woman prizes were awarded, and after all the scores for the games were tallied up, the Cooloola Dragons carted the Olive Dish Trophy off for the very first time. A wonderful day was had by all. If you missed the event, check out the photos below ...
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Event photography by Julie Hartwig Photography.
2015 AUSTRALIA DAY CHALLENGE
G'day. A patriotic crowd of members and friends gathered at the "yachtie" on Australia Day for the 7th annual Australia Day Challenge. This day of fun and silly games on and off the water brings club members together with the members of our affiliated clubs, Sailability Tin Can Bay and the Cooloola Dragon Boat Club. This year, Sailability held the organising reins. The day kicked off with Bacon & Egg Rolls cooked on the barbie, and the "competition" saw games that only made sense to Aussies, including Thong Throwing, Beach Boules, Snag & Tong Races, Kayak Chaos, Dragon Boat Drag Racing and Access Antics. There were recitals of some classic Aussie poems (with the words changed to reflect a "Yachtie" bent and who could forget Dragon Gayle's hysterical recital of Bill Kearns' classis poem, "Entrapment" (aka "The Tale of Trevor's Tortured Testicles"), which had the gathering rolling in the aisles. Best Dressed Man and Woman prizes were presented to John Grimmett and Norma Sanderson, and after all the scores for the games were tallied up, the Yachtie's Commodore Dennis carted the Olive Dish Trophy off yet again. A wonderful day was had by all. If you missed the event, check out the photos below ...
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Event photography by Julie Hartwig Photography.
2014 AUSTRALIA DAY CHALLENGE
We may have been a day late celebrating Australia Day, but the delay did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of members and friends. Together with affiliate clubs, Cooloola Dragon Boat Club and Sailability Tin Can Bay, around eighty people gathered at the Club in true Aussie style to contest the Annual Australia Day Challenge ...
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