Wynnum celebrates Australia Day with novelty croquet challenges

Australia Day 2019 meant it was really hot and dry. Along with our normal member turnout, we welcomed 4 visiting players from other clubs for the day.

Our Club Captain Deirdre and Coach Gordon set up our courts in a very special arrangement:

- Maze: ropes marked a zig zag course, and the person with the least number of shots to complete it was the winner. - Bucket court: we had to get as many balls as possible into the "buckets" set up along the boundary. - Skittles. - Closest to the Peg: played using a normal tennis ball, a large tennis ball and a croquet ball. That was very interesting, as we had to use a different hitting weight for each type of ball. - Gateball challenge: we had to hit the ball through 3 hoops in a row the full length of the court, not as easy as it seems. - Backwards Hoop: hitting through the hoop facing the wrong direction. - One-handed course: more difficult than we all imagined.

We must thank Deirdre and Gordon, and all of our scorers and adjudicators, for their great work as well. However, we noted that none could be bribed, even with cake! At the end of the day, "special" gold medals were handed out to those with the best score in each event.

This was followed by a wonderful BBQ lunch and salad. Pavlova with ice cream was then dished up, with lamingtons for afternoon tea. Huge thanks must go to Aina and her kitchen helpers, and to BBQ Bill, for a wonderful lunch.

It was an absolute hoot and we all had such a great day. Couldn't get much more Aussie than that! Aussie Aussie Aussie - oi oi oi