Eighty Paddlers, 4 Boats and Three States
The Pink Up Paynesville weekend over the June long weekend was a resounding success. Despite gale force winds on the Saturday, we still managed to have three paddles over the next two days. On Sunday, the winds were strong but we paddled on the Mitchell in relative shelter most of the day. We scheduled a paddle around Paynesville on Monday morning.
And, as for the social program - the Yacht Club filled with smiles and the smell of homemade soup and sausage rolls for lunch on the Saturday. Paddlers did their own thing on Saturday afternoon and explored the local area. On Saturday night, the Cruiser Club filled with colour and laughter for dinner. There were raffles, a few trivia questions and games that led to a light hearted and frivolous evening. Sunday lunch at our clubrooms in Bairnsdale provided respite from the cold conditions and gave us all a chance to regroup from the morning paddle and get ready for the afternoon paddle.
The fun and camaraderie over the weekend was fantastic. We had paddlers from Hobart, Illawarra, the Peninsula, Docklands, Geelong and Mildura.
On reflection, the concept was very good – a chance for everyone to get away and mix with likeminded people. I think we have a great pro-forma for a long weekend event and we are happy to share the template to help other groups run a similar event.
A huge thank you to everyone who attended our event and made it such a success!
Leonie Taylor, Gippsland Waratahs