Now let the real catch up begin......almost three months in a few missives. Well, that's the plan anyway.
Daily life here at Kurrimine Beach over the winter period does develop something of a routine, but there is always something going on.
Old friends coming and going, some excellent days out on the water when the mackerel are running, afternoon happy hours ranging from a gathered few to a cast of thousands, camp kitchen special events including Xmas in July, a wine tasting and several shows which we organised amongst ourselves, Sunday live music under the new verandah, dinner under the awning and so on and so on.
And then there are the long beach walks, exercising in the large park pool, trips to Tully, Mission Beach and Innisfail for 'the big shops' and days spent with friends at Wongoling Beach (next to Mission Beach). And this year we finally got around to visiting the extraordinary tourist attraction which is the nearby Paronella Park.
Routine perhaps, but rarely dull. And, as I have smugly said before, even when it rains (which it does!) we will still be wandering around in 'T' shirts and shorts.
So where to begin?
One almost inviolable aspect of life at KB is the afternoon happy hour. The only thing which varies is the venue.
Our site lies on a bend in the park roadway and the expanses of lawn which spread across the area in front of our slab make for an ideal 'beer garden'.
As I mentioned previously, numbers varied according to how busy the park was, but whilst the sites were well occupied the 1630 hours happy hour bell usually attracted quite a crowd.
But a change is always as good as a holiday.......another favoured venue lay just outside the park back gate,
Our site lies on a bend in the park roadway and the expanses of lawn which spread across the area in front of our slab make for an ideal 'beer garden'.
As I mentioned previously, numbers varied according to how busy the park was, but whilst the sites were well occupied the 1630 hours happy hour bell usually attracted quite a crowd.
But a change is always as good as a holiday.......another favoured venue lay just outside the park back gate,
where the wide grass roadway verge provided an ideal spot to gather in the warmth of the late afternoon sun.
I have to admit that we did find ourselves a little torn from time to time, when we would have rather liked to have been in both places at once, but these things do have a way of sorting themselves out.
The new owners of the park have made quite a number of changes to the infrastructure (during last year whilst we were stuck in Adelaide). The Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park now boasts a cafe/restaurant, pool side deck, a small bar and an undercover entertaining area near the park office.
For good or bad (and opinions vary amongst the regulars) this has brought about some significant changes to the park social life. The demands of operating these new facilities have meant that the regular Friday evening park sponsored events in the camp kitchen of previous years have gone by the wayside, apart from the utterly traditional Xmas in July and Wine Tasting evening.
The new owners of the park have made quite a number of changes to the infrastructure (during last year whilst we were stuck in Adelaide). The Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park now boasts a cafe/restaurant, pool side deck, a small bar and an undercover entertaining area near the park office.
For good or bad (and opinions vary amongst the regulars) this has brought about some significant changes to the park social life. The demands of operating these new facilities have meant that the regular Friday evening park sponsored events in the camp kitchen of previous years have gone by the wayside, apart from the utterly traditional Xmas in July and Wine Tasting evening.
But that did not mean we could not do our own thing. From time to time we 'boomerangs' would meet in the camp kitchen for self organised 'special' functions.
One of the regular winter visitors to the park, a grand chap who comes this way for two weeks or so in the course of his work, is a most generous soul. On two occasions during his stay, 'Pope Pete' as we call him (long story!), thought it would be a good idea to have our own sausage sizzle.
We all agreed. The deal was simple.......he would provided all the goodies....the snags, bread, onions and spuds, and yours truly would don his apron and fire up the camp kitchen BBQ.
So whilst the invited long-termers (this is some of them) gathered for pre-dinner drinks,
Chef Pierre prepared his special caramelised onion and potato mix before loading the plate with snags and whipping them into good order.
Ably assisted at the serving table by my good mate Grant (with whom I spent many happy and successful hours at sea on the mackerel grounds), we soon had the throng fed and happy.
Pope Pete's generosity was such that the call for 'seconds' was not only possible, it became almost mandatory! "Come on you lot....we didn't cook this to have it go cold on us". It didn't! Park life may have its drawbacks, but a lack of appetite rarely seems to be one of them!
These were great shows, run with the blessing of the park owners, who would, when time permitted, come and join us for a while. They made a pleasant social alternative to the beer garden or the back fence.
Not all our camp kitchen capers were confined to sausage sizzles.
One of the highlights of a stay here at Kurrimine (for some of us) comes with the arrival of the mackerel. On any one day during the season (usually between about mid June and August) when the grounds some 10 to 15 miles (yes, miles...nautical that is!) off shore come alive with spanish, spotted, and greys, is it not uncommon to find upwards of fifty boats of all shapes and sizes crowded across the recognised hot spots.
A couple of these were based at our camp, and as I mentioned before, I was lucky enough to score a berth with Grant on several occasions.
The early morning alarm (0500 hours), and oft chilly predawn run out past King Reef to the fishing grounds in choppy seas, were soon forgotten when the 40 kg breaking strain braided line screamed off my big Penn reel and the fight to land a big fish was on.
With a boat limit of ten fish per day, I can happily report that we 'bagged out' on each trip. On one most memorable day we reached our quota within less than an hour.......but we kept fishing. A quick call to a less successful mate soon had him alongside and in no time we were both heading back to shore with the ice slurry in our large eskies brimming with legal numbers of large slabs of mackerel.
A long standing park tradition here at Kurrimine Beach is that of sharing a good catch with friends and neighbours, and one of the ways in which this is achieved is a 'fish night' in the camp kitchen. All in residence are invited, to the joy and complete astonishment of those lucky ones who are not regulars but just happen to be here at the time.
Whilst the deep fryer in the corner of the kitchen sizzled as Grant and another Pete turned out
fillet after crisp golden battered fillet,
your scribe again took station at the BBQ and catered for those who preferred their chunky portions grilled.
With the tables laden with BYO salads and liquid refreshments, and fish caught that very morning free for the taking in seemingly never ending quantities, these are very popular evenings indeed.
Another long standing tradition came in the form of 'Xmas in July', when the camp kitchen was transformed with tinsel and table decorations
and all and sundry frocked up (well, everything is relative) and sipped on pre-dinner drinks whilst Glenda, our ever cheerful park co-owner, organised the food table. As usual, the park provided the roast meat and we all contributed either a salad or sweet.
The call of "come and get it" needed no repeating.
The tables were crowded, the plates well laden, the bubbles were chilled and the night was away.
And what's a Xmas celebration without Santa and his Elf,
even if Santa's 'little helper' was neither little nor helpful......and could be much better described as a serial pest!
Santa's lap did get something of a workout, and after these shenanigans
the sweets were served
and things just got more and more raucous.
The obligatory karaoke session (these are far fewer these days) brought the evening to a somewhat extended close. Liz was 'very cheerful' by this stage and quick to add her voice (which is much better than she will acknowledge!) to those of our hostess and Bette
before your scribe was hauled up to offer a spot of 'Elvis'.....tonight it was Blue Suede Shoes.
I'm sure it would come as no surprise to learn that the camp was collectively a tad slow the following morning, but this was a small price to pay for what had been a most excellent evening.........tradition had been maintained.
Now although activities in the camp kitchen are not as frequent as they used to be, as I mentioned earlier, alterations to the park infrastructure have resulted in a large roofed area near the park office. And this, my friends, has become the venue for what were some fantastic shows.
Notwithstanding the fact that the park now has its own fully licensed bar, there is no obligation, nor indeed any real expectation, that those of us who spend a significant time here over the winter must use it. For all the shows the park put on, BYO was the order of the day......but I will admit that it was wonderfully convenient to pop into the bar when the esky ran dry!
I should also note here that the local hotel, The King Reef, to which some of us would venture from time to time just for a change of scenery, saw nothing of us this year. Indeed many of the surrounding residents now make the Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park bar their 'local', something which speaks volumes for way in which the King Reef has been managed over the past years (it should be pretty easy to read between these lines!).
But back to the park shows. These were just terrific. Several performers were hired over the time we were in residence, with late Sunday afternoons being the preferred performance hour.
The 'Entertainer of the Season' crown went, without doubt or any hesitation, to the redoubtable and consummately skillful 'Big Jim' Sanders.
Jim, a professional British session musician for years, has played with famous bands all over England, including, for example, that which backed and toured with Tom Jones for some time. Apart from his skill on the guitar, which is as good as I have ever heard (and I know enough about it to make a pretty informed judgement), he is no slouch on several other instruments. In fact, in his Cairns sound studio, Jim lays down all the instrumental tracks to the backings he uses with songs he performs.
And he can yarn. His interplay with the audience is sensational, and the tales of all those with whom he has worked over the years are just fascinating.
Jim performed for us on three different occasions, and on each he always drew a crowd.
The Marshies' blue BYO esky (and Liz also in blue) was never far from the action, be it a late evening show
or earlier in the day (yours truly in the centre of this group).
And, in the true 'the show must go on' fashion, even a serious afternoon downpour did not stop this performance. It was shortly after I took this shot that Jim had to move in much closer to where we were all sitting....the gutter behind him began to overflow, not a good mix with all his electrical equipment!
Of course one of the attractions for us about Jim's music, apart from his skill on the guitar and his marvellous backings (and he has a more than passable voice), was the fact that his extensive repertoire was drawn mainly from the 60's and 70's....we all knew the words and the dance steps. Well done girls.....not a drop spilt!
Strangely, the floor always seemed to become more crowded as the evenings wore on.....nothing to do with the liquid refreshments of course!
It was universally accepted that Big Jim's performances were a real highlight of this season at Kurrimine Beach. Indeed, his last performance was driven by popular demand. Fortunately for us Jim was always happy to drive down from Cairns in his RV with his charming wife and and set up overnight. We can well understand why he has a permanent gig at the The Brothers, a large Cairns leagues club.
This new undercover area was put to good use on several other occasions, but I'll have more to say about this (and more) later.
One of the regular winter visitors to the park, a grand chap who comes this way for two weeks or so in the course of his work, is a most generous soul. On two occasions during his stay, 'Pope Pete' as we call him (long story!), thought it would be a good idea to have our own sausage sizzle.
We all agreed. The deal was simple.......he would provided all the goodies....the snags, bread, onions and spuds, and yours truly would don his apron and fire up the camp kitchen BBQ.
So whilst the invited long-termers (this is some of them) gathered for pre-dinner drinks,
Chef Pierre prepared his special caramelised onion and potato mix before loading the plate with snags and whipping them into good order.
Ably assisted at the serving table by my good mate Grant (with whom I spent many happy and successful hours at sea on the mackerel grounds), we soon had the throng fed and happy.
Pope Pete's generosity was such that the call for 'seconds' was not only possible, it became almost mandatory! "Come on you lot....we didn't cook this to have it go cold on us". It didn't! Park life may have its drawbacks, but a lack of appetite rarely seems to be one of them!
These were great shows, run with the blessing of the park owners, who would, when time permitted, come and join us for a while. They made a pleasant social alternative to the beer garden or the back fence.
Not all our camp kitchen capers were confined to sausage sizzles.
One of the highlights of a stay here at Kurrimine (for some of us) comes with the arrival of the mackerel. On any one day during the season (usually between about mid June and August) when the grounds some 10 to 15 miles (yes, miles...nautical that is!) off shore come alive with spanish, spotted, and greys, is it not uncommon to find upwards of fifty boats of all shapes and sizes crowded across the recognised hot spots.
A couple of these were based at our camp, and as I mentioned before, I was lucky enough to score a berth with Grant on several occasions.
The early morning alarm (0500 hours), and oft chilly predawn run out past King Reef to the fishing grounds in choppy seas, were soon forgotten when the 40 kg breaking strain braided line screamed off my big Penn reel and the fight to land a big fish was on.
With a boat limit of ten fish per day, I can happily report that we 'bagged out' on each trip. On one most memorable day we reached our quota within less than an hour.......but we kept fishing. A quick call to a less successful mate soon had him alongside and in no time we were both heading back to shore with the ice slurry in our large eskies brimming with legal numbers of large slabs of mackerel.
A long standing park tradition here at Kurrimine Beach is that of sharing a good catch with friends and neighbours, and one of the ways in which this is achieved is a 'fish night' in the camp kitchen. All in residence are invited, to the joy and complete astonishment of those lucky ones who are not regulars but just happen to be here at the time.
Whilst the deep fryer in the corner of the kitchen sizzled as Grant and another Pete turned out
fillet after crisp golden battered fillet,
your scribe again took station at the BBQ and catered for those who preferred their chunky portions grilled.
With the tables laden with BYO salads and liquid refreshments, and fish caught that very morning free for the taking in seemingly never ending quantities, these are very popular evenings indeed.
Another long standing tradition came in the form of 'Xmas in July', when the camp kitchen was transformed with tinsel and table decorations
and all and sundry frocked up (well, everything is relative) and sipped on pre-dinner drinks whilst Glenda, our ever cheerful park co-owner, organised the food table. As usual, the park provided the roast meat and we all contributed either a salad or sweet.
The call of "come and get it" needed no repeating.
The tables were crowded, the plates well laden, the bubbles were chilled and the night was away.
And what's a Xmas celebration without Santa and his Elf,
even if Santa's 'little helper' was neither little nor helpful......and could be much better described as a serial pest!
Santa's lap did get something of a workout, and after these shenanigans
the sweets were served
and things just got more and more raucous.
The obligatory karaoke session (these are far fewer these days) brought the evening to a somewhat extended close. Liz was 'very cheerful' by this stage and quick to add her voice (which is much better than she will acknowledge!) to those of our hostess and Bette
before your scribe was hauled up to offer a spot of 'Elvis'.....tonight it was Blue Suede Shoes.
I'm sure it would come as no surprise to learn that the camp was collectively a tad slow the following morning, but this was a small price to pay for what had been a most excellent evening.........tradition had been maintained.
Now although activities in the camp kitchen are not as frequent as they used to be, as I mentioned earlier, alterations to the park infrastructure have resulted in a large roofed area near the park office. And this, my friends, has become the venue for what were some fantastic shows.
Notwithstanding the fact that the park now has its own fully licensed bar, there is no obligation, nor indeed any real expectation, that those of us who spend a significant time here over the winter must use it. For all the shows the park put on, BYO was the order of the day......but I will admit that it was wonderfully convenient to pop into the bar when the esky ran dry!
I should also note here that the local hotel, The King Reef, to which some of us would venture from time to time just for a change of scenery, saw nothing of us this year. Indeed many of the surrounding residents now make the Kurrimine Beach Holiday Park bar their 'local', something which speaks volumes for way in which the King Reef has been managed over the past years (it should be pretty easy to read between these lines!).
But back to the park shows. These were just terrific. Several performers were hired over the time we were in residence, with late Sunday afternoons being the preferred performance hour.
The 'Entertainer of the Season' crown went, without doubt or any hesitation, to the redoubtable and consummately skillful 'Big Jim' Sanders.
Jim, a professional British session musician for years, has played with famous bands all over England, including, for example, that which backed and toured with Tom Jones for some time. Apart from his skill on the guitar, which is as good as I have ever heard (and I know enough about it to make a pretty informed judgement), he is no slouch on several other instruments. In fact, in his Cairns sound studio, Jim lays down all the instrumental tracks to the backings he uses with songs he performs.
And he can yarn. His interplay with the audience is sensational, and the tales of all those with whom he has worked over the years are just fascinating.
Jim performed for us on three different occasions, and on each he always drew a crowd.
The Marshies' blue BYO esky (and Liz also in blue) was never far from the action, be it a late evening show
or earlier in the day (yours truly in the centre of this group).
And, in the true 'the show must go on' fashion, even a serious afternoon downpour did not stop this performance. It was shortly after I took this shot that Jim had to move in much closer to where we were all sitting....the gutter behind him began to overflow, not a good mix with all his electrical equipment!
Of course one of the attractions for us about Jim's music, apart from his skill on the guitar and his marvellous backings (and he has a more than passable voice), was the fact that his extensive repertoire was drawn mainly from the 60's and 70's....we all knew the words and the dance steps. Well done girls.....not a drop spilt!
Strangely, the floor always seemed to become more crowded as the evenings wore on.....nothing to do with the liquid refreshments of course!
It was universally accepted that Big Jim's performances were a real highlight of this season at Kurrimine Beach. Indeed, his last performance was driven by popular demand. Fortunately for us Jim was always happy to drive down from Cairns in his RV with his charming wife and and set up overnight. We can well understand why he has a permanent gig at the The Brothers, a large Cairns leagues club.
This new undercover area was put to good use on several other occasions, but I'll have more to say about this (and more) later.
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