Gympie Muster 2007

Well, It's Muster time again. After last years heat wave and the lack of amenities in the camping area (were were located way out in the overflow camping area) only Mark and myself were brave enough to go to the Muster this year. As we are generally lazy and without partners we decided to try the Banjos Budget accommodation this year. This is a great setup, they provide a reasonable tent, with beds and lighting all you have to bring is clothes and bedding. Another benefit is that toilets and hot showers are located in the banjos area. We should be able to talk our partners into joining us next year.

Well, how could you describe this years muster in a few works? The answer is "Great Music, Mud, Rain, and Flood".


Thursday

Mark and I arrived around 2pm on Thursday, after a moving all our gear into the tent having a quick we headed in to the muster site. At this stage it was reasonably dry, with only a few brief showers. The path to the muster entrance goes over a small creek which was looking very dry (no water anywhere to be seen, we are in the middle of a drought after all), after wandering around getting familiar with the site again we decided it was time to start catching the acts.

The acts we saw were:

• Dianna Corcoran @ Wine Bar - loved her act
• Wildseed @ Wine Bar
• Jayne Denham @ The Crow Bar
• Big Kitty and the Scaredy Cats @ Blues tent - very good
• Jonah's Road @ the Crow Bar - Favorite act at the muster lots of energy
• The Bostocks @ Crow Bar - very good
• Sam Hawksley @ the Crow Bar

By this stage the rain was getting pretty heavy and it was nearly 1:00am so we headed back to the tent and across the still empty creek. In the distance we heard the occasional thunder clap.

Friday

Woke up and it was still raining but it didn't seem too bad. Still some study for a RHCE exam while Mark slept, around 9am it was time to get read to catch the first act of the day The Pigs for their album launch. Around now I started to get a little worried as I overheard people saying that we are flooded in and can not get to venue area. Mark and I made our way towards the venue only to be told that the creek had flooded and we can not get to the venue, so had a look for ourselves. Yep shes flooded.

Plan B, lets walk along the road and enter via the other entrance. We get to the causeway and yep she's flooded too. Bugger.

Luckily a Ute driver was game enough to make the crossing and they were happy for people to jump on the back of the ute to cross the creek.

After crossing the creek we made our way to the venue. The acts we saw were:

• The Pigs - Brilliant
• Beginners swing class - nothing like the Lindy that I am used to but still fun.
• Carter and Carter
• The Bostocks - Really loved them the second time
• The Black Sorrows - Great show
• Jonahs Road - Absolutely brilliant, I think they played around 3 hrs due to the fact that the next acted was flooded out.

We ended up leaving early as the organisers had a bus that would take people over the flooded creek. We only waited around 30-40 minutes for the bus, in the rain :(

Overall a great day, ever if it was muddy, raining, and a few of the acts were flooded out of the venue.

Saturday

Woke up and saw a little bit of blue sky. Things were looking up. Mark and I saw the line for the bus and said no way, so we made our way to the creek and noticed that the water level had dropped. The water was now only knee deep, so off went the shoes, rolled up the jeans and we waded across. Since it was drier today I thought it was safe to bring out the camera.

Muster Tavern and Muster Club entrance

Bands for the day were

• Dianna Corcoran - very good



• Camille and Stuie - Very Good







• Umbilical Bros - Very Good


• Caught a little bit of Shea Fisher, did see enough to have a opinion, but the good news was that Main stage was finally up and running.


• Amber Lawrence - Very Good



• The Bostocks - Very Good







• Adam Harvey - Good
• Melinda Schneider - Only saw a few songs (good) before heading off to
• Dueling Piano's - Saw one song due to them starting late and I wanted to catch
• Jetty Road- Very Good



• Luke O'shea & Medicine Wheel - Very good

Another great day.

Sunday

We packed up around 9:00 and left the camp ground around 10:00am. We need some help getting out of Banjos as the trucks had turned the small lane into a lot of mud and Mark's Falcon wasn't up to the task. The site manager managed to clear a path through the camp area and helped push the car through the mud in a couple of places.

We finally made it to the main gate where we were told they are only allowing 4WDs out of the site as another creek down the road was flooding another bridge. After a 20 minute wait the all clear was given and we made our way back down to Brisbane.

Tips for visiting the muster.

• Bring Gum Boots
• Driza-Bone coats are extremely handy. They keep you dry and warm.

Now, what will the muster throw at us next year? My guess is a thunderstorm or a tornado and 30 degC days.

Gallery can be found here.

Stanthorpe 2007

(Warning contains adult content)

This year we changed our long weekend Accommodation (we out grew the Apple Grove) and upgraded to Windswept.

Even though we started off quite tame (due to illness) we made up for it in entertainment this year!

Mike the Wine Tour Driver did a great job again showing us around some great Granite Belt Wineries.

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  First up a favourite – Symphony Hill, then on the Bramble Patch, for Jams, Ice Cream and Pie.
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  Next Ravens Croft – great stuff and lovely puppy.
• 
  Then to lunch – Gardino’s great value and food.
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  Next stop Robert Channons Wines (1 Labrador and a Dalmatian) the view and the wine wheren’t bad either.
• 
  Then on to Ridgehill Estate & Amberley Edge Vineyards

Sunday
Dionne & I went to the Stanthorpe markets for a look around. Whilst Mikey and Phil, played pool and the remote control power boat in the creek.
Mark, Nick and Sue had a bit of a jam session.

This year Stanthorpe theme was to perform a song.
Well, the bar was definitely raised this year, so much variety!

Dolly & Kenny performed Islands in the Stream (Mikey and I)

Micheal Jackson performed Beat it – So many prop’s! (Phil)
Toni Bassil performed Oh Mickey – Quite an aerobic workout (Sue)
Peter Allen performed Baby goes to Rio – Nice hip shaking!(Mark)

Black Sabath performed by Picniccio – Fairies wear boots – Great Head banging (Dionne)
Depesh Mode performed Master and Servants – Now Nick out did himself here 10 out of 10 for shock factor! We all know how to make Mark nervous now!

The boys then progressed outside to play Frisbee and vortex, in costume (much to the amusement of the onsite managers!).

And as usual there was the normal swapping of costumes (between the boys only!) they all had to try on Nick’s Bondage outfit! Mark held out the longest, but once he got it on, he was saying “Gee your right it is comfortable!”

Finished off the night with the normal feast of Turkey and roast veg. and Dionne’s wonderful steamed pudding with Cream – Yummy!

Another great year at the Granite Belt with friends – Can’t wait until next year. Thanks everyone!

Gallery can be Found Here.