Byron Bay Minimeet - April 14 & 15

[sheepie]

gstark - (Gary) - Camping

I'll believe that when I see it!

[stubbsy]

Mark

Looking forward to this. That's a hell of a lot of people camping in your backyard. Who have you sold the concession rights to the toilet to?

[stubbsy]

And for those who haven't yet organised accommodation I just checked and there is room at the YHA at Byron Bay ($95 for a double or twin room, $33 for a male shared room for YHA members)

[mark]

Mark

Looking forward to this. That's a hell of a lot of people camping in your backyard. Who have you sold the concession rights to the toilet to?

It'll be busy that's for sure.
Toilets... Hmmmmm I have a few shovels. Just kidding.
We may have to give the portaloo rental people a call. Other than that, I'm first and you all have to wait.

That being said Stubbsy I think that we will call the campground full at that. Anyone else who would like to come will need to make their own accom arrangements. PM me If you need some suggestions.

[mark]

Just off the phone from the portaloo people. I have booked the "wedding on wheels" model (seriously, that's what it's called). $110 for the weekend and it doubles the capacity at our place. Waiting time halved.

[sheepie]

Just off the phone from the portaloo people. I have booked the "wedding on wheels" model (seriously, that's what it's called). $110 for the weekend and it doubles the capacity at our place. Waiting time halved.

We'll make sure you're not out of pocket Mark - good thinking

I'll be bringing our shower tent too - although those that want to use it only get one bucket of water each, and you have to heat it yourselves

Roll on the Saturday night camp fire and bbq! hehe

[Manta]

Shaping up to be a great meet! I'm really looking forward to catching up with my local mates, those I met in Sydney recently and those I should have!

Great job in putting this together Mark.

(Talking to Bindii today though - not sure she can make it but I'll let her confirm that)

[Oscar]

Mark,

Hope all is going to plan.

I will bring along a shower tent too - be nice if I knew how to get it folded back into the bag by then though.

As said already - should be a great week-end.

Cheers, Mick

[mark]

I have just PM'ed everone who is listed as attending with maps and directions of how to get to my place and also how to get to the meeting place for Saturday Morning.

The plan is to meet at 9.30am at Captain Cook car park which is on the road out to the light house, unless you are camping, we will be leaving My place just after 9am.

For those who are camping and anyone else who wants to come along, Timo and I are keen to do a Sunrise (lighthouse) and / or a farm walk on Timo's farm (120 acres) right next door on Sunday morning. Timo tells me he got to within 30mts of an eagle that was perched on one of his fence posts this week.

I'm looking forward to it, especially the campfires.

If you didn't receive a PM, let me know and I send you the details.

Cheers

[Nnnnsic]

I'm looking forward to it, especially the campfires.

It'll be remembered as The Great Canon Melting of 2007! They'll sing songs of Snap, Crackle, and Pop dancing over the sizzling gear! Mwahahahaha...

(That and I'm sure someone will bring a guitar...)

[mark]

I'm looking forward to it, especially the campfires.

It'll be remembered as The Great Canon Melting of 2007! They'll sing songs of Snap, Crackle, and Pop dancing over the sizzling gear! Mwahahahaha...

(That and I'm sure someone will bring a guitar...)

Have guitar here, just can't play.
Hmmmm...... need to get onto some firewood next week.

[radar]

I'll have to pull out, sorry, my better half has to work so I'll be staying here.

Hope you guys have a lot of fun, Byron is such a great place,

Till next time,

André

[Nnnnsic]

Damn. There go the Andre and The Labradors (which isn't a bad sounding name for a band).

[mark]

I'll have to pull out, sorry, my better half has to work so I'll be staying here.

Hope you guys have a lot of fun, Byron is such a great place,

Till next time,

André

Bummer, sorry to hear that Andre.

[mark]

Hi Everyone,

Sheepie just Pm'ed me with a question regarding dinner for Saturday night which started me thinking.

As most people who are coming are staying in Byron or at my place Saturday night, perhaps we should all get together for another meal. We aill have had a BBQ lunch on Saturday, so I have thought of a few options.

1. Camp cooking at my place, everyone is welcome.

2. Beach Hotel of something like that in Byron.

3. We can get some chooks and say beef or lamb at Woolies and have a roast up here at my place.

What are everyones thoughts?

[sheepie]

Something at the camp is my preference. Stubbsy has some ideas (which I'll let him share with us when he gets a chance).

When are the campers arriving, and leaving?

[mark]

Something at the camp is my preference. Stubbsy has some ideas (which I'll let him share with us when he gets a chance).

When are the campers arriving, and leaving?

Me too, prefer somthing here that is.

At this stage it looks as if Stubbsy, you, Lucas and Leigh are arriving Friday Night, as is Slider and his Wife and also Oscar & his wife. Stetner will meet us on Sat morning and will camp Sat night. Manta is coming Sat think and will be staying not to far from my place. Did I miss anyone?

Edit - Yep, missed Craig and Dianna from Lismore. Craig is pretty busy so I'm not sure if he will hang around for dinner or not.

[Nnnnsic]

Geeze... I'm still trying to figure out if I should bring the medium format (film) or not...

[Nnnnsic]

Is Rel still coming, Mark?

[mark]

Geeze... I'm still trying to figure out if I should bring the medium format (film) or not...

Can we eat it?

[mark]

Is Rel still coming, Mark?

I haven't heard.
Narelle??????

[Oscar]

Geeze... I'm still trying to figure out if I should bring the medium format (film) or not...

Can we eat it?

Had the same thoughts - hope its not fast film

I think something around the camp fire would be great on Saturday night too. But we are happy to go with the flow.

How big is the BBQ plate at your place Mark? I'm happy to cook/assist if we can cater for all that will be coming. Marinated chicken? Stir fry veggies? Fried garlic bread? And hey, if Sam and Ryan have any Easter eggs left we could have chocolate for dessert

Cheers, Mick

[mark]

Confirmed starters for the meet are.

Camping -
Oscar (Mick & Donna) - Arriving Friday arvo/eve
Nnnnsic - (Leigh) - Arriving Friday arvo/eve
Stubbsy - (Peter) - Arriving Friday arvo/eve
Sheepie (Leon & his son Lucas) - Arriving Friday arvo/eve
Slider (Mark & Kathleen) - Arriving Friday arvo/eve
Stetner - (Doug) - Arriving Saturday

The others -
Mark (Mark, Peta, Sam & Ryan) - Park Rangers
JordanP (Craig & Dianna) - Driving from Lismore
Manta (Simon & Stephanie) - Staying at Riverview Guesthouse in Bangalow.
Timo - Nikon DSLR convert and my neighbour.

[mark]

Mick - The BBQ plate is BIG, so plenty of room.

Looks as if we will be eating here and I know that others have a few ideas in this regard. One thing is for sure I don't think anyone wlll go hungry.

Sam & Ryan having chocolate eggs left by next weekend, Pffffffft.... I seriously doubt it. They have been scoffing it like they have never had it before and they'll never have it again. Peta & I get the biggest laughs out of watching them cope with the sugar rush. Bouncing off the walls is par for the course this week in our house.

[Slider]

Saturday night BBQ and campfire sounds great

[stubbsy]

I'm happy to cook for the whole crew on the Saturday night if you guys are (a) willing to help out a little and (b) prepared to eat my cooking

By my count there are 15 adults and 3 children. Given we'll have had a bbq lunch I propose we go Italian for dinner and have a whole stack of pasta with the following sauces (self serve):

• Bolognese
• Smoked Salmon & mushroom in cream & white wine
• Sun dried tomato and asparagus in a creamy sauce
• Pesto (Basil, pine nuts & parmesan)

These are all reasonably simple sauces to make (some of which I'll even make ahead) but give a good range of flavours and styles including vegetarian.

Accompanied with some fresh crusty bread, salad and maybe a drink or two to wash it down.

[Slider]

Yum

[mark]

That sounds awesome Peter, thank you.
Now to get a towel and wipe my watering mouth.

[Slider]

Staying at the Sofitel at Broadbeach tonight and heading down for a Seafood Smorgaboard in a few minutes. That will have to do as a poor 2nd until Saturday night

[Geoff]

Sorry we can't be there.
Have a fantastic time everyone and stay safe, happy and healthy.

Oh - and take some excellent images and post them on your return.

[Manta]

Sorry all - we are no longer able to make it.

My eldest has been quite ill over the past three weeks and has been in and out of hospital. We thought she was on the mend but she had another episode on Easter Monday (another ambulance trip to hospital), then again yesterday (but thankfully no ambulance).

Although the girls would be staying with family, we can't really stray too far. I'm hoping to get out on Sunday afternoon for some photo stuff but that would depend entirely on how Ash is feeling and at least Mum would be with her. It'll be a last minute call.

Sorry about the late notice but we were really keeping our fingers crossed that we'd have more answers by this stage and that some form of treatment would have solved the problem.

I've cancelled the guest house booking so, if you're quick, there may be a vacancy there if anyone was interested.

[mark]

Simon,
Sorry to hear that you guys won't be able to make it, all the best for a speedy recovery for your Daughter.

Geoff - Maybe next year.

Safe travels to everyone who is travelling today and tomorrow, take it easy on the roads.

[Geoff]

Simon - family is a priority! All the best with getting a correct diagnosis and some treatment. Our thoughts are with you.

[Finch]

Hi Mark,

Sorry I can't make it there for the weekend. Byron is one of my favourite places and would love to catch up with everybody and take pics but unfortunately I have committments on Saturday and working on Sunday.

Have a great weekend, guys

Cheers

Michael

[Oscar]

What a great weekend!!

Thank you very much to our wonderful host and hostess - Mark and his lovely wife Peta.

We also had the chef extraordinaire - Peter (Stubbsy to all on the forum) - who cooked some treats that were divine. Thanks Peter.

The walk which Mark sussed out for us was really good. So you all should get to see some great shots from the crew. The company was great. And as usual I picked up some wonderful help and advice. Thanks to all.

It was great to meet Slider (Mark and his wife Kathleen) and Stetner (Doug) from the sunshine state pllus catch up with the other familiar faces.

Donna and I had a wonderful time in Marks little piece of paradise - what a great location.

Thanks again to Mark and Peta and Sam and Ryan for being such wonderful hosts.

Cheers, Mick

[stetner]

I whole-heartedly agree with Mick!

It was a great weekend and it was good to meet up with those I hadn't met before (even though the Mexicans seemed to all be shooting Nikon! ) At least Leigh feigned some interest in things Canon.....

Thanks again Mark, Peta for opening your home to us (sorry for not actually say good-bye to you Peta. )

Just so people can't say I never get a picture up, I did get one of a blue faced honey eater.....

[stubbsy]

I'm with the others - it was great to meet up with faces both new and old. Mark & Peta and their two delightful children Sam and Ryan were fantastic hosts. Now to process the pics I took....

[Nnnnsic]

I'm half-way through my RAW conversions!!! *sigh*

Thanks to Mark, Peta, Sam & Ryan for being wonderful hosts, as well as everyone else who came. It was really fun even if I'm the most pointless camper on the planet.

[mark]

We also had the chef extraordinaire - Peter (Stubbsy to all on the forum) - who cooked some treats that were divine. Thanks Peter.

They sure were, I managed a few quick pics before we tucked in. Thanks again Peter for cooking for us all weekend.





Doug - Don't be concerned by not saying goodbye to Peta, she was having a well deserved sleep-in when you left.

Thank you all for coming, we very much enjoyed having you here and showing you around our little part of the world.
Now to go through the 8 gig of pics I took.

[sheepie]

Can I reinforce our thanks to Mark, Peta and the boys for a wonderful weekend. It was well and truly worth the trip up, and I look forward to catching up with everyone up there again.

It's a pity that we didn't end up catching up with Manta, Rel and a few others who had other things crop up - perhaps next time

Thanks also to Stubbsy for organising much of the food - it was up to your usual standard, and I even managed to take some weight off! (goodness knows how, perhaps I should write a new diet book )

[Matt. K]

Mark
That looks like a pile of guts? Did Stubbsy cook that? Haven't you heard about his obession with food and corpses?

[Slider]

Thanks also to Stubbsy for organising much of the food - it was up to your usual standard, and I even managed to take some weight off! (goodness knows how, perhaps I should write a new diet book )

What the That tiramisu Was amazing

Here is a website devoted to it. http://www.heavenlytiramisu.com/

I think Stubbsy wrote it under an Alias

[mark]

Mark
That looks like a pile of guts?

Could be the photo doesn't do it justice?

Did Stubbsy cook that?

Yes he did, along with many other culinary delights. It was nice to have the weekend off from the kitchen.

Haven't you heard about his obession with food and corpses?

No, but do tell.

...and I even managed to take some weight off! (goodness knows how, perhaps I should write a new diet book )

Maybe it was all the walking? Nah... that couldn't explain how I seemed to put some on.

[ozimax]

G'day Mark,

Glad you had a good weekend at Byron. Hopefully next time something happens on the north coast my schedule will allow some participation!

Cheers,

Ozi. (Fraser)