This was a familiar refrain at the CMCA, (Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia), rally in Albany a couple of weeks ago! Despite the wet weather over 600 motorhomes and their occupants were there to enjoy themselves – and we did!  Here’s a photo of the Rally  Site posted to the CMCA Facebook page by a local photographer, Brad Harkup.

I had never been to a major rally before and thought Albany would be a good one to attend. I expected it to be smaller than those held on the east coast of Australia due to the travelling distance to the West and that proved to be true. But the organisers didn’t skimp on activities and there was plenty to do every day – if you had a rain coat or umbrella 🙂

As I was a ‘First Timer’ I entered the Rally on Friday, two days before most of the other attendees arrived. This gave us ‘newbies’ time to get to know the rally site, find out where things were, decide on what activities I wanted to participate in and set up camp.

The following day most of the Solos entered the site and on the Sunday the program started with a Trivia Night in the big white tent you can see on the oval in the photo above. That’s all I really want to say about that – We did not perform well!!

One of the activities I most enjoyed was a bus trip to see a couple of the aboriginal sites around  Albany. First we went to the Fish Traps which have existed for over 6000 years.

The National Trust has managed the Oyster Harbour Fish Traps since 1966 after they were threatened by development. It is thought the traps were once part of a Noongar camp site where people had gathered for at least 7,500 years.

The fish traps are designed in the shape of a crescent and only visible at low tide. They were first recorded by English explorer Captain George Vancouver in 1791. They consist of eight weirs made from thousands of stones. The traps caught huge numbers of fish as the Kalgan River rose and fell.

Our next stop was at Yorrl Park where long necked turtles are re-stablishing themselves and breeding in the nearby sand hills. It was interesting to note that the local schools were involved in the design of the interpretive signs, as they were for the fish trap signs above.

We finished out trip at The Old Strawberry Farm, the oldest farm in Western Australia. We didn’t have time to view the old home but harvested some lovely fresh herbs and vegetables from the community garden to take away with us. I thought it was rather special that the beautiful red poppies were flowering so close to Remembrance Day, 11th November.

I also decided to do some craft activities, much to the horror of the instructors after they had seen how hopelessly ‘uncrafty’ I am. My first attempt was at making a card – well I blew that and ended up with a very tatty looking dolphin.  I was given another one and all went well until I stuck it on the card and pressed hard to make it stick. All of a sudden my beautiful white dolphin had dirty fingermarks all over it! Here endeth my card making lesson!

I did make a bracelet using a weaving method called Kumihimo even though it was a very individual pattern – not good at following instructions! And I also made a Christmas decoration using folded ribbons which looked fantastic until I turned it up the right way and all the ribbons escaped my pins! Oh well, perhaps I’ll stick to poetry!

Every morning there was a Poet’s Breakfast and I was dedicated enough to front up each day at 7am to wait my turn to share a poem or two. Success at something at last!

Saturday night at the Rally was a ‘Ball’. A great band played, lots of people dressed to the theme of ‘ a touch of military’ and generally we had a ball!

Monday morning it was time to say goodbye to the Rally and Albany. I’m glad I’ve experienced a ‘big’ rally. I probably won’t rush to another one – perhaps Tassie in 2017 – but I’ve learned never to say never….

It’s time to have a break for a few days before I head to the Bridgetown Blues Festival. I’m certainly looking forward to that!