This year, bowlers ventured to the Gold Coast to the beautiful Burleigh Heads. The first stop on the trip north was to Kempsey for morning tea, where members made a variety of cakes and slices. 

The lunch stop was at Maclean Bowling Club where everyone enjoyed a lovely Chinese meal. 

On arrival at Burleigh Heads, bowlers dispersed to their apartments which had breathtaking views of the beach looking north to Surfers Paradise and beyond and south to Tweed Heads. 

Each member was very happy with the accommodation at Burleigh Surf Apartments which had friendly people, clean apartments, and a good location with an outdoor and indoor pool with a spa and sauna. 

Many of our people made use of the great facilities having daily swims and spas which everyone found relaxing.

Our first day was a game of bowls at Tugan Bowling Club followed by a barbecue lunch. We departed as soon as our game was over as we were on a time limit to get to the Outback Spectacular - a great finish to the day.

Sunday was a game at South Tweed Bowling Club - a lovely lunch before heading onto the green for the game. 

The Tweed players were highly competitive but the game was enjoyed by everyone. At the end of the game, the South Tweed Bowlers enjoyed the company of the Sporty’s members and indulged in a few thirst quenching drinks.

On Monday morning, members headed to the top of the Skypoint Building - 77 floors high with the lift taking 32 seconds from ground floor to the top. There were panoramic views no matter which way you looked. 

We then went to Tropical Fruit World at Casuarina. This was a very interesting place with many fruits never heard of. We were treated to a tractor-trailer ride over the property to see the fruit growing with samples along the way. A lovely light salad lunch followed with many members purchasing goods from the shop.

The bus then dropped some members off to Southport Sharks AFL Club where they relaxed for the afternoon while others went to Harbourtown for some retail therapy. 

A great meal was enjoyed by everyone at the club before heading back to the apartments for our last swim and to prepare for our trip home on Tuesday. 

All members were promptly on the bus and we headed off, stopping at Little Italy for morning tea and then lunch at Coffs Ex-Services Club.  Members arrived back in Tuncurry around 5pm feeling a little weary but very happy. 

The weather throughout the five days was perfect. 

A fantastic job in organising the trip was done by Paula Body and Trevor Burns. They do a fantastic job. Many thanks go to the bus driver Mal Prewitt (also known as Malapedia) and his vast knowledge of just about everything and his driver Des. 

Di Stewart