Canadian Australian Club Event Reports

Ice Hockey Excursion- Sydney Bears vs Canberra Knights - By Kathleen Ryan

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:37:04 GMT

After a scenic drive to the Penrith Ice Palace, club members were treated to (to quote the immortal words of Stompin Tom) the good old hockey game. It may not be NHL caliber, but there is some definite hockey talent on the Sydney Bears team. With some swift passes, quick feet and an intense offensive line, the Bears walloped the defenseless Canberra Knights 10 to 0.

To give Canberra some credit, they only had a team of 12 (to the Bears 22) and their goalie did his best to try to fend off the stellar Bear’s shots.

I would like to give a big thank you to Brett Nelson Bond from the Sydney Bears for the generous donation of 4 complimentary tickets to the game. I would also like to thank Doug Wilson and Jules Buchanan from Hockey Night in Sydney for promoting the event with their crew. Between both groups 14 of us turned up to support the Bears. Play off-season starts in September, and as the Bears are ranked 3rd (out of 7) in the Australian Ice Hockey League, I’m sure the club will make another treck out west to cheer them on to the finals.

Possible Worlds – Sydney Canadian Film Festival - By Kathleen Ryan

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:34:24 GMT

What better place to catch a movie then with the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as a backdrop. So the club was off to the Dendy-Opera Quays to catch a great movie at the Sydney Canadian Film Festival. With a great turn out of 23 people (and everyone showed up….yay!) we were treated to both an animation and a cross country documentary.

First we were treated to Higglety Pigglety Pop! an animation voiced by Meryl Streep and Forest Whitaker. Though a bit abstract in concept, it was a very funny take on a dog’s view of how to gain “experience” in a Mother Goose world.

The feature film “Finding Farley” tracked one family on their quest to follow the literary footsteps of Canadian author Farley Mowat (Never Cry Wolf, A Whale for the Killing). Their 5000 km trip including trekking, sailing, and canoeing with 2 adults, a 2 year old and the indomitable family dog. This movie touched on some of the move remote and beautiful areas of Saskatchewan, Northern Manitoba, and Newfoundland and I think most of us were impressed with the family’s dedication to pursue the journey in spite of the mosquitoes, black flies and turbulent sailing weather.

Group conscience….4 out of 5 stars!

I highly recommend that everyone gets out to see at least one movie at next year’s festival. Not only are there free drinks at some movies, but it’s so important to support the Canadian and Australian independent film industry. Congratulations to all the volunteers and organizers of the festival, it was another successful year and we look forward to what you will bring us next year!

June Wine Night - By Kim

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:57:22 GMT

I tried to keep this wine night on concept for wine glut and global economic meltdown, but a few other modern issues got included along the way.

As far as the food went, the emphasis was on globalization as this is a worldwide problem, and in particular the countries that have featured one way or another in the recent downturn: there was Greek salad, of course, Indian pappadums, and even Middle Eastern cous cous where I got a bit naughty and mixed in some Danish feta! China was represented by a BBQ duck, also as a bit of a good luck charm: in Vietnam eating duck turns your luck around, so only eat it if you are having bad luck. We all ate duck for the world economy: things should be getting better now.

By the way, eating dog is believed in Vietnam to make your business grow, but uhm, let’s not. We had a dog in attendance at the wine night and we will have to consider that enough.

Of course there was the ubiquitous crackers and cheese, olives and cocktail quiches. What’s a wine night without that! And in light of the airline furore in Europe, I couldn’t resist serving a goat cheese with a bit of ash on it! We had some sheep cheese too – for the lactose intolerant!

Dedicated to the victims of the Gulf of Mexico fubar, we had Deepwater Horizon Cajun Shrimp: they were a bit oily!

I chanced on a recipe on the internet (as you do) for a pie created to express the emotion of shadenfreude, which is the feeling of joy at another’s misfortune. It is a really overwhelming, dark, bittersweet pie that is best served in very small portions. As the Australian wine industry is struggling with the wine glut at the moment, with many really good wines are being sold off cheap as cleanskins, the wine theme of the night, we experienced shadenfreude at the wine industry’s misfortune, and enjoyed the pie!

Rocky Road (ahead) finished the evening!

The wine? Oh yes, the wine. Normally at these events we go around with each bottle in turn and everyone tries the wines at the same time. For something new we had all the whites opened first and everyone could try what they wanted, then we had a break and some supper and hit the reds in the same manner. I tried to keep some order by numbering the bottles and we had a vote at the end as to which was the tastiest. Best of Cleanskins White was: # and Red: #. Only one entry in the Sparkling category, but two couples brought # and it was very popular.

I’m looking forward to attending the next wine night. Who’s up for hosting it?

March monthly mixer

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:27:10 GMT

It must have been the rain in Sydney. It took us 45 min to get through the LCT to the city. I still don't know where the hold-up was. Still tonight was a great night with seven people and our baby, Grace, turning up. Grace was all decked out in her club t-shirt.

Sadly only one person made the effort of dressing in green, so this makes an easy winner.

Support the club by making your presence felt and do it in person. See you next month.

Dinner at Maya da Dhaba by Kathleen Ryan

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:24:44 GMT

After a brief trip to the sub continent, I thought I should share my favourite Indian restaurant with the rest of the Club. Maya da Dhaba is known for it’s great goat and vegetarian curries, and this night was no exception. We had a great turn out and everyone enjoyed an authentic Indian experience. The set banquet menu provided a taste of everything and plenty of food. I was a bit nervous hosting for the first time, but I managed to meet some great club members as well as eat some great food. Thank you to all who turned out to make this such a successful event!
Kathleen

Pancakes at the Rocks and The Markets - By Sarah Hatfield

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:39:16 GMT

It was another beautiful, sunny, Sydney morning when 15 pancake hungry CAC members and friends headed to the Pancake On The Rocks for a lovely brunch. Who knew there were so many different choices - banana pancakes, chocolate pancakes, pancake pizza, the list goes on and on.... We all, of course, ordered pancakes! They were light, fluffy and smothered in butter and maple syrup - yummy!!

After a lovely brunch we headed to the historical markets in the Rocks and toured the stalls. It was one of the hottest days in Sydney, but that did not deter us, or fellow shoppers :-) Our dear friend Frank Yong joined us for the day before heading back to Toronto and he found some great gifts to take home with him. To cap off the day we enjoyed some cold drinks at a local pub. Another lovely get together!

Sarah

Sailing Day Video Report - Part Deux

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:59:28 GMT

A few more highlights from the day! Thanks to all for a fabulous experience.
And here's a link to the photos used in the slideshow http://www.flickr.com/photos/28441501@N08/

Sailing Day at Pittwater - Video report

Chris Betcher — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:28:10 GMT

Yesterday about 30 club members had a fabulous day sailing on the beautiful Pittwater. leaving from Gibson Marina around 9:30am, sailing to Refuge Bay for lunch and a swim, before returning back to the marina around 6:00pm.

Extra special thanks should go to Captain Chris W and all his helpers for organising this excellent day!

Here's a short video of what we did... if it's ever offered again, don't miss out!

The Club Christmas Party

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:28:09 GMT

Spreading the Magic of Christmas

Once upon a time there was a club, a social club that ran events for
Canadians and Australians alike.

The calendar page turned to December. Sadly, those used to frigid temperatures, snow and ice to indicate that the festive season was just around the corner were without their requisite Christmas spirit. Instead, the weather was warm and sunny and felt more like summer holidays and nothing like the Christmases of their childhood.

What to do?

The Aussies and the Canucks banded together with a mission to create Christmas spirit. They came up with a plan to bring Christmas cheer to members, friends and some other well deserving folks, children mostly. A small group of very industrious elves set out to plan the Christmas party of all Christmas parties – they wrapped and shopped, plotted and planned and created an evening full of food, drink, fun, laughter, presents and most of all, a night focused on giving – for it's in giving that we get the Christmas spirit, wherever we live.

Thank you to our elves Kathleen Ryan, Bonnie Lovelace, Ami Seymour, Sarah Hatfield, Barbara Glover, Frank Yong, Chris Warrick and Linda Johannesson for all their "elf-ly" efforts in making the 2009 Christmas Party a HUGE success.

We had 55 people sign up and nearly everybody attended. We all left with a belly full of home baked tasty treats, big smiles, a little Christmas present and the a bit of Christmas magic in our hearts.

Through donations and silent auctions we raised over $600 combined to be shared with our four charities of choice:
•       Make-a-Wish Canada
•       Make-A-Wish Foundation of Australia
•       Sydney Children's Hospital Foundation
•       Toronto Hospital for Sick Children
And we even collected a few bags of non-perishable food to be shared
with local charities.

I think we can safely say we did our part in sharing the joy of Christmas with our Canadian and Australian compatriots and some very deserving children in both Canada and right here in Australia, through our charitable efforts.

Thank you for your ideas, hard work, your generosity and for stepping up and doing your part to make a difference.

Merry Christmas to the elves, to all our members and to the growing group of friends of the Canadian Australian Club. May the joys of the season be plentiful and last throughout the coming year.

Brazilian BBQ Dinner - By Sarah Hatfield

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:12:27 GMT

It was a beautiful and hot Sydney Saturday night, where 15 people, who had trained all day, arrived starving and ready to partake in an all you can eat Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Night. We enjoyed over 23 different courses (including chicken heart!) and had some very lovely wine personally selected by club member Jim. Overall it was another fantastic CAC event, where smiling faces gathered for some great food and company. Everyone left with very full bellies and we all look forward to our next gathering.

Christmas party and monthly mixer

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:28:46 GMT

This was yet another great turn out for the club's key end-of-year event. The committee had put in a lot of effort in to wrapping many presents, thanks. We held a silent auction and support four charities, two in Australia and two in Canada. Some members also donated non-perishable food which is to be donated to a local charity.

It was pleasing to see how many club members dressed up in traditional Christmas colours.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone and may everyone have safe return from their holiday's.

2009 AGM and monthly mixer.

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:35:43 GMT

The turn out was enough for the AGM to be held, but that said all positions were filled with the exception of PR. We had 26 people attend this years AGM, we even had Arun Nagratha of Trowbridge Accounting, one of our Canada based sponsors attend.

The new constitution was approved, and an increase in membership fees were also passed.

As with the conclusion of each AGM, we held our normal monthly mixer, having some great conversations.

On to the Christmas Party.

Thanksgiving 2009

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 20:59:11 GMT

This was our best event of the year. There were almost 100 people attending... we filled the room! Food was great, atmosphere perfect.
The kids had fun with many games, events & prizes such as "pin the tail on the turkey".

The trivia quiz was very hard, but of course I'm kiwi... what do I know? As always the pumpkin pies went down a treat and were fabulously cooked.

We were all reminded that the next meeting will be AGM, November 6 2009. Such an important event as we need a great committee to run events such as Thanksgiving.

Well done to Brenda and her team!

Festival of the Winds - By Sarah Hatfield

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 08:05:38 GMT

It was a glorious 32 degree winter day in Sydney, where 4 members of the CAC along with about a thousand other kite lovers flocked to the welcoming breeze at Bondi Beach for the Festival of the Winds. We all gathered at the lifeguard station in the morning, well prepared with our sunscreen, sun hats and bathing suits. There was quite the laugh when Allan and Andrew looked at each other and realised they were wearing the same board shorts, both from Costco in Canada (Al's from Toronto and Andrew's from Vancouver) both were thinking they would have the only pair in OZ.

Once assembled, we took took a beautiful stroll along the beach and dipped our toes in the water, while admiring the beautiful kites that were overhead in such a stunning setting. True Paradise! We walked through the stalls and enjoyed learning about the history of kites, how they have changed throughout time (kiteboarding!) and enjoyed seeing some ancient kites on display. There was live music, pony rides and education areas that we all enjoyed.

After our time at the beach, we enjoyed a yummy pizza lunch and some nice cold beer.

The day concluded with a personal walking tour of Bondi and another toe tip at the beach.

It was a fun packed day for all!

Mudgee Food & Wine Festival - Balmoral Beach

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:30:09 GMT

We had a lovely sunny Sunday sitting at Balmoral Beach, tasting wine and listening to the live band. Michael and I took advantage of a series of public transportation methods - ferry, bus & train to get us to and from the event, freeing us to partake in as many tasting as we wanted.

We officially had about 10 members register for this event, but also saw several others who decided to show up on the day. Laura Mae & Alex "appeared" briefly before "disappearing" on their way to seeing David Copperfield live.

Mudgee wines never disappoint and there were almost as many food vendors available, so no one went home hungry. The petting zoo was a big hit with member Natasha Solomon and all the other lucky kids who visited the beach. And it seems everyone who had a dog brought them along to enjoy the day.

Having become a new fan of Rose wines I decided to focus only on this varietal for the day and managed to taste about 12 different ones. I'm looking forward to the "Taste of Orange" which will be held later this month (Aug 30) at Bondi Beach.

Cheers Brenda

The Aroma Festival

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:49:01 GMT

Event Report by Andrew Westover

Ten members of the CAC along with about a million other Sydneysiders took advantage of a glorious, sunny winter’s day to enjoy the aromas and sights of the Rocks Aroma Festival. We all met up at Circular Quay at noon and once we were all assembled we threw ourselves into the mass of humanity. First stop was to get a quick coffee to steel our nerves.

We wandered around all the stalls but we were daunted by the massive queues to try what was on offer. We never knew there were so many coffee brands in Australia. The stalls were spread from Circular Quay around the waters edge and back around through the Rocks. There was various sites scattered around that offered live music, there was even two camel caravans carrying the patient people who were will to wait more than an hour for a ride.

After 2 ½ hours of wandering, sampling and nibbling on some sweet corn we adjourned to the Harbour View Hotel to enjoy a couple of well deserved ales and glasses of wine.

Walking The Bay Run Course in Iron Cove

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:20:23 GMT

The skies were gray. The air was cool. There was a light drizzle, but we persevered. It looked like it might only be David, Chris and I, but a few minutes into our stroll we received a call from Brenda and Mick and arranged a meeting place a little further along the track.
We hugged the bay and passed a number of other walkers, some cyclists, some prams, a few dogs and a multitude of runners (many were practicing for the upcoming Bay Run).
It seemed like we completed the 7KM course rather effortlessly and in a shorter time than we imagined. I guess that means we're all ready to sign up for the actual Bay Run taking place on August 2nd.
We'll be making a club trip out of that event too, so watch for details.
The day ended with a some beverages and snacks with the five of us tucked inside The Cove. Thanks for a lovely Sunday morning all.
Maybe we can make this a regular event.

Monthly Mixer - June

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:05:03 GMT

Yet another successfill monthly mixer was held at the Quay West Hotel with about 22 people attending, and like the last few mixers and events... many new faces as well (says he whose been in the Club for 3 years).

I can say that the nibbles were fantastic, and I'd recommend the dips and wedges to all. This makes up for the bitterly cold weather outside with the wind whipping around the building.

Regards, Craig.

Canada Day 2009

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:49:22 GMT

Amazing, is the word for the day. It seemed that we were overflown, that was because we even had to set-up an extra table outside. We had over 70 people attended with a great number of first time Club members in the mix.

Lunch was a smorgasbord of chicken wings, ham on the bone, salads, beef lamb, roast veges, new potatoes, and more... Dessert was a light lemon tart or a heavy chocolate mud pie.

A slient auction was one of the highlights, with harbour cruises, CC, Air Canada stuff, Olympic games stuff, and more on offer. Some didn't reach their reserve so an impromptu auction topped it off.

A wonderful afternoon was had by all. Thanks go to the Committee for another successful CAC event.

Give hosting a CAC event a go, and have some fun.

Family Friendly Picnic

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:35:08 GMT

We (Vic, Gus and I) met up with Chris and his daughter, Kate, along with Gavin and Ami and Christina, Andrew and Ben. The weather cooperated perfectly, and we had a nice time snacking and chatting about Canada and Australia. It was a great day to be outside and meet up with other Canadians. The highlight of the event had to be when Chris showed off his moves on Ben's skateboard.