Event Reports

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.

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.

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!

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!

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

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.