The 'GATHERING' 2007

Message

Jeffro · #31 Post by **Jeffro** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:10 am

What "BASTARD"

weather

Very disapointing for everyone. And unfortunate for people that made the long drive.My son was very excited and had his bag packed when I got home from work.
I had a new tarp ready for the hilux work ute and a special bar I made up for it to go across the tray to hold the tarp up and was gonna sleep in the back .We rushed it in on wednesday for a new clutch and it was ready about 12.30 friday,I put a full tank of diesel in it and had all the camping gear and everything ready to load up

Last year it was about half as bad as this but this rain is just too much.
On a brighter note I cant remember a rainy october long weekend in the past.More time to prepare now so Lets make october an even better one than this was gonna be.

Mick Smith · #32 Post by **Mick Smith** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 8:28 am

It's a real pity the event had to be postponed, but look at the bright side, it would have been much worse if the bad weather held off for a day or two and hit midway through the long weekend. At least you still have an event to look forward to in October.

Keep safe everyone and send some of that rain down this way, we could sure use it.

Mick

trish · #33 Post by **trish** » Sat Jun 09, 2007 9:27 am

It's a bit of a disappointment, but we're still out here. We had about 40 people turn up..
There's a bit of water but it hasn't washed us away yet we should be still out here on monday.

Looking forward to october hopefully you will all be able to turn up this time without been washed out.

The Gnome is still in his shorts and tshirt

Enjoy the rest of your weekend..

Trish

gary p · #34 Post by **gary p** » Sun Jun 10, 2007 6:22 am

hi trish, its a good thing we left when we did sounds like it only got worse. we made it to armidale on thursday rained nearly all the way , friday morning it was 7 deg foggy we only got as far as guyra had to stop and thaw out our hands and put another layer of clothes under thr wet weather gear.we had another stop in deepwater for another thaw they told us it was 2 deg there and it was 11 oclock. we made it home safe but we are still recovering , will try and talk gayle in to coming down again in october, Gaz.

trish · #35 Post by **trish** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 12:40 pm

Hi all.

We survived the bad weather. 55 plus shooters turned up so we just had a fun shoot.

We also got a lot more talking done as we had less to do.

Today we have blue skies and plenty of sunshine.

The swamp and flats down from the club are flooded. Gnome will post pics when he gets home.

I hope that some of you will attend the Gathering part 2 in October.

Gary, your tent survived the weekend and is being packed up as we speak.

Hope to see you again.

Trish

longbow steve · #36 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:52 pm

Well

I

had fun, Adam it was like there was a break in the cloud just over the shoot as nearby areas were evacuated.
I felt like I had died and gone to heaven, the company was fantastic, the conversations were intimate(mainly about memorable farts etc) The food was gourmet and plentiful infact I came home with nearly all the food I took up to the shoot.
For a postponed shoot, there were enough people to make it great fun, Trish, Gnome and everyone who made us all comfortable and fed us three meals a day even though the event was canned my hat goes off to you.
Here are some photos of the action/craft/comraderie that i'm sure everyone felt this weekend.

longbow steve · #37 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:01 pm

Saturday was overcast but the rain held out until the evening.

longbow steve · #38 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:09 pm

The first shoot was a modified 3d round as the normal swamp setting was under water.

longbow steve · #39 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:18 pm

It was great to shoot with different people over the weekend, seeing some good shots, bad shots and some horrible sledging amongst mates.

longbow steve · #40 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 4:45 pm

Great to meet some of the guys from Ozbow, GreyBeard, NATURES GENTLEMAN!!!! Master craftsman.

adam · #41 Post by **adam** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:06 pm

Rub it in why don't yas, were I was I would have been sure you guys were flooded clean out, otherwise I would have came over for a chat before heading back to canberra.

Adam

longbow steve · #42 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:10 pm

Every one seemed keen for a chat, happy to let you shoot their bows, give you advice on your shooting style/technique.
Plenty of blades, bows, leatherwares for the crafters guild.

longbow steve · #43 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:25 pm

The nights were spent showing bows, knapped heads, footed arrows, telling tales of childhood antics that had me laughing until I cried.

Mick Smith · #44 Post by **Mick Smith** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:34 pm

Great photos Steve!!!

Thanks for making the effort. I'm enjoying them very much.

It doesn't look all that bad, weatherwise. There's even bits of sunshine here and there.

Mick

longbow steve · #45 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:49 pm

Mick considering what was happening in surrounding towns, we were quite blessed with the weather, Rain at night, clear when we wanted to shoot.
The guys llowed us to sleep in the clubhouse as long s we were out of the way for them to cook us breakfast. LIFES TOUGH AYE.

longbow steve · #46 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:52 pm

The broadhead range was fun, other novelty shoots were on offer.

longbow steve · #47 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:14 pm

The flu flu range was fun, The Gnome shoot was awsome, I dont know how he survived.

GrahameA · #48 Post by **GrahameA** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:16 pm

Steve

Thanks for the photos and nicely sized as well.

longbow steve · #49 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:38 pm

Local fauna and flora.

longbow steve · #50 Post by **longbow steve** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 6:44 pm

Thats all from me at the moment, thanks for a memorable weekend, cant wait for the Gathering in October.

Steve

The Gnome! · #51 Post by **The Gnome!** » Mon Jun 11, 2007 10:38 pm

Steve,

You are a Gentleman and it was no is a gretat pleasure to meet you an I for one will be looking forward to seeing you and Mark again in October for Hopefully a clearer weekend of fun and entertainment.

Those picks you have posted are great and I will be posting the ones I have taken and been given tomorrow afternoon when I get back from the club.

The Gnome! · #52 Post by **The Gnome!** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 3:33 pm

Have some picks ready now so hear we go.

The Gnome! · #53 Post by **The Gnome!** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 3:43 pm

And some more

!

The Gnome! · #54 Post by **The Gnome!** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 4:11 pm

More

Arra Slinger · #55 Post by **Arra Slinger** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:06 pm

Well looks like a real hoot, if that was the rained out shoot ill be there in October for sure, so count me in

Great pics fellas

Catchas

perry · #56 Post by **perry** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:26 am

Just got back from The Gathering everyone had a great time again . I was there for the long haul arrived thursday afternoon and left tuesday mid morning . I was dissapointed that Gary and Gayle got rained out and everything got wet , probably would have bailed if I was on a motorbike and my misses was with me . The rain was heavy and constant but was not the real issue , BLOODY WIND constant 30 or 40 knots gusts to 50 who knows for sure but it was EXTREME .Greybeards tent got trashed mine wicked a bit of moisture and my sleeping bag got wet and you could say my feet were a little cold . 4.30 in the morning in 40 knot winds in the driving rain re rigging a tarp is a character building exercise I can assure you all . So being wet was fine but wet ,cold and no prospect of getting dry or really warm had its downside but the people from the HVTA and the diehard Traditional archers that turned up made up for it .
We huddled around the fire ring even in the rain built a roaring blaze a few rumbo's my 54 % scotch TRISH kept the hearty soups and stews coming and the weekend warmed up , what a great mob of people .This is what made me come back this year and will continue to do so . In the 30 odd years I have been in archery I have not struck worse weather especially when camping but it enhanced the mateship I reckon . Some of the HVTA members had homes affected by the weather or couldn't get home even by tuesday , hope everything works out well for you and a big thanks to all the HVTA people for a great 5 days , pulling out all stops to get back in october . regards

The Gnome! · #57 Post by **The Gnome!** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:12 pm

Thanks for the kind words Perry and Steve and as has already been said a great time was had by all considering the events that unfolded on us.

I would also like to thank all those that braved the weather to stay and the beer, rum, whisky/scocth and port also helped keep the cold at bay not that I felt it

Also a special THANK YOU to "Splash" (Pedro) and Fiend (Sylvia) for running out to get extra supplies during breaks in the weather.

Am now looking forward to "The Gathering part 2" on the October Long weekend 29th September - 1st October 2007.

In the meentime hear are some more of the picks that I have.

The Gnome! · #58 Post by **The Gnome!** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:18 pm

pedro · #59 Post by **pedro** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:19 pm

yep it was an exellent weekend for sure. the cool weather just ment we had to drink more. gnome and the gang put on a great doo, heapsa good tucker and happy faces made for a good time.
i wish i had some photos to show but i only took them at night and they came out blury.. hahah

The Gnome! · #60 Post by **The Gnome!** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 1:28 pm

Ozbow

The 'GATHERING' 2007

We're Still Here!

water loged campers