10 May 2013
It’s a long time since I was last in Australia, but Dartington had hosted Adelaide on their last tour of England, and it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. So my wife and I looked at the map and our diaries and went ahead and booked. We planned to spend 5 nights in Singapore, where I had lived for 4 years as a young man, and my eldest son was born; fly onto Brisbane, then to Cairns, Sydney, Adelaide for the Ring Meeting and finally fly back to London from Melbourne.
It’s not here that I shall dwell on the tourist aspects my time away, but I will pick up the story on 3rd of April, when Julia and I arrived in Adelaide to “do the tourist thing” for a couple of days, before meeting up with our host family. The weather was really good; dry, warm, almost hot during the day and cool at night; if it stayed like this then the meeting would be wonderful. We arranged to meet up with our host family on the Friday lunchtime. Bill and Maggie turned out to be delightful and made us really welcome, showing us to their period bungalow near the beach.
In the evening, we left for the Adelaide Hills and the Rymill Scout centre which was to be our venue for the duration of the Ring Meeting. Wonderfully located amid scenery and gum trees, with sulphur crested cockatoos noisily settling down to roost; we settled in and met up with our hosts. The guys were very generous with the beer and it was included in the price of the weekend. As the evening progressed, renewed acquaintance was made with the guys from home, including the other Ring officer, our Treasurer, and we met up with the host side, plus a side from Perth, and guys from the now defunct sides, Whyalla (?), Sydney Morris Men and Britannia from Melbourne and looked at the programme for the weekend. Some singing ensued, and the evening was brought to a close in traditional style with cheese and pickles.
After breakfast we headed down to the bus, which took the whole caboodle, less a few of the host side, for our first stop at Mt Lofty, where the clear air, sunshine and appreciative crowds stet the tone. For the dancing we had the host side, Perth, Thaxted, Mersey and Foresters, plus a scratch side made up with men from Letchworth, Ravensbourne, Cambridge, myself and others, making a total of 6 sides; not bad at all. From then on it was a succession of good stops with a beer or wine as the theme. Lunch was somewhat of a novelty; we stopped at the Tilbrook Estate winery, where for a small contribution we had wine tasting before receiving a packed lunch brought by our hosts on the coach (is there a lesson here?).
The formula was repeated in the afternoon, and we ended back at the Scout centre for tea and the feast. Despite the programme saying a 7 pm start for the feast, we actually got underway at 6.30. I am afraid that I was wrong footed, as it was to be a self-service affair. I know now that I should have got everyone to table, said grace and lit the candles, before queuing for the meal; that is not what I did, and due to a delay between the first batch of food and the next, we got off to a poor start. Well, I am learning, and it was Adelaide MM’s first attempt at a Ring Meeting. As they say “no worries” we soon got back on track, and as the feast was only two courses, we were soon into the singing, before we had toasts and a short speech from the guest of honour the President of The Royal Society of St George, South Australia Branch. After the feast, there was some dancing, lots of singing, and an amazing amount of chat!
Next morning, after breakfast, we went to the nearby Blackwood Uniting Church for a pleasant family service; the minister being the wife of one of the host side. Dancing outside the church followed before it was on the bus to gently make our way down from the hills towards Port Adelaide, where we were due to dance in the afternoon. Lunch was at the Brewboys Micro Brewery, where their excellent ale, beer and lager went down well with our packed lunch, supplemented by freshly grilled prawns – wonderful! After lunch, we proceeded to the Lighthouse Hotel on the quay at Port Adelaide, where in front of the old lighthouse; there is a fine area for dancing. We danced here for nearly 2 hours, entertaining shoppers from the adjacent quay shopping centre, passers by and hotel patrons alike. Then it was on the bus to return to the Scout centre for everyone except me and my host; so my thanks and goodbyes were made. I was to join up with the wives of our hosts and the wives and family who had come from UK.
The Ring Meeting was over, but for some, a week long tour terminating in Melbourne was arranged. I shall leave others to describe that; suffice it to say I had a brilliant time and was impeccably hosted throughout. Many thanks to the Adelaide Morris Men for organising the meeting; well done guys! And a big thank you to the sides and individuals from England, without whom there would have been no real meeting. As an aside, Perth Morris Men impressed me with their consistent dancing over the weekend, and after talking to the Ring Treasurer, I invited them publicly to apply to join the Ring; happily, I believe that they fully intend so to do! Ok, so I look forward to an invitation to an Ale in Perth before I step down as Squire?
Robin Springett
Squire of The Morris Ring