A gathering of the “eagles” from the Australia and New Zealand Sections of IFFR had a great weekend of Fun ’n Sun on the second weekend of October, while visiting the Gold Coast sites and making new friends from Coomera to Coolangatta.
Late Friday morning the intrepid group visited the state-of-the-art Riviera luxury yacht building facility and were impressed by the scale and scope of this wonderful Australian success story. The 850-strong team handcrafts circa 36 Riviera motor yachts at any given time. Truly AMAZING.
Friday night was a top night of fun and fellowship with a real purpose. Our IFFR fly-in members together with the DG 9640 Lisa Hunt, Angel Flight pilots Selwyn Favish and Craig Hobart, the president of the Southport Flying Club, and Jack Gorman (our IFFR Brian Condon Memorial Scholarship recipient) were all welcomed to a special dinner at HOTA(“Home of the Arts”). The speeches were designed to hit the spot by being, factual, short and entertaining; conveying valuable information about IFFR, Rotary, District 9640, and Angel Flight.
A very exciting outcome was the Gold Coast fly-in produced 3 new members plus reinvigorated a member on his first fly-in for a number of years. Experience firsthand the fellowship! The weekend flowed exceptionally well due to the careful planning and delivery by our IFFR team, meticulously lead by Lance Weller and ably supported by President Rob Hannemann and assisted, from Canberra, by Lynne Duckham
Saturday was a full day of being tourists on a sunny, near perfect, Gold Coast day. Variety was the key, with sea, air and land on the agenda. Firstly a Gold Coast canal cruise on the property “rich” Broadwater; secondly, visiting the historic Gold Coast Seaway where the Pacific flows into the Broadwater.
Then , we enjoyed an inspection of the Southport Flying Club featuring aircraft on display just for us; lunch at Sanctuary Cove Resort and Marina; and finished the day on a “high note” driving to Mt Tamborine for a motor museum, or retail therapy or a pristine waterfall. An informal dinner at the Kawarra Surf Club left us all well fed and watered, ready for a goodnight sleep to prepare for Sunday’s highlights.
On Sunday the pace was very relaxed, enjoying the many points of interest along a scenic drive from our very comfortable Phoenician Hotel in Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads National Park, on to Coolangatta, Point Danger and Murwillumbah. There we visited the Bob Whittle Memorial Airfield (named after a 50 year Rotarian) with its “ditched” planes after a flood struck the airstrip; plus walking the longest curved rail platform in Australia, formerly the Murwillumbah Railway Station, now the Murwillumbah Rail Trail.
Happy hour commenced at 5:30pm at the Broadbeach Hotel renewing old acquaintances, sharing stories of past flyaways and breaking bread together before we were off on our respective ways and preparing for our departure on Monday – or, for some, later in the week
