Waratah Dragons

Hi,

Some DA paddlers in Victoria have been involved recently with supporting a new group of breast cancer survivors in the Gippsland region to try dragon boating.
Peninsula Dragonflies had a promotion day on the 30th March where 10 of the team took the boat down to Sale for a come & try which was very well attended followed by a B.B.Q put on by the Waratah B.C. Support group.
Following that event to test the course in the Lake, we had a great Come n'Try fun Regatta weekend on Sat 19th & Sun 20th of April with huge community support from the local Rotary Club.
Julie Owen is one of DA Peninsula DragonFlies newest members and she just loves the paddling & friendship, she is willing to try all positions in the boat and was thrilled to stroke with Pru on race day, along with several other DragonFlies and Christine from DAM Busters! The Waratah Dragons & their supporters had a fun weekend paddling & they seemed very excited & keen - winners are grinners! Thanks Marlene and good luck to all the Waratah girls working hard towards getting a new DA Gippsland team established!

Pru Menzies

Victoria

Sylvia's walk

Sylvia Flaxman was a founding member of Dragons Abreast ACT, and one of our first sweeps. She was loved by all, and was capable of the biggest, most all-encircling hugs imaginable. She was also a bushwalker, and two of her close bushwalking friends, Jenny and Sharon, are walking (yes, walking!) the Hume and Hovell track from Yass to Albury. They were joined on 10 April by 12 DAA ACT team members and friends of Sylvia, for part of the walk as it passed by Wee Jasper, near Canberra.

Dragons Abreast Albury-Wodonga (Bravehearts) will accompany Sharon and Jenny on the last leg of their long journey, finishing in Albury.

For more on the story of Sylvia's Walk, see http://www.sylviaswalk.com/

Northwest Tassie finally has a blog

While bragging about having a little bit of computer skill it still took me a while to try to blog. Thankyou to Webmaster Jan for a bit of coaching so here goes.

One of our earlier ventures this year was the Annual Devonport Apex Regatta on the Mersey River where we competed in the Dragons Abreast challenge with the our close neighbours newly formed Tamar Titillators.

We were carefully guided by our loveable Stephanie pictured here.

Well here's hoping our first blogging has worked.

The Darwin Dry Season is here

The dragonflies are out in force, signalling that The Dry season is beginning in the Top End of Australia. The cooler weather is certainly appreciated by us all. The Dry also signals to us that visitors are making tracks to this beautiful part of the country. Michelle Hanton has reported seeing many interstate DAA members visiting the Parap market stall to say hello.

Dragons Abreast NT certainly welcomes interstate DAA members...with their ID tags ofcourse.... to paddle with us on our regular training sessions. Monday and Tuesdays are for endurance and fitness and Thursdays are more social paddles. If you would like to paddle with us be at the Cullen Bay Slipway at about 5.15 pm for a 5.30 pm start. We paddle for an hour. The last Thursday of the month is a 'Come and Try' often followed by refreshments after the paddle. Sunday mornings a sea paddle is enjoyed, departing from the lock gate at Cullen Bay 7.45am for the 8.00am opening. Check the Northern Territory section of this website for more information.

Good to hear from WA on this Blog. We look forward to paddling with you when you come back to the NT, Roz. Cheers Jill

Bunbury calling

Hi  this is my first time at blogging, certainly a new adventure for me, we are having a general meeting tonight with Michelle we will be looking at the new draft and asking questions and then hopefully going out for a bite to eat.

Ros

DA ACT on Insiders this Sunday morning

Hi all

this is my first attempt so here goes!

DA ACT put on a great show for the filming of the Insiders ‘Your Shout’ segment today. You can view it this Sunday morning at 9am on ABC tv.

Thanks to all who were able to come and participate, with special thanks to Elspeth, Jan and Kerrie who were brave enough to be part of a panel discussion on politics! Thanks to Elspeth’s expert sweeping we successfully paddled around the bay a number of times being filmed in the very strong wind, coming very close to one of the yachts at one stage in a sudden gust of wind. Luckily the camera was not running at that moment!.. We enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch in the sun, cold, wind and even a bit of rain. A very enjoyable time.

Best wishes

Marion

News from Darwin

At the Saturday March 15th – Annual General Meeting Pauline Deslandes was awarded Life membership of DANT for her outstanding contribution as coordinator 2004-2008. She was presented with flowers, champagne and a framed certificate. Thank you Pauline.

Our Thursday 20th March Easter Paddle was a great success with many bunnies paddling. We were rewarded with Easter Eggs and champagne at the end of the evening. Thanks to Pauline D. for organising the refreshments. Aileen, Lyndall, Jeanette and Robyn are Happy Easter Bunnies.

Tuesday 25th March – A crowd of paddlers attended the Sorry to See You Go Paddle for Pauline Maple. BLACK was the colour of the night. All celebrated with food and drinks at Seadogs after training and look forward to seeing Pauline when she returns.

At least 15 members attended the Annual DAA Harmony Day Regatta on Sunday 30th March. Although we did not field a team we were very much in evidence supporting others by paddling in teams short of paddlers. Maxina, Chris, Aileen and Jill fielded Corporate teams and all had positive feedback on the event. Judy and Lyndall were heavily involved in sweeping for the event and Colleen, Elaine and Brenda assisted with administration. Well done team.