News & Updates from Vicki Avcin ~ AusCrafts · Page 62

Now into the third week of the Hervey Bay Whale Festival with another two fantastic events.First up it was Kite Karnival on Saturday.

Kites of all shapes and sizes graced the skies while on the ground there were kids rides, food stalls and entertainment.

Everyone was encouraged to bring their own kite or get a free colour in kite. There were prizes for the best coloured -in kite too. Perfect day for kite flying and it really was a sight to behold. Then on Sunday there was the 21st Seafood Festival down in the gorgeous shady park near the marina.

All the seafood on offer was from our local waters around the Fraser Coast. And to wash it down we saw some of the wonderful local beers and wines that the region has to offer.

Plenty of taste testing, or if you preferred a more formal dining experience there was huge marquees where one could sit down for a meal.

Some of the best chefs around did cooking demonstrations using our local seafood …… of course. There was also live entertainment throughout the day and rides for the kids. This day really is a highlight of the year for Hervey Bay. Everyone waits for it and crowds are always huge.

Our Whale Festival continued this week with many activities but the two major events were on Saturday night with the Illuminated Street Parade and the Paddle out for the Whales on Sunday.

The illuminated street parade is truly spectacular to see with all the floats and people lit up.

To participate in the parade, everyone and every vehicle must display lights. The parade starts just after sunset and represents the annual whales migration and takes place along the esplanade, finishing up at Seafront Oval for a night of live entertainment, carnival rides, market stalls, food stalls and ending up with a fireworks display.

This years theme was Having a Whale of a Time. Then Sunday morning the paddle out takes place. Anyone is welcome to paddle out on canoes or kayaks or paddle boards. This was originally started to protest against whaling but now that the whaling has ceased the tradition has continued on as we celebrate and encourage whale conservation.

A minutes silence is observed and some people float flowers in the water. Ill share some more activities from the festival happening in the coming week in next weeks News.

Last Saturday saw the Blessing of the Fleet for the whale watch boats here in Hervey Bay. Hervey Bay is THE place to be and home of the humpback whales in Australia.

The humpbacks, and occasionally a couple of other species, make Hervey Bay their home for a couple of weeks as they travel back south.

Each year hundreds travel up the east coast to the warm northern waters to calve and then head back, stopping in our beautiful waters to rest and play.

So Hervey Bay celebrates its whale watch season (end July to end October) with a month of activities.

It all begins with the Blessing of the Fleet.

All boats doing the whale watching tours come to a pontoon in the harbour and a member of the clergy (from all denominations) bless each boat as they pull along side, they get blessed by one clergyman, then do a 360 turn and head off as the next boat comes in.

Each blessing is custom to the boat being blessed. Then once all the formalities are done with, a fireworks display kicks of the party with street stalls, cafes/street food vendors and live music in the vicinity.

Its a wonderful night and sets the stage for many more activities each week.

Last week in my news I wrote about the Cadet Games. This is a follow on from the fabulous weekend.

We woke to a very chilly winters morning on the Saturday, with the cadets getting up early and cooking breakfast for all the teams that were camping out at the venue.

Then it was into preparing and last minute practice for the start of the games at 9am.

First up was the parade welcoming teams and the order to Let the Games begin.As I said last week the teams worked hard and competed all Saturday with presentations at the end of the day.

Sunday morning we woke to an even chillier morning mainly due to the cold wind blowing. The bus was loaded, farewells done and off we go home. The team had been told that if they did well, there might be a surprise on the way home.

So instead of heading directly home, there was a detour to Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast. Pulling up in the carpark at the Coast Guard, the cadets looked forward to hearing from the crew there. They were shown around, including the garden with the memorial wall for those who have died at sea.

This garden is also where a lot of services for mariners from all types of boats/ships are held before their ashes being taken out and scattered at sea.

Then down to the boats. They got to go on board and have a look around while the skipper explained what duties the boat serves and where they go.

The bigger boat can go a fair way out and often has medi vacs off passenger liners and cargo ships off the coast.

They didnt get to go out as the cold wind blowing wouldnt have made for a pleasant trip. And by cold I mean really cold. I cannot remember my full body shivering like it did in many many years. Then it was time to hit the road and head home.

On Saturday 13th July, the Emergency Service Cadet Games was held in Brisbane. 31 teams of cadets, 6 per team, descended on the PCYC grounds to participate in a series of events to take out the top honours.

The games arent just about winning,but more focused on teamwork, supporting each other and working out how to achieve completing tasks and the friendships made all round.

Whether teams go home with a trophy or not the cadets are all winners. For a winters day, it was sunny and warm which not only made it a lovely day but the heat did offer challenges in itself.

They were awarded points for completing tasks, teamwork and supporting not only their team but other teams as well. Teams were the Emergency Service Cadets, Rural Fire Service Cadets, Army Cadets, Air Force Cadets and a Surf Life Saving team.

The morning events were done as complete teams and the afternoon events, the field was reset with new challenges and the cadets then had to regroup as new teams with each single team member having to go and make up teams with others (so each team of 6 had 6 complete new members/strangers).

They then had a series of events to complete as new teams. I was a Judge/Official for the Day and my team of judges was made up of Police (QPS), QFES (firefighters from the Urban, Auxiliary and Rural Fire Service) and SES (State Emergency Service).

Each activity was allocated 5 to 8 judges so plenty of eyes to watch all the teams as they went through each activity in sets of 4 or 5 teams at a time at each activity.

Because of the distance of 3 lots of teams, 3 groups were in camp at the PCYC hall Friday and Saturday night with everyone heading home Sunday morning.

So sleeping bags and BBQs were the order of the accommodation for the weekend.

My Cadets didnt come away with the trophies apart from one of our cadets who was in the Mixed Team that achieved 3rd place.

Each team member was awarded a medal. All cadets competing were given a bar or their efforts. It was an exhausting weekend but absolutely fantastic.