Now this was a glorious weekend of sobriety, food and mateship. First timers and old timers alike made it to Mt Franklin, a hundred and twenty three clicks North West of Melbourne, just after Daylesford if you were coming from the city.

Have you been camping before? It could be seen as a bit intense when twenty or more people are getting setup; The roar of Chainsaws filled the air as chunks of fire fuel was dragged out of its resting place and stacked by the central area, the thumping of hammers and random cries of ‘how the ** does this tent go up?’

The Deal being The Deal, our land locked crater camp-site was looking ship-shape in no time, with sleeping tents, the rectangular ‘bush restaurant’ tent, a circle of chairs and random footballs, soccer balls, nets and cricket gear organised around the coolers, gas bottles, washing gear, food, plates and trestle tables.

A Friday night meeting, a Saturday morning meeting, three good meals a day, a Chocolate Factory trip, wading around in the Mineral Springs at Hepburn, stars over head, a soccer game that went down to the wire in which the Hats over took the No Hats in a thrilling 3-2 victory in the final minute on a relatively sloped surface.. You just had to be there right?

So if you were and are reading this, well congratulations to you, you get what it means to be sober and in a fellowship, if you didn’t attend.. WHY NOT ?

See you at the next one, and did I mention it was a bit cold? Just a bit. Ho ho.

Here is a very short clip of the sun coming up in the Canyon next to where we had our Saturday morning meeting;