If it was hot, hot, hot viz weather, music, dancin' & lovin' at the Gully, Georges and other Melbourne venues for NYE's, it was hot as hell and burnin', burnin' & burnin' 44 degrees up north on the Murray River. Alright, I was merely talking about the weather here ........but I still reckon the dancin' minus the lovin' was still pretty hot on the trot.
In recent years, Phil & Debbie of "Swing Dance with Debbie" dance school have been running an annual X'mas - New Year camping on the Murray River just past Echuca on the NSW side. However, Phil has been doing this for more than 20 years due to his love for camping, boating, water skiing and all things associated with the river. I was fortunate to join a number of rockers camping this year and I must say, it was one great fun week for me! Phil is a good water skier but his daughter and partner are even better as both are elite Moomba Show water skiers. Then we have "Twinkle Toes" Gisela who surprised me not only as a devout fitness fanatic with her daily morning routine of either jogging, biking or kayaking but also showing her prowess in water skiing. Her paddle ski duelling with Phil on the Murray River is quite legendary in terms of ferocity and the "take no prisoner" contest. Jennine's partner, Henk, was another dare devil on the Murray even though having not water ski for over 20 years.
Alas, for Jennine & I, our only claim to fame is "skiing" (actually, sitting) in a "biscuit" floater and being dragged along the Murray on Phil's speed boat. I was told WHEM still holds the undisputed crown for showmanship & uncensored exhibitionism for biscuit float skiing on the Murray ......
And yes, we also took numerous daily swim ie floating with the tide, down the Murray. That was our natural air conditioning on very hot days at the camp site.
There was a camp fire & music on most nights and some dancing on grass, but for NYE's the group decided to have a meal and go dancing at the Rich River Golf & Country Club in Moama. The R&R band, Corvettes, were playing on the night but we decided to dance to a 1980's cover band called "Regular Boys" instead. The guys were great pumpin' out 1980's rock tunes as the dance floor filled with "disco boppers & jigglers". For us rockers, the bonus was having a dance floor bigger than those found at the Dandy Workers Club etc and one could easily R&R or swing to the band's music depending on the tempo on offer. The band finished playing well past midnight and by the end of the night, we were all happy vegemites making our way back to the camp after lots of dancin', drinkin' and jokin' ..........
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