Krazy Kents on the Road Again

Week Seventeen: Gympie Muster 2018

Rugged up and ready to rock the night away at the 2018 Gympie Muster!

One of our main aims for this trip was to attend the Gympie Muster once again. We went in 2012 and had an absolute ball so we were keen to relive all the fun we had way back then. The Muster did not disappoint. We leapt headlong into everything it had on offer and had a fantastic time from line dancing for me, bush poets for GK, listening to the amazing talented country singers and marvelling at the up and coming new talent. There was something for everyone. The festival ran over four days with the gates opening at 8:30am each morning and closing when the last cowboys stumbled out of the Crow Bar in the early hours of the morning.

No fear of losing one of their gang in these costumes.

One word to sum up the Muster is “Happy”. Everyone was so friendly and there were no fights or agro. People had travelled from all over Australia to see their favourite artists, to sit back and enjoy the whole spectacle or just camp along the banks of the Amamoor River and 'chillax' with family and friends. The Gympie Muster is Australia’s longest running charity festival and has raised over $15,000.000 over 37 years. It is run by over 1,700 volunteers, working 15,000 hours from local schools, sporting clubs and service organizations with all money going back into the community. It is a mighty effort from a small band of hard working Aussies who work tirelessly for months to present the Muster every year. Their efforts were well rewarded with this years Muster raising $153,000 and over 22,000 people attending the festival. Well done!

Picturesque Amamoor State Forest

We heard that the mornings were very cold at the Muster site so after buying much needed hot water bottles in Gympie we travelled out through the picturesque Amamoor State Forest to Poulsen’s Paddock on the banks of the Amamoor River to set up camp. We were guided in by local volunteers from the Lions Club and were relieved that we had a flat site to park the van. Our neighbours were from all over Queensland and we soon became good mates and shared their fire most nights after the concert. One night they offered GK a ‘cigarette’ that he declined and when I said later that it was a joint he said “No!” though he couldn’t explain why three people were smoking it. Whatever floats your boat.

Facing the wrong way but having fun!

It was hard to climb out of bed when the temperature was minus four but it was worth it to join the other enthusiastic line dancers at 8:30am each morning. Although I felt very uncoordinated tapping, scooting and twisting and turning to Boot Scootin’ Boogie it was lots of fun and we soon worked up a sweat over the next hour.

Margie Clegg! Are these yours?!

GK dropped me off each morning and rushed to get his seat at the Muster Club to listen to the hilarious bush poets. The Marquee was packed everyday as everyone thoroughly enjoyed watching the pros and amateur comedians go through their paces. There is so much raw talent that we don’t know about or get to see. People are very witty and clever and the jokes and one-liners were flying thick and fast everyday. It was a great way to start the morning with a good belly laugh. Should be more of it.

Old mates catching up

We purchased an excellent programme of events for $2.00 that covered the whole four days of the festival, listing all the artists, times and venues. GK was thrilled to see an old rugby mate from the eighties was performing at the Blues Bar on Thursday night so we made sure we were front and centre to watch his performance. Queenslander Pop Standen played for North Beach in its winning 1980 Grand Final and made a lot of lifelong friends at the Club. We managed to catch his eye after his session and he was just as happy as GK to catch up. The boys had a quick beer before Pop had to pack up all his gear and drive two hours to Gayndah for another gig the next day. He looks great and is now living at Airlie Beach with a new partner, Kate. Such a small world.

Pop Standen singing the blues at Gympie

Jeff, Annie and son Mitchell from Coffs Harbour

Speaking of ‘small worlds’ we spotted Narrogin plates a few vans along from ours and it turned out that – wait for it – we know this can be monotonous if you don’t know who we are talking about – but our new neighbours, Graeme and Kaylene Wilson, know friends of ours from Narrogin, Maureen and Terry Park and they bought their caravan from Ian and Louise Lewis formerly from Moora! Their travelling companions, Doug and Kaye Berry, live in Duncraig next-door to our great mates Chris and Gary Holbrook and they were on a cruise last year with other great mates Jan and Dion Bromilow. Phew! Did you get all that? Wait – there is more. When we were waiting outside the Muster Club one night we ran into a couple we met in Alice Springs last year who we got on really well with. We palled up again and sat with them most nights to watch the concert. That’s it. No more coincidences until the next stop. Tee Hee.

The Blue Team. Doug, Kaye, Graeme and Dolly (Kaylene)

True Blue John Williamson

All four nights were amazing but Friday night was an absolute standout. The mosh pit went off with performances by Tania Kernaghan, the Wolfe Brothers, John Williamson, Travis Collins and the superstar of country music, Lee Kernaghan. It was very poignant as they all dedicated most of their songs to those suffering from the drought in Western Queensland and New South Wales. They would preface their songs with words like “We’re with you”, “We’ve got your back” and “Hang in there, mate, you’ll get through this.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when John Williamson sang ‘True Blue’ and Lee sang ‘The Spirit of the Anzacs’. I was blubbering one minute and then on my feet stomping along with ‘Boys From the Bush’ the next. The night bought all Aussies together under a cloudless starry sky as the music rang out through the forest. It was one of those feel good moments and one of the happiest in my life.

Unbeatable Lee Kernaghan

A blurry Greg Champion

The drought broke on Sunday morning with mixed emotions. Absolute elation for the farmers and disappointment for the Muster organizers as the dusty paddocks turned to slippery mud and some events had to be cancelled. We soldiered on and warily crossed the churned up tracks to enjoy the last day of the festival. The teeming rain didn’t dampen our spirits as we watched the finals of the Bush Poets and Greg Champion of ‘Could Have Been Champions’ fame. He was hilarious and had the audience in stitches with his banter, anecdotes and satirical songs. We met him after the show and he is a very genuine bloke and was keen to hear how the Eagles had got on the night before. We couldn’t help him, as we didn’t know ourselves at that time. He posed for a very blurry photo with GK that I will post anyway. (GK wasn’t impressed with my stuff up – too bad, too sad).

Greg Champion was hilarious.

The rain stopped long enough for us to sit an enjoy the last night performances of Sara Storer, Drew McAlister, Brad Butcher and the scene stealing Beccy Cole along with many others. They sang ‘Songs I Wish I’d Written’ which was a fantastic eclectic mix of musical genres from The Beatles, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and a whole list of favourites the singers themselves loved. The night finished with the whole cast returning to the stage to sing ‘Khe Sahn’. The crowd went ‘off’ and the mosh pit was a seething mass of ecstatic people celebrating the culmination of a brilliant festival. We were on our feet cheering with the rest of them. Gympie – you have done it again! Congratulations!

Grand finale to a fantastic festival!

Feeling the cold but loving the concert.

We treaded carefully back to Poulsen’s Flat across the mud with hundreds of other happy campers to find that our new Queensland mates had packed up and gone but had left their fire pit and left over wood for us. We in turn shared it with our new mates from Narrogin and Duncraig and also shared a red and swapped yarns and told lies until the fog and cold drove us inside. With our newly purchased hot water bottles warming our numb tootsies and the steady beat of the bass from the Crow Bar pulsating through the trees lulling us off to sleep, we both agreed that we had had a fantastic four days and will never forget our second Muster. Yeehah!

With Outback Queensland, Carnarvon Gorge and Gympie Muster successfully ticked off our bucket list, this week will be hard to beat but hopefully we will have news to report as we hit the coast once again and steadily head homewards. Until next week, keep safe and love to all.