On 16th February 2012 thirteen members of the North Moreton Friendship Force Club arrived in Murray Bridge for a week of journey (alias exchange). They were met by their hosts off The Overland from Melbourne having travelled from the National Conference the week before.
The Welcome Dinner was held that same evening at Perrin and Ann-Marie Kuchel's home and by the level of animated discussion there was no doubt this group were going to get on well.
An early start the next day to observe lettuce harvesting and despatch at Wildsalad was followed by an open air breakfast with the birds at Sturt Reserve. By mid morning we had moved on to Mypolonga Primary School where the students again impressed with their retail shop initiative.
Saturday's river ramble in small pleasure craft allowed our visitors to get up close and personal with the Murray River, its bird life and attractions before settling in at Sunnyside for a "slow food afternoon". Antipasto, pizza and tiramisu together with the odd bottle of chianti made for a very relaxing experience.
Sunday was a free day where hosts generally took their visitors to nearby attractions with the Barossa a popular choice. Several dinner hostings were also on the agenda.
Monday included visits to State Flora for a tour of the propagation process then to Willow Point for a local produce presentation of wine, olives and cheese. This was followed by a visit to Bartlett's award winning dairy to watch the afternoon milking.
Tuesday included a visit to the mushroom farm and a tour of the growing process and that evening the Farewell Dinner attended by 53 members at Riverscape. Presentations were made to each ambassador of a bag of local produce and a photo to remember the occasion. The recital of bush poetry by Trevor Kuchel was a highlight of the evening. The next morning saw an early bus departure to Adelaide where our guests headed for home via various methods.
General feedback was that the local content of the program was appreciated and the fellowship and friendship was of a high order. Suffice to say there were lots of promises to stay in touch and meet again soon.
As the ED, I thank our members for supporting the journey so positively and special acknowledgement of Monica Ascott, North Moreton's ED, Perrin Kuchel, our Asst ED, the hosts, day and dinner hosts and the many people who joined in and helped when asked. The club can be proud that they provided such an experience for our friends from North Moreton
ED: Trevor Mundy