On arrival in Adelaide on Thursday 16 June [2011] Reachel and I collected our car and set off directly to the hotel to get a couple of hours sleep; we had flown in from China via Sydney and were pretty whacked. We had been invited to the home of David and Kay Lewis in Blackwood on the outskirts of Adelaide for diner so washed and refreshed we decided to hop in a taxi rather than drive. Our greeting on arrival at David and Kay's was as if we had known each other for years, when in fact we had only communicated by email for about four months, since my invitation to judge. In true Oz style it was only seconds before a beer was in my hand.
We were the last of the evenings guests to arrive, Shildon Gunn and Don Barclay had flown in from New Zealand, dodging an ash cloud which had blown across from a volcano in Chile and threatened our movements all the time we were in Australia (sounds familiar eh?) and Ray Gutsche and his partner Nadine from just round the corner in Blackwood. After the introductions the usual pigeon banter followed discussing our own individual breeds, standards, types, shows and how they are run, judging, the inevitable pigeon politics, a real full-on evening and with plenty of light hearted wit as well. The girls all got on well, and we tucked in to the wonderful meal Kay had prepared for us. It was a marvellous greeting, and a real pleasure, a great way to start our week in Adelaide, thank you David and Kay. The social side of our hobby has always been a big part of why I love keeping pigeons, here at home it doesn't matter where you are in the country if you have your pigeon fancier's address book with you, you are never too far from a friend.
Follow Graham Bates' Down Under - continues in September and October 2011 issues
Best Dragoon in Adelaide, a young grizzle hen
