A Member Report from The Callide Dawson Flying Group (CDFG) Annual Fly-in 2013 at Rockybar Last Weekend

The Callide Dawson Flying Group (CDFG) Inc 2013 Annual Fly-In over the weekend Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July turned out to be another great club event that, according to Club member Dave See, will be talked about for a very long time.

Club members and visitors came from Mackay, Cawarral, Biloela, Jambin, Yeppoon, Caboolture, Theodore, Baralaba, Kilcoy, Moura, Bribie Island, Margate and Taroom.

The Club send out a BIG thank you to Peter Williams for opening up his home - Rockybar Station - for the weekend. Peter had been preparing roads and air strips (2 of them) for the previous week or so and that included experiencing a flat tyre on his grader and necessitating him having to walk  approximately 20km back to home (and ending up with blisters on his feet).

From another report by Club member Graham Pukallus, upon arrival at Rockybar Station, "we were met with approx 12 other aircraft and the hosts:  Liz & Dave See, Toni Fitzpatrick and Len Neale of the Callide Dawson Flying Group".

Everyone was treated with lunch and most participated in a 3 hour tour of the Rockybar Station with its caves, aboriginal history, rock art and old gold mines.  One of the highlights for us all was visiting the R.M. Williams Memorial site on top of a nearby hill, before getting together for a great dinner (country style) around a large dining table in front of a wood fired stove with a huge array of foods and deserts on offer.

We heard many stories in particular the history of R.M. Williams by his son Peter and and were shown his original box of shoe blanks from which he made the first boots from for children up to adults, all in all a great privilege and honour to be invited guests into Dave William’s home, who by the way flies a drifter for mustering.

After many flying stories we bedded down into the shearing quarters with a roaring fireplace, even with the station dog on our bed, Can’t get more country than that.  Next morning we woke to another thick fog and a hearty cooked breakfast before a pilots briefing prior to departing to Cracow Station some 20nm away.

A dusty departure and arrival and meeting our new hosts Richard and Sarah Cox and family who transported us all a short distance over a running creek to their magnificent homestead.  We enjoyed a historic tour of the buildings some well over 100 years old and were then treated to a history lesson of the Crocow Station by Sarah followed by a very informative talk on the Cracow area with its famous Golden Plateau Mining area, aboriginal history etc by Bill Walker from 'The Brae' a nearby station closer to Cracow.

We all said our goodbyes to everyone before departing our dusty strip for home Caboolture, 2 hours 15 minutes later we arrived home a bit weary with smiles on our faces after what could only be described as a fantastic experience.

The Callide Dawson Flying Group who worked so hard to make our stay so memorable, we say thank you."

Sounds like a great weekend!

My thanks to Liz and Dave See for providing us with some text and photos of the weekend!