- Chris Hill
- 0419528446
- chrishill3@bigpond.com
Yarra Ranges National Seniors
A warm welcome to Yarra Ranges Branch of the NSA. (covering approximately the Yarra Ranges Council Map area of the Yarra Ranges and Yarra Valley). We are a friendly, inclusive and active Branch of over 50s with a voice to Government.
Guests and visitors are most welcome to join us at any of our - Meetings (held on the 2nd Monday of the month) at the Lillydale Lake Comunity Room, Lilydale Lake Road, Lilydale. Our Guest Speakers are interesting, informative and cover many subjects.
Also we are involved in many Activities - 'Out & About', 'Dining Out', Saturday and Wednesday Walks and a variety of Entertainment (live theatre, Musicals, films and Ballet etc).
This Branch was first formed in 2006 and has during this time supported a variety of charities to improve the welfare of the community.
Happy Birthdays and Congratulations to.
8th September Brian
9th September Fay
15th September Les
16th September Janice
16th September Jean A
25th September Terry
1st October Doris
4th October Steve
5th October Jeanette
8th October Gordon
22nd October Elaine
23rd October Pauline C
27th October Pauline G
Our President's Report
Hi Members,
It was nice to welcome new members at our last meeting Dianne & Terry.
The lunch at the Mustard Tree OP shop was good with 19 members attending. The show at the Karralyka was a good night too.
Look forward to catching up with everyone at the next meeting the AGM with ‘Inhouse Terrific Trivia’ at the Lake Room, 2pm for a 2.30pm start.
Happy reading
Trevor
President
General Information
MEMBERSHIP FEES
Please ensure you use the ‘Yarra Ranges NSA Application Forms’ at the end of our ‘Grapevine’ News Letter (downloadable from this Website) and then give it to the Branch Secretary(Lyn). By using our form this informs NSA that you are a member of this Branch. The Branch receives an annual payment for your Membership.
EVENT ATTENDANCE
Everyone needs to please text or email Chris with any changes they want to make after they have put their name down for an ‘Outing & About’ / ‘Dining Out’ / ‘Morning Melodies’. Also, if you put their name down for an ‘Outing & About’ / ‘Dining Out’ / ‘Morning Melodies’ please make sure you put it in your diary, so you don’t overlook or forget what you have made a commitment that day.
WELFARE INFORMATION
Please contact Pamela, our Welfare Officer, if you know of anyone who is unwell, having an operation, in need of help or has passed away within the family.
COMMUNITY INFORMATION
JP facilities are available at the Croydon & Lilydale Police Station on the following days and times –
Croydon Tuesdays 10.00am to 1.00pm Lilydale Thursdays 10.00am to 1.00pm
CONTRIBUTE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Have you been travelling? Have you attended a good show? Have you read a good book? Is there something you have experienced, that you would like to share with the members of the Branch? A story? One-liners? Photos from outings? Contact Lyn.
GUEST SPEAKERS for our branch meetings
If you have a suggestion for a ‘Guest Speaker’ please let a Committee Member know.
An item ticked off my bucket list – Lake Eyre in flood.
Lake Eyre has been somewhere I wanted to go and see when there were
the big flows of water into it, like back in 1974 when the last big fill happened. This one is going to be similar or maybe surpass it. This means when the North and South parts actually join up which was evident when we flew over. I was lucky to achieve this on 23 July 2025. I signed up for a 3-day tour – called the ‘Taste of the Outback’.
It was a light plane leaving from Moorabbin Airport around 7.30am in the morning; flying off over Victoria up to Broken Hill (New South Wales) for a
refuel stop; then a short stop at Innamincka in South Australia’s remote north east, for Lunch at the pub and a look around at the outback station that was a hospital but now the Information Centre.
Boarded the plane flying over the changing countryside from dry to green from all the recent rains that flooded Innamincka and Birdsville – this has closed most
roads in to and out of the area. The waters are slowly receding to allow some transport in. We flew over the Coopers Creek area to view the Dig Tree where
the explorers Burke and Wills set up camp. The area was very wet at the moment not able to drive into to view up close.
Next stop was Birdsville, population around 110 people. The airstrip offers
the best access to any hotel – directly across the road. A short break, then we went on a 4WD tour of Birdsville. We saw their water system of an underground thermal bore. It is so hot that is has to flow down channels to allow it to cool before use. There was a viewing of the Birdsville Racecourse (all very green from the recent rains). We were told that they will have to strip all the green growth of the track before the races can be held – racing track rules and regulations. It is not a big town but the locals are really proud of what they have. Aerial view of Birdsville Famous entrance to the Birdsville Race Track Water in cooling channel Our tour guide took us out to Big Red, a 40-metre-high sand dune. This is the first of 1,140 parallel sand dunes marking the edge of the Simpson Desert. We had drinks and nibbles to sit and watch the sunset. Back to Birdsville Hotel for dinner and chat with my fellow travellers.
Left Birdsville bright and early for our next leg of the tour – best day of the Lake Eyre. We flew over Bell Bay the deepest part of the Lake Madigan Gulf, the sand islands and Warburton Inlet. We flew low and slow over the vast spread of blue waters. We were all able to get some great shots of the Lake. Map above shows all the rivers and creeks that flow into Lake Ayre. Landed at Muloorina Station for morning tea and lunch, which was provided by the owners of the station. This station was established in 1882. The current owners Cindy, Trevor and family have operated the station since 1938. The station is only 35 klms from the edge of Lake Eyre and this is where Donald
Campbell and his ‘Bluebird’ were based for the aborted 1963 attempt and then successful 1964 breaking of the World Land Speed Record. A Cindy showed us around the station. Also close to the homes of the family to where their bore water is left to cool for them to use, as this is their only water supply. Water tanks are not something useful out here due to lack of rain. They take in contractors that work on pipelines and roads to the mine not far away from them. This, the cattle they have on their property, plus the odd tour company, keep them going.
After lunch it was back into the sky to Leigh Creek to refuel then a short flight over the Flinders Ranges to Balcanoona airstrip to house the plane overnight. We then took a 30-minute bus ride to Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary – the locals call it ‘The Ark’, to our rooms for the night. We were able to have a relaxing drink and watch the yellow footed rock wallabies come down to a special area that they can feed. We took lots of pictures. They move very quickly and are really pretty with their really long tails full of stripes.
Dinner was a BBQ outdoors by the woodfires but the clouds were rolling in for the big weather forecasted and this meant we missed out on viewing the stars from the Ningana Imaging Observatory. Oh well, that is life. It was chilly but all had a good time. Went to bed to find the next morning the weather system was moving in and the rain and wind had increased. There was supposed to be a 4-hour tour in an open air 4WD to Siller’s Lookout so that you could view the ruggedness and beauty of the Northern Flinders Ranges. It is home to over 160 species of birds and those yellow footed rock Wallabies. We all decided to cancel on this due to the weather conditions and we left earlier to fly home to Melbourne to get ahead of the weather system due to arrive later in the day in Melbourne. We had heard that Adelaide had been bombed by 60mls of rain & very strong winds and more to come. The area we were at had only experienced light rain or shower or two so far this year, so the heavier rain was going to be welcomed for the area. Lake Eyre Muloorina Station Airstrip & Home Flying over Flinders Ranges On our way back to the airport strip, we were noticing how quickly the road was holding water with a lot of water splashing onto the bus as we drove through. Our pilot had to prepare the plane for flight. We all sat on the bus in the warmth, whilst he did his preflight check – was a little soaked when he took off to our next refuel stop. With the rain pelting the plane as we flew over the terrain below, our visibility was limited by cloud and rain. We flew to Wentworth to refuel. These fuel stops allow you to go the toilet and stretch your legs. On one of the other fuel stops, one of the other passengers assisted our pilot in reading the figures as the pilot couldn’t see it from the
ladder on his side and he noted that each wing took $800.00 worth of fuel, explains the cost of flying with this company (totally worth though). Bit wet getting in out at this last stop before home. We met some locals at the airport and they said that our plane was one of the first to utilise their new guidance system for cloud and inclement weather since it was recently installed. Normally it is clear skies as far as you can see.
We settled back with our lunch packs and journeyed home to Moorabbin Airport. We came in over the bay and it was interesting to see the Melbourne skyline from this side. Callam, our pilot, did a fantastic job of getting us there and back. Great memories for me to now have.
Happy Traveller Lyn J
NOTE: on the left is what the tour missed due to a rain storm that hit
the area on their way back in the Flinders Ranges
‘Rose Cottage’ Monbulk
Thirty Members spent a lovely winter lunch time at Rose Cottage beside a roaring log fire.
Rose Cottage is a lovely ‘oldy worldly’ original cottage at Monbulk in the Dandenong Ranges. The food is very good and all home made on the premises by our hosts and staff.
We didn’t need a dinner that evening!
MORE STICKERS HAVE ARRIVED! ‘Keep Cash’ Campaign
We have obtained some more stickers from Head Office in Brisbane for distribution to local traders and retailers who wish to continue receiving CASH. These will be available now.
NSA wants to help buck the ‘cashless society’ trend and keep cash circulating. To do this, they need our help to encourage retailers that accept cash to display our new ‘We accept cash’ sticker.
Let’s get our message out there. All we need to do is encourage retailers in our local area to display the ‘We accept cash’ sticker for customers to see. You could even take a photo of the sticker being displayed and email it to us at policy@nationalseniors.com.au Participating businesses are added to NSA website page and shared on our social media.
September/October 2025
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March April 2025
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January/February 2025
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November/December 2024
Yarra Ranges Grapevine
