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**OUTINGS & ACTIVITIES GROUP**
Leader: Gaylia Mitcham
Regular activities are planned for members to enjoy what Probus is all about - Friendship, Fellowship and Fun. Join in and see for yourself.
SEE CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR DETAILS
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Grab-a-Crab
Thursday 26th March 2026
Another successful attempt at catching each other's discarded, under-sized crabs at our favourite spot on the banks of the Murray river, close to the toilets and only a few steps from the coffee and cakes at the popular ‘Pelicans on the Murray’ cafe. Most participants remembered to park well away from the pine nuts thumping down on our cars, chairs and occasionally, heads, as they hurried to get their baited nets in the water, utilising every inch of space available to us on the old jetties and trying not to get in the way of the very well organised ‘Fishing with Disabilities’ people who had commandeered one of the access points and two of the four jetties.
The competition started promptly at 10am and no sooner had John got his net in the water than he had his first crab! Like most caught on the day, it was well under-size and on being thrown back in the water, walked straight over to the opposite jetty and got caught in Bev's net. In fact, I think most of the crabs caught on the day just went from one net to the other and given that Bev pulled in a total of 9 crabs for the morning, I think most chose her, a newcomer, as their favourite. Next year, I'll include a spray can of fluro pink paint so that we can monitor the movement of these many under-size crabs as they "crab walk' a few metres from one net to another. Not to say that we didn't have some success! Denise caught a whopper quite early in the competition (155mm) and so won the overall competition (and the highly coveted orange crab cushion), as well as having her name engraved on the trophy for perpetuity. Two other lucky members actually pulled in above the legal limit on size for crabs, but I was so busy measuring undersize ones, I can't recall who these fortunate crabbers were. Denise happily took home all three and I'm sure she would have shared a crab sandwich with Bob for dinner.
It took a great deal of skill to retain under-size crabs in the net long enough to record their size (most fell out as the net was being pulled in) so I was very grateful to have Margaret readily available with her crab gauge and Stanley with his measuring tape (next year I'll bring a more flexible tape measurer!). Once again, everyone appreciated the efforts of my brother. Allan, who along with Bob, supplied the nets (& bait) and had everything assembled and laid out ready to start. Special mention to Peter who arrived after the competition had started and unfortunately got the most unfavourable spot for his net, as evidenced by the fact that he took well over an hour to pull up his first crab, even the rejects couldn't be lured into his net! However, he persevered and holds the record for being the last person to pull in a crab.
Congratulations to this year's winners:
Overall Winner (Biggest Crab) Denise Hogan
First Crab of the Day John Clark
Most Crabs of the Day (9) Bev Hall
Smallest Crab of the Day (100mm) John Lafferty, Margaret Paganini & Bev Hall (same crab?)
Once again, thank you to all 18 who participated on the day. We had a few apologies and several "no shows" so numbers were a bit down compared to previous occasions, but it was still a fun way to spend the day. I've no doubt Team Hogan will be back to defend their title in 2027!
Government House
2nd April 2026
Sixteen Club members were able to take advantage of a late-notice invitation to a private tour of this grand old building which, aside from including a delicious morning tea, included a very enlightening meeting with our current Governor, His Excellency, Mr Chris Dawson. This excursion ranks as one of the best things I (we) have ever done!
We caught the train up just after 9am and then had an easy walk up to Government House in St Georges Terrace, enjoying the delights of the Supreme Court Gardens on the way. We met in the Grand Ballroom for a cuppa or freshly prepared fruit juices and delicious slices of chocolate brownies, all served in exquisite bone china / crystal glasses before being introduced to our Tour Guide Extraordinaire, Eric. If we are ever to visit again, we must insist on having Eric as our guide. He was all you could wish for and more, as a guide; knowledgeable, considerate, patient, kind and thoroughly entertaining in the way he kept referring to himself as a proud Englishman (when he obviously spoke with an European accent) and kept asking his offsider, Kara, to pay $10 to any member of our party who correctly answered one of his many questions! As an example of how thoughtfully we were treated, members were consistently directed to use the in-house elevator rather than climb stairs, there was an extended mid-tour toilet break and Kara followed our party around carrying a chair for Stan to sit down on whenever we had a stop. (Unfortunately, Kara could only carry one chair at a time when we really could have done with 16!)
Needless to say, our one-hour lasted almost two and we all came away not only knowing more about the history of this beautiful, heritage-listed building and the roles of the Governor over the past 160 years. Meeting the current Governor, Retired Police Commissioner, Chris Dawkins, and having an in-depth conversation with him regarding his investigation into what is inaccurately called the "Battle of Pinjarra" in 1834 was a highlight of our tour. His rationale for finding out 'the truth' and then taking action on behalf of the Monarchy and the people of WA in order to reconcile a sad part of our shared history was inspirational.
