The 2023 Annual RAN SH Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokey...

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Wed Nov 22, 2023 12:49 pm

Whilst I appreciate that my long-overdue (eagerly anticipated?) report should have been submitted days ago, as this is supposedly our FINAL Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokey, I'm putting in the extra effort to make it a FULL report, and as such, it will run over 5 separate posts..! :yess:

By way of a preface, I should point out that while at one stage we had 17 confirmed starters, for very real reasons we suffered a number of withdrawals, who I'll acknowledge here...

Firstly, Pony Moore, (thwarted by the date change,) then Dave Warren, (initially also knocked out by the date change, but as well, is currently undergoing chemo and couldn't risk the exposure,) then Brian and
Velma McKenzie, (who had to attend the funeral of a close family friend,) then Col Kelson (currently in hospital after blood clots were found on both lungs,) and finally, Charlie Staples (having caught Covid-19
on his recent trip to Victoria...) #-o

I'm sure I speak for all in wishing our friends a full and speedy recovery from ailments - various... [-o<

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Start HERE :hi:

for my special 5-Page OFFICIAL Report on the FINAL Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokey :evil3:

Some months before the FINAL Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokey, :tchin:

I’d accepted a generous offer from Tafmo to share accommodation in the city, and in return for a
highly sought after parking space at the hotel, :car:

I’d decided to drive down from the Central Coast, thus enabling me to pick Tafmo and Garry Fradd (both flying in from Adelaide,) at the airport. However,
on confirming our booking, Tafmo discovered the hotel had failed to book the parking, :angry10:

so I changed my travel plans to rail, advising them to do the same for their trip in from Mascot, then as it happened, :omg1:

bumped into the pair of them as we all alighted our respective trains at Town Hall… :3some:

From there it was a brief stroll, (thankfully all downhill,) to our hotel, on the very edge of Cockle Bay/ Darling Harbour…
Here’s the view :happy3:

from the balcony of our upgraded, top floor, two-bedroom suite, (no doubt the best room/s in the hotel,) looking out toward Darling Harbour… :yess:

Earlier in the day, while awaiting my train to Sydney, I was blown away by a phone call :mobile:

from our highly esteemed co-webmaster, Chris ‘SeeJay’ O’Keefe, announcing he’d already arrived in Sydney, :omg1:

and intended to surprise everybody by joining us for our Final Blast..! :drink 42:

So after we’d checked into our hotel, we rang SeeJay and invited him to join us for lunch before heading down to Cockle Bay for
the customary pre-pub-crawl heart-starters… :tchin:

After a few convivials, :ouzo:

we then contacted Ned and Ellen, Shep and Polly, who had also booked accommodation in the inner city, to join us for drinks,
:3some:

and once we'd gotten them down there, it wasn’t too hard to convince them to join us for dinner :drink eat:

in Cockle Bay…

For the benefit of anyone who doesn't know those at the table, :laughing3:

from left to right, Robin 'Tafmo' King, :hi:

Gary 'Fraddy' Fradd, :hi:

John 'Chippy Ned' Kelly, :hi:

Ellen Kelly, :hi:

Polly Shepherd, :hi:

Steve 'Shep' Shepherd, :hi:

Chris 'SeeJay' O'Keefe, :hi:

et moi, Rick 'Hippy Chippy' Pengilly... :hi:

And in case some of you missed the first roll call, :evil3:

we'll do it again, :laughing3:

only this time, from the other end of the table...! L to R: Polly Shepherd, :hi:

Steve 'Shep' Shepherd, :hi:

Chris 'SeeJay' O'Keefe, :hi:

Rick 'Hippy Chippy' Pengilly, :hi:

Robin 'Tafmo' King, :hi:

Gary 'Fraddy' Fradd, :hi:

John 'Chippy Ned' Kelly :hi:

and Ellen Kelly... :hi:

(Take notes, peoples, we'll be asking questions later...!) :yess:

Whilst it's apparent that Cockle Bay/ Darling Harbour is undergoing massive renovations at the moment, :violent1:

it's still a pretty place to visit, :love10:

particularly at night, as evidenced by this gaggle of silver ibis
(a pest, known locally as bin chickens, or ducks, ) dancing around a lovely illuminated fountain, just outside our restaurant...

After a delightful afternoon/ evening shared with our close friends :hello2:

we all adjourned to our respective abodes, :walk:

to prepare for :ouzo:

'The Main Event' :wine:

tomorrow,

whilst I felt the after-dark view from our balcony (compared to the day-time shot at the top of this post,) :laughing3:

was nothing short of inspirational... :omg1:

Gnomeranger · **Posted:** Thu Nov 23, 2023 9:48 am

Hippy Chippy wrote:

Whilst it's apparent that Cockle Bay/ Darling Harbour is undergoing massive renovations at the moment, :violent1:

it's still a pretty place to visit, :love10:

particularly at night, as evidenced by this
gaggle of silver ibis (a pest, known locally as bin chickens, or ducks, ) dancing around a lovely illuminated fountain, just outside our restaurant...

........

Rick, a heads up, re: your incorrect reference to those :laughing3:

(sculptured) silver 'ibis'... [-(

......

They're actually :laughing3:

cranes/ brolgas... :happy:

........................................... [-X

They're not these :laughing3:

filthy, scavenging, white Ibis/ bin chickens/ ducks..! :goose:

Graeme Rhodes · **Posted:** Thu Nov 23, 2023 10:28 am

A damn fine 'gang' of ladies and gents above.

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Thu Nov 23, 2023 12:44 pm

Gnomeranger wrote:

Hippy Chippy wrote:

Whilst it's apparent that Cockle Bay/ Darling Harbour is undergoing massive renovations at the moment, :violent1:

it's still a pretty place to visit, :love10:

particularly at night, as evidenced by this
gaggle of silver ibis (a pest, known locally as bin chickens, or ducks, ) dancing around a lovely illuminated fountain, just outside our restaurant...

........

Rick, a heads up, re: your incorrect reference to those :laughing3:

(sculptured) silver 'ibis'... [-(

......

They're actually :laughing3:

cranes/ brolgas... :happy:

........................................... [-X

They're not these :laughing3:

filthy, scavenging, white Ibis/ bin chickens/ ducks..! :goose:

Thanks, Greg, I stand corrected, hopefully you'll :prayer:

forgive my creative license, :notworthy:

but you should know by now, [-X

I never let the facts :evil3:

get in the way of a good :cow:

yarn...!!! :snap:

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Thu Nov 23, 2023 12:51 pm

Having hosted Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokeys :tchin:

since launching :type:

http://www.RAN-SkilledHands.org 20 years ago, :omg1:

in Nov., 2003, (plus sundry additional
impromptu RAN SH themed ‘piss-ups’ in Canberra, the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, even a ‘Xmas in July’ pub crawl in Balmain,) it was with a twinge of regret when I arrived with Tafmo and
Fraddy at the City Extra 24-hr. Restaurant in Circular Quay to kick off our FINAL event… At this stage our numbers had whittled down to 8, having just learned that Charlie Staples had succumbed to Covid-19
and was forced to opt out, #-o

and Howie Henderson, (running late) had missed the cut for breakfast… :drink eat:

You should recognise the usual suspects by now, :hello2:

L to R: Tafmo, Fraddy, Polly, Ellen, SeeJay, Shep, Ned and Tricky, :hello2:

getting stuck into Eggs Benedict, Eggs Florentine, :drink eat:

etc...

I guess the 'important' people made it, :dontknow:

most importantly, was this cheeky Cairns cassowary, somewhat overdressed in a winter hoodie to protect against the cold of our Sydney Summer...

And we're off..! Howie arrived as we were leaving City Extra, so he grabbed a muffin to fill a hole as we hit the Fortune of War, arguably Sydney's oldest pub, :old:

(although not the only one to claim it..!) [-(

As this was the first pub on our last run, it was appropriate that we raised our glasses in a respectful toast :tchin:

to remember our friend, 17th MOBI Intake Tiffy :type:

CMDR Dave Maxwell, an active

participant in every Rocks Run since 2011. Dave succumbed to liver cancer #-o

quite suddenly, earlier this year. R.I.P. Dave... [-o<

BTW, Shep and Neddley, nice polo shirts, :happy:

is that the :prayer:

much-exalted MTH three-bladed prop :notworthy:

with the 'H' underneath on the pockets..? :omg1:

Hope you put something appropriate on the back..!

................................. :happy:

Oh, and you did...!!! :omg1:

Enough to make this old Chippy proud...!!! :yess:

I feel a strange stiffness coming on..!!! :jerk:

BZ,

Well done, fellas...!!! :notworthy:

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Thu Nov 23, 2023 5:50 pm

On the footpath outside the Harbour View Hotel, (now bolstered to a respectable 9 by the addition of Howie Henderson,) we 'dedicated few' posed :happy3:

for what would be our very
last traditional Group Photo, taken by 'friendly' hotel staff, :hello2:

featuring the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge as back-drop, and here we go again... L to R: Ellen Kelly, :hi:

propping up Robin 'Tafmo' King, :hi:

backed by Gary 'Fraddy' Fradd, :hi:

then Howard 'Howie' Henderson, :hi:

in front of John 'Chippy Ned' Kelly, :hi:

next is Polly Shepherd, :hi:

blocking moi, Rick 'Hippy Chippy' Pengilly, :hi:

with Chris
'SeeJay' O'Keefe, :hi:

hiding behind his buddy, Steve 'Shep' Shepherd... :hi:

(BTW, in keeping with Melbourne Cup Day note the 'fascinators' adorning the heads of Ellen and Polly...) :love1:

Still on the Harbour View's footpath, a reminder that it was indeed Melbourne Cup Day... :horse:

. Then it was on to the Hero of Waterloo, (which holds some mysterious significance for Neddley...) :-k

Arriving at The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, our group swelled to 12, with 3 new 'ring-ins'... :3some:

(although not entirely strangers, as they'd attended our 2021 RAN SH Rocks Run... anybody pick 'em..?) :-k

I refer to the Pirates of the Central Coast:

...thought my pirate shirt gave it away...!

Still confused..? :-k

Well I'm sure another 'roll call' :evil3:

will sort everything out... L to R: Polly Shepherd, Ring-In #1: 13th MOBI Intake Greenie, Pete 'Red' Williamson, Ellen Kelly, John 'Chippy Ned'
Kelly, Gary 'Fraddy' Fradd, Howard 'Howie' Henderson, Steve 'Shep' Shepherd, (obscured behind my right ear,) Chris 'SeeJay' O'Keefe, moi, Rick 'Tricky' Pengilly, Ring-In #2: Helen Williamson, (then
behind 'Tafmo',) Ring-In #3: Denise Cocks, (widow of 13th MOBI Intake Chippy, Bruce Cocks,) finally, Robin 'Tafmo' King...! (Whew, surely you guys know 'who's who' by now after all these 'roll calls'..!)

Personally, I like The Lord Nelson, not the least because, as organiser of all past Rocks Runs, I ran foul of their newly introduced booking policy #-o

many years ago, and following my complaint, was taken under
the 'shield' :crusader:

of the Manager, Martin Longhurst, granting me by-pass rights (thereby avoiding the 'Dragon Lady',) enabling me to make bookings without hassles/ pre-payments/ pre-ordering...
On booking this year, I was saddened to learn that Martin had passed away from lung cancer a few weeks before. :confused:

To honour his memory, I invited everyone to once again raise their glasses and toast :tchin:

a

worthy gentleman :notworthy:

who had our interest at heart... :happy:

.......... (And no, it had nothing to do with the occasional free meals drinks Marty gave me for organising the event..!) [-(

After some bargaining, I was able to navigate past the :dragon:

without a booking deposit, :money 3:

but because of huge Melbourne Cup bookings, we couldn't avoid pre-booking our choice of
meals in advance, due to the special menus being offered the Cup patrons, while we were allowed to order from their 'normal' menu. :evil3:

This seemed to work out well for everybody except Ned, :ned:

who
(with no description on the menu to guide his choice,) ordered 'Surf and Turf', eagerly anticipating :scran:

any one of the accepted versions of the dish, steak 'n' scallops, steak 'n' prawns or steak 'n' lobster...

What he actually ended up with was so exotic, :omg1:

I couldn't even find a photo of it after an hour's search on Google Images, a bog-standard meat pie with a couple of bits of battered fish perched on top...!
:happy:

You were truly spoiled on the day, Neddley, [-X

I bet you couldn't get something even vaguely like that :fishing:

(well, maybe the battered fish,) at the Hero of Waterloo...!!! :yess:

I enjoyed eating outside in the shadow of The Lord Nelson for a change, almost as much as I enjoyed being waited on by the absolutely delightful 'Gigi' my first 'naturally blonde' Asian waitress... :love1:

After The Lord Nelson, most of the crew ambled down to The Palisade, but were somewhat thwarted in their exploration of it by the hotel booking out individual floors/ levels and barring casual drinkers from
the roof... After everybody skipped the dreary old Captain Cook hotel, everyone made their way back down to the mid-level of the Rocks Pubs, the Australian and the Glenmore to replenish their bevvy intake...

......................................................................... Yes, Polly's 'fascinator' is definitely spinning :laughing3:

at the Glenmore, clearly got a spark on...

Stroppy Chippie · **Posted:** Sat Nov 25, 2023 2:46 pm

Hippy Chippy wrote:

This seemed to work out well for everybody except Ned, :ned:

who (with no description on the menu to guide his choice,) ordered 'Surf and Turf', eagerly anticipating :scran:

any one of the accepted versions
of the dish, steak 'n' scallops, steak 'n' prawns or steak 'n' lobster...

What he actually ended up with was so exotic, :omg1:

I couldn't even find a photo of it after an hour's search on Google Images, a bog-standard meat pie with a couple of bits of battered fish perched on top...!
:happy:

You were truly spoiled on the day, Neddley, [-X

I bet you couldn't get something even vaguely like that :fishing:

(well, maybe the battered fish,) at the Hero of Waterloo...! :finga:

Could have warned Ned on that version (had it on one of the earlier Runs). Strangest "Surf and Turf" ever had....

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Sat Nov 25, 2023 3:42 pm

Meanwhile, :3some:

also topping up at the Glenmore, :drink 42:

nobody spins a 'warrie' like our indominable 'Green Steamie', Tafmo, keeping this pair of proud Chippies, Gary and Ned greatly amused... :happy2:

A brotherly hug :kiss:

between fellow 'Crow Eaters', 'Fraddy' and 'Tafmo' just goes to prove that, whilst we're all fiercely loyal to our respective branch callings, RANATE unites us in a common bond... :3some:

With just 2 more pubs to go, we arrive at the München Bauhaus, delighted to find the new owners have given in to popular demand and returned Butterscotch Schnapps and Baileys to their shots list... :yess:

So with (some) eyes looking like 'piss-holes in the snow', :glasses7:

we ordered our overpriced 'Slippery Nipples' and 'Cock-sucking Cowboys' and let 'em slide effortlessly down our throats... :ouzo:

By the time we reached our final destination, the Orient Hotel, we must have all forgotten how to press the shutter button on our :mobile:

mobiles/ cameras, :happy3:

as the pic below is the only one I've found..!!! :roll:

O.K., that brings us to the :puter:

final post :evil3:

of our FINAL Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smoky, bringing a sad end to a very successful 20-year era... :yess:

A special thanks to Gary 'Fraddy' Fradd (from Port Pirie,) and Robin 'Tafmo' King for making the efforts to fly in from Adelaide, and especially to our co-webmaster, Chris 'SeeJay' O'Keefe, a delightful surprise,
flying in from Cairns, determined not to miss out on our 'last hoorah'... :plane:

I'd also like to thank the push from the :prayer:

NSW South Coast, John 'Chippy Ned' Kelly, Ellen Kelly, Steve 'Shep' Shepherd, Polly Shepherd, Howard 'Howie' Henderson :notworthy:

for their efforts to come up for the
historic event, along with :prayer:

NSW Central Coast crew Pete 'Red' Williamson, Helen Williamson and Denice Cocks, joining us for lunch, thereby bolstering our numbers to 12 :notworthy:

(with me, of course...)

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.................................................................. (BTW, I'd like to thank Ellen for half the pics used in my report, which I pinched from Facebook...!)

:-k

(Interesting stat observed in the 2 sentences above: Those celebrating our FINAL Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smoky are comprised ENTIRELY of those OUTSIDE the greater Sydney metro area..!) :yess:

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Sat Nov 25, 2023 5:43 pm

topjars wrote:

Well done mate - some great memories have just been realized with them photos :badgrin:

I couldnt believe how much the city had changed...wall to wall high rise EGADS :omg1:

The other noticeble quirk was how quick the bar persons :bye:

were at shoving the EFTPOS thing in your face....excuse me love dont you take cash? :angry9:

I was so glad I attended and put some names to faces.

Sorry I had to axe your last post Gary, :axe:

but I needed to 'sequence' my final post (below...)

Nearly finished, Folks... :hi:

Bear with me... :happy:

Just one more post to add...! :evil3:

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Sat Nov 25, 2023 5:46 pm

........

PLEASE NOTE: If you've just clicked on the link to bring you to THIS post, expecting to view my complete/d report, you can either scroll back up :laughing3:

NUMEROUS (9) posts to the Start... :evil3:

................................................. ...or you can simply click :type:

HERE to be immediately taken to the START of my Special 5-Post OFFICIAL Report... :evil3:

.......................................................................................................... :evil3:

...EPILOGUE... :evil3:

Post Script: Having just concluded :puter:

my Special OFFICIAL Report :evil3:

on our FINAL Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokey I find nostalgia tugging at my sleeve...

I find myself looking back on the various Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokeys over the past 20 years, (plus those NOT held in The Rocks,) recalling those regulars who made them
all possible, Col Kelson, Dave Warren, Charlie Staples, Mark Mobley, Brian McKenzie, et al... those dedicated participants who could afford the expense and who made the effort to fly in from interstate, like
Tafmo and Rhonda King, Steve Johns, Smiley Rhodes, Pony Moore, and in two cases, even flying in from overseas, like Fred and Anne Russell and Steve Wilson, just to experience our unique 'cultural' event...

I fondly remember those who only experienced one, like Roger Fidler, Ron Preddy, Gary Kitt, Simone Morris, Viv McLeod, Pete Cottam, Fritz Hansen, Buck Rogers, Doug Green, Watson and Bill Ohl or perhaps
two or more, like Rob Hall, Gordon and Sandy Robertson, Henry Schubert, and those no longer with us, like Dino Gedling and Dave Maxwell, [-o<

and finally acknowledging those who always 'promised' to make
it, but left their run too late, sorry Charlie Britt... :dontknow:

sadly, one eventually shuffling off this mortal coil, :roll:

Bruce Sloper... [-o<

Now I know there'll be someone diligently scanning the preceding list of names,
who'll complain I've missed them... #-o

If you're that person, :prayer:

I humbly apologise, :notworthy:

but 20 years is a long time...! :old:

I thank you all for making all our past events a success... :yess:

....................................................................................... :santab:

MERRY CHRISTMAS...! :santab:

The 2023 Annual RAN SH Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokey...

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