The 2017 (15th) Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokey - Official Host's Report... 
Photos from
Col ‘Pussasan’ KelsonAfter a smooth, unobstructed drive
down from
The Entrance on the
NSW Central Coast, I checked into the
Cremorne Point Manor, got changed and strode down the hill to catch the
fast ferry across to
Circular Quay, then based mainly on gut instinct, I caught a train to
St. James (arguably the closest station to Woolloomooloo,) on the
City Circle... From there, a brisk walk over the
Domain Car Park (the travelling walkway was broken,) 
and a bit of
circular 
navigating and I found myself at
The Woolloomooloo Hotel, having
been advised by phone
(on my arrival at Circular Quay,) by
Col ‘Pussasan’ Kelson that
The Frisco sucked 
and the
‘Warmers Crew’ 
had relocated to
The Woolloomooloo...
...or
for the uneducated...!
What ensued was as a very pleasant afternoon and evening, spent
telling warries and solving all the current Navy’s problems, from
poofters to pulse drives, with
Col ‘Pussasan’ Kelson,
Henry
‘Shoobs’ Schubert,
Doug ‘Gangas’ and lovely wife
Brenda Green,
Mick Hamilton,
Mark ‘Mobes’ Mobley,
Bob ‘Tafmo’ and lovely wife
Rhonda King,
Dave Maxwell,
Howard ‘Howie’ Henderson and his delightful daughter
Anthea,
myself and a
three-ring Birdie ring-in Jon Ball, who
Col had adopted
on
ANZAC Day a few years ago...
Clockwise: Dave Maxwell, Mark Mobley, Mick Hamilton, Rick Pengilly, Howie Henderson, Jon Ball, Brenda Green... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
Classmates of the 17th MOBI Intake of July '64 - L-R: Doug
'Gangas' Green, Col
'Pussasan' Kelson, Henry
'Shoobs' Schubert, Dave Maxwell... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
Henry left early to meet up with his son at the
Tilbury Hotel for dinner, with a view to re-joining the
Crew later in the evening, and
Anthea Henderson,
Leading Steward on HMAS (whatever-the-fluck
-our-current-supply-ship is,) left to return onboard, whilst the rest of us settled for pizzas at the
Woolloomooloo, but then as
Mick was suffering badly from a poorly-executed-three-point-landing
he’d
attempted down a flight of concrete steps a couple of weeks ago, we shared a cab to
North Sydney/ Cremorne Point, opting for an early night...
(I knew it was early because as soon as I’d settled into
bed, and ‘Star 
Wars’ on TV, 
I got a call from Henry wanting to know where the flock 
we all were...!) 
"Where the 
did everybody get to...???" Henry
'Shoobs' Schubert... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
Next morning,
Saturday, I showered and dressed at
‘sparrow’s fart’, caught an earlier ferry than I probably needed to, and on arrival at
City Extra, found
Brian ‘Charlie’ Staples, having just
arrived from the
Central Coast, already firmly entrenched at our
table for 18... We didn’t quite make it to
18, but we were soon joined by
Brian and lovely wife
Verna ‘Toots’ Mackenzie,
Mike ‘Pony’
Moore,
Dave ‘Rabbit’ Warren, and eventually the rest of the
‘Warmers Crew’ from the night before.
In the
15 years that we’ve hosted our
Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokies, weather-wise we’ve been lucky, Saturday however, we lucked out, it alternated between rain
and drizzle for most of the day, but it couldn’t dampen our spirits...
As we started checking off our regular watering holes, we were able to confirm what I’d found on
Facebook, that
The Observer Hotel had closed,
stripped of all stock, poker machines, etc., with none of
the locals quite sure what the eventual plan for it will be...
This meant we went from the
Fortune of War,
directly to
The Mercantile Hotel 
where we were tempted momentarily
by the
Soup de Jour... 
Soup de Jour anyone...?
Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
L-R: Brian
'Charlie' Staples, Rick
'Hippy Chippy' Pengilly, Bob
'Tafmo' King, Doug
'Gangas' Green, Dave
'Rabbit' Warren, Brenda Green, Henry
'Shoobs' Schubert, Mike
'Pony' Moore,
Rhonda King, Mark
'Mobes' Mobley, Verna
'Toots' Mackenzie, Col
'Pussasan' Kelson, Brian
'Stroppy Chippie' Mackenzie, Dave Maxwell, Howard
'Howie' Henderson... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
Of course, following
The Mercantile we assembled outside
The Harbour View for
our traditional photo 
op and found myself almost bumping straight into my
fellow 13th MOBI Intake Greenie (and 1st Term Approved Address,) Brian Clough who was on a
Rocks Run of his own for his son's
Buck's Do, so declined to join ours, so after our group photo we moved on to
The Hero of Waterloo and eventually
The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel for lunch... where a couple of my
‘special guests’ awaited our party...
10th MOBI Intake Chippy and
past Rocks Run participant Roger Fidler, and
(as
a result of a quick phone I made on Thursday,) fellow Chippy Ian ‘Fritz’ and his lovely wife
Kayleen Hansen, armed with a
photo album, containing pics of
Fritz and Gangas and the
‘lakatoi’ which
they
jointly owned when they last saw each other in
HMAS Tarangau 
in
1969,
48 years ago...! 
Lunch at The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel with Kayleen and Ian
'Fritz' Hansen, fellow Chippy and world renowned Marine Artist... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
Ian
'Fritz' Hansen and Col
'Pussasan' Kelson... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
As an aside, when
Roger rang me last week to tell me he might like to catch up with the
Crew for lunch, I’d just celebrated my
71st birthday, so I reminded him that I remembered a previous
Rocks Run where it coincided with his
70th birthday, and how we joked at the time that
‘nobody’s THAT old’...
However,
Roger had the last laugh, reminding me that the occasion was in fact his
60th birthday and it was on our
second Rocks Run, 14 years ago...! 
How time flies when you’re enjoying yourself... 
L-R: Brian
'Stroppy Chippie' Mackenzie, Verna
'Toots' Mackenzie, Brenda Green, Doug
'Gangas' Green, Brian
'Charlie' Staples, Dave Maxwell, Rhonda King, Bob
'Tafmo' King... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
L-R: Ian
'Fritz' Hansen, Kayleen Hansen, Rick
'Hippy Chippy' Pengilly, Roger Fidler, Mike
'Pony' Moore... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
Roger stayed with us for the rest of the day, however, Fritz and Kayleen had prior commitments, so after another drink and a lovely photo-op of us four
‘Tarangau Wontoks’ at
The Palisade Hotel,
sadly, they had to part company with us...
Getting dry at The Pallisade Hotel, L-R: Verna
'Toots' MacKenzie, Brian
'Charlie' Staples, Dave
'Rabbit' Warren, Howard
'Howie' Henderson and Brenda Green... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
'Tarrangau 1969 Wontoks', L-R: Rick
'Hippy Chippy' Pengilly, Ian
'Fritz' Hansen, Doug
'Gangas' Green and Henry
'Shoobs' Schubert... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
Then it was on to the final stretch, with
The Captain Cook,
The Australian Heritage Hotel,
The Glenmore Hotel, all passing in quick review, then on to our newest addition,
The Argyle, until the
musical 
duo got too loud to be comfortable and we moved on to the
Munich Brauhaus (formerly known as the Lowenbrau Keller,) for our traditional
shooters 
and steins,
the last bit of
exotic indulgence before arriving at the
finish line at
The Orient Hotel... 
At The Argyle, L-R: Brian
'Charlie' Staples, Roger Fidler, Dave Maxwell and Henry
'Shoobs' Schubert... Photo by Col
‘Pussasan’ Kelson
As usual, those last drinks at
The Orient are always the relaxed
‘icing on the cake’, and by the time
Charlie and I left to catch our respective
8:00PM-ish ferries/ trains at
Circular Quay, leaving
Tafmo and
Dave to
‘tidy up’, I’d reached both
contentment AND capacity... And so, with another successful
Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokey 
behind us... see you all
(and hopefully a few of those who keep PROMISING to make it, 
but never seem to, 
) next year...
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C u 2Morro 
Now it's on to the main event... 
before I attempt to give you all a full report 
I actually spent more time on my Report 
