Well, I'm off to join 'The Troops', stay posted for a full photo report (in due course..!) :partyman:

_________________

Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane

At least try and maintain some level of decorum today you Rocks Runners.
Enjoy. I had a ball last year

_________________
Graeme 'Smiley' Rhodes
R94714
Ex-CPOMTP(D)5
Jan'65 Leeuwin Intake (10th) - Jan'66 Nirimba Intake (20th)
Jan'65 to Mar '88
Leeuwin, Nirimba, Stalwart, Samarai, Lae, Penguin, Curlew, Buccaneer, Navy Office, Barbette, Cairns, RANTTU (based in Port Moresby), Stirling, Bunbury.

And you were conspicuous by your absence Smiley...!

Well I'm back home, but too pissed to post, so you'll all have to wait until tomorrow for the full report...

_________________

Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane

I just got home to Newcastle off the train My dear wife picked me up because she loves me and I dont blame her. God shes a treasure. What a great day down in Sydney town with all the reprobates. top time and had a ball. If you wernt ther then you missed out. Tuff. be there next time

_________________
Brian Staples (Charlie)
R43533
Ex ERA2
23rd MOBI Intake
Jul 67 to 76
Nirimba, Sydney, Torrens, Paramatta, Kuttabul
Merchant- MV Howard Smith, MV SilverHawk
Vales Point Power Station, Eraring Power Station, Retired ill health.
Now???? Living it up in retirement.

Look forward to seeing all the incriminating photos....how many are in need of bail this morning...??

I'm sure Ned and Seejay would have got well and truly in the sh*t without me there to keep them on the straight and narrow....

Charlie....you're home already????

What's a pissy run coming to....

I'll definitely have to come up next year and bring back the couth and decorum that was obviously missing this year...

_________________
Robin (Bob) King
R105234
Ex-WOETS4
25th MOBI Intake
July 68 - June 88
Nirimba, Waratah (Dam Neck), Brisbane, Waratah (Mare Is & LBNSY), Harman (CDSC), Waratah (Mare Is), Brisbane, Harman (Navy Office & CDSC), Waratah (Dam Neck & Mare Is), Harman (CDSC)

Wisdom comes with age, sometimes age comes alone.

With the condition /charlie was in, we were taking bets on whether he would sleep past his stop and end up (again) in Maitland.
We are surprised Charlie. Did the alarm on your phone go off?

Good day was had by all. Very enjoyable but marred for us by Sandy taking a tumble on the concrete gutter just out of the Jackson by slipping on a food scrap and is now bruised and sore. Shook her up quite a bit which was not helped by asking how the fall looked. (Trust a woman to be more concerned about looks than damage). Ned advised that she went down like a sack of s**t and I suggest that she looked like an old lady taking a tumble. Didn't talk to either of us for a couple of pubs.
She is still sore and stiff this morning and taking things easy. At least she is talking to me again.

See you again next year, mates.

_________________
Gordon Robertson
ex-CPOETC
R42793
15th MOBI Intake
July63 to March74
Nirimba, Sydney III, Collingwood(UK), WSTG(UK), Lonsdale, Swan, Cerberus, Kuttabul, Harman, Kuttabul(RANTAU)

Glad to hear Sandy is on the mend, Gordon.

Once again an enjoyable day was had by all, it was good to catch up with everyone again.

Glad to see Charlie made it home safely.

My flight home was quiet and enjoyable with a glass or two of Qantas "special vintage red" with dinner and my good wife was at the airport to ensure I got home in one piece.

Hope I can make it again next year.

_________________
Mike (Pony) Moore
O42860
Ex-LT GLEN(ME)
16th MOBI intake
Jan 64 - Jul 88.
Anzac, Nirimba, Stalwart, Moresby, Creswell, Waterhen, Penguin, Vampire, GMGID (PJP), Coonawarra, Attack, Ardent, Cook, Kuttabull, Cerberus.

May your walls know joy; May every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.

Glad to hear everybody got home O.K., Must admit I was a bit worried about a
couple of you, but again, you've proved you're all still '19 and bullet-proof'...!!! :lol:

I decided on a slight 'departure from tradition' this year, opting for individual
mug shots (for a project I have underway for our 15 participants,) while everybody
was still 'fairly tidy'... :type: Click on 'the usual suspects' for a BLOW UP...!


............ John 'Chippy Ned' Kelly


............Ellen Kelly


............Gordon 'Gordo' Robertson


............Sandy Robertson


............Brian 'Stoppie Chippy' Mackenzie


............Verna Mackenzie


............Chris 'Seejay' O'Keefe


............Steve 'Shep' Shepherd


............Mike 'Pony' Moore


............Pete Weyling


............Howie 'Hendo' Henderson


............Mark 'Mobes' Mobley


............Col 'Pussasan' Kelson


............Rick 'Hippy Chippy' Pengilly


............Brian 'Charlie' Staples
Who, when assembled for the traditional 'Group Shot' in the shadow
of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, make up the participants in our 2012 (10th)
Annual RAN Skilled Hands Sydney Rocks Xmas Pub Crawl Smokey...



And how's that genuine (and obviously treasured,) HMAS Nirimba 'Hoodie'...!!!



Happy to post the best of the 'happy snaps' taken by others on the day,
just e-mail them to me and I'll upload them for you...

P.S. The pics of the very photogenic bunch above were all reduced to our
normal 950 pixel wide site restrictions, (which you'll see if you click
on a pic,) but if anybody wants an original 12 megapixel (1.4MB, 4000 x
3000 pixel) version (for printing off,) again, just e-mail me...!

More later, I'm off to the laundromat...!

_________________

Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane

Seejay wrote

".......and for those especially tragics amongst us, there will be a pre basin trial on Thursday arvo. 2 man down 2 man down

Rumour is that Shep's shouting......"

Well that only goes to show how ungrateful Seejay can be.
I shouted him a schooner all over his trousers and made him stand in the cool wind to dry off and he got all snaky with me.

SHAME SEEJAY SHAME!!!

_________________
Steve Shepherd
R43062
Ex-CPOMTH3
18th MOBI Intake
Jan 65 to Jan 78
Nirimba,Sydney,Vampire,Tarangau,Albatross, Stalwart,Creswell.

Glad to see you got home in one piece, Charlie! We were a bit concerned as to whether you'd make it.

....and what Shep forgot to mention was that the schooner he knocked over in his inglorious rush to grope the young girls nearby was Howie's schooner!

Talk about freeze the patooties!!!

But, no great problem, I dunked his toothbrush in the toilet...

Great time again guys, definitely a high point on my calendar every year.

_________________

Chris O'Keefe
R43136
Ex WO Chippy
19th MOBI Intake
July 65 to July 85
HMAS Nirimba X 4 -Penguin-Sydney-Queenborough - Creswell - Moreton - Stalwart - Platypus - Coonawarra Reconstruction Team 76 - Platypus - Hobart - Cerberus - FHQ - Coonawarra.

Anyone can be ordinary. Shipwrights choose to be extraordinary!