Author: John Elphinston

Coffs Harbour Gathering

/ John Elphinston / 2 Comments

From John McNamara

Last week I visited Coffs and today I had mornos with the boys and have received my guidance.
Thank you for those who have shown interest in attending. We have 50 attendees in total to date and the list of those attending is below. There is obviously room for more and if anyone wants to book please follow the process on the website.
Our main purpose remains to give us the opportunity to catch up as a wider group and have fun with people who share a story. What we are after is a casual gathering without too much organisation but I do know some of you like a bit of structure, so here goes.

Tuesday 19 August
Check- in time is 3pm but if the room is available, you are in. The bar opens at 2.30pm and closes much later. If you are driving, you may want to consider bringing an esky with you with your best wines from home so we can sample these if we get invited to your room. If flying, Uncle Dans is 2km away and we will do a tock run if asked.
Happy Hour is 5pm so this would be a good time to gather if you are not already there.
Dinner – Dinner will start from 6pm but there will be no rush to sit down as we will be collocated in a separate area but spread over 5 or 6 tables. The menu in the dining room has a range of menu options. If you have special dietary needs please engage with Pacific Bay Resort. Everything is  ‘ pay as you go ‘ and you can charge you room or pay by cash or card.
Dress this evening is Hawaiian / Tropical with lots of colour which is likely to keep other guests from coming near us. The August temperatures range from 9 – 20C and the area we have been allocated for dining is outdoors but can be closed off and has outdoor heaters.

Wednesday 20 August

There are a number of tourist type activities in and around the Coffs Harbour area. Some may wish to play golf or tennis or go for a walk on the beach or just relax and do nothing. Inspirations can be found here:
https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/north-coast/coffs-harbour-area/activities
https://www.coffscoast.com.au/info/

Breakfast – most have booked for breakfast in the dining room.
Mornos – as a suggestion there is a coffee shop attached to a World War 2 bunker that houses the National Cartoon Gallery. The National Holden Museum is close by  – it is $8 per head for people our age which covers entry to both.
Lunch –  we suggest you visit the Coffs Harbour Surf Club. It is well patronised with a good menu. If we have the numbers they will set aside a separate area for us so we can keep talking.
Dinner – The evening plan is to repeat Tuesday with Happy Hour followed by dinner.


A month out from our gathering I will ask Elph to send out something whereby you tell me what, from the above, you wish to attend so I can pass this on to The Bunker / The Surf Club and Pacific Bay for catering , staffing and seating purposes.
That is it from me for now. If you have questions I am happy to handle via the web or via email at John.m.mcnamara@bigpond.com

John Mac

Booked @ Pacific Bay:
Rod Allan and Jenny Tracy
John and Jacqui Black
Warwick and Brenda Elliott
John Elphinston and Sandra Davies
Geoff and Caroline Hay
Bill and Marina Houston
Peter and Kerry Jenke
Gerry and Annette Jones
Steve and Debra Jones
Kevin and Jan Loughrey
Jon Mander-Jones and Partner
Peter and Sue Martyn
Don and Diedre Muirhead
Duncan and Carmel McInnes
Tony and Mary McLeod
John and Margaret McNamara
Phil and Chris Newman
John and Vivienne Price
Paddy Ryan and Judy Fraser
Graham and Maxine Smith
Peter and Helen Teys
Attending but not booked at Pacific Bay Resort :
Dave and Trish Cran
Maurie and Joan Meecham
Darryl and Robyn Poole
Murray and Judy Smith

Coffs Gathering

/ John Elphinston / 4 Comments

From John Mac,

Classmates,

As you know, we are planning a gathering of like minded people in Coffs at The Pacific Bay Resort on 19 and 20 Aug this year. To date we have 42 coming and the list is below. Of these, 36 are booked into the resort. In addition, Murray and Judy Smith are locals and we have a couple of caravaners. I reconciled bookings with Pacific Bay Resort yesterday and the below list is correct.

Murray and I are meeting with Pacific Bay Resort on 27 March and getting down to business now that we know the numbers. I will plan for 50 and hope for 60 so don’t hold back.

Remember when dealing with The Pacific Bay Resort to quote “RMC“  to gain your group discount. 

After our meeting on 27 March I will consult with my ‘Band of Merry Men’ and give you a more detailed plan.

Cheers

John Mac 

Attending but not booked at Pacific Bay Resort:

Dave and Trish Cran
Maurie and Joan Meecham
Murray and Judy Smith

Booked @ Pacific Bay Resort:

Rod Allan and Jenny Tracey
John and Jacqui Black
Warwick and Brenda Elliott
John Elphinston and Sandy Davies
Geoff and Caroline Hay
Peter and Kerry Jenke
Gerry and Annette Jones
Kevin and Jan Loughrey
Peter and Sue Martyn
Don and Diedre Muirhead
Duncan and Carmel McInnes
Tony and Mary McLeod
John and Margaret McNamara
Phil and Chris Newman
John and Vivienne Price
Paddy Ryan and Judy Fraser
Graham and Maxine Smith
Peter and Helen Teys

Coffs Gathering Aug 2025

/ John Elphinston / Leave a comment

From John Mac

Happy New Year to you all.

I would like to give you a reminder and update on what is planned for 19 / 20 Aug this year in Coffs Harbour for our Class.

As you know a couple of us thought we should try and get together more often outside the scheduled 5 and 10 year reunions. Many gather in ‘tribal groupings‘, but generally don’t see most other classmates until the larger reunions. Coffs Harbour in August is designed to offer a low key, self paced gathering; ideally located mid-way between Sydney and Brisbane and accessible by road or air.  Hopefully it may also offer you a break from the chills of this winter.

Our venue is The Pacific Bay Resort (https://pacificbayresort.com.au/).

This week John Price negotiated a price reduction for us for those who book directly with the resort using the resort’s online booking and or calling them direct. When Booking use the code ‘RMC’ to gain the discount.

The discount is:

  • Room Rate for Executive 1 Bedroom Apartment, normal $ 245, with code $215
  • Buffet Breakfast, normal $29.50, with code $20.00.

Remember that your credit card is not charged until 48 hours prior to arrival so flexibility is provided for last minute changes.

The Reservations Manager, Kristen Woolgar, is aware of our group and wants those who book online using their website to email her after you book to ensure you get the RMC discount and she will email you back. Her email is :

Reservations@pacificbayresort.com.au

In your email mention the RMC code and mention her name, Kristen Woolgar , in the body of the email – if you don’t get a conformation from her please follow her up.

I am having a coffee with Kristen at Pacific Bay in Coffs at 10am on Thursday 27 Mar25 to discuss how we can best look after you but to do this I need to know the numbers – is it 20 or 40 or more that we need to seat and organise for a beer and wine.

I am looking at a lunch venue offsite for Wednesday 20 Aug and again is it for 20 or 40 ?

To assist me, can you please email me (john.m.mcnamara@bigpond.com) once you have booked so I have an idea of numbers.  If you are only 80% sure why not book anyway, as you can cancel out up to 48 hours prior if needs be with no financial penalty.

See you in Coffs in August 2025.

John Mac

A Final Brissie Lunch for 2024

/ John Elphinston / 3 Comments

A final lunch as Jon Mander-Jones couldn’t make the Southport gathering.

We were blessed with some additional family members as well, as Maurie was on Grandparent duties with his Grandson Jack and Jon’s youngest son Chris had just flown in that morning from the USA.

Some of the group had a wardrobe malfunction by choosing the same silly shirt for the day – some people just can’t keep out of uniform !

Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year to all.

Regards,

JohnMc

A Few Good Men . . . . and Women

/ John Elphinston / 2 Comments

The Class of ’73 held their annual dinner at Tattersalls Club on Wednesday night and kindly extended an invitation to our class to attend.

A good night was had by all and many thanks to the youngsters for the invitation. Plenty of anecdotal stories with no shortage of willing speakers.

Cheers

John Elph

SEQ and Nthn Rivers Catch Up (Mk II)

/ John Elphinston / 2 Comments

The mixed media format sent out yesterday was no good – back to a conventional approach. Elph

From John McNamara

The Queensland and Northern Rivers crew had a great lunch organised by John Black at Southport this week. We had a good roll up; 20 all told. Don and Deidre were the newcomers to the group, having ventured north from their new home at Byron Bay. Don was a bit out of his comfort zone as he was supposed to wear a silly shirt – he’ll be off to Lowes now that he has seen what is expected of him.

Well done Blackie – it was a great day, thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Our next lunch is planned for Brisbane on 26 February 25 and our special guest will be Denis Brennan from Thailand. His last lunch with us was very eventful so if you are game we would like to extend an invitation to one and all.

A big prize is on offer for this month’s competition . . . . what do you call a collection of 3 prime, red roosters as per the last photo below?

Cheers John Mc

SEQ and Nthn Rivers Catch Up

/ John Elphinston / 2 Comments

From John Mcnamara

The Queensland and Northern Rivers crew had a great lunch organised by John Black at Southport this week .

We had a good roll up; 20 all told.

Don and Deidre were the newcomers to the group, having ventured north from their new home at Byron Bay. Don was a bit out of his comfort zone as he was supposed to wear a silly shirt – he’ll be off to Lowes now that he has seen what is expected of him .

Well done Blackie – it was a great day, thoroughly enjoyed by all.

SO, to this month’s competition . . . . what do you call a collection of 3 prime, red roosters?

Our next lunch is planned for Brisbane on 26 February 25 and our special guest will be Denis Brennan from Thailand . His last lunch with us was very eventful so if you are game we would like to extend an invitation to one and all .

Cheers John Mc

RMC Journal added to the site

/ John Elphinston / 2 Comments

As per the recent post, I hadn’t intended to scan in the 1970/71 RMC Journal, preferring all those who volunteered to scan it, to fight it out amongst themselves. I ended up drawing straws from the long list of volunteers and . . . . well yes you guessed it. It was a bit like winning the proverbial Nigerian lottery again.

So relax, I’ve done it – it’s under the menu item Reading for those who want to take a look.

Website Refreshed

/ John Elphinston / 3 Comments

A few people have mentioned to me that things are hard to find on the website so I re-arranged things a bit, so now you won’t be able to find anything!!

But if you are curious and persistant, you should hopefully find things are grouped more logically, as long as you follow my logic. In summary:

  • Classmates – includes the basic lists of names,
  • Doco and Memorabillia – has a menu item of its own, and
  • Reading – includes reading material gathered from other website areas, but not published books. If anyone can suggest a better label for the menu please do so.

RMC Journals. You may also notice that the 1969 and 1972 RMC Journals have been scanned in. For the majority of classmates, they bookend our time at RMC however, clearly the entry class of 1968 miss out on their first year (see below). The 1970/71 Journal hasn’t been done and I’m not planning on doing it so any volunteers please feel free to have a go.

The scanning quality overall is not too bad and hopefully sufficient for our purposes.

The National Library (Trove) has scanned journals from 1913 to 1968 inclusive which can be accessed here (https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-734748369). A link to the 1968 Journal has been included in Reading.