AFL Grand Final this Friday night!

Join us this Friday September 28 for the 4th Annual AFL Grand Final Night in Winnipeg.

Members and friends of the Winnipeg Bears Australian Football Club and the DUCW will be at Boston Pizza, 1475 Henderson Hwy, from 9:30 pm onward.

The Aussie Rules football grand final is the biggest event on the Australian sporting calendar, and will be broadcast live from Melbourne. This year it’s the Collingwood Magpies versus the West Coast Eagles. The large projector screen will be going, with all the pre-game live music and, of course, a rousing rendition of the Australian national anthem. Can we top last year’s effort?!?! Yes, we can!

No need to RSVP. Just turn up and be part of the event. Family and friends welcome.

More details at the WBAFC’s Facebook page.

Australian Passports in Winnipeg

Need to renew or apply for your Australian passport?

Representatives of the Australian High Commission in Ottawa are coming to Winnipeg on Tuesday August 28 to conduct passport interviews and address related concerns and questions. Note that you need an appointment for each application lodged.

If your passport is due to expire, this is your chance to have it renewed and save yourself a trip to Ottawa or Toronto or Vancouver.

To book at appointment, visit: http://canada.highcommission.gov.au/otwa/01.html .

And if you have any questions, please email the AHC at otwa.passports@dfat.gov.au or phone 1-613-236-0841.

Book now and make sure you get an appointment before they all fill up.

Yarn August-September 2018

Yarn2018_08-09-AugSepThe Yarn for August and September 2018 is ready for you to download.

Editorial:
G’day. Welcome back. I have to admit that it was a challenge for me getting this issue together. I found that the change in frequency from monthly has thrown me off my stride. However, I am sure I/we will adjust. And, if you value this newsletter, please take the time to send in ideas (eg, for “Getting to know”) and snippets for inclusion. I, and I am sure most readers, especially like to get info on personal encounters and anecdotes as well as news items that are less-out-there. Thank you again to those who are already contributing in this way. Thanks to Jenny Gates for collecting the “We Recommond” section on page one. Your suggestions are always welcome, as we all come across such things to share. As Peter Munn mentions in his President’s Message, one of our summer pleasures is being able to observe the activity at our bird-feeder and the nearby bird-bath. However, this year things did not start out very promising. No birds, apart from the occasional crow, or chipmunks or squirrels were showing up! We soon realized the cause was our new neighbour’s cat, which was being indulged with free range! This called for some careful diplomacy – balancing friendly neighbourliness with firm expectations and reminders of the City By-laws concerning restraining of pets. It seems that the message must have got through (it didn’t hurt that another bird-loving neighbour threw diplomacy to the wind and trapped the offending feline so that it had to be claimed back from the City compound!) as all the usual wildlife have returned and “Frankie” is learning her place in our eco-system. I hope that your summer/winter is also proving interesting and exciting. Enjoy, Charlie

World Masters Ultimate Club Championship

All this week in Rosser, MB (30 mins NW of Wpg), New Zealand and Australia are competing in the World Masters Ultimate Club Championship.

Note that finals are on Saturday August 4 at Investors Group Field, so if you can’t make it out to Rosser, there is an opportunity to see our teams in Winnipeg. Here’s hoping both the Kiwis and the Aussies get to the finals.

The New Zealand teams are:

  • Silver Foxes – Women, Pool B
  • Aotearoa Eh!? – Mixed, Pool B

The Australian teams are:

  • Duff Stout – Men, Pool D
  • Fine Wine – Mixed, Pool A

Visit the WMUCC website for tickets and other information. I also found this link especially helpful.

Thanks to Terry Roberts for letting us know about this.

Renewing Australian Passports

Calling our Aussie members and other Australians living in Winnipeg and Manitoba.

If you need to renew your passport, or if the newest additions in your family need to apply for a passport, the Australian High Commission in Ottawa would like to know about it.

Please visit their website and complete a very short survey so they know to visit Winnipeg in 2018. Several of us who need passports renewed this year have already filled out the questionnaire, and the more people who the AHC know about, the more likely we will be on their “must visit” destination list.

Save yourself a trip to Vancouver, Toronto or Ottawa this year or next, and help us bring the AHC to town.

Questions? Email us at info@downunderclub.mb.ca.