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By my count some 60 souls braved the wilds
of HSK for a most enjoyable occasion. First on the scene around 10am after me
and Betty were Neil & Verena Sandford in fine form - they should have 
received a prize for driving the
longest distance (from Port Macquarie) and for braving the considerably less
than tropical climate. They were soon joined by Robert and Judy Day (on the left
of the photo) who ran them a close (second?) for distance from Melbourne. Note:
Please click on the picture for a full size version, then use your browser
"back button" to return to this page.
Verena Sandford and Betty Saxon get started 
with the chatting
Rex Hofmeier checks out what remains of the powerhouse.
A number of the earlier starters went for a
walk around what remains of the site - just a few concrete slabs and only the
lower slab (canteen, etc) remaining from the main building. 
The crowd had grown a little and we headed off down to the mighty dam on the creek. Photo: From the front. Marie Smith and Paul Mullen, Bernie Smith, Neil & Verena Sandford, Rex Hofmeier, Judy and Robert Dey.
It seemed a lot further down than 30 years
ago! 
But we made it eventually.
Photo: Lined up on the dam wall are (from Left). Rex, Paul, Judy, Marie, Bernie, Verena, Neil, Betty and Robert.
On the way back we ran into Roy and Mrs Rae who had also been
checking out the remains of the powerhouse
Some more arrivals while we were away must have worried that they had arrived at Brigadoon!
Photo: Stew Burton (one of the Tid crew who worked
with us on Apollo-8) admires a small toadstool found by Arthur and his wife.
Arthur worked as a cook in the early days at HSK and later at all 3 ACT
stations.
Multiple simultaneous reminiscences were soon in full swing. Most
people got some lunch while circulating and looking at other's memorabilia, etc.
Photo: Clockwise from front.
Mrs Rae, Neil Sandford, Mrs Tony, Verena Sandford, Tony Salvage, Betty Saxon,
Jackie French (Bryan's wife), Bryan Sullivan, Terry Lloyd, Bette Lloyd, Rex
Hofmeier
Some of the slighty later arrivals "signed in" - wrote their name tags, while others could not wait to eat. Photo: From front. Bernie Smith, Marie Smith, Phil Rutherford, Mrs Phil.
Lots of photos and videos were taken. Only a very small selection
are shown here.
By about 2pm we just managed to get in a few group photos before the rain started. If you click on the group photos, the names are included on those pages. The first two group photos are (almost) everyone who attended. The next two are the Ex-HSK workers
The promised cold front arrived early
and the rain started to come down quite seriously. 
The crowd thinned rapidly but about 10 hardy types crammed into our daughter's portable sunshade with tarp thrown over the top - we finally called it a day around 3:15pm.
Photo: Paul Mullen, Alex Sommariva, SO
My guess is that most people could have
swapped stories for at least dou
ble the time, and I hope to start collecting some of these with a
view to producing a small book, or at least some web pages during the next year
or so. Photo: Betty Saxon, Neil Sandford, Ian Edgar
I think most would want to do it again next
year - one year we are bound to strike good weather {:-)) The general consensus
seemed to 
be to keep it to the week before Easter - not the Easter weekend
itself. That would make it Sun 8th next year - but always open to suggestions.
Photo: John Saxon, Verena Sandford, Paul Mullen
I must apologise if I have got the occasional name wrong, or missed someone (too many introductions - so little time {:-)). Please let me know if you see any errors.
Brian Hale snapped some stills from his 15 minute video (soon to be made available!). Check out the stills by clicking on the following links (then use the back "button" to return to this page).
Neil Sandford, Jim K. Roy R., Jean & Mike L.,Bryan S. & Bernie S.,Paul M., Jim K. & Martin G., Conversations, Col P., Arthur, Lunch, More lunch, Conversations, John H., From Ant pad, Towards North, Going home, Chats, Hamish, Database, Group photo time
Thanks to all who managed to make it - despite the weather it was a good day!
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