Today was going to be a busy day, so luckily the Hawks AFL game against Geelong was on at 0600h, so I could follow it and still be ready for the rest of the day. This was a danger game, with both teams fighting for a position in the finals. After trailing early, the Hawks had an excellent 2nd quarter, and despite a strong finish by the Cats, the Hawks won 71-60.

At 1000h, it was time for Petanque, and by 1010h eight teams had registered, which was perfect for a 3-round knockout tournament. However, as the first teams started to play, two more teams arrived, which meant we would have to have “lucky losers” in each round to make it work. Which was just as well for the eventual winners (Kevin and Michelle from Kendra Erin, at left below), because they were the last arrivals, they lost their first game 11-7, but were the best of the losing teams in the first round, and then proceeded undefeated from there on to take the title.

After Petanque, there was just enough time for people to have some lunch on-board, and then get ready for the Flotilla up the Tarn. Luckily, we had no-one else on board except Rhianna, because the Mayor turned up with not only his wife, but also his daughter and son-in-law and three grand-daughters! But we had plenty of room, so everyone was welcome.

The fleet of barges gradually left the quai, with a bunch of Piper Barges being the last to depart.

The Mayor’s family seemed to be ready to enjoy themselves as we left port.

Soon, the flotilla was spread across the Tarn and enjoying the run up the river. Some (Kanumbra included) found going in a straight line too boring, and started “doing doughnuts” in the river, around the bridge pylons.

We were also entertained on the way up by the KickShins band on the rear deck of Hilda May. Their music added greatly to the atmosphere.

Most barges went up to “the Chateau” before turning around to return to port.

But because Hilda May and Kanumbra had to return to port early, to go set up for the concerts tonight, we turned early and just floated down river with engine off for a while, so that our guests could enjoy the solitude while they had some afternoon tea. (I still can’t work out how I got this photo of Kanumbra on my own camera roll!)

Although we turned earlier than the others, a few were catching up with us as we made our way back to port. Soon we were engaged in a ding-dong battle with Mr Pip, as we opened up the engines and let them blow some carbon out, after many hours of canal cruising at below-optimum speeds.

Others were also having fun with hose-fights as they made their way back to port in the hot weather.

As we approached the quai, it was clear that the Mayor’s grand-daughters were still enjoying themselves up the front of the barge.

Once we got back to port, it was time to load all the instruments and equipment into the camion and get across to the Parvis to set up everything on stage and do final sound-checks. We had to time this carefully because we were not allowed to do sound-checks between 1800h and 1830h, because a Mass was taking place in the Abbey! But we got everything done and even had time to hang out in the “green room” provided in the Mairie offices, before we were due to hit the stage at 2100h.

So at 2100h, while KickShins were kicking back and enjoying their dinner, Dindi Moon took to the stage.

The crowd and the atmosphere were impressive, as seen in this shot from the side of stage. But we couldn’t see anything of this on-stage, as the spotlights at front of stage made all of this totally black. So we just played on and hoped there was still some audience left; the end of each song provided our only guide as we listened to the level of applause to see, first, whether anyone was still out there and, second, whether they liked the song! They must have liked it, because they kept applauding!

Our final number was Rum & Coca-Cola; it was fun playing the 6-bass one-handed with a can of Coke in the other! From later comments, it was obvious that the crowd liked it also. i was especially pleased that grand-daughter Rhianna seemed to enjoy the performance (thanks to Nora for the special shirt I wear for special gigs).

We played for about an hour and had to drop some numbers, because now it was time for KickShins to strut their stuff, while Dindi Moon enjoyed their delayed dinner and/or drinks. It took a while for the audience to adjust to the very different style of music, and for Stuart to get them up and dancing, but he persevered and eventually succeeded!

A bit after 2300h, the performance wound up, and now it was time to pull everything apart and put it back in the camion, ready to be used again tomorrow at the Finale Concert. After all this was done, Dindi Moon gathered at one of the new sculptures near the stage to grab a publicity shot for any future performances.