ROTTNEST ISLAND

Hannah & YotY Finalists - NAB Reception	Hannah & YotY Finalists with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in Canberra	Hannah & YotY Finalists with Ron Clarke - Mayor Gold Coast

YOTY Rottnest Trip  14/1/2008

	L to R   Lion Jane Oversby  YOTY WA State Coordinator, Emily O'Keeffe State Winner WA, Grace Southwell State Winner Tas, Front - National Leo of the Year Winner  Hannah Bellwood,  Lucy Radowicz State Winner SA Chelsea Burgis State Winner NSW  Absent Joshua Underwood State Winner Qld & National YOTY Winner Joshua Anderson - Victoria

What a great place to take a sickie  - none other than our very own Rottnest Island ! We set off after my first exhilarating train trip to Perth on the newly opened rain line and after alighting at the Esplanade Station – I arrived at the Rottnest Ferry Terminal in less than one hour! There I was joined by seven delightful young ambassadors for the future of our great nation – 6 Youth of the Year state finalists and the National Leo of the Year !

Our three chaperones included myself, Lion Jane Oversby –State Co-ordinator for YOTY and Lion Keith Wheldon representing the Host Club – Claremont / Nedlands Lions Club.

Arriving at Rottnest after a leisurely trip from Barrack St Jetty down the meandering Swan River via Fremantle – we arrived at 10.30am and immediately dumped our gear with Jane & Keith and set off to the Basin for a compulsory swim. After a lunch at the main settlement, we took off on the bikes kindly provided by our host Lions Club, for a brisk ride to the main light-house via Parker Point and back to Little Parakeet Bay for another swim before heading back to the ferry.

What we had not allowed for was a gusting Fremantle Doctor which tried the patience of old codgers like myself, who struggled up every hill whilst our nimble youngsters sniggered as they flashed by whilst grinning like the cat who had just caught the canaries. Luckily I knew a few short cuts due to local knowledge gained from a miss-spent youth on the island during school holidays and just managed to keep them in sight, before collapsing onto the ferry for a welcome rest during the trip home.

May I say what a delight it was to spend a day with these charming youngsters – who during the course of the day announced that between them, we could expect a Supreme Court Judge, a diplomat and an assortment of solicitors plus a doctor! My special thanks to the Lions Club of Claremont Nedlands for their hosting of this exhausting but most enjoyable day in the sun.  Roll on next year.

MD Leo Chairman  Lion Peter Lamb

P.Lamb