Pajero Club : President ’ s Report
February 2020
For a quiet month when we have no meeting there seems to have been plenty of activity for many Members . I mentioned at the December meeting that I would be overseas through January and that Terry Barbie would be Acting President . He and I have been in contact when necessary and I am very grateful for the way he and the rest of the committee have covered in my absence . Thank you .
My few weeks have been spent in Portugal looking at some rocks , writing and giving a few lectures . My days always start and finish by looking at the Victorian weather and emergency website and keeping in touch with my friends and family especially those in regional Victoria . Virtually every person I have met in Portugal who finds out I am from Australia asked about the fires , and then second question is the koalas . Some have read about the 20 or more fatalities and concluded that Australia ’ s fires are not bad like Portugal ’ s in which 100s have died . What gets in the news about Australia never ceases to amaze me .
Members will have received the news that the 2020 Pajero Challenge has been cancelled , and it has been hard for the organisers to reach this conclusion after so much hard work . Full marks to Simon , Liz and team for being decisive and realising that we may not receive the necessary permissions anyhow if weather , fires or floods turn nasty in the days ahead .
Discussing the Pajero Challenge will be one topic we address on the strategy weekend in early February and we realise that late Summer is not the best time for a major forest-base event . We want to acknowledge and support the enthusiastic efforts by our Challenge leaders and all the volunteers and make sure that in future we have something at a safer time that can be embraced by all Members .
To those with trips cancelled or re-arranged , our apologies , but please also thank the hard-working trip leaders as they put everyone ’ s safety first and work through their plan B and even Plan C . See you all at February general meeting when there should be plenty of good stories to tell .
Neil Phillips # 1744 . president @ pajeroclub . com . au
President's Report
February 2020