Early morning at Bundaberg Surf Club
Last Saturday morning all Wide Bay Capricorn volunteer lifesavers were invited to a celebratory breakfast for all the voluntary work that was performed throughout the community following the floods and Australia Day disasters.
Some of the Surf Lifesaving Queensland staff and executive from Brisbane were also present and spoke highly of all the work that had been done locally. Jack Dempsey, Minister for Police and Community Safety thanked everyone for their efforts during the disasters.
About a week after the start of the disaster, Craig Holden, who is the Regional Manager was in awe of the work being performed by surf lifesavers and life guards, and proudly stated in a letter to all clubs and members;
“In my 34 year involvement with Surf Life Saving I have never seen anything like what we have seen this past week – not just in terms of the utter devastation and destruction in and around Bundaberg caused both by the floods and the tornadoes (and the associated weather system), but also in terms of the enthusiasm, readiness and good-will showed by our local surf lifesavers.
The cohesion and teamwork displayed by all just had to be seen to be believed – it did not matter which Club you belonged to, what your qualifications were, or whether you were a nipper, a nipper parent, a patrol member, a SLSQ staff member, a Club President, a friend of a surf lifesaver or a relative of a surf lifesaver, as the outcome was the same – everyone put their hand up to assist and put other priorities and commitments aside to get in and get involved.”
The breakfast on Saturday was a way for everyone to catch up for a chat, talk about some of their efforts as lifesavers, and it even gave some closure on the incidents to the Westpac helicopter rescue officers who had come back to Bundaberg. It also gave me some great photo opportunities so I have taken the liberty to display a couple of extra pictures that I like.
The Westpac helicopter had visited flood affected schools on Friday, to the delight of the teachers and children, and they gave a demonstration of their work, and a ‘show and tell’ of the helicopter to everyone on Saturday morning.
The crew spoke of some of their rescues, and how it has affected them. They also showed how they can learn from every incident as the helicopter is fully surrounded by cameras and they contually use the footage in training.
At the Wide Bay Capricorn Branch Annual Dinner of Saturday evening, all speakers praised the work performed from many different areas and how proud they were to be part of the ‘red and yellow’. There was a special message received from the helicopter rescue crew who hope they can return to Bundaberg in the future. 
They had arrived home safely and stated they are only 1 hour 5 minutes flying time from Caloundra and the only issue would be who’s budget their next patrol to Bundaberg would come out of!
It was great to have them back, and we hope they can return sometime in the near future.