Winter School in Australia

Photo: The beautiful area of Port Stephens, Australia

Winter School in Australia is organised each year in rotation by one of the seven Branches. Lynne Scott and Neville Pope report on this year’s – the turn of Hunter Valley Branch.

Morning classes with live music are mostly compulsory with a variety of afternoon events: music talks, singing, wine tasting, a foot care talk, optional dance classes, public dancing on the foreshore, and a bus trip to the historic Australian Newcastle. The afternoons also included teachers’ courses. Whether on the dance floor, in class, at meals or on the bus, helpful camaraderie was everywhere. The Welcome Social opened with a Welcome to the Country given by Uncle John, an elder from the Indigenous People of the area. There was a strong contingent from France, Raphaëlle Orgeret and Tom McKinlay and over two sets from New Zealand.

The final night Ball fell on 14 July and the hall was magnificently festooned with French flags and decor in red, white and blue. As Port Stephens is a holiday destination, the fancy dress night had The Resort as its theme. Another night brought us dances from non-Scottish genres! For the Caledonian Night there was an afternoon practice for locals and a number of them joined us for the evening ceilidh.

Chris Duncan and Catherine Strutt played on the opening night and then the Balmoral Band for most of the evenings. Tutors were Debbie Roxburgh from New Zealand, Bill Unger of Australia, and Tom and Raphaëlle. Anne Kennedy and Ros McKie taught the teachers’ classes. Winter School has always enjoyed its parties and this year was no exception. The midnight curfew worked well, but the final night was an entirely different matter. The musicians left about 3.30am!

Defining moments of the school? For the musicians, the enjoyment of playing together. Many identified the friendly, supportive atmosphere; but for some unfortunate folk, the hour spent in a malfunctioning lift en route to the final party, will be a major memory! Nevertheless, the organisers deserve a big clap for their work: not an easy task, but very well done! So if you are thinking about going to Winter School in Melbourne next year, don’t hesitate.

Informal dance at Australian Winter School