Our club run to the Bribie Island Butterfly House on 15 March 2020 turned out to be our last club outing with all future events suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also turned out to be the Butterfly House’s last weekend it was open to the public with it closing it’s doors (to the public) the following Wednesday.

Ray and Delphine Archer, the founders of the Butterfly House were very appreciative of our visit and were also very pleased with the coverage of our visit in the local Bribie Islander magazine. This was with great thanks to our Austin Times Editor Desley Parker who wrote a wonderful article for their magazine, which was a featured article - well done Desley! I’ve uploaded the relevant pages from the Bribie Islander below.

You can also view the web version of the magazine by clicking here.

Here’s my account of the day……

Our usual start was from the Woolworths Chermside markets at Chermside (before leaving we thought of lining up and seeing if we could get our hands on those rare stock goods - toilet paper and hand sanitiser!). Before arriving at the starting point, I pulled into the Woolworths Caltex just down the road, a gentleman came over to me whilst I was topping the 1800 up with fuel for the run, he said "I had one of those" (an 1800). I get that a bit and it's always great to hear a person's story about their 1800. I told him that just down the road at the Woolworths car park there would be a few more, Austins, that is. He left, I finished filling the tank, paid and when I got to the Woolworths car park, he was there chatting to other club members about their Austins.

My daughter, Jayne, as usual had not had breakfast, so I'd got her a stock standard Aussie breakfast at the Caltex when filling up - a sausage roll and squeezy sauce pack. As Jayne tried to enjoy her breakfast, she had a couple of onlookers that were hoping to share her breakfast - four legged onlookers - our Mammy and Nairn's Joey (see photo below “Doggy love” - of food that is!). Joining us at the start, in addition to my 1800 and Nairn's Freeway, were Robert La Roche in his A30, Bernie and Madonna Bianchi in their A40 Devon, and Rex Eaton in his A40 utility.

We left soon after 9 am and made our way to Bribie Island via the back way, using Old Gympie Road, via Strathpine, Lawnton, Narangba & Morayfield. Along the way Ken and Desley Carter was to join us, as well as his son Bruce and family in their Austin 8s. Unfortunately, we somehow missed each other, but they joined us at the Bribie Island Butterfly house. We, that is I, also made a wrong turn at Morayfield, but with a slight detour, managed to get back on course and make our way across the motorway to Bribie Island.

We eventually arrived at about 10.30am and were greeted by others who had made their way directly, including Ken and Desley Parker in their A30, Bob and Fiona Holdsworth in their A50 - 9 Austins in total. We were also joined by Will and Annetta Mosses, with Levi. After a small delay we made our way in to the Butterfly house, and found an area to have our morning tea, which was well received. Inside the butterfly enclosure was definitely a wonderful experience, with so many butterflies just flying around as if none of us were there and landing on you, your back, hat and hands. There was also a stick insect corner with some very different looking insects. The volunteers were helpful and informative and we all thoroughly enjoyed our time. It's a great visit and recommended for everyone of all ages. For more information on the Butterfly House and the wonderful conservation work that they and the many volunteers do, visit their website https://www.bribieislandbutterflyhouse.org/.

We then made out way to Col Fischer Park for lunch. Some had BYO'd, others, like myself stopped along the way for some local take-a-way, fish and chip, steak burgers. Unfortunately, we managed to lose Rex, who made a wrong turn and ended up back over the Bribie Island bridge on his way back to Brisbane - he decided to continue on home.

After our lunch and a good chat we all made our own way home. Jayne and I took Mammy to the off leash dog beach just down from Woorim Beach. It's a place we've taken Mammy before and she loves running along the beach, socialising with other dogs and running through the waves.

Being just and hour or so, depending upon the route you take, north of Brisbane, a trip to Bribie Island, in an Austin or modern car, with the Butterfly house, great parks, beaches (for dogs and their humans) and many other attractions, is a great destination for a day trip.