Greetings to all club members to this our fourth newsletter. We wish everyone all the best for the festive season.

Your committee has been working hard at promoting the club and organising functions and future events. In addition to this there are also some members who are planning to run a trip or two for the club, and are currently trying out different areas for suitable trips. This is strongly encouraged for all members. Organising a trip can be very rewarding. If anyone wishes to organise a trip, any of your committee will be pleased to provide advice and assistance.

The Kytherian Brotherhood annual children's Christmas picnic was held this year at Yarra Bay on the 6^th December. The Kytherian 4WD and Recreation Club again arranged the activities on the day.

There were more than 130 kids receiving presents from Santa on the day. It was great to see members of both the club and other Brotherhood members and their families getting together.

Our first driver training certification weekend was held at Lithgow on the above weekend, and what a weekend it turned out to be.

We had over 30 vehicles, all attempting river crossings, rock climbs and decents, etc. During the course, drivers were taught and given the confidence to take on most situations they may encounter on 4WD expeditions.

Participants practiced their 4wd techniques, as well as getting to know the ins and outs of their own vehicles, and basic maintenance.

Most participants camped, but some lodge style accommodation was available, with the highlight definitely being the campfire at night. We had over 90 people attend the weekend.

It was with very tired eyes and sore heads that we sat for exams the next day, everyone passing and receiving their certification in Basic 4WD competence.

Whilst this weekend was for the purpose of driver training, a great social weekend was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended.

The following awards were handed out:

"Rezil" Award for "woosing" out on the hill climb Harry Magiros

"Malaka" Award for effort above and beyond the call of duty in trying to make the bog hole deeper. Alex Caraiscos

"Economy" Award for always making the convoy wait Peter Economy

"Vlakia" Award for being rooted, (hung up on a root in the river) Peter Coolentianos

"Peter Notaras" Award for getting stuck Spiro Coolentianos

"Varipatis" Award for most damage to a vehicle reversing into a vehicle - mine, I now have a bull bar). John "Eggy" our instructor

The club is holding a New Years Eve function for members, their families, and guests at:

All are invited so come along and welcome in the New Year.

Nb: The plans for Boat Harbor had to be changed as access will not allowed onto the beach.

Our next club trip will be to Illaroo on the long weekend in January, ie 23^rd-26^th January 1999.

Illaroo is an organised holiday farm 15mins out from Nowra, (2.5 hrs from Sydney). It has a 5km-water frontage on the Shoalhaven River. The countryside ranges from rainforest, to fern covered gullies, through to grassy meadows. This weekend has been specifically planned as a recreational event as opposed to a 4WD event so please invite along your friends with their conventional vehicles.

(Access is suitable for all vehicles). For those wishing to try some off road driving, we will be exploring some areas once we get down there.

There is no camping available on this weekend and accommodation will be dormitory style accommodation with 16 rooms, each sleeping up to 10 people. There are toilet and shower facilities, fully contained kitchen but you must provide all your own linen, tea towels, detergent, garbage bags, oil for deep frying etc.

We cannot guarantee activity availability, as they are subject to minimum participants. For a small fee, they include:

Canoes

Archery

Orienteering, Climb/Abseil

Horse Riding

Raft Building

Bushcraft

Dairy Visit

Hike

Night Walk

Bush Dance

Bonfire

Fishing for Bass is very good in the river, and there are plenty of bushwalking and swimming areas.

The club will provide sausages one night and souvlakia another, but the rest of the food (eg: salads and drinks), and other meals will be self-catered.

Bring along your cards, board games, trivial pursuit, monopoly, scrabble, etc, and have a relaxing weekend by the Shoalhaven River.

You are to provide linen, blankets/sleeping bags, pillowcases, etc.

Mobile phones may not work there, however there is a phonecard telephone on site.

We must have final numbers determined and booked and paid for by 10^th January 1999. This is for catering purposes and Illaroo require final numbers and payments by this date.

Arrive on Saturday mid morning and departing Tuesday afternoon for return to Sydney by early Tuesday evening.

Nominations for participation in any activities should be made prior to attending the camp. This is to ensure that suitably qualified organizers are available for each activity.

Cost: $55/person for the 3 nights or $20/person per night

$245/family (2 adults 3 children over 2yrs old) for the 3 nights.

Places must be pre-booked by contacting one of the following:

The time is getting closer and plans should start being made for our big trip into central Australia in July 1999.

This trip will cover the July school holidays and will go for approx 3 weeks if attending the full trip. Please don’t be put off by the recent tragedies, these were undertaken in mid summer and alone. We will be extremely well organized with all safety measures taken and emergency communications available.

If you are interested, please register your name with Peter Notaras, on 95229210, so that follow up information, and meeting times etc can be forwarded to you. Even if you are not 100 percent certain of coming yet register your interest and attend the meetings.

A meeting will be held for all those who have expressed interest in the central Australia trip. The meeting will be organised in February, and all those who have nominated interest will be notified of specific details at a later date.

The advanced driver training course will be held on the weekend of 13^th-14^th March 1999. Positions for this course must be pre-booked. A pre-requisite of the advanced course is successful completion and certification of the Basic training course.

Another Basic training course will also be run on this weekend at the same location for those that missed out last time.

Cost: Advanced training course $150

Basic training course $130 approx.

Anyone who attended the last course held will remember what a memorable weekend was had by all.

This weekend will be camping only and each participants must be fully self sufficient and BYO everything.

Bookings for the above courses must be made by January 31^st, 1999.

Well it's that time of year again and 1999 Membership fees are due on 1^st January 1999. Please forward the enclosed renewal, together with your payment. We have also included a membership form for you to pass on to friends who may wish to join us.

As a final note we wish all our members and friends a