Men in Tights?

Well the News Page has been a bit of a misnomer of late as we haven’t got around to updating this since we first arrived in October!

Donnelly Lakes has been pretty well packed out since our arrival and we have already had the great pleasure of meeting lots of our regular guests as well as some lovely new ones.  We are enjoying ourselves hugely, which is not to say we are not working very hard as well as keeping everyone happy and keeping DL looking as beautiful as it should.

The last news page mentioned our plans to incorporate model yacht racing on one of the lakes.  We have actually shelved that idea for the time being in favour of archery.  After watching a particulatly spectacular version of Agincourt where the british long-bow-men overcame ridiculous odds it seemed only natural that Donnelly should breed the next sure shots to defend the Empire or Republic whichever you prefer.

So now we have established a wonderful archery field in the top paddock, have a range of beautiful timber recurve bows to satisfy all members of both sex with a compound bow suitable for the kids and have been fully certified and accredited as ‘Community Archery Instructors'. You’ll see the flags and target butts marking the field on your left as you drive in the main drive – and for a small fee (see ‘Activities’ page for details) we will instruct you in safety in the field for yourself and others and provide technical help on the finer points of presenting yourself to become a competent archer at an entry level.

It’s a huge amount of fun and you can achieve basic competency quite quickly if you follow all the instructions with the target suffering as a result.

Perhaps jousting next…………

And Donnelly Lakes

A truly magic place with the fresh autum rains washing away the dust of summer, streams and creeks running with renewd vigour, lakes topped up with the new flow and of course the colour of the moment is Green – and lots of it.

Did I mention the Trout – as you may know we regularly stock the lake with plate sized Rainbow but to our delight the main lake has heaps of fingerlings flashing about making it a craftier chore for anglers to hook up their larger mums & dads. This all means they have started a breeding programme of their own so with crossed fingers they will reach maturity this year giving anglers a bonus. Lets hope the cormorants allow them to reach maturity.

We should also mention, now that it's no longer a secret, that we have had an elopement at Donnelly Lakes during April. Ian and Paula tied the knot in Poet's Nook on the 17th with Donnelly holiday makers and yours truly x 2, who were honoured to be their official witnesses.  Ian and Paula first visited DL 10 years ago and their wedding date was an anniversary of that occasion and a confirmation of their love for each other.  Julie Newton, who presided over the ceremony, noted that it was the first time she had seen a bride given away by a dog, namely D'Arcy, who escorted Paula over the bridge as graciously as his namesake might have done!  As you can see from the photos, Paula made a most beautiful bride.