Gnomes welcome in Collingwood
Some gnomes waiting eagerly for their big weekend in Collingwood
The third Gnome Away from Home weekend will find visitors burrowing their way to Collingwood over the weekend of August 21-23.
The surprisingly successful event last year attracted 100 gnomes and their associates, the furthest coming from Aberdeen. The late Dave Whittaker anonymously abandoned four on the various “petrol sharer’s benches” around the Bay, all with notes asking to be taken to Collingwood. All four gnomes were safely delivered.
The weekend’s organiser, Paddy Gillooly of Farewell Spit Eco Tours, says the event is held on what is traditionally the quietest weekend of the year.
“And because it’s so quiet, it’s easy to quantify how successful it is. Where once we would have had only six bookings, now we can expect 60. The weekend will start on the Friday with a Quiz Night in the Collingwood Tavern Bistro, starting at 7.00pm. Because last year’s quiz night was oversubscribed, teams this year are limited to 16, so book early. On the Saturday, you can go out on a Spit Trip with the gnomes and practise high jinks, with plenty of photo opportunities along the way. Last year’s photos even showed gnomes riding a flying fox off the lighthouse. On the Sunday there’ll be the five-kilometre-long Gnome Run starting on Gibbs Road at 9.30am (registration 9.00am). Along with this are Gnome Sports events including Bungy Gnome, Gnome Tossing, Gnome Racing and Guess the Weight of a gnome.
Spot prizes will be given out over the weekend, but whether the gnomes share their spot prizes with their companions is another matter.
Gerard Hindmarsh
