AFF Gathering #10 in PER on 11 - 13 November 2016

[samh004]

Perth has been chosen as the AFF Annual Gathering destination for 2016, with the date set for the weekend of the 11 - 13 November. The average temperature range for November is 14.2ºC - 26.5ºC, with a relative humidity of about 44%. The average rainfall for November is just under an inch over 6.3 days (hopefully not while we'll be there).

When I think of Perth, I'm reminded of a video I watched once. Having never stopped off there myself, I can't vouch for its authenticity, but it seems legit!

 

[samh004]

Payments

Online bookings are now available for some* events here: http://www.trybooking.com/LPLE

Please also fill in the registration form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d...


This event does comply with the "Recommended guidelines on collection of funds for attending events advertised on AFF".

All payments collected from the sales of tickets from the various activities listed in the schedule will be used solely for the purpose of paying the suppliers which provide these services. In the event that there is any excess funds from the event these will be donated to Give Me 5 For Kids.

All ticketing and payment for the events listed in the events schedule will be handled through TryBooking at the link available here: http://www.trybooking.com/LPLE Please note that TryBooking imposes a $0.30 booking fee for each ticket purchased. There is also a credit card surcharge applicable which is 2.5%+$0.50, however this will be absorbed in the cost of your ticket.

In the event that you make a booking and are unable to attend the event. You may cancel your booking up to 30 days prior to the start of the event (11th November 2016 @ 18:30 WST). After this time you will have the option of transferring your booking to another member, however, any financial compensation for transferring tickets will be strictly between the members involved.

In the event or any part thereof is cancelled by a supplier or the organising committee, members will be provided with a full refund for any part of the event that is no longer available irrespective of the cancellation policy above. Should this occur, refunds will be processed within 7 days of the funds being received back from the supplier.


*Events currently listed as "closed" are such because a venue/price hasn't been worked out yet. When these events are finalised, they will be opened for bookings.

 

[samh004]

Schedule

Primary organiser: jsd (PM)



Friday 11th November

6:30pm – Welcome Drinks to be held at a suitable venue in Perth CBD (Ideally closest to the hotel where we end up having the most attendees staying), there will be no cost for this, just buy your own drinks!

8pm – Welcome Dinner somewhere casual and not too over the top to follow on from the drinks, possibly the same venue – details will be confirmed in due course.



Saturday 12th November

8:30am to 5pm – Full Day Rottnest Island Private Tour: This will be the main and only activity to be held on Saturday (excluding the Highlight dinner in the evening). This will be a private tour held exclusively for AFF and the cost will be $135 per person inclusive of the Ferry to/from Rottnest and a Picnic Lunch.

You’ll need to be an early riser as the ferry to Rottnest departs from Barrack Street Pier at 08:30am sharp, once we arrive on Rottnest we will begin our private tour by coach. This 3.5 hour all-inclusive island tour takes in all of Rottnest’s must see locations featuring the Wadjemup Lighthouse, Henrietta Rocks, Oliver Hill Gun Fortification and Tunnels and the majestic look-out point at the rugged Cathedral Rocks and Cape Vlamingh. All major habitats are covered on this amazing tour, including Rottnest’s cultural and historical heritage ranging from Maritime and Military history right up to future developments. Finish the day with a few hours to further explore the island settlement or enjoy a drink at the Rottnest Quokka Arms Pub.

Upon our return to Perth at approximately 5pm you will have the opportunity to freshen up and relax, before heading off to our....

8pm - Highlight Dinner – The main event. The Dinner will be held at in the Restaurant of The Grand Bar & Bistro (which will be exclusively our for the evening) and will consist of a 3 Course set menu with four options for Entrée and Main and three options for Dessert. The cost will be $80pp and includes a glass of sparkling wine on arrival. (See bottom of this post for menu and booking details.)

Please note that the maximum capacity of the Rottnest Island tour is capped at 34 due to operational constraints with the tour company relating to the size of buses.



Sunday 13th November

9am – For those that are remaining in Perth for most of Sunday, the activity for the day will consist of a private coach tour with a number of different stops around Perth, Fremantle and the Swan Valley.

The coach will pick members up from either the Hilton or Hyatt before proceeding to our first stop for the day, a one hour guided tour of Western Australia’s only World Heritage listed building, Fremantle Prison.

When the tour concludes we will re-board the coach and make our way onwards to the Aviation Heritage Museum in Bull Creek which is the largest collection of its type in Australia, full of big planes, interesting history and many, many artefacts. We will spend approximately one hour at the museum before departing for our next stop.

We will spend around 55 minutes on-board the coach (via Airport* - See below) headed to Perth’s Swan Valley Wine region, specifically the Jane Brook vineyard where we will partake in a basket lunch and private tasting with vineyard staff. Upon conclusion we will make another stop at the Airport for those leaving us before heading back into the city.

The cost of this activity will vary slightly for those leaving on earlier flights, there will be an online booking facility available very soon where you will be able to select your options. Once I have final confirmation from the coach company regarding the price I will be able to let you know for sure but for now the all-in cost for the Sunday activities would be around the $80pp mark.

*For those of you departing Perth today the coach will be making a stop at the airport before and after our last stop at around 12:45pm and 15:40pm.

7pm – Should we have sufficient interest, we plan on holding a third and final casual farewell dinner for anyone staying in Perth on Sunday night or flying east on red-eye flights. Like Friday night it will be a very casual affair, if you have a suitable venue, again, please let me know.

---

EDIT: Saturday's Dinner Venue is now confirmed!

Hello everyone,

Just to keep you all updated regarding the Saturday night dinner as there has been some interest in its progress of late.

The Dinner will be held at in the Restaurant of The Grand Bar & Bistro (which will be exclusively our for the evening) and will consist of a 3 Course set menu with four options for Entrée and Main and three options for Dessert. The cost will be $80pp and includes a glass of sparkling wine on arrival.

Bookings are now open so secure your space at: http://trybooking.com/LPLE now! Once you have paid for your ticket online please complete the form (once per person) with your menu choices here: https://goo.gl/forms/rSx8tfAyeiGI91Dp1

Thanks for your patience with this one, things are really falling into place now!

Menu as follows:

Entrée *

Homemade soup of the day, toasted turkish bread
Pomegranate glazed beetroot, whipped goats cheese, beet puree, candied pecan nuts (VGML) (GFML)
Pan seared scallops, black pudding, cauliflower puree (GFML)
Beef cheek ravioli, parmesan leek cream, carrot puree, crushed hazelnuts

Mains *

200g Beef Fillet with mashed potatoes, seasonal vegetables and choice of sauce (GFML/NLML available)
Cone bay barramundi, broccoli puree, mixed grains, confit tomato and burre blanc
Timber Hill duck breast, celeriac puree, sweet potato fondant, roasted radish and chestnut jus
Cauliflower risotto, mixed forest mushrooms, cauliflower florets and porcini dust (VGML/GFML)

Desserts *

Chocolate brownie, berry compote and vanilla bean ice cream (VGML)
Lemon and lime posset, mixed forest fruits and raspberry sorbet (VGML)
Cheese board, double brie, french blue, lavosh, fruit, nuts and quince paste (VGML/GFML available)

 

[samh004]

chicka and myself will be going.

Might spend an extra day or two before/after the weekend to make sure we see everything, as it's somewhere we both haven't been and don't want to miss out on fitting as much in as possible.

We want to check out Toastface Grillah while we're there, even if we go alone... but if I don't mention it, I know I'll forget

 

[mickeyc747]

mickeyc747 is Platinum

 

[kpc]

Bronze ...Will be in Singapore that weekend

 

[JessicaTam]

Consider me Platinum.

 

[Awesom Andy]

Put me down as gold for now. Won't book anything yet as I don't know where I will be based in by that time.

 

[Deleted member]

"Penegal bronze"
Will have been there 3 weeks earlier.

 

[Bindibuys]

Put us down as Gold for now, we get back the weekend before, so for us it will have to be a "flying"visit (arrive Fri, dept Sun) as we would have both just had 7 weeks off work.

 

[penegal]

List me as Platinum at this early stage. Having attended and assisted with organisation for the last few dos, I shall probably do the same this time.

NB - This is close to the Spring Racing Carnival, which may impact my ability to arrive or depart, but we shall cross that bridge closer to the time. If I go to Derby Day, Cup Day and/or Oaks Day, I can probably miss Stakes Day.

 

[blackcat20]

Our attendance will be dependent on flights, and whether it clashes with my wholesale expo.

 

[JohnM]

I will be winding up my sitting of Bindibuys' house the weekend prior and will be driving back to PER that week, so I expect to be Platinum.

Sam: happy to help with ideas, planning, reservations etc. I will not have my boots on the ground in PER in the two months immediately prior to the event - but everything should pretty much be in place before then, I would expect.

 

[Awesom Andy]

I wonder if we can organise a private tour at Little Creatures, as groups of 10+ can have a private group at the same price as normal walk-ins. And if they're happy to take us around in the late afternoon, we might be able to fit in the following (which is just a rough idea for a day trip).

Using the current Saturday timetable, it is possible to catch the 8.30 Rottnest Island (RI) ferry from Perth, it goes down Swan River to Fremantle before going to RI. It reaches RI at 10:45, perfect for the 90mins bus tour at around 11:00. Leaves a bit of time for lunch and a wander around as well before taking a 2pm-ish ferry to Fremantle. Then, walk across to Little Creatures for the tour, and obviously followed by drinks and dinner.

Need to find our way back to Perth though, but it fits in a Swan River cruise, RI, and the brewery tour all in 1 day if that's the type of program we would like.

 

[JohnM]

I wonder if we can organise a private tour at Little Creatures, as groups of 10+ can have a private group at the same price as normal walk-ins. And if they're happy to take us around in the late afternoon, we might be able to fit in the following (which is just a rough idea for a day trip).

Using the current Saturday timetable, it is possible to catch the 8.30 Rottnest Island (RI) ferry from Perth, it goes down Swan River to Fremantle before going to RI. It reaches RI at 10:45, perfect for the 90mins bus tour at around 11:00. Leaves a bit of time for lunch and a wander around as well before taking a 2pm-ish ferry to Fremantle. Then, walk across to Little Creatures for the tour, and obviously followed by drinks and dinner.

Need to find our way back to Perth though, but it fits in a Swan River cruise, RI, and the brewery tour all in 1 day if that's the type of program we would like.

It is certainly worth taking the Rottnest ferry from Perth city to scope the views going down river to Fremantle and then getting off the return ferry at Freo. Easy to stroll over to the station from the Little Creatures precinct and take the train back to Perth.

I'd also suggest brunch overlooking the beach at the Blue Duck at North Cottesloe or at Shorehouse at Swanbourne. Peeps need to be aware of the strong sea breeze ('Fremantle Doctor') characteristic of Perth, so any activities near the coast are best planned for the morning.

There are plenty of eating options in the CBD or a stroll over to Northbridge. However, something worth considering would be to take the short ferry trip over to South Perth (or walk across the Narrows Bridge) and eat at any of several options there while looking back at the lights of the CBD.

 

[Katy]

Oh bums! I'm bronze for this one; it's Master Katy's birthday on the 12th and I'm certain he'd not be ok with an AFF Gathering in lieu of a party

 

[serfty]

...
NB - This is close to the Spring Racing Carnival, which may impact my ability to arrive or depart, but we shall cross that bridge closer to the time. If I go to Derby Day, Cup Day and/or Oaks Day, I can probably miss Stakes Day.

You'd miss the Sandown Cup!

Melbourne Cup Day is Tuesday 1st November ... (Stakes day is the 5th)

 

[penegal]

You'd miss the Sandown Cup!

Melbourne Cup Day is Tuesday 1st November ... (Stakes day is the 5th)

Ah, right you are... Good thing I can count

 

[Awesom Andy]

It is certainly worth taking the Rottnest ferry from Perth city to scope the views going down river to Fremantle and then getting off the return ferry at Freo. Easy to stroll over to the station from the Little Creatures precinct and take the train back to Perth.

I'd also suggest brunch overlooking the beach at the Blue Duck at North Cottesloe or at Shorehouse at Swanbourne. Peeps need to be aware of the strong sea breeze ('Fremantle Doctor') characteristic of Perth, so any activities near the coast are best planned for the morning.

There are plenty of eating options in the CBD or a stroll over to Northbridge. However, something worth considering would be to take the short ferry trip over to South Perth (or walk across the Narrows Bridge) and eat at any of several options there while looking back at the lights of the CBD.

Ah, yes. I forgot about the train. Just less than half an hour and we would be back in the CBD, with the train station being about 1km walk away from the local Hilton.

At the last visit, I was on the coast in the late afternoon and it is definitely windy. It wasn't too bad but it would've been quite a bit more comfortable in the morning.

 

[MarkD]

Gold for me, its a long way off, but have wanted to go back to PER and look around. Only ever fly in / back out