Y Striders

A Warm, Wonderful Weekend
It’s not just the weather that contributed to the success of our recent Y Striders long weekend in Margaret River. It’s always the people. The fit, friendly, can-do attitude of the Y Strider members is a large part of the fun on our annual weekend away.
A lot of preliminary work goes into this as well, with our volunteer committee and helpers planning up to a year in advance. Where to go? What walks will be included? Is there enough suitable accommodation? Which venues can cater for our numbers for meals? What additional activities are in the area?
It all came together with so many stories and photos to share we may need to make this post into episodes 🙂

Adieu, Farewell….but hopefully not Goodbye forever.
Ali and Tom have been Y Strider members for 3 years since leaving their home in Melbourne for a little adventure out west in Perth. With flexible jobs and adult children in Perth it seemed a great opportunity to experience something new for a year or two. Everything seemed to fall into place when a friend in Melbourne (ex Y Strider Sandy) suggested they contact Ros at her old club when they got here. Another friend helped with their first rental and in no time they were embraced by the club, making new friends, going away for our down south weekends, coffee after the Monday and Wednesday 6am strength sessions and having little excursions of their own to different parts of WA.
The year has turned into three and they felt it was time to reclaim and renovate their Melbourne home and catch up with friends. We will miss them, but there will be visits back to Perth to see their daughter and their friends here and there are sure to be Y Striders dropping into share a meal or a wine when they are in or passing through Melbourne.
We asked Ali for her thoughts and memories. She said -
“It’s been wonderful. Ros was my introduction to Y Striders through a mutual friend in Melbourne. It’s been brilliant just as a place to meet people and do exercise, and those people have become friends and I’ve really loved it. Tom has come along and we’ve been to the club weekends away”.
“One of the nicest things, when I had not been here at all long, and didn’t really know anyone, there was a vacant cabin on the Yallingup weekend away and the group were kind enough to let me bring my daughter and her partner along. They have never forgotten it. They loved it and were so impressed by the agility, enthusiasm and energy of this more mature group.”
Asked for his thoughts, Tom said he “found the group to be very welcoming, warm and very inclusive”
Whether you come from far away or near, why not join Y Striders to enjoy exercise and friendship?

Australia Day Morning at Troy Park
Our Y Striders’ base at Troy Park in Attadale is a lovely location by the Swan River. We usually meet at 6am or 7.45am on Mondays for strength sessions, walking or running, but public holidays are holidays – right? This Australia Day public holiday was a little different, and all the more memorable for it. Thirty of our members met at 7am for a spirited and fun warm up with trainer Deb R and a short walk before coffee, breakfast and lively music at 8am, thanks to the President of the Troy Park Association’s kind invitation to join other local club users in an Australia Day breakfast.
Great weather, relaxing fun and a perfect way to celebrate the Aussie spirit come together by the river on Australia Day.

How Lucky Are We?
As over 30 Y Striders walked by the river around the Boorloo and Matagarup bridges they saw the sun set over our beautiful city.
To live in a place where we can walk and exercise year round in mostly warm weather near parks, trees and water is something we all enjoy. With our clubrooms at Troy Park in Attadale we have most of our exercise and walks along the Swan River from Applecross to Bicton. But sometimes, like last Wednesday evening, our social co-ordinator, Ann R, organises something somewhere different. So, after our 5km walk in light but warm breezes we happily arrived at the Camfield tavern for dinner and cooling refreshments.
Most of these Y Striders had already done a regular strength session on Wednesday morning but a bit of extra exercise and chatting with friends was a fun bonus.
Why not join our fitness and fun with a 4 week free trial. Go to; http://ystriders.org.au/membership/4-week-free-trial/