Gunuma – December 2023 Newsletter
Dear Members
We hope you are enjoying the start of summer and the festive season.
As 2023 draws to a close, the Committee wishes to provide you with the following updates.
AGM
Thank you to all members who attended the Annual General Meeting held online on 4 December 2023. The minutes of the AGM will be available on the website shortly.
No motions were raised. Two new Committee members were appointed:
- Victoria Wachniewski as Communications Manager
- Tony Greenwell as Treasurer
The following Committee members are continuing in their roles for 2024:
- President – Peter Rodda
- Vice President – Geoff Jones
- Capital Works – Daniel Kochanowicz
- Maintenance Manager – Simon Alston
- Secretary – Michael Royle
- Membership Secretary – Paul Giugni
- Environment Manager – Vanessa Palmer
- Logistics Manager – Nicole Wade
The Committee wishes to thank outgoing members, Kathyrn Rodda and Jason Zarew, for their respective contributions to the work of the Committee.
The Committee has also appointed a Maintenance Sub-Committee to assist Simon Alston, Maintenance Manager, to complete all scheduled maintenance tasks in 2024.
Membership Subscriptions
Invoices for 2024 subscriptions have been issued to all members. Please note the due date of 31 December 2023 to avoid late payment fees.
2024 Work Parties
Three work parties will be held in the first half of 2024:
Work Party 1 – Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 February 2024
Work Party 2 – Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 March 2024
Work Party 3 – Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May 2024
All members are strongly encouraged to attend a work party. Please confirm your proposed attendance as soon as possible.
Housekeeping
Members are reminded that they and their guests must complete their allocated chores.
The GAO has recently been notified that some members and guests have departed the lodge without completing their chores, leaving rooms/bathrooms in an unacceptable state.
Prior to departure, you must:
- Vacuum your room and empty the room bin (and during the summer season – ensure garbage from kitchen bins and toilet bins is taken to the hoppers located at the entry to Smiggins car park).
- Clean the hand basin, surrounds and mirror.
- Fold blankets and stack neatly along with pillows on top of the shelves.
- Cover the bed with grey bed cover.
- Close the window and blind.
- Set the room temperature to 10 degrees.
- Turn off all lights.
- Return room key (if applicable).
- Return car park pass (if applicable).
- Remove your food from cupboard, fridge and freezer downstairs and wipe clean.
- Remove your name from white board and sign out.
The lodge does not engage external cleaning services outside of the winter season. If you are staying at the lodge outside of the winter season, you must take steps to ensure that all rubbish is removed from the lodge, windows and doors are securely closed and all lights are switched off prior to departure.
If you identify that an item has been lost or damaged, or requires repairs or special cleaning, please email the GAO at admin@gunumalodge.com.au as soon as possible so the appropriate action can be taken.
2024 Booking Rules
The Booking Rules for 2024 will be published in early 2024 and will take effect on 1 March 2024. Notably, room rates will be increased, as the Committee has determined that the Lodge cannot absorb the continuing increase in operating costs.
Members should note that the Lodge now requires payment via Paypal or by Credit Card through the PayPal System. The Lodge will no longer accept cheque or EFT payment to reduce administrative work. This form of payment will provide immediate confirmation of bookings and reduces the follow up of late payment or the potential for the system to cancel a booking.
The Great Gunuma Bed Swap
After around 50 years, the old bed bases and slightly younger mattresses have been replaced with new single ensembles. Thanks to Wal for organising the Narooma Men’s Shed who were able to take the bases to use to build new creations.
The mattresses have gone to Soft Landing to be recycled. All mattress covers and bed covers were sent to WIRES and Wildcare to be used as bedding for fury orphans and some were dropped off to Vinnies. A big thank you to Simon who did the slightly longer trip home to drop off the bases in Narooma.
It is great to be able to repurpose and recycle 34 beds and bedding. A massive thanks to all who attended the working bee.
Members are reminded that the new beds are larger than those replaced and require a standard single fitted sheet. If pushing two beds together, you will need to bring a king size fitted sheet.
The Committee is also currently considering the option of acquiring a small number of mattresses for children under 5, noting all spare mattresses (previously stored under beds) were removed from the lodge some time ago for hygiene reasons. The Committee will provide a further update on this in the New Year.
Other recent upgrades
Peter Haynes has installed two new televisions downstairs. Both have a Google operating system with pre-loaded applications including free to air and paid streaming services.
The Committee is researching the optimal method of bringing ‘free to air’ into the lodge. Until then, you can log into your free or paid services and either stream from Gunuma Internet or ‘hot spot’ from your personal device. As part of this research the Committee is looking at appropriate internet options for the lodge and hopes to have a position prior to the ski season.
Thanks, Peter, for your hard work!
Members will also be pleased to hear that the sauna will be upgraded in early 2024 and should be back in action by the start of the winter ski season. New giant kids’ cushions have also been added to the playroom.
The Committee wishes all members a joyful festive season and
safe and a happy New Year.
