Winners of the 60 & over Murray Region Mixed Pairs final Libby and Andy Jennings.
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For the past eight months, home for Queensland couple Andy and Libby Jennings has been by the idyllic Murray River.
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But for the past seven years, home has been the road, a caravan and the company of treasured friends they’ve made along the way.
“We’d really think about coming back here again - but not in winter,” said Andy with a smile.
For Libby and Andy, home has been the road, a caravan and each other's company for the last seven years.
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At the end of June, the Jennings will be waving goodbye to the Murray River and hitting the road once again.
“The people here have just been so nice to us. Not just at Barooga, but everywhere,” said Andy.
Their journey across the country began seven years ago, when Andy and Libby played district and state bowls championships in Cloncurry and Tweed Heads.
Jump forward seven years, and they’ve shared some memorable moments together, with bowls playing a big part in their journey.
“We’ve bowled at well over a hundred different bowls clubs around Australia. Each one we play at, we write in a book,” Andy said.
Memorably, the couple made themselves a little history with the Barooga Bowls Club earlier this year after they won the Murray Bowls region 60s and over mixed pairs.
While Andy plied the plumbing trade for many years, Libby ran her own cleaning business out of Cairns.
Their keenness to learn new things and visit new places has taken them to work in unique, sometimes far-flung locations.
They’ve hand fed calves on cattle stations in the Gulf of Carpentaria, worked on farms in the West Australian wheat-belt and ran a bait-and-tackle shop in fishing villages reachable only by sea.
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For some time, Andy and Libby even operated the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum in WA.
Notably, the museum is home to the antenna that relayed the first live telecast into Western Australia, which happened to be footage of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon in 1969.
Andy and Libby also had a stint working on a rootstock nursery in Mildura during 2022, where it was so cold that they had to be quite discerning over how much time they spent outside.
Cold: Libby on a bright winter's morning at the Mildure rootstock nursery.
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“Everywhere we’ve worked, the people have been very kind,” Libby said.
The pair is now heading back to Queensland to take up a job at a caravan park outside Bundaberg.
They’re looking forward to once again playing at their home, Marlin Coast Bowling Club.
But the Cobram - Barooga district will forever hold a place in their hearts.
And while they’re heading back to their home state, that doesn’t mean their journey is finished.
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