The District Governor is getting excited about the upcoming conference in Darwin.

During this month I visited the Nhulunbuy (Gove) Rotary club. It is an impressive small club with only 10 members, but they have a meeting place of their own and have a lot of assets. Recently they purchased a mobile bar for $50,000, that they use for fundraising and hiring out. Their major fundraiser is a beach volleyball competition each year. Nhulunbuy is a small community of 3500 people, and the club gets all the support they need from the community and gives back a lot to the community. Their president, Jarrod Ellis, is holding the club together very well.

I finally managed to have an online meeting with the Mount Morgan Rotary Club. Another small club, they have 8 members, and they are doing what they can locally and contributing to causes internationally. The meeting completed my DG visits to all clubs in the district.

When I took an enthusiastic young gentleman to a Darwin Sunrise meeting to introduce him to the club and to encourage him to join Rotary, I ended up being their guest speaker talking about my journey so far as DG.

I also met with the Consul of Timor-Leste, Geral Jose Amorim Dias, and had a lengthy discussion regarding the projects Rotary has been doing in Timor-Leste. He was very receptive and cordial. (Note, the Timor-Leste President, the Honourable Jose Ramos Horta will be a speaker at the Rotary Conference in May).

The Rotary District conference is not far away. Thank you to all who have registered. Registration closes on 19 April, so there is still time if you have not yet done so.

I indicated before that I raised some money out of my own steam. If any of the clubs has a good project and need some support, I am willing to give one or two thousand dollars depending on the project. If anybody has such a project, please send me a paragraph outlining the project.

My wife Inthu asked me to thank all the clubs who have kindly contributed to her partner program.

Regionalisation is moving on and nominations are being called for Regional Community Leaders (RCL). Please consider taking on one of these roles.

Finally, District Disaster coordinator Peter Agar has launched a fundraiser to help those affected by the flood in Cairns and surrounding areas. You can contribute to the Rotary Club of Cairns Trinity Inc Flood appeal account through BSB 633000 Acct No 211976543.

You all have a good Easter.