IBM Quarter Century Club Sydney Chapter Notice to Members Darling Harbour Monorail Treasure Hunt and Lunch Saturday, 15 June 2013 Did you ride it, or deride it? Love it or hate it? Recommend it or ignore it? The Sydney Monorail will be closing forever at the end of June. While some people may say good riddance, and others shed a tear, we thought the opportunity to be part of a local, historic event was too good to pass up. Your IBM Quarter Century Club Committee invites you to take your last monorail rides around Darling Harbour, learn a bit of local trivia and history, and enjoy a delightful lunch with your colleagues at the Pontoon Bar in Cockle Bay. To make things a bit more interesting, we will provide you with a list of Darling Harbour/monorail-related questions that can be answered by keen observation and a competitive spirit as you participate in our Monorail Treasure Hunt! Page 1 of 6
You will receive an all-day pass for the monorail, which means you can ride the circuit as many times as you like. For the treasure hunt, you can collect your answers either individually or in teams. The individual or team with the highest score will win wait for it FABULOUS PRIZES! After lunch, you have the option of strolling down to the IMAX theatre to see whatever is on offer on the day. Your all-day monorail pass includes a 20% discount to the IMAX theatre. INTERESTING MONORAIL FACTS The Darling Harbour Monorail started its commercial operations in July 1988, but the first full testing was in May, so the DHM has been running for 25 years. Perhaps we could make it an honorary member of the IBM Quarter Century Club Sydney Chapter! The world s first commercially successful monorail was 10 miles long and was in Ireland opening in 1888 and running until 1924. The most successful commercial monorail is in Tokyo. The first daily running monorail in the Western Hemisphere was in Disneyland. Sea World had their monorail in 1986 (two years before Sydney). Mike Hall, our Chapter President, won his model of the Sydney Monorail in 1989 in a free raffle after riding it on the first anniversary. Page 2 of 6
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS: 10:00 am: Meet at the Darling Park monorail station (eastern end of the Pyrmont Bridge, access via corner of Sussex and Market Streets) to collect your Monorail Day Pass voucher and QCC Monorail Treasure Hunt instructions from one of your QCC Committee members. Then exchange that voucher at the Monorail ticket booth for your all day access to the Monorail. 10:00 am 1:00 pm: Ride the Monorail and answer the Treasure Hunt questions. 1:00 pm 3:00 pm: Meet at the Pontoon Bar in Cockle Bay for lunch. Purchase your lunch at the bar, and join your friends at the QCC table. Applaud the winner(s) of the Treasure Hunt as he, she or they collect their FABULOUS PRIZE! 3:00 pm (or whatever the IMAX schedule is on the day): Optionally, walk to the IMAX theatre to see the latest in film technology! Your Monorail Day Pass gives you a 20% discount on IMAX tickets. HOW TO GET THERE: Our meeting point is at one of the seven stops on the Monorail. It s the Darling Park stop, and is located at Cockle Bay near the former IBM Centre building at Darling Park. Town Hall station is the closest train station. Page 3 of 6
COST FOR THE DAY: We are able to get the group price for the Monorail Day Pass of $7.60 per person and have rounded this to $7.50 per person for this event. To get this special price (regular price $9.80 per person) we need to purchase the vouchers before the day, so be sure to follow the booking and payment information below. Lunch at Pontoon Bar in Cockle Bay at members expense. Many meals are under $10. See www.pontoonbar.com for details. If you decide to go to the IMAX Theatre after lunch, ticket price varies based on the length and type of film, but your Monorail Day Pass gets you a 20% discount. Be sure to compare that against the concession price. IMAX publishes its program and session times about a week in advance, so be sure to check out www.imax.com.au. YOU MUST BOOK IN ADVANCE to pay for the monorail ticket. Please send your payment to arrive no later than Friday 7 June 2013. Page 4 of 6
USEFUL WEBSITES Monorail: http://www.monorail.com.au Pontoon Bar: http://www.pontoonbar.com IMAX: http://www.imax.com.au If your e-mail address changes, please send your new address to secretary@qccaustralia.org. If you have received this notice by post and wish to receive future notices by e-mail, please send an e-mail to secretary@qccaustralia.org. 2013 Schedule of events DATE DAY TIME EVENT DETAILS 30 April Tues 6 pm 6:30 pm Drinks Dinner 15 June Sat From 10 am Darling Harbour Monorail Social Event 11 July Thurs From 10 am Garden Island tour and lunch 7 August Wed 6:30 pm 8 pm 9:30 pm Chapter dinner Trivia Contest Il Bolognese 150 Pittwater Road Gladesville NSW 2111 Guest: Dr Bruce Dennett Ride the monorail, do the Treasure Hunt, lunch at Pontoon Bar, optional IMAX Carnarvon Golf Club 65-95 Nottinghill Road Lidcombe NSW 2141 September Weekend Away Details to be announced 10 October Thurs 6:00 pm 6:30 pm 6:45 pm Drinks AGM Dinner 8 November Fri Annual Induction Dinner Il Bolognese 150 Pittwater Road Gladesville NSW 2111 Waterview in Bicentennial Park Bicentennial Drive Sydney Olympic Park December Social event To be announced Page 5 of 6
Booking and Payment Information Book by Friday 7 June 2013 Most of our members seem to be paying electronically these days, so for this event we are asking you to pay that way. If you want to attend and are unable to pay electronically, please contact Lorraine Tacouni on 9410-3330 or 0412 267 701 to make other arrangements. Cost is $7.50 per person. Please pay by electronic funds transfer to the QCC s Intech Credit Union account and do so by Friday 7 June 2013. 1. BSB: 802351 2. Account number: 35101803 3. Surname: ibm 4. Account name: IBM QCC Sydney 70000330 5. Narrative field/description: Social, your names (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) IMPORTANT: You must also send an e-mail to Geoff Nash (sbcnash@au1.ibm.com). Include: details of your electronic transaction and the names of people attending. Your electronic bank transfer information may appear slightly different Please ensure BSB and ACCOUNT NUMBER are correct, and don t forget your names in the description. Page 6 of 6