Estimated by many locals to be the biggest crowd ever, the locals poured onto Four Mile Beach on Saturday(19th May) to join in a whole mess of family fun for Carnivale 2013.  Although the sun kindly stayed discreetly behind an overcast sky on this beautifully warm morning anyone not creamed up with factor 30 would have been regreting it in the afternoon. 

The traditional Beach Cricket tournament saw eight teams fiercely competing for the coveted Carnivale trophy throughout the morning with the Muddies coming out on top again this year.

At 11am the sand castle competition got under way with again a record entry.  And the standard of entry was amazingly high.  Whilst this tournament is specifically designed for the kids it is always the Mums and Dads who get stuck in the deepest.  The winning design was the fossil skeleton, runner up The three Canoes, third place The Loch Ness Monster and the seniors prize went to the indefatigueable James Watson.  The Newsport also thought the Weyand family Hammerhead Shark with diver lunch was well worth a mention as were the two bodies sculptor (as illustraded in the photo gallery below).

Beach tennis was a real winner for the children with the organisers making great use of the beautiful flat hard four mile beach sand to create the courts.

Sophie from My Dream Pony Party with a very patient Lucy (the pony) gave rides up and down the beach for the children.  Lucy's mane was one of the most colourful things on the beach, she was certainly in party mode.

The Exemplar Clipper Cup Sailing race was being competed for offshore and created a fascinating backdrop to all the activities on the beach.  The Exemplar Clipper Cup is run over several races throughout the Carnivale week. The Newsport will bring you the progress and results through the week.

Probably the climax of the mornings activities were the three skydivers who dropped onto Four Mile Beach in sucession with such precision from the Sky Safari Helicopter at lunchtime.  The parachutists dropped out of the sky to a pinpoint designated landing area on the Beach which stopped all the families in their tracks as they admired the breathtaking feats of these dare devils .  When Chief Pilot Bradley King then dropped in and landed the gorgeous bright orange coloured luxury SkySafari helicopter on the beach, he was immediately surrounded by a captvated audience of children and their parents.  There's something so exciting about a helicopter landing close by!

Whist all this was going on at the beach, there was a whole bunch of activities happening on the Esplanade.  Face painting for the children (why don't they have face painting for the adults?), Mossman Gym Club had a bouncy castle, Ditch and his fire team were giving rides along the esplanade in their mini fire truck and there were a whole plethora of stalls selling goods, fundraising and giving demonstrations to keep everyone amused.  And the coffee stalls were doing a roaring trade from Sharon at Beaches Cafe to Michelle at her mobile 'Wheelie Good Coffee'.

We bumped into CRC Div Clr Julie Leu on the beach and she commented "I should think this must be the biggest crowd ever.  It's great to see everyone having such a good time.  I love seeing everyone with smiles on their faces."

The beach started to thin out in the late afternoon as the party revellers went home to get themselves ready for the 'Food, Wine and a Taste of Port' being held at Rex Smeal Park which started at 5.30pm.  

It's going to take some stamnina to keep up with everything this year...But it will be fun trying!!