Manly Beach was the site of the World Volley Ball Championship on Friday 18 August. Combatants in the high stakes final were the Knitting Nannas and Team Fossil Fools.
Nannas met at the Wharf, donned their hand-crafted knitted or crocheted bikinis and then marched down the busy Corso to the beach. Their novel attire and bold chants were as much a surprise to themselves as to shoppers.
Nanna Bernie with megaphone encouraged everyone to come with us to witness the contest of People vs Polluters.
At the beach the sandstone wall protected us from the wind and after a short practice the game began. Nanna cheer leaders with streamer pom poms positioned themselves on the Nannas side of the court.
At first, when brown paper bags were slyly passed to the referee, it looked like the Fossil Fools team of government, banks, and the coal and gas industry were going to win. But nannas called them out and played the best and fairest.
The Nanna cheer squad and passers-by on the promenade noisily barracked for the Nannas until they emerged victorious.
Game 2 – Passing the Buck
In the second game Team Tanya Environment was hard to beat taking every opportunity to hit the ball straight over the net back to Team Climate Change Chris as if it were on fire. It looked like Tanya Plibersek was for the ”environment” and Chris Bowen was for more renewables and fixing the grid. Nannas were left wondering where the buck stops for urgently reducing the burning of fossil fuels, ie responding to the climate scientists.
Nanna Janet: Nannas made me actually enjoy parading up the Corso in a wonky bikini chanting and bouncing a ball. Can’t quite believe it. Great day. Legendary.
Nanna Keelah: “Isn’t it fantastic that we can raise our spirits together beside such an avalanche of ongoing disturbing news.”
Nanna Bernie: “There’s plenty of bad news so it’s great to come together with good people to draw attention to things in a way that will hopefully spread the message. No more coal and gas!!”
Nanna Claudia: “That was so much fun! The bikinis are the stuff of legends.”
Nanna Jenny: “It was a real ‘spirit booster’ for the Nannas and is getting great response on socials. Even those who don’t respond know we are alive and kicking!”