70s and 80s Paint and Sip at Kondari Resort Hervey Bay | Peacocks, Polyester and a Pink Wig

Hervey Bay rolled into Kondari Resort with curlers in their hair, kaftans on their shoulders and a pink wig already winning the room. The function space filled to the brim. The theme was 70s and 80s Singalong. The canvases were peacocks. The night ended with a crowd refusing to let Lotti off the mic.

This was a wardrobe night before it was a paint night. Polyester. Peace signs. Floral kaftans that have not seen daylight in years. Three flower crowns in one row, last we counted. The Hervey Bay crew read the brief, opened the cupboard and absolutely committed. By the time the first chorus kicked in, you could not tell the painting tables from the dance floor.

Lotti walked in with a flower-print kimono, a microphone and the kind of voice that grabs a room by the collar. First chorus is polite. Second chorus is loud. By the third chorus you are deep in it and the brushes are waving above heads like lighters at a Cold Chisel encore. She led, the crowd followed, and not a single song needed to be sold twice.

The painting was peacocks. Bold tail feathers, deep navy bodies, eyes that came out cheekier than the reference suggested. Some played it straight. Some went off-piste and gave their bird a glint, a hat, a personality of its own. Either way, by the end of the night every easel had a peacock on it that looked harder to make than it actually was. Beginner painters always think they cannot pull this off until the moment they realise they already have.

Then James climbed up. He cannot help himself when a good chorus comes round. One song became two. Two became a duet. The picture of Lotti and James sharing the mic in front of a sea of canvases is going to be hard to top. The crowd egged it on. He stayed, he sang, he may have danced. We are not naming names.

The Kondari Resort team carried the back end like absolute pros. Plates kept arriving. Glasses kept getting topped up. The bar was never the bottleneck. The room itself is fully wheelchair accessible with proper space to move, which is one of the reasons we love it. Nobody has to compromise on where they sit or how they get there. That matters to us, and it clearly matters to Hervey Bay too, because the room fills fast every time we put a date on it.

Then YMCA hit and the wheels came off in the best possible way. Arms went up. Arms went sideways. Most arms found the Y, a good number of them found the M, and the Cs and As were a personal journey. The Macarena followed, because of course it did, and we watched grown adults try to remember a routine they last attempted at a Year 8 disco. By the time the night was officially meant to wrap, the crowd was begging for one more song. Lotti gave them one. They asked for another. We eventually had to bring the lights up to remind everyone what their own face looked like.

If a 70s and 80s paint and sip night up the Bay is on your list, keep an eye on our Hervey Bay paint and sip sessions and book early. The Kondari Resort room fills fast and the next singalong is going to push just as hard as this one. Bring the polyester. Leave the inhibitions at the door.