Team Diary Monday 23rd March 2009
As the team retired to bed in the early hours of the morning, the Captain, on walking into his room drew attention to an intruder. Much animated discussion and some screaming later, Mr Underwood bravely trapped it and escorted it promptly off the premises. Reception, told of the intruder in the morning, commented “Oh that must have been George, and just to be glad that he hadn’t brought the rest of his family with him”!
We left Nottingham Road bright and early for the drive to Bloemfontain via the ‘scenic route’. Watson had the temerity to lead off ahead of the Captain even though his navigational skills appeared to be somewhat lacking. Nevertheless, the team seemed to be dealing with the speed cameras rather better this time! We drove through the Drakkensberg Mountains and over the Oliviershoek pass where we stopped for a team photo at the aptly named Protea Corner. We then proceeded through the Golden Gate nature reserve, where there were many spectacular views and photo opportunities enlivened by baboon spotting!
Watty’s bus had forged ahead to recce suitable lunch stops in Clarens and having spotted a minibus full of attractive girls gaining on them, slowed down to allow them to overtake. Little Lothian attempted to take photos as they passed, much to their horror. Following them into Clarens the lead bus decided to stop at a pub with a good view of the café selected by the girls, thinking it would be a bit dangerous to actually go into the same one given their previous shunning. The rest of the team joined them for a relaxing lunch, sadly we seemed to eat them out of fillet steak and drink them out of beer! Stuart Y declared that he was “just going over the road to find some flip-flops”; we all knew where you were really going Stu! After lunch there was just time for a quick wander around the souvenir shops and art galleries before driving on down to Bloem.
We all met up at the Shawu Lodge Hotel in time to collect ammo and sort out our rifles. The bar was not ready for us here either as a thirsty team poured in after a hot day in the car and within half an hour, the only refreshment remaining was lite beer! Over a drink, the vice captain decided it was time to confide in his coach that his low right shots may not have been entirely unexplainable as he had discovered that his bedding screw had been loose- yet another candidate for Mug of the Day it seemed!
The late arrivals
Monday morning saw the late party arrive after a relatively uneventful flight out of Heathrow. The only problem we encountered was that our newly christened surgeon lost his operating dexterity and dropped his team bag that contained not only his brand new unused Kowa scope, shooting jacket and most importantly, his Tremlett team tie, but also four bottles of Pimms that we had picked up as a result of an urgent request by text from the poolside. Not content with inspecting his bag immediately for damage, he picked it up and re-shouldered it, marching on through customs only to be admonished by a couple of cleaning ladies who advised him that he was leaving a trail of England’s favourite summertime beverage behind him. Urgent washing of various articles of clothing in Dave Dyson’s hotel room kept the damage to a minimum. Although we are as yet unsure that he will pass any firing point drugs testing when the South African’s sun bakes the alcoholic mixture to a distinctive aroma. Having picked up the rifles, showered and had a civilised breakfast, the remainder of the journey proved to be uneventful but we did see the the GBU19 team at a roadside café for the ubiquitous burger lunch.
