DAY 21 – Our traditional method of finishing the tour is for an evening bridge climb where the party climbs up in the day and then down again at night.
As avid readers will no doubt be aware our efforts this time were thwarted by some severe thunderstorms.
At the time the lightning hit the bridge all three climb groups were kitted out ready, with two groups on the initial stages of the climb!
Our bridge climb had been rearranged for Monday morning at 8am, which actually means leaving on the bus for 6am.
Now, getting 25 teenagers out of bed, washed, fed and bus loaded with all luggage is an effort in itself (not to mention Ian Talbot who we all acknowledge as mentally still being a teenager), but to do it by 6am means alarms set for 5am!
So some hastily rearranged plans saw us nip for some food and then back to base for a chaotic couple of hours. We returned at 9.45pm to start the packing as we’d totally lost our leisurely Monday morning that was expected.
Packing was an ordeal in itself with the sheer amount of stuff the lads had bought.
Messers Tommy Martyn and Eric Frodsham were definitely the leading shoppers, closely followed by Robbie Horton and Harry Coleman. Tommy actually left the same amount of stuff as he’d packed for home and his bag still weighed 29kg at the airport.
After a hectic 90 mins we were all ready to go with the presentation awards, which were the hardest ever to pick. For every category there were numerous candidates and the staff deliberated long and hard over each; 2015 truly was a whole squad effort.
So to end the tour blogs I’m pleased to announce the following awards:
- Best Tourist – Matthew Kilgannon
- Best Back – Kevin Brown
- Best Forward – Christopher Follin
- Coaches’ Player – Lewis Furlong
- Players’ Player – Matthew Lees
Sorry a few more things to add…
After a maximum of four hours sleep, glorious sunshine awaited the 29 bridge climbers for some breathtaking views of the city.
As usual the lads’ naivety was in evidence, but we’ll put that down to lack of sleep.
Kevin Brown started the ball rolling by putting his harness on upside down and once at the airport Cameron Brown managed to check his 23kg suitcase in at the desk then take it back to wheel through passport control…!
With time differences and Wi-Fi access I’m not sure what day or time you are reading this! For the next 26 hours though time becomes irrelevant to us sat in economy class and transit, though I’m sure Mike Rush will manage to catch at least 15hrs shut eye.
Come on you Saints…
