“It is not the mountain that wears you out, but your attitude towards it”.

Hello everybody

The Whites did it!! They won the Relay and thus the competition. There was a point this afternoon, however, when the Relay looked to be slipping away from them as the Greens took a five minute lead and looked to be pulling away. But, as is usual, in this event, things turned out on the water. The rowing to the bridge always takes its toll, and if that doesn’t get you, the fire building and burning will. Now that said, both teams were pretty close as the boats hit the beach. The Whites delayed lighting their fire, choosing instead to fortify their fire with even more kindling. This could have proved costly as the Greens got their fire started and the flames were very soon tickling the underside of the tin of water (which had to boil before they could move on). But then the White fire ‘erupted’ and the race was on. The intense heat made it difficult for the judges to get too close to the fire, but it wasn’t long before the water was boiling, and the Greens were on their way up the hill with their water-filled balloon.

But then, disaster: they dropped it, and so they had to go all the way back to the start. And now the Whites were right behind them. But disaster struck them too. Now they really were neck-and-neck. But more dropped balloons (on both teams) was turning the Balloon Toss into an absolute lottery. At last, the Whites got their act together and began to move the balloon at pace up the hill. But now the Green team started to actually throw their balloon at each other (a strategy that appeared to be working until it was dropped again). The Whites held their nerve and got the balloon all the way up the hill, whereupon it was duly ‘smashed’ against the flagpole: job done, Whites won.

As the White team raced back down the hill and into the lake, the Green team gamely continued to maneuver their balloon up to its final resting place. And they did it, albeit almost three minutes behind their White challengers. So another Green and White is done for the year. With a Green Sing win, and a White Relay win, it could be said that the honours have been shared, even if the Whites won overall. Time to reflect and on this competition, while planning for next year, I think.

After a delayed dinner (because of the relay), we started the Twilight League Playoffs. We managed to get one game in before showers and Canteen, and that sets us up nicely for tomorrow and a day of softball.

So here we are, about to head into the final day, and all is well, so safely rest.

Goodnight everybody.

As ever…WOODY!