2006 News

BALA TEST WEEKEND – July 2006

Keith, Nick , Rob and I decided to make an early start leaving Bookham at 05:30 Friday morning to beat the traffic. We stopped for a hearty Little Chef breakfast at 8:30 and were in Llangollen at 10:23, how do I know? It was the time on the speeding ticket!

This was our first year on the main campsite as the rally field was reserved for the host working group committee. On arrival at the camp site the sign couples only was still posted but it never got to the stage where we needed to pair up! However one of the party looked like pairing with another camper when in a deep sleep on Friday afternoon.

The weather was fabulous, really unusual for Wales but this brought with it loads of midges which seemed to be quite attracted to Nick who had over 60 bites. We bought a few citronella candles in Bala which helped until Rob stood over one and the flame went up his shorts! The massive lake, approximately 6 miles long, surrounded by mountains with camping by the waters edge makes for an excellent setting, not that we spend much time looking at the scenery.

The tests were really well organised this year and we enjoyed helping out stewarding but made sure we finished in time for the football. The advantage of being on the main campsite was that we had electric hook up for the TV. A new game was introduced this year called ‘buckaroo’ opposed to the traditional corking of those within the party that fall asleep. When someone falls asleep just see how much stuff you can hang on them before they wake up (dog bowl, dog harness, knifes, forks, newspapers, coats, oven gloves, hats etc.). It is very entertaining unless you’re the one who has fallen asleep.

Just a reminder that if you sleep you dogs overnight in a van with side doors on both sides it is always a good idea to make sure both are closed. We heard barking overnight in the distance which sounded like Mica but took no notice. The next morning I opened the awning (up early for a change!) to find Mica sitting outside. It turned out that when putting the dogs in the van at bed time Rob & Nick made sure the door was closed not realising the other side was open. Monty however didn’t venture out, just stayed in the van all on his lonesome.

Monty was amazing and gained a well deserved pass at Section B (would have passed him myself!). He did really well for such a young dog and shows real promise for the future. Well done Monty – and Rob of course. Tallie was the closest anyone in the group has come to passing Section D for a while now, failing on only one exercise which was the directed retrieve. Tallie amazed us all when she immediately leapt from the boat to rescue the drowning stranger. She had obviously been listening to Keith who promised the drowning person a rummage in the bushes if Tallie jumped out the boat. At least the drowning person was female but he’ll think twice before making such statements in future. Mica has passed Section C many times but failed on this occasion because she didn’t swim out to the stranger, the rest was perfect as usual. A similar story for Loxley who failed Section B on only one of the exercises but to my surprise it was the boat retrieve and not the safe swim, never mind we’ll try again next time.

It is a long way to go but always proves to be an excellent weekend.