Weight of The World: Puffing Billy Race...The Aftermath

Monday, May 08, 2006

Puffing Billy Race...The Aftermath

I thought I'd let you all know why I was so peed off with the transport arrangements after the race. I just couldn't let it go without having one more whinge!! When Beki and I got to the finish line there was a very long queue. This was because there were people recording everybody's finishing times by hand. Nothing electronic about this race!! We must have stood in a queue for about 20 minutes at least. And as each minute ticked past we were getting colder and colder. Once we'd finally got through, we walked up to the area where most people were hanging around, mostly waiting for the prizes to be done. I was getting real cold by that stage and just wanted to get on a bus and get back to Belgrave so I could put on some dry, warm clothes. We found the queue for the buses and stood waiting for another 20 minutes to 1/2 hour before 2 buses arrived. As there were quite a lot of people in front of us there was no way we were going to get on either bus, but were very surprised and then angry to hear the bus driver say that these were the last 2 buses. What about all the people still waiting??? The official advised everyone that there was a train leaving in 10 minutes, so everyone turned around and proceeded to make their way to the train platform. There certainly was a train there, but it was already totally full and there is no way in hell that anyone else could have gotten on that train. Just then another train pulled into the station so everyone left waiting on the platform jumped onto this one. After about 15 minutes, we heard when the train was going to leave....in another 45 minutes! We would have to sit on the train, cold and wet for another 45 minutes before it even made it's way back to Belgrave, which in itself was a 55 minute train ride! This was not happening to us.... So TigerBoy very nicely rang Mrs TB and asked her if she could drive up to Emerald Lake and pick us up, which she very nicely agreed to. So while we were waiting (it was going to take Mrs TB at least 30 minutes to get up the mountain), we wandered on down to the Cafe to grab a coffe and sit in the warmth. It was then highlighted that there were 6 of us and there was only enough room in the car for 4 people. So me and Beki volunteered to wait at the Cafe whilst everyone went back to Belgrave, then TigerBoy would jump in his car and drive back up to pick me and Beki up. So we sat huddled next to this gas fire trying to dry out a little bit. Once we were a bit drier, we decided to start walking up to the gate to meet TigerBoy. He rang us just as we were near the gate to say that he was just leaving, so it was going to take him at least another 15 minutes to get up to us. What else was there to do other than to keep walking!! We finally met TB at the roundabout right at the top of the hill and gratefully climbed into his warm car. We took off our soggy wet shoes and socks first....what a relief!! Then put on some nice dry ones...even better!! We finally got to the pub around 2pm, 2 hours later than planned!! A few glasses of champers seemed to wipe away some of the bad memories of the morning, and having a few laughs with like minded people brought back the good memories!