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Published: October 9th 2007
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Ready to let one drop!
I was watching for the bomb with one eye and for snakes with the other! Hey guys!
Hope this finds everyone well!!
Claire is out at work (10.35 pm) - I could go to bed & fall asleep but going to do the decent thing and sit up and make a wee cup of tea for her coming in at about 11!
Bit of a mad weekend really - mad in the sense that I found myself doing something a wee bit different from a normal weekend, even by Melbourne standards!
I've got a bit about flying a few weeks ago to fill you in on - but basically I decided to join the club out at Moorabbin airport - the Royal Victorian Aero Club. Turns out they are quite a sociable bunch and have something going on most weekends. This weekend was the grand final of the bombing competition that had been running over the year - and I found myself in the role of bomb target number 2 co-ordinator!
Quite a serious thing this bombing game they play - basically, some farmer (who is also a club member) has a massive big house in the country with, get this, a grass runway out the back! He apparently keeps his
Our BBQ
Claire wouldn't let anyone else near it! She is the Pampered Chef after all..... twin engine aircraft in a shed at the side of it over the winter. This runway was maybe about 800 meters long and, at either end, they had set up two targets right in the middle.
The planes come in at 200 feet (and about 90 miles an hour) and, when he reckons he is over the target, the pilot drops a flour bomb out of his window! He then gets a go at the second target down the runway!
So what does a bomb site co-ordinator do? Well, it soon became apartment that they never get the bomb near to the target - so when the bomb drops you have to (after making sure it doesn't land on your nut - seemingly one was quite off target last year and dented someone's car parked about 50 meters away from the target!) keep an eye on where it goes, then run over with a tape measure thing - read off the guys score and radio it back to him.
It was actually loads of fun - and after being in the office all week it was great to get out in the (hot) fresh air - and
Tucker, Caroline & me
Enjoying Claire's culinary delights! loads of exercise too! We had a bit of a picnic, six beers, loads of sun and a great way to meet some of the other club members. I figure next year I'll be doing the bombing, rather than the running about a farmer’s field bit.
Oh - my first question was are there likely to be any snakes in amongst the grass on the airstrip. The answer I got was "erm, ach, aye, erm - sometimes there is" - reassuring? Cliff, the "field co-ordinator" went on to explain that, at this time of year, any snakes in around Melbourne are "more or less" dormant - they tend to sleep until the height of summer. If the next round of flour bombing takes place in summer, there is no chance I'll be anywhere other than the pilots seat!
Cliff was telling me about their next competition - they set off weather balloons and the pilot flies the plane into them - although he first of all has to chase after it. If you miss first time you get as many goes as you like until the balloon bursts (at whatever height that would be - 8,000ft?). So you
Our car?
You've got to love her - after having our car for over a week, Claire decided that she wanted her picture taken beside it. She then made me stand beside it and took two pictures. Only when she actually went to get in it did she realise that our car was the seat ibiza parked on the right! can imagine the kind of flying that would involve trying to chase after a thing that is going up and up and up. I can't wait. The aim of the game is to put the propeller through the balloon - it causes a bang and a bright blue flash apparently!
Tucker and Caroline (who we met through Stacey the first week after we arrived) came round on Saturday night for some beers and a barbeque! Our first BBQ out the back since we got our flat - and it was awesome!!
Midway into the BBQ, we were joined by the building security guard who had clearly been sat in his wee office downstairs watching the camera with his belly rumbling - he hung about until Claire offered him a burger- he ended up eating everything that was left. His comment (which became the comment of the weekend) regarding the one sausage which remained on the BBQ (which he had already lifted up to his mouth before Claire told him that I wanted it (like I was going to go anywhere near it after he had lifted it??!)) while looking about at everyone was “so, is everything ok with this sausage”? What a security guard - I couldn’t help but think what would happen if we ever had a robbery or something!
Sunday night Claire and I went over to Eddie & Bernadette’s which Claire will fill you in on what we did then! Bernadette made us another Sunday roast which was as fab as the first one!
Top weekend but drank far too much, as usual!
Claire has just came in from work and opened up a package she received in the post today - she had no idea what was in it. Turns out when she bought the tickets for Snowpatrol a few weeks back they keep your details on a list and then send you out a copy of their latest album - how cool is that! And, as she bought two tickets - she received two copies!
I wonder if they do that for all their gigs - kinda justifies the cost a bit!
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