DAY 4
Week 1
TOWNSVILLE (Queensland, AUS)
Wednesday November 8th, 2006
TODAYS MILEAGE – 0 miles or 0 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 2268 miles or 3650 kilometres
Boy am I glad Melbourne Cup Day only comes around once a year!!!
I am a bit slow & dusty today as the fog took a while to clear from the previous evening. Funnily enough, I didn't see fog or haze on the weather report, must have something to do with a self inflicted head injury from the night before??? 
In forming my opinions on the 16th World Golden Oldies Rugby Festival, it should be known from the outset, that my impressions may be somewhat skewed by how much of a great time I had at my first Golden Oldies rugby festival, which was in San Diego, California.
The highlight, for me, was being able to hang out with a lot of my mates, that I have made over the years, while living in my hometown of Alice Springs. I also had a great time hanging out with people whom I hadn't met before or had played against over the years. New friendships were forged, stories were told, memories were tested and reminiscing was rampant. Catching up with what everyone was up to and mingling, both individually and collectively, seemed to be the order of the week. I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the festival.
Compared to San Diego, I felt that the organizers had sold most of us attendees short. The major issue being the total lack of adequate seating at any of the official venues i.e. Opening and Closing Parties. Seating at Te Papa Tongarewa was almost non-existent while, the 1400 available seats at the closing was nowhere near enough for the 4000+ attendees.
The food at both events was sub-standard to say the least and for the money that they were charging, it was a totally inadequate. After enduring the cattle in a crush like throng, you were rewarded with a finger food size bits of meat and 3 veg or some noodles or a couple of things that we couldn't work out what part of the food chain they were from.
Our accommodations at the Quest on Willis were best described as "prison block" quality. If you check out the hotels web site, it is stated that this is a "3+ Star Serviced Apartment" establishment. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The property looks to be long term accommodations for barely funded University students and had absolutely no idea as to having a team in a close proximity to each other, rather than scattered over 7 floors. Add to this an over zealous Duty Manager who did not want "you people" cluttering "his" foyer and footpath by congregating there prior to departing and you can see why he earnt the "Harry Headjob" name.
The 3 match venues were sensational. Change rooms, hot showers, food and rehydration stations aplenty. Other than the game against Johnsonville Cripples, I think we all had a great time. Which brings up a point that the organizing committee needs to revamp their team competition levels from the current 1 to 10 scale we have today, to a simply 3 level system of Social, Serious and Competition. This may have eliminated most of the serious injuries that were sustained during the tournament.
In closing, even after some serious misgivings, I had a great time which could have been a lot better if the previously mentioned items were addressed from the outset. Will this deter me from going to Edinburgh – not a chance. But it needs to be addressed or like me, others will be giving serious considerations to not attending future events.
• TOWNSVILLE (Queensland, AUS)