Friday 1^st July 2005: Apparently it all started when Nicko and Fruitcake were seen kicking checksides from "Riccuitto Pocket", on Waikerie Oval mid Friday afternoon (see event organiser summary of weekend at end of article). Over the next few hours a select group of 12 competitors congregated at the bar in the Waikerie Hotel down town in the South Australian Riverland town of Waikerie. Captain Ricko’s extended family (for the purposes of Qantas ticketing, priority baggage and Qantas Club lounge use), Steve S, Min and Jack were delighted with the local service. ‘Yeah they picked us up from the airport, stopped the pub where they filmed McLeod’s’ Daughters, and when we were all suitably relaxed, drove us up to Waikerie. Brilliant service.” pronounced Steve when asked to comment.

Convenience The Order Of The Day: Now these South Australians don’t mess around. At most events in Victoria we have to walk or drive to the pub (or drive there and walk home). If you competed in the PIS 05, you stayed at the pub. “Yeah it was pretty convenient. You just walked downstairs directly into the bar! You know…. It was like ‘five Cougars thanks or should I say Bundy and Coke’s as you got to the bottom of the stairs……very easy ….although it was a bit of a struggle back up to the rooms.” explained Jack when asked to comment on the event accommodation.

And so you can imagine how it was that Friday night. Once the group had worked the bar to death, they retired upstairs to their rooms for after bar drinks and refreshments of a variety of types. Apparently there was significant traffic between rooms and access was achieved via the hallway or via the adjoining balcony and roof system. The traffic was so heavy that Jacko’s door … er … started to become problematic. Fortunately, Nicko’s Swiss Army knife was put to good use in the early hours of Saturday morning. “Very handy tool this. You wouldn’t notice the difference if it was dark and the lights were off.” beamed Nick when reminded of his handiwork.

Saturday 2^nd July: So at some stage in the early hours of Saturday morning various competitors got a little sleep, although it was hard to tell who did and when they did. Later, some of the not so early starters coped a scolding from the hotel staff when they expected breakfast after the kitchen had closed (8.30am). This prompted serious ‘wandering around the town in search of food’ type activity by a number of blurry eyed, heavily breathing and suffering tour members (which including a ferry ride across the Murray River and visiting a lookout by some of the Victorian tourists). “Yeah the game didn’t start until midday so we had a look around. But I just didn’t like the feel of that lookout, so I bailed.” summarised Jack when describing what had happened.

It was mid morning when various tour members started to get restless. That competitive spirit started to bubble and the excitement of the impending competition could be seen on those faces around at the time. This brings us to Min who wasn’t around at the time so they left him behind! You know how it goes… Min is operating on Min time….leaving to go wandering the streets minutes before everyone else is leaving for the course. So everyone else goes off in various cars, someone realises Min isn’t in any of the cars, frantic mobile phone calls to the last car to go back to the hotel, to find Min isn’t there! They then head off again to the golf course without him. What else could they do? Now Min of course arrives back at the hotel to find everyone gone. He knew his clubs were in someone’s car, so cool as he is, asked for directions and started walking towards the course (not knowing it was 8kms away). Fortunately, Nick and crew found him wandering down the road as they were returning from town (after looking for him of course). “Sorry guys, but someone said a cup of coffee and a lamington is the best hangover cure around. It just took me a while to find a lamington.” explained Min after they found him. Back to Main Article