Victory in the sand dunes

The bus trip in was totally uneventful and we even got in about 15 minutes quicker due getting off the coach at the terminus of the Metro, rather than at the terminus of the coach. We went and tried David's again since the introduction of the the 'eat as much as you like for a set sum' system, which we didn't really like the last time. However, this time we were quite happy. It was really reasonably priced and my mushrooms, potatoes and salad was lovely. I did have two platefuls and went home full up. We popped in to the market for some nuts and fetched my second month's lot of medicines as well.

On Saturday morning I went orienteering on my own as Roy didn't want to come, having left the car behind in the village. I got a lift from some friends and we got there in good time. I love the sand dunes and usually have a good run in them. The last time I ran at this place it was in the Night Champs and I won. This time, there was a great deal of quality opposition as a whole coach load of Skandinavians arrived on the last leg of their tour of Europe. It was my doing that they were there, as I wrote to the tour organiser, recommending this event to him nearly a year ago. I am glad he took my advice as their presence raised the stakes and created a good atmosphere. I think they enjoyed it too by the look of them in the assembly field. On Saturday I managed to pick up my three calendars from Arpi's mother Olga and got back home in good time. Out of 11 in W60 I was in second place overnight, with a deficit of about 3 minutes on the lead.

On Sunday Roy came too and we had a lift from another friend, who turned out very good company. We arrived at the event far too early, but at least I could talk Roy into walking to the start with me which was good exercise for him and provided a clothing exchange for me. The second day's course was a lot harder, both physically and technically. While on Saturday I made no mistakes, I did go awry twice on Sunday. I wasted about 4 minutes being pulled to the left on both occasions. On the day I was second again, but not to the same person. She actually didn't run on Sunday, but a Swedish lady who made a 12-14 minutes worth of error the day before and was way down in the results, did have a blinder on Sunday and won from me by about 6 minutes. Without my 4 minutes' worth of mistakes she would only have beaten me by 2 minutes, but such is life. However, her howler of the day before kept my overall lead safe and I stood on the top of the podium.

This event always gives you a certificate instead of a medal. With all these Skandiavians about, I was really pleased to get one this year. While waiting for the presentations we went and visited the little petting zoo that was attached to the farm near assembly. We saw sheep, goats, chickens and one very pretty young hind. Her soulful eyes and pretty long eyelashes were really photogenic. Unfortunately I had to photograph her through the wire mesh, which doesn't quite make for a good photo.

Just before leaving Peo Bengtsson, the leader of the Swedes gave me a lovely T shirt, which commemorates their tour this year and which made me very happy. He is such a lovely old man and an excellent orienteer. We were on the same course and he beat me by 3 minutes on Saturday. Unfortunately I couldn't take him on on the Sunday as he developed a nasty cold and didn't run on Day 2. We got home very early on Sunday as we were indoors by 3pm.

We were not home an hour when Alex rang and on came my little monster on Skype. He was heard to utter these words: "I want to say Hi to Grandad!" He never said that before. By the time Roy got to the laptop he was into other things and never said Hi to Grandad, but it didn't matter. He did actually communicate again a bit. I asked him for a muffin and he said I couldn't have one. I asked why and he answered: "Cos you are too far away." Correct observation, I thought. Now I am watching the US F1 race and keeping my fingers crossed that Vettel beats Alonso. I know Alonso is a genius of a driver, but I still dislike him intensely. The reason for this is quite involved, I'll write about it one day.