Day 127 : Hanging on too tight Mav

Obviously the motivation was there but many have suggested the concept of driving a fire engine around the world has a hint of a mid thirties crisis ! In some way hanging onto my youth. At no point is this true, in no way did I drag the crew round Sydney today, showing them where I lived and played in Sydney when I was 22 and in no way I am hanging on too tight. Okay, well maybe a little bit…

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Seeing Sydney again was always going to be a little bit weird as I have many good memories from my backpacking days and living here. Not in my wildest dreams would I have thought I would be driving through the city after over 18,500 miles through 23 countries in a fire engine ! I am happy to say that days like today again make all the blood and sweat worth while. Sydney is incredible, Martha was very much at home lording it up next to the harbour and I think she enjoyed our trip down memory lane. Amy and Louise also have fond memories of this city so Fuad and Barham had to put up with three very excited crew pointing out every location of times gone by.

Our HQ for Sydney is Glebe (and yes, I stayed here too when was 22!). We rocked up at the Glebe fire station and quickly challenged them to a game of cricket, which the lads there didn’t hesitate to accept (they saw the shabby state of us and assumed we would be a walk over). After a loose start (Barham going for a second ball duck) we settled in for an entertaining match. It’s not often you get to play cricket out the back of a fire station and especially not when hitting the ball for six over the fence it lands in Leo Sayer’s garden, proper random !  It was decided the final game was going to be the “Ashes Predicator”, crew 5 versus Glebe Fire Fighters. A hostile game with the Ozzie’s initially attacking my first 4 deliveries only for the batsman to sky the fourth delivery in the air. Caught and bowled by a very excited S.P. Moore, back in the match.  P. Barham was our batsman and did a world class job of digging out yorker after yorker but a late wicket saw the first innings end in a draw. Over to the girls ….  L.C. Mahoney taking the attack to the Ozzie’s bowling with some unorthodox yet effective slogging.  We were however in all sorts of trouble with the Ozzie’s second innings steam rolling our bowling. With only 2 needed off 2 balls, S.A. Harpin produced a piece of cricketing magic. On par with Shane Warne’s ball of the century, from around the wicket the amount of drift was epic, pitching outside off it spun like a 45 whipping past the bat to take out the leg stump, you beauty! Australia needing 1 off the last ball for a draw which they did with confidence. A draw for the Ashes Predictor. There you have it, if you are a betting man, your tip is the ashes will be a draw, go put your house on it !

12 years since Sydney the first time round it was awesome to be back. Apart from the fact that I can’t put my shoes on without making a groaning noise, I am still a spring chicken and you never know, FollowThatFireBoat maybe back on these shores in 12 years time …

Steve

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