The National championships were held in Sydney during the first week (Thursday to
Sunday) of September. I went along and strode into the fray, sabre swinging.
I learned many interesting things. Trams are a wonderful thing, and Melbourne's
public transport is pretty darn good. The Sydney trains at midday had the sort of stench
I normally associate with Melbournes trains at 2am, and it went steadily downhill
from there. Half the time I arrived at a station the machines were out of order, and
there was no one to check my ticket, or if there was, I got waved through before I even
had it out of my pocket (those sydney-siders seem to like blondes;). Not that I'm
complaining, it just struck me as rather silly. But not as silly as the boards they use
to show the time and stops of the next trains. Picture lots of little wooden rotating sticks
with station names printed on them, and wooden clocks with hands. These apparently had
to be changed manually by someone employed for the purpose (maybe they were also supposed
to be checking tickets?). At Lidcombe station on my way home one night, two gentlemen were
puzzling over timetables trying to set them. I couldn't figure out which platform I was
meant to be on, and they didn't sound like they'd be much help, so I just gave it my best guess.
I guess they're meant to be historic or something, but give me digital displays and monitors any
day, or at least a timetable. And I never did work out where those ramps started. Carrying
a fencing bag up and down 30 or so steps isn't much fun.
Having to boil ones water gets pretty annoying
after a while, and pouring hot water into a plastic soft-drink bottle makes it
shrink. Cheap hotels are cheap for a reason, often several reasons. I don't think
I've ever eaten tinned spaghetti in a Bistro before
The Sydney airport has recently
changed it's baggage belt, and it can no longer handle anything as long as a fencing
bag. Several small children narrowly escaped injury as my bag attempted to jump off
the corner. It'll do better next time.
I discovered early-morning cartoons, specifically, Biker Mice. Very odd, but I
couldn't help but identify with the phrase "when in doubt, blow everything up".
On the plus side, Sydney has many fine book shops, and very friendly people. Very
friendly. It was good for my ego, I don't remember ever receiving so many compliments in so
few days before, but I generally prefer to maintain the illusion
of being anonymous. I was glad when David joined me on Friday night.
So, to fencing matters. It was hot and humid on the Thursday when I fenced Sabre,
not good fencing weather, extremely bad sabre weather. Slowly broiling in my lame,
I was a tad lethargic, but
fortunately I didn't seem to be the only one. I was a little surprised when only
ten people showed up, there being 12 in Adelaide and Sydney supposedly having a
quite strong crowd of women Sabreurs. But then I remembered this was the National
Championships, and for some reason people seem to get scared off by that, even
though it's exactly the same people there as compete in all the other national comps.
Same thing happens at the state level. Bizarre.
Later I tracked down the souvenir T-shirts, and explored the Fencing Shop, seeing
first hand some real live Fencing Shoes. I think I will have to get me some.
And on the Saturday there was Wheelchair Fencing! Sabre no less, I was fascinated, it looks like a lot of fun, and lets face it, isn't footwork the one bit of fencing none of us likes?
Here is my bill for a 4 day stay;
Airfare - $202
Accomodation - $210
Entry Fee - $ 26
Public Transport - $ 25
Food - $ 75
Sabre Blade - $ 26
Tourist stuff - $150
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Total $653
Not cheap, but was it worth it? Well really, no it wasn't. Even fencing isn't
worth $100 a day (I'm not counting tourist stuff). However, I'll do it all again next year
anyway, inherently random universe willing.
It's nice to fence against people other than the usual Victorian suspects, and
having to tell your boss you need time off to compete in a national competition is
sorta fun too. And of course it's a good way to have a short interstate holiday,
whilst making it sound so much more worthwhile and important than a mere trip away
from home.
Anyway, that was my Australian National Championships experience. Hopefully next year more people will show up.