The Badger's Set: party

Monday, October 05, 2009

Campo's Bulls Party

A few weeks ago Andy Camp (Campo) and Philippa tied the knot. The nice thing about weddings is that a raucous bulls party usually precedes the main event, and this wedding was no different. Rich Webb had arranged a spectacular weekend away at a place called Highover, which is quite close to Richmond.

After arriving at various times throughout Friday afternoon and evening, your basic bulls party unfolded and was met with great excitement. There were some overseas visitors in attendance, and their presence certainly gave the weekend an air of significance. Bon-fires, music, beers, and previously untold stories of Campo at his finest (or not so finest) set the scene for a great weekend away.

Saturday morning was spent tubing down the freezing waters of the nearby river as well as attempting to master the rickety foofie slide, which I think we eventually sent into retirement. Those with wetsuits definitely had the upper hand. Cruising down the river and taking on the rapids was an unexpected highlight of the weekend. After the tubing, it was a mad rush to get to the owner’s house for some Tri-Nations rugby. We shared what must have been the biggest bag of biltong any of us had ever seen and had it not been for the one Aussie in our midst, I dare say it might have been a perfect day out. Saturday night was spent around the fire again and plenty laughs and loud music were the order of the day. It was quite apparent that everyone had had a superb time away. Well done Rich for organizing such a unique and awesome weekend away.

It’s also worth mentioning that a Bulls party is not a Bulls party without it’s one incident that takes it to the next level. And that incident had to be when Philippa’s Dad’s mate did a drunken free fall onto the bonfire. Had it not been for Porker’s cheetah-like reactionary senses, he very well may have been left there to burn for the night. It was the flames from the jacket and the smell of burning flesh that alerted Porker to the scene and once he had rolled the guy off the fire, things returned to normal.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

My Bulls Party

It’s quite strange being the Bull. I’ve attended a fair amount of Bull’s parties in recent years to know that they’re helluva good fun. A Bulls party is not your average social rendezvous with the boys, it’s more than that. You just know that the bar is going to be raised and you’re fully aware that anything can happen. And actually being the bull, you have the added anxiety of knowing that it’s ALL ABOUT YOU !!! All that attention and knowing that you’re a target, is something that is both scary and exhilarating all at the same time. I guess it all boils down to whether the guys you’ve invited are you friends or your enemies. If you didn’t know before, you should have a fair idea by the end of your Bulls party.

Mike had organized an awesome holiday house down the South Coast in Pennington. A massive house right on the beach complete with pool and huge garden. The plan was simple. Arrive Friday after work, party hard, play golf, party hard again and then get the hell out of there and run home to our respective ‘safe places’.

Groom and groomsmen

Nothing like competitive racing around the garden to get things going

Needless to say, a Bulls party is not a bulls party unless the bull makes a spectacle of himself and is bound to a strict set of laws, the breaking of which leads to harsh, but fair punishment. I think Mike’s intentions were for me to resemble a variation of a racing badger, although Pants happened to mention to Nicky that I looked more like a gay rabbit. It didn’t matter, the objective was achieved and I’m sure it was quite entertaining seeing me dressed like an idiot out on the golf course with Jimmy in toe. Jimmy by the way is the big brown bear who was basically my new best friend for the weekend. Without Jimmy, I was a dead man. No Jimmy = Shots of cane.

I feel I received a fair balance of abuse as well as care. Abuse on the Friday night was rife, and I was given very little clout when it came to deciding how much cane I should drink. Saturday night was a slightly different affair which actually resulted in me being the last one to hit the sack, compared to Friday night where I was first in bed and dreaming by 10pm.

One of the highlights had to be the surprise arrival of Kurt who decided a few days earlier that he would fly out from the UK for the wedding. This in itself was superb, but the fact that he managed to pull in for the bulls party as well was just unbelievable.

Being the bull was awesome!! It came with its benefits as well as downfalls, but the downfalls were generally hilarious, so it’s a win-win. Shot Tont for organizing a superb weekend away and thanks to all that were there for grilling me over and jolling with me on my last weekend as a single man. I had an absolute belter of a weekend !!!
Watch this space…..Campo is next !!!!!!