Camping Weekend at Bylong

Highlights of the mouse races

Camping Weekend at BylongWe had lovely weather for our camping weekend in Bylong, near Rylstone. We camped at the showground so we could watch the strangest race on earth, the Bylong Mouse Races. Some of us arrived on Friday afternoon and were greeted by Gary and Carol Rickard who had arrived earlier to stake a claim for the Vauxhall Mouse Racing Team. There’s not much to Bylong, a general store, church with spooky old grave yard near our campsite (which the kids loved exploring) and a general store, but the locals were friendly and keen to have a chat and the Bylong Valley is very picturesque. The mouse racing started at 11am, and there was plenty of money changing hands with the bookies, so we knew this was a serious local event. We had strong hopes for our 2 entries, Vagabond Lad in race 3 and Vauxhall Flash in race 4. We secured our seats near the front so we could have a good view of the clear mouse racing box. We all looked great in our Angel Aranega designed T-shirts. We knew the first race was about to start when a lady with a long, narrow wooden box arrived and attached it to the side of the mouse track. Then they were off, the crowd went mad with laughter as some of the mice took off out of the starters gate at a cracking pace, while others ran along halfway and then stopped for a scratch and others turned around and ran back the wrong way. A feather duster on the end of a long stick was used to coax out the mice who failed to finish, but the stick broke and the MC asked if there was a carpenter in the house, this slowed proceedings for a while. Soon it was time for the Vagabond Lad to make his appearance, but sadly he failed to place. However, just before the Vauxhall Flash was due to race, an unsuspecting Andrew O’Connor was pulled aside by the MC and asked a few questions about the prospects for the Vauxhall Flash. This obviously had a positive effect on the Flash as he won his race.

Those who attended were:Stuart, Gail, Sarah and Kirsty SheldonAngel, Fay, Sofia and Nicolas AranegaGraham, Lindy, Samuel, Erin and Lochlan JohnsonGary and Carol RickardBen, Korinda, Amelia and Jasmine RickardGreg and Gail OrfordRoger MullinsBob and Kay FlemingLaurie, Rosemarie and Andrew O’Connor

At first the Flash didn’t come out of the box, then he came out about a metre and then turned around and went back into his box, we thought all was lost, but then he came out and just kept running, whilst all the other mice that were near the finish line decided to turn around. Kay Flemming got so excited that she nearly knocked Stuart Sheldon out when she jumped up out of her chair. It was hilarious. Then Stuart went up to receive a trophy and bottle of wine on behalf of the Vauxhall club. It was a great day.