Date: Thursday 21st September 06
Venue: Fonmon Castle, Barry.

WOW! What a day!

To help build the IT3.com community Adam and Rachel decided to take a number of clients for a fun packed day out. From the picture below you can see who came along, from left to right…

Jonathan Jenvey - Neath Car Sales, Adam Price – IT3.com, Rachel Weybourne – IT3.com, Sarah Wenham – Real Crisps, John Davies – The Oatmeal Group, Richard Seaward – Sinclair Group and not forgetting the camera man taking the picture Alan – AGW Photography.

The day started bright and early at 8.45am. We all arrived at Fonmon Castle and were greeted by a big basket of hot bacon rolls, teas and coffee – a fine way to start the day. After our breakfast and safety briefing we were ready to go.

First up, the Honda Pilots…

We each had 4 practice laps around the track and then it was time for the racing to begin! The competitiveness was just oozing out of the lads, whereas the girls just kept their cool and let’s just say that they took a steady drive around the track. The results – Adam topped the score board with Richard, a very close second. John did extremely well but got a bit too friendly with the flag on his last lap and earned himself an extra 5secs onto his final time. At the other end of the score board Rachel cruised in with the slowest time but was commended for her steady driving.

Sarah	Adam topped the score board with Richard	John
Jonathan	'Speedy' Rachel	Richard

Next up, Archery…

For those of you who have never tried archery before it’s definitely worth a go. We had a couple of dark horses in the group, Sarah being one of them – she did extremely well! Between everyone there were only one or two stray arrows and quite a few bulls’ eyes. The archery results – Adam was in the lead for most of the time having the highest score of 31, but then just before the end of the session Jonathan got a great score of 32.

Sarah did very well!	Rachel in action	Jonathan was in the lead	Richard

Next up, Axe Throwing…

Well this was something that none of us had done before and it definitely isn’t as easy as you may think. How difficult could it be to throw an axe??? Without embarrassing individuals it’s safe to say that everyone hit the ground and not the target on occasions. There were two types of axes, a large one that had to be thrown over your head and a smaller one which was thrown one handed. Whilst axe throwing we had ice cold lemonade, coffee and slices of cake brought out to us, which was gorgeous and definitely needed to boost the energy at that point. The results – Richard came on top this time.

As you can see...	...
...	... axe throwing isn't as easy as you may think!

Next up, Laser Shooting…

By this point the sun had really warmed up and in was a gorgeous day. Karen from eVenture even came round with the sun cream. We went through the normal safety briefing that you would expect when dealing with guns and then it was time to begin. We were going to attempt clay pigeon shooting without the clay pigeons and the guns were a little different to a normal gun – they looked like rifles but shot lasers rather than bullets. The clay pigeons were actually little plastic discs with a reflective strip so when the laser came in contact with it a signal would be sent back to the gun itself which would clock up the points. The results – as you will have noticed most of the winners have come from the lads so far and this event was no different however, Rachel did come 3rd in this event, Jonathan came second and Alan, the photographer, came first.

Last but certainly not least, Muskets and Mortars…

Now this event was combined with a history lesson. The event host was dressed up like an 18th century soldier and told us all about the musket and how it had been used in the past. It was fascinating and unbelievable to think that people actually won wars using this piece of equipment. We each took our turn to fire the musket. As usual Rachel was sent up first and as you can see by the pictures she was a little surprised when the gun actually went off. She did let it go with one hand but luckily she didn’t completely drop it. Rather than have lead bullets we were firing paint balls and were asked to shoot at two French soldiers (card board cutouts really). The results – even though Rachel nearly dropped the musket she actually got the most points for her shot – one for the girls!

In spite of almost dropping the gun...	...

As you will notice...	...
...	...shooting a musket involves a lot of smoke!

Then it was time for the Mortar. The best way to describe this to those who aren’t clued up on 18th century battlefields is - it is a baby canon. We each had a role in the preparation of firing the canon. Adam was given a device to work out that the canon was pointing in the exact direction; Richard and Jonathan were given long pieces of wood to move the mortar to the correct position. Sarah had a funny gadget that ensured the mortar was angled correctly, Rachel had cone shaped gadget that ensured the gun powder went into the right place and John had to ensure the mortar was clean after it had been fired. We each played our part and this is what happened….

Then Lunch… this was the perfect end to a great morning. Everyone sat down at the table shattered and hungry. We had a wonderful lunch and at the end the presentations! One of our team, Richard Seaward won a medal, a certificate and a bottle of Champagne for achieving joint first within the overall best scores out of all the teams participating.

I’m sure everyone will agree they had a great time!

Adam and Rachel would like to say a huge thank you to the eVenture team for making it a fantastic day and to everyone who joined us. We hope you all had a wonderful day!