James' Blog

Ever fancied bein’ an ambassador for your town or city and havin’ loads of fun days out with friends and family? Well I did, and in the spring of ‘09 I heard about visitTeesvalley’s ”The Face of Tees Valley” competition and entered. I had to do a video entry and I talked about all the events I attend in the area and why I thought I would be a good ambassador for the region.

I was initially suprised to get the call inviting me to attend the semi-final at Hartlepool Marina but was also excited about the day and looked forward to the events planned. We all met at the Marina and it was clear that the competition was gonna be tuff as everyone was very friendly an’ we all got on immediately .

Our first trial was the “Thundercat” speed boatswhere we raced 3 at a time round the Marina circuit.  The pull as the craft set off was unreal and tryin to hold on despite bein’ covered in spray as well as being encouraged to lean insanely far out of the boat to take corners kept the heart firmly in the mouth !!!

Although a bit of a blur I’m stickin’ to my story that I pulled in first an’ took the day ha ha.

We were then sent off to the other side of the Marina (mostly in a bus although I took the scenic route and had a slower ride in the Thundercat).  As we docked and de-helmeted we saw what can only be described as a collection of spheres floating on the water like redundant washing detergent balls (little did I know that we were to be thrown inside and put on a “spin cycle”). 

These were the “Walk on Water” globes and we all flung off our shoes ready to dive in!!  These things were the most fun ever although if you have far to walk later take it easy (I spent ten mins runnin’ like a hamster in a ball, and knackered myself).  At first it was a very surreal experience an’ I felt like the boy in the bubble bein’ watched by faces just out of earshot.  I soon acclimatised to the weirdness and began the almost impossible task of standin’ up in the spheres.  It was almost as much fun watchin’ everyone else fallin’ about in them as it was inside, and finally mastering summersaults as I fell over gave me a real sense of accomplishment lol.  We were treated to lunch and all given a chance to nobble the judges with our wit and winning smiles (only jokin’). We were asked to prepare a presentation for the judges all about ourselves!!

This seemed to go well (must have, now I think about it lol) although it was pretty nerve rackin’.  I think my revelation about a “kick ass” Micheal Jackson tribute dance may have swung it in the end for me, although luckily I wasn’t asked to demonstrate.  It was great to meet so many amazing people in one day from the judges, the “Face of Tees Valley” team and most of all the other finalists.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent runnin’ around the Marina but as I’m doin that as part of one of  my event days I’ll leave that for now and let you know all the fun that happens there later x

Pop back soon as I’ve already been white water raftin’ and can’t wait to tell you how that went (minus all the antics in the shower, don’t worry we were just pretending to be a boy band)

See ya soon, James x x

This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.