As we lay down to shoot at 1000 yards, three lonely rain drops appear and everyone scampers off to hide from the inevitable British downpour. Five minutes later with tails neatly tucked between our legs we set up again on the firing point. Calm conditions sent some of us even further down the scoreboard while furthering others lead. Tim Kidner, Gareth James, Gil Walker and Adrian Abbott came out on top each with 75.12.

Yesterday afternoon the Belmont range showed us exactly what a tricky place it can be. The later in the afternoon you shot, the more of your shots dropped low. No-one claims to know what this is caused by. So, for Sunday we hoped for a kinder treatment – especially as the course of fire was 1,200, 1,100 and 1000 yards.  We stared with much calmer weather, but this was due mainly to the fact that it was pouring with rain. It rains properly here and shooting waits for the skies to clear. Very civilised. The forecast was for showers all day, but luck was with us and this was all the rain we got.

The first day of competitive shooting started early with some of the party departing HQ for Belmont at 6:30. Gareth James and others were surprised to know that there were two six o’clocks in a day.

On our second full day in Brisbane, the English weather finally caught up with us.  The overcast conditions promised lower temperatures and more comfortable shooting conditions, though the rain was slightly less welcome.  Fortunately, this cleared up by midday and we had been given the morning off to do with as we pleased.  Some of us took the opportunity for a lie in and a late breakfast, while others headed to the range for some “fine tuning” of their equipment.

Day 3.The launch of the Titanic. It was decided to venture into the swell of Noosa sound. Chefs Will Mott and Si Whitby kept the crew fed on Roo burgers and Beer whilst Coxswain Meldrum steered us through the somewhat chaotic waters of Noosa Sound narrowly avoiding a sinking as the more portly members of the crew all gathered at the bow to marvel at the Pacific swell. Later after a short period of being marooned on a sandbar the plucky crew docked and returned to the serious question of where to eat that night, there being only a few hours since the last meal.

Bleary-eyed from two consecutive overnight flights, the team assembled at Brisbane airport in a disorderly fashion to take on responsibility for the team hire cars. Although all arrived at the same time, there remained a clear demarcation between the groups as those who flew business had benefitted from showers in Taipei whereas those who flew economy had clearly not!

Chiefly to prevent being handbagged by Loulou "Handbag" Brister, the squad met up for a final pre-travel training day.  Elevenses included Flapjacks and Rocky Roads, and after a squad photo and lunch we shot the rust out of our barrels on probably the warmest day yet of 2010, with temperatures sometimes in excess of 5 degrees!