h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Friday night I set off to Aysgarth, Wensleydale, Yorkshire with a coachload of other ramblers. It was raining, this was to be expected. After stopping in Harrogate for dinner we arrived without getting a punture this time and were happy to discover that the local pub was only a few meters away from the youth hostel. It even had Black Sheep on tap .

Saturday it continued to rain, and did not stop at any point. With the snowmelt on top of the rain water, everywhere was very wet. Waterproofs only stay waterproof for so long and we were all absoloutly soaked. However, we didn't really mind and walked the whole 10 miles anyway. I was on a walk that finished at Aysgarth, while most the walks finished a few miles away. As we arrived back at the hostel, we saw the coach leave to pick the others up.

Two hours later the coach still hadn't arrived back at the hostel. We started to get a little worried and played a few more rounds of jenga. Half an hour after that we were beginning to get a little tired of playing jenga so decided to find out what had happened to the coach. A few phone calls later we found out that the coach was stuck in a meter of water 3km away. The engine had flooded, the breaks ceased and basically it was not going anywhere. Most of the others were wading along the road back to the hostel while a couple stayed with the coach driver in the river that used to be a road waiting for the tractors.

As the breaks had ceased, the tractors did no good and we had to leave the coach in the road for the night. Unfortuntaly, the Chocolate Box containing (unsuprisingly) our supplies was still on board.

The next morning (this morning I suppose) we were coachless, and were a little stumped as to what to do next. Another coach was being driven up from Nottingham, but we had no means to be dropped off for a day of rambling. Instead two new walks were planned, one to Bolton castle and one to see the stranded coach.

Naturally I opted to go to the coach and join the rescue party for the chocolate box. The flood waters ha subsided but the coach was useless. However, the was rescued successfuly. The coach arrived when it was supposed to and we got stuck behind the wet coach as it was towed on the way back.

The point of this story? Well, nothing really, apart from perhaps not to drive into a meter of water when you can already see a dead Pergout floating in front of you.

All I can say is "Ouch", that must have been fun.

Good point! and the intrepid rescue was successfull

We also rescued the safety equipment but that was a secondary concern. Fortunately we managed to get the police van that was on the scene to drive the equipment back for us. (The policeman was just pleased that we knew where the coach driver was as he wanted to get him to try an move the thing. However, the engine was very dead and it wasn't going anywhere)

It was a learning experience at least.

As interesting and applicable today as ever.
Sorry, that's not what I meant to say.
As interesting as this story is, after the title it left my surrealistic jeans (fish-washed, natch) a little dissappointed. Couldn't you make up and add in a bit about a salmon?

"waterproofs only stay waterproof for so long" Oh you've noticed that to?

We're lied to when we buy 'waterproof' clothing After a few heavy rain showers the chemicals in the material no longer seem to work.. breathable waterproof materials my a*se!!

Sorry Unc. i think that should have gone into the 'petty hates' thread...

Glad all turned out ok in the end (well, except for the poor coachR.I.P.)

It's fun-filled episodes like that which make travelling worth while!

, there weren't any fish. The quote was the first thing one of the ramblers from the dead coach said whilst drip drying in the hostel poarchway.

All waterproofs do is buy you time, normally not enough. Their only use seems to be to keep the wind off a bit. 'Breathable' often seems to just translate to 'more expensive' as well.

Bellamy's coaches must be a little concerned now, no coach of theirs we've hired has come back unscaved.

Hmmmmm....sabotage springs to mind

It builds character...

Did no-one tell the engine not to drink and drive?

A lack of fish would seem to indicate that in this case fiction is stranger than truth.

At least you managed to rescue the .

And I hope the wasn't soggy

Ah! would indeed be a consolation in such a situation.

A road isn't really the natural habitat for a fish, and only in very bizarre circumstances are they a component of rain.

Fortunately although the water eventually reached the top step of the coach's emergancy exit, it did not actually flood inside so the remained un-soggey.

What circumstances are they? Or are they the sort of circumstances that are not so cool once you know in detail about how they work?

It's not too interesting, but when a tornado goes over water you often get a water spout, which sucks up the water and everything in it and then rains it down.

Cool.

Bet the poor fish must be terrified.

Dead more likely. Where as coaches don't work very well underwater, fish don't function very well outside it.