These boots were made for walking...

DAY 5

It was Sunday and it was our day off. From walking, that is!!

All we were told the night before is that the next day we would have to dress up in our own personal style for a photoshoot and then perform a little challenge. NO WALKING. That sounded cool especially since we were going to Oxford and could do some shopping...

It was a bit of a struggle getting ready in the morning but we made our way out and packed the Fanwalk party bus for a new adventure.



When we got to Radcliffe Square in Oxford and finished our shoot we were briefed about our challenge for the day and for the next day. We had to split up in teams and create bands by collecting musical items from the streets of Oxford in any non-criminal manner. We couldn't buy the stuff either.


Three persons from each team followed by their own camera crew scoured the streets in search of "instruments". The result was amusing and quite creative. My team even managed to get an actual item from a band's tour bus...the "Cage the Elephant" tour cow-bell!! (www.myspace.com/cagetheelephant)


In the evening we were split up in four different hotels which SUCKED. Particularly scary was our choice of hotel...the Formule 1. We were just a group of about 10 separated from the rest of the team. However, we quickly made up for that at our night party location...the Barton's Arms. This pub was so majestic and breathtaking with its swooping staircase and chandeliers, that I couldn't help stop and stare. In addition, I felt some sort of connection with its musical roots especially when I found out icons like Ozzy Osbourne and UB40 used to be regulars there.

The night was pretty relaxed and Clubfeet got a little more intimate with an up-close-and-personal gig followed by some fanwalker performances. The Italian fanwalkers entertained us with their dance rendition of Mamma Mia!, Caroline from Germany sang a little Cranberries and the Free Booze Band played the unofficial fanwalk song - "Wonderwall".



DAY 6


And then we busked.

The sixth day saw us in Birmingham starting off with some time with the Birmingham press and some more photoshoots. By this time we had all gotten sick of getting our pictures taken.

Our mission was to use the instruments we had collected the day before to BUSK for charity. We all had our hats, tins and jars ready for collecting coins in aid of Sound Futures: an organisation in Birmingham providing underprivileged kids the chance to play an instrument. Unfortunately, we were stopped by the fuzz, but still managed to collect a lot of money in a short time.

On the bus ride to our walking spot of the day, Sarah (my fellow Maltese sister) suggested we do a mini-challenge to get a wristband. Seeing that we were only going to walk 8 kms that morning we thought we'd tie our shoelaces together for the whole distance. This day was to be known as Muddy Monday...

Never in my 19 years of life did I see such quantity, depth and density of mud before!! It was the worst day to pick a challenge but we endured. Two kilometres of tripping, falling on our arses and getting mud in our pants we were finally made to stop, much to our dismay. The terrain was too dense and we were slowing the team down. It was the funniest and most difficult walking experience of my life but totally worth it because later that night we were awarded a special Sony Ericsson gadget for it (http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/14/sony-ericssons-hbh-ds970-stereo-bluetooth-headset-with-remote/). Also, we travelled through dark woodland with steep climbs and our torches to guide us. It was a new experience for me.

The good news was that we got to spend the evening in a Spa Resort with comfortable beds, spa facilities and a mini-fridge in each room. *grin* The rooms were so large and opened up to the lawn. Basically, we kept the residents up all night. ;)

The biggest announcement that night was when Troy revealed the final list of eligible fanwalkers to present the award at the MTV EMAs. The pressure was certainly on for these guys as they had 24 hours to prepare a 1 minute speech explaining why they were the ones to present the award. However, for that one night, nerves were pushed aside.