I was expecting worse...
Flat out capping and dragging back for 10m, but instead I promised a sunny, sociable outing from the team (Team Awesome). I met Joe at the lay-by as it was just us two for this weeks sesh. I offered Joe a pre-beer and in return he kindly offered me the use of his caving kit for my shift. Joe then told me about the dark sides of the dig... First up was a jog down the busy A6!
Joe took the first shift at the end and told me to just sit down, shurrup and listen to tunes. I decided to listen to a podcast, mainly so I could hear his screams from the end! I sat on the uncomfortable, uninviting floor, constantly having to bat off flies and mosquito's who had similar plans for a Wednesday evening. Every few minutes the cool draught would turn into smoky cap fumes, shortly followed by 'PULL!'
After an hour of solitude with my podcast nearly finished, Joe surfaced, removed his suit and ordered me to kit up and do my shift. I headed to the end and had a quick survey of the area. Firstly I had to clear away all the small shrapnel from the floor as the tightness of the passage forced these small protrusions to poke in various uncomfortable positions; like my back, hip or groin. The first cap was annoying, mainly just sussing out where I needed to be and how I needed to squint in order to avoid dust from the drill hole going in my eyes and throat.
Beyond the first cap the ball started to roll and progress became quick. But all good things come to an end and I reached a fairly fractured section of roof that wouldn't budge. Caps did nothing, the bar got stuck multiple times, then the chisel bit got stuck and I got seriously fed up. My little Johnny kitten arms were starting to ache! A brief pause, I decided to just go balls out and cap the crap out of it until it worked. Three shot holes later and a large section of the roof narrowly missed hitting me cap lamp, landing on the slope just in front of my face.
To this point I'd piled a load of rocks all around me, as dragging and filling the tray was problematic at best! 5 or 6 kibbles later I shouted down to Joe asking him for a plan and immediately received a 'GET OUT!' My attempts to place the packed drill back in the kibble for a return trip to surface seemed futile in the tiny space provided. After some shouting, bag now in bucket, Joe pulled it back and I backed up and surfaced into darkness! It was gone 10pm and all that was left to do was run for our lives back up the A6 in the dark.
Great fun, would definitely go again...