I told them, I said to them, ‘Lads,’ I said, ‘Would I ever let you down? I mean, look at this.’
‘You’ve got your space to swing a quokka (for earlier in the day the boys had enjoyed a day on Rottnest Island, the exclusive home of the aforementioned macropod), you’ve got your air conditioning. What more could you possibly want?’
‘How about this, in hostel form, on a full time basis. For the rest of the tour….’
And with that, we glumly boarded the midnight plane to Melbourne. Like Andre Villas-Boas, I think I may have lost the dressing room.
‘Lads?’
‘Err, lads?’
‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’ etc etc. Exuent, pursued by a stare. And a jolly harsh one at that.