Torquay - Well what a weekend!! We arrived Thursday evening to start the set up... RAIN... RAIN... THUNDER.... RAIN... oh no!!!!

FRIDAY MORNING... the sun was shining YEAH!! The coach arrived on time 3.30pm, we were there with pom-poms in hand to greet our Peace-Train Passengers. They were guided through reception to the hotel welcome meeting which seamlessly moved nicely into our PEACE-TRAIN WELCOME DRINK, with all of our other guests that had made their own way, joining us for wine & juice. This was the time to go through the events of the weekend, seating and the most important... the distribution of MUSIC BAGS, pre-ordered or new orders! Also a perfect opportunity to introduce all the groups attending before the 1st nights dancing....HOT DAY... the English Riviera hasn’t let us down.

Dinner in the Victoria Hotel was SUPERB with a minimum of 3 choices per course, 4 courses including coffee, this is full waiter service. YUMMY... good start.

FRIDAY NIGHT – Opening Night – The hall was decorated in Peace-Train club colours, Blue & Yellow, no dress theme tonight. Already the atmosphere was alive and the noise level built steadily with the many blowers, tambourines and general excitement!!! Quick Teach COMIC STRIP, which was to be the password of the weekend, whenever you saw another linedancer, in the hotel / outside the hotel you would be greeted with the arm movements!!!! WE’RE AT THE SEASIDE...

SATURDAY MORNING WORKSHOP – With Me! After a leisurely breakfast the workshop started at 10 ish, a nice busy start with lots of enthusiasm. We started the day with the COMIC STRIP from Friday night to warm up...DID I MENTION IT’S HOT!!!! I then taught the largest dance of the day – Heart of an Ocean – P&A, music by Mark Medlock, good summer music too, a little tricky but good fun. URBAN HIT – my newest dance, fast country music from Keith Urban, again very well received... PHEW!!! Did I mention it was a perfect hot Summer’s day! Thank goodness for the constant cold filtered water from the cooler, industrial fans and the hotels own Air conditioning. Finished the morning with Speak to your Heart – another one from P&A, lovely little dance, and good music from Collin Raye.

SATURDAY AFTERNOON – this was the time for exploring, taking in the sites of Torquay, hunting for TACKY TRINKETS for Sunday evening’s competition. BUT for those that wanted to, it was a chance to learn CRANKY – RMH new dance, music by Ashley Tinsdale... I love this. Really enjoyed the company of the ‘Dream Team’ for the afternoon!

SATURDAY NIGHT – WOW! Hall changed again to Red, White, Blue. Everybody got into the spirit of the evening in their R/W/B stars & Stripes or union Jack attire. We had the wonderful and electrifying NATALIE providing the live entertainment. 2 fantastic sets with a real party finish. This was a fully charged evening of quality entertainment.. apart from possibly my rendition of toes! Less said about that the better ?... loads of noise and great fun... HOORAY!!! It was HOT, put even more fans in the hall.. everybody was still dancing all night... PERFECT.

SUNDAY WORKSHOP – another good turnout despite the wonderful weather. Another Cheater – Diana Dawson, music by Joey and Billy, great dance and music. Sister Kate – Ria Vos, music by The Ditty Bops. This has my name all over it!!!! Great music, fun teach YIPPEE!!! We had surprise entertainment from Pauline and fellow dancer Chris on the squeeze box and guitar whilst we had a rest.. Thank you and look forward to learning a little song in the future!

SUNDAY AFTERNOON – No workshop, just a relaxed afternoon to explore & relax. This was hall change number 3 for us... into the FINALE... THE BEACH PARTY. Calico arrived ready to party! Brian helped to save a few rogue helium balloons!!! Oohh to be that tall!

SUNDAY NIGHT – Again everybody was excited and the atmosphere was buzzing... was this really the last night... it felt like the first! Everybody made such an effort to dress as the theme... did I mention it was HOT?! Perfect for a beach theme as everyone was in shorts and summer clothes, felt a bit cooler. Calico were great and really got into the party spirit... the noise from tambourines, blowers and such didn’t seem to put them off and in fact just added to the whole party theme. First time I had heard them do Go Mama Go – just such a great song and another reason to bounce!

MONDAY MORNING... time to go home :( ... Breakfast to say goodbye and wave off our coach party, I coudn’t believe it was over already. I could not have asked for a nicer group of people to join us for our 1st holiday and I wish to thank them for their enthusiasm and constant smiles over the weekend.

Due to your comments and requests, I am happy to say, we have booked

2nd trip for 2010 SAME PLACE, SAME TIME 2-5 July,

Natalie will be joining us alongside the Peace-Train Disco, other artists to be confirmed.

Thank you again and hope to see you all next year.

Michelle