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Jailbreak!Jailbreak November, 2005
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Jailbreak!
Manchester Jailbreak 2005 - A charity event set up by the University charity, in which teams of two have to get as far away from Manchester without spending ANY money in 30 hours!
Me and my team-mate Ashleigh set off with high hopes of grabbing a plane to a far away sun filled paradise - -well, it didn't really end up like that but we still had a ball. Managed to blag trains throughout the UK - I'm not saying I condone such behaviour but it was so easy! :D
After trying (and failing miserably) at Birmingham International Airport to get a flight we headed down to Gatwick to try there - since it wasn't summer season we had just missed the last flight of the day - so we attempted to get some sleep at get up super early to blag a flight somewhere......after 3 hours trying (once again failing) we dragged our sorry selves to the station, via london and on towards Dover in Kent to grab a ferry to blag a ferry to the continent. Unfortunately, all the other teams had the same idea and had already passed through during the night. Now that it was morning, the area manager had come down and was extremely angry that so many people had managed to blag free passes so we unfortunately weren't going to get one - the only way to get across would be to pull down a massive truck to take us across.....easy! At a traffic crossing we deliberately made the lights go red before running in front of the truck screaming and shouting - it was hilarious! Finally after some presuausion, Raphael, our new found friend, helped us aboard and drove us all the way to Reims! By this time the 30 hours were up and we just got drunk with him - was the most surreal thing ever, getting lashed in the cab of a heavy goods vehicle in the middle of nowhere........in France!
The way home proved a bit more difficult. Me and Ash both had a fair bit of work due in, so time wasn't really on our sides.......we spent 8 hours the following day at this damned Service Station in the middle of the Champagne regoin of France trying to speak French to people, and grab lifts wherever possible. Since this was a Sunday, it was all the more difficult as no heavy goods vehicles can drive through France on major routes until 10pm on a sunday evening. We thought we were destined for another night in a service station in the freezing cold when a small van darted right by us as we threw out hands in the air, and he calmly shouted 'hop in' as he opened the door to his truck - what an amazing bit of luck! Greg got us all the way to Heathrow Airport - not before spending some decent time in the Truckers' Lounge on the ferry home - with huge relax chairs to get massages, a free dinner, the lot! We even watched a few films on his £3000 entertainment system in his van! Man, it was fun.
We made our way into London town and grabbed a cab (the first time we had to pay for anything!) to Ash's sisters place where we crashed for a couple of hours before slowly trudging home on the trains, once more blagging it big style! Trains seemed so easy to blag after trying to get a plane!
Raised about £300 for a great cancer research charity in Manchester and had the funniest, craziest, surreal time of my life in the process! Most Uni's now run these kind of events, so if any of you are at Unni try and get involved!
Loved every second! :D |
Locations Visited: Manchester, Birmingham, Gatwick, Dover, Calais, Reims, Dunkerque, Dover, Heathrow, London, Manchester
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