I remembered that I had run out of contact lens solution, so I headed down to Norte to get some more. I couldn�t find any, and Norte was heaving, so I didn�t bother doing any shopping, just wandered off to find an open optician before siesta-time.

I found one around Plaza Independencia, and picked up some solutions, dropping them back off home and then going back to Norte to get some stuff now that it had quietened down.

Stupidly, I didn�t have anything to eat before leaving for the Eisteddfod, carrying my dancing clothes with me, and so I stopped in at a Panaderia on the way.

Frustratingly, they didn�t have any empanadas, so I ended up with a vegetable pie, which turned out to be pretty much just spinach and pastry.

After a few bites, I got bored with it and chucked it away.

Again, I had managed to miss the formalities, but was there in time for the competitions. The afternoon ran quite smoothly, with the bardic chair being presented before going off for Welsh Tea with the Hughes family.

On the way back to the Eisteddfod, I bumped into Bruno, Cooper and Darcy again, so we sat down for a chin-wag in the drinks tent for half an hour, before I went back to find my place in the crowd.

The next few hours seemed to go by quickly, as I followed the programme, watching the choirs and the individual performances, the poetry and the crowning of the bard - the high point of the evening.

Eventually it was time to go and get ready, so I got my dancing gear on and desperately tried to remember the steps as everyone hyped themselves up downstairs and the opposition next to us limbering up as well.

Do it like this, someone would shout out. Nah, I prefer it, this way, someone else would say. Pah. I just got on with it. Did some meditation and got ready to get out there and give the performance of my life. Eisteddfod Trelew 2004. Are you ready?!

So, that was it. 11 and a half hours of waiting and then on stage for about 2 minutes, then off we went, waving wildly as the crowd clapped us off. What fun.

We had to wait a while for the verdict, though, as the other group had made a mistake in their dance, and had to do it again. We clapped in time with them all the way through, taking photos of each other and waiting to find who won.

Apparently, there was no real contest - we were the professional group who were step-perfect all the way through (if only they could have seen rehearsals!)

It was gone 2 o�clock by then, and the Eisteddfod went on until nearly 3, after which Alan, Gareth and myself went around to the after-show party at the Sociedad Rural for pizza and 7-up. Party on, dude.

Then the choral singing started and we made our excuses. It was 4 o�clock and I had had a long, long day...longer than most days, and that�s saying something for recently!