Day 1 - Saturday 16th August 1997 - So it begins....

After a reasonable night’s sleep, I set off in the early hours for the town of Aberystwyth, in Wales. Aberystwyth was also where EuroHowl’96 was held and I also had friends there, so it was a long and familiar journey. (Bar the delayed trains and running over broken rails...) At the train connection in Shrewsbury, I met up with Jim for the final leg of the trip. We also knew that Locandez was also on the train, but alas knew nothing about him. So during the trip we guessed who might be Locandez, hoping he would make himself shown. Once the train arrived in Aberystwyth we were met by Megadog and finally Locandez made himself known. Both myself and Jim had managed to pick the right person on the train. Quite how we knew it was Locandez, we have no idea. It was just a "feeling" we both had, there were no visual clues as to his identity. Intuition or lucky guess? Mine’s on the guess, but never mind.

We all headed up to the accommodation block in the Megadog Mobile, where we found that Raukan, Cass, Arctic, Guardian, and Wizard Wolf were already waiting for us. They had headed across from Ireland together by van and were milling around and looking criminal. Christoph was also there, having driven all the way from Germany at some ungodly hour. After sorting out the accommodation we milled around in the campus grounds, talking under the shade of a tree and being molested by the foxes.

Around 5pm Shiraa and Shuck showed up in the Pontiac Fiero, followed by Tiogar in a less impressive Ford Sierra. Not long after that, Moonchild and Rain turned up, delayed by rail problems on their journey to Aberystwyth. (Said broken rail my train had risked crossing.) Now that we were all together, we headed out to the supermarket and shopped for provisions. Judging by the lack of store detectives following us, it seems that Safeway, the local supermarket, had very good video surveillance...

After a group fed and had a chat, some of us went into the hills just across from the accommodation block to prowl the darkened trees. Night vision proved important as we wandered up the moonlit paths. Upon reaching the top of the hill, we strolled along the golf course there. Spying that the rakes for the sand bunkers had been left out I felt the need to mark my territory, and so scrawled "Wolves Here!" in large three foot letters across a bunker. There’s nothing like making a few of the natives restless...
 

Day 2 - Sunday 17th August 1997 - Wanderin’ Wolves....

By mid-afternoon Lugodoc turned up, slightly the worse for wear after a wedding the previous day. Once he had settled in we all headed out for a walk along the side of a lake to the south-east of Aberystwyth.

After a few group photographs in the car park, we set off across the dam and around the lake itself. (It was at this point that most of the group realized just how out of shape they were!) After barking at the nearby sheep and the hapless passers by, we headed off the lake path and up into the woods. After a rest at the top of the hill, in a clearing used by forestry vehicles, we headed back down the hill and towards the lake. The temptation to take a short cut though the woods using Arctic’s GPS was resisted, since the terrain through the forest would be tough going to say the least. So we were content to head back the way we came while Locandez chased most of the nearby sheep. Dog knows where he gets the energy, but I have strange suspicions as to why foxes allegedly smell of coffee.

On returning to the accommodation, we relaxed and proceeded with the group feeding. It was at this time when I started to try new food recipes, namely existing foodstuffs but with beer added. First off was "Beer and Ice Cream", a rather fizzy and surprisingly tasty dessert. Nutella, a hazelnut chocolate spread, and Bonios, a type of dog biscuit, go extremely well together too.

The rest of the evening was spent talking over booze and nibbles.
 

Day 3 - Monday 18th August 1997 - Full Moon Madness....

With the full moon upon us, it was time for the infamous beach bonfire. The first task of the day was buying the bonfire food. This meant such mouthwatering morsels such as sausages, burgers, marshmallows and bananas... more on the bananas later. The following task was to find a site along the beach to hold the bonfire, so Megadog and myself scampered southwards in the Megadog Mobile to check the beach there. The imaginatively titled "South Beach" proved very rocky and slanted, unsuitable for any bonfire, while further south the beach was inaccessible and blocked by private land. On a hunch, we headed back north up towards Borth in hope of finding a spot there. Alas the beach was a Nature Reserve so any fire there was out of the question. So we were forced to pick the same spot as last year for the bonfire.

All that was needed now, was the wood for the bonfire itself. As with last year, a quick scamper around the university grounds brought up such woody delights as logs, branches and palettes. These were then chucked in the back of Raukan’s van and Lugodoc’s car, for transportation to the beach site. Then, as sunset drew near, we headed down to the beach.

After scaring off anyone near the bonfire site, we started the fire. This year it was Lugodoc who build up the fire, and within just a short space of time we had a blazing campfire going. As the sun faded and the moon began to rise, we started the task of cooking the bonfire grub...

...Only to be pounced by a Panther! Out of the blue Ragtag showed up in high spirits, bounding over and hugging everyone like a demented cub. Eventually everyone settled back down and more of the grub was eaten. Prepared earlier by Jim and Moonchild, bananas had been split open, chocolate inserted, and then the whole lot was wrapped up in tin-foil. These were placed into the base of the bonfire until heated through. The contents of which were supposed to be scooped out of the peal with a spoon and eaten. It was an... interesting taste, but not quite to everyone’s taste, well, not mine anyway! Meanwhile, Lugodoc had found a way to cook the burgers. A wire tray taken from the grill in the kitchen was held over the fire by several lengths of wire. The burgers were then placed onto the wire tray and grilled. Unfortunately with not much success, but at least no one was poisoned by the half raw / carbonized burgers..

As the night wore on people mingled with each other and talked. But eventually the wood was all gone and the embers died, so we headed back to the accommodation and got some much needed sleep.
 

Day 4 - Tuesday 19th August 1997 - Rheidol Romp....

After clearing up the campfire from the previous night, some of the pack did a little bit of shopping in the center of town. Once they returned, most of the pack headed up to Rheidol Falls for a woodland walk. I picked this place thinking "water fall", but on arrival we found the terrain to consist of steep wooded hills. Still, with lots of blackberries growing alongside the path which we hiked along, there was no shortage of food. (slurp!) After a brief rest, and watching Ragtag chase Shiraa up a tree, we headed further up into the hills, listening to the low flying jets on low level training runs. (Hawk trainer aircraft for the tech-heads amongst you. The ones they like to kill "Blue Peter" presenters in...)

Once we returned and ate, no-one felt much like wandering anywhere. This Howl certainly proved just how much out of shape we’d all got since last years. So most were content to sit in the kitchen and talk to about 4am. It seems this Howl was doomed to spend most of it’s time in the kitchen...
 

Day 5 - Wednesday 20th August 1997 - Yif(f)bal(l) yelp....

The afternoon was spent shopping in the center of town. It was during this expedition that the pack entered the pier which contained arcade machines. So with a brief adieu to spirituality, everyone cracked out the loose change and began to play. Most of the pack were content to play Air Hockey, which Tiogar was quite content to thrash everyone at. I never saw her lose once... at anything. Tigers play for keeps... Meanwhile, the others descended on "Time Crisis", one of better machines with a handgun. Seeing Ragtag play it was quite a sight, especially with the very thin shirt and cat collar. The vivid image reminds of someone from a film, but I can’t remember which one. Did they use guns in "Clockwork Orange"? I’ve never seen the full film. Anyway, I digress...

The evening was to be spent watching "Men In Black" at the local cinema. However it turned out not to be playing, so we returned to the accommodation and ate "Megadog Curry Version 2" instead. Alas, after the potency of last years, Megadog tamed this year’s down... My mother had made stronger curries! ;) Still, quite a few were thankful for this, and no casualties were reported.

The night was spent playing a new sport called Yiffball, or Yifbal, depending on how you wish to spell it. A rather interesting sport involving a darkened room, illuminous rubber balls, and several scantily clad sweaty Weres. It was... interesting. That Tiogar plays Yiffball just as mean as Air Hockey. I’m reminded of a Calvin and Hobbes sketch where Hobbes says tigers have springs for spines... (winces at the thought of several bruises.)
 

Day 6 - Thursday 21st August 1997 - Bad weather blues...

Moonchild, Fax, and Ragtag left in the early hours, and not very quietly, to be replaced by David Cooke by the early afternoon. While outside the rain came down in torrents all afternoon, resulting in the cancellation of the Sauna and Hot Tub we had planned that night with Walks-Alone. Instead it was another trip to the Arcade, followed by an evening playing Yiffball and cleaning the kitchen. Again, we all talked late into the night. All in all, a rather dull day, with everyone trapped inside the kitchen due to bad weather.

Day 7 - Friday 22nd August 1997 - Bear Necessities.

The rain finally ended and the sun shone once again. Unfortunately there were yet more farewells, with David being the first to leave. It was rather sad to see him leave so soon, as with all the others who stayed for only a short time. Howls are so much better for everyone when you have the time to settle in and get to know each other.

In the afternoon we also saw Shiraa off... twice! He missed the train the first time around due to a call of nature, so we wandered around the town for a couple of hours until the next one was due to leave.

During this time, we searched for a pub called "The Bear", a rather Furry themed pub with a pizzeria and a Video Jukebox. Alas, I had forgotten that the place had closed the previous winter, and so we never found it... almost. Since we still needed a place to eat once Shiraa had left, we instead went to "The New Celtic", a restaurant where the pack ate during the last Howl. Just as we entered the town and were passing the New Celtic however, Tiogar pointed out a place called "The Bear" as we drove past. I noticed the sign had exactly the same symbol as The Bear in Aberystwyth had. And sure enough, as we entered I knew that by a complete fluke, we had stumbled across the relocated and down-sized Bear that had once been in Aberystwyth. Unfortunately now it was just a pizzeria, it no longer had a video jukebox, nor did it have a license to sell alcohol. A sad end to a great pub, but we still honored it and ate there. And "The Bear" still made some of the best damn deep pan pizzas around!
 

Day 8 - Saturday 23rd August 1997 - Final Farewells...

Alas, all things had to end, and the morning saw us all leave one by one as we went our separate ways. Tiogar was the first to leave, shortly after we left the accommodation. After a brief shopping trip and visit to the arcade, Locandez left the group traveling home in a sardine can... sorry, I meant a train. After more wanderings around Aberystwyth, it was time for myself, Megadog and Jim to leave the group. Jim and myself were to have left by train, but after seeing how busy they were when Locandez left we headed to Shrewsbury and the next train connection by the Megadog-Mobile instead. It was a heartfelt good-bye as we left Aberystwyth. It seemed that the past two days had been nothing but drawn out good-byes. The car journey to Shrewsbury was relatively quiet as the post-howl depression already started to creep in. After some more good-byes, I found myself heading back home, alone and thoughtful.

Personal Reflections.

So what did I think of the Howl? Everyone else enjoyed it, (or so they say!) so to me, that made the Howl worth while. I did enjoy myself there, it was great to meet old friends and to make new ones, but I found that the Howl was slightly lacking in a way that is difficult to describe. I felt that it did little for my Wereside, I did not find the Howl "spiritually rewarding", for want of a better term. But then I find myself asking, just what are the Howls for? After all, if we need to talk about therianthropy, the newsgroup is always there for us. The Howls however, provide a unique social atmosphere, a time and a place where you can shed the human masks and be your true self, where you know no-one will question or react to Wereish or strange behavior.

When I organized the Howl, I kept it open ended. My task was simply to get everyone together, what they all did at the Howl was their own choice. That way, the Howl became what they made of it. There was a lack of therianthropic discussion between Weres at the Howl, which was unfortunate. But then perhaps that is just a sign that people didn’t wish to. I feel that any friendships that spring from the Howl, will continue, and if they feel the need to talk in person with someone about therianthropy then they can do.

This was the second Howl I’ve organized, and organizing it was a long, drawn out affair involving a lot of "back-room politics". After EuroHowl’96, I said I wouldn’t organize another Howl, and after organizing EuroHowl’97 I’m saying the same, I will not organize another. I believe that someone else should take the reins, and put their own spin on the EuroHowls. I found that EuroHowl’97 was too similar to EuroHowl’96, that there was little to differentiate the two. Having said that however, people seem to want a EuroHowl’98, and I’m left to wonder just who would be able to organize it. I’d like to be involved with ‘98, even if I don’t attend. But I’m not up to the back room politics or the grunt work anymore, so I’ll finish before I get any more grey hairs on my muzzle.

But in the end, I believe it was worth it, and I did enjoy the Howl...