Over the past few weeks, Rory has taken Travis under his wing and has been teaching his young apprentice the art of bricklaying. The “embracing” of the art wasn’t exactly like a duck to water - maybe like an ostrich to flight - but Travis tried his hardest and the boys seemed to enjoy their bonding time together.
Rory and Travis laid Lego (part of Rory’s care package from home) and they also used their quarter of a mil in perspex money blocks to make practice walls. They worked through corners and straight lines, buttering and leveling bricks. But they wanted more – so the boys requested BB provide them with real bricks so they could exhibit their bricklaying skills and hard work on an authentic construction.
And beyond their wildest dreams, BB delivered.
“HMs - never before has the BB House had a letterbox… until now,” Big Brother announced as the HMs discovered the materials in the Diary Room. “Congratulations Rory and Travis - you will build the memorial ‘Rory and Trav Letterbox’,” BB instructed. “Yay,” Travis yelled. “Oh, how good’s that?” said Terri. “Thanks BB, that’s really cool,” Travis shouted. Rory was impressed with the level, trowel and mortar mix. “And we’ve got red bricks!” said a very excited Travis. “Have you ever met such an attractive brick?”
“Hey, do you want to render our letter box?” Travis suggested. Rory was against the idea, remarking that they were such nice bricks he wouldn’t want to cover them up.
“Man this is crazy,” The Brickie said, as he started getting everything prepared for for the construction. “How cool is this! I’m now a true brickie,” celebrated Travis. All the HMs inspected all the materials, clearly impressed and excited about the concept of building their very own letterbox.
Rory was rattled because there was no plan. “Everything we do in trade school, you draw up a plan,” he told Travis. But he was confident he could get through it. Travis couldn’t believe how heavy each brick was. “Ow and sharp too,” he said running his hand along the side of the brick. Rory said he used to get marks on his hands but they had since toughened up.
“Laying bricks is hard,” Ben observed as he watched Rory take Travis step by step through buttering the bricks and butting in. But Travis was slowly getting the hang of it and earning his bricklaying stripes.
An hour in and it was time for smoko! BB provided the laborers with sausage rolls and Milo bars. “This is so good … I love being a Brickie, I would never get smoko being a PA!” Travis cheered. Rory told Travis he only had five minutes, then they had to get back to work. Rather than sitting on seats, Rory told Travis they had to do it ‘brickie style’ and they squatted on their bricks as they downed their feed. Then it was back on.
But two hours after they began, the boys had laid only six bricks! HMs couldn’t believe how long it was taking and neither could BB. They were called to the Diary Room.
“How do you feel your progress is going?” BB asked. “We’re going very slowly BB, but slow and steady wins the race in this case,” Rory replied. Rory said he was taking his time and teaching Travis the basics along the way. Travis added that real bricks were a lot different to the money bricks he’d learned with. They were heavy and sharp and harder to work with.
BB explained to the boys that although slow and steady may win the race, Travis need not leave the BB House with a bricklaying apprenticeship and the letterbox needn’t be a work of art fit. “Big Brother fears that the Great Wall of China was built faster than your letterbox,” BB told them. Rory explained that he didn’t want to do things by halves and wanted to make sure Travis was learning as he went. BB appreciated Rory’s fine effort but gave the boys until sundown to finish their creation.
When they emerged from the Diary Room, Rory proclaimed he’d have to take the reigns and start laying some of the bricks. Ben cheered them on. Travis told the HMs their letterbox was going to look better than the Great Wall of China. Ben wanted to help. “Benny, you can mix mud,” Rory advised.
Another hour later, there were three men, some mud and some bricks – nothing that resembled a letterbox.
But Ben soon lost interest as Rory and Travis ploughed on. An hour later and miraculously, the letterbox had started to take form. As the boys began to put the finishing touches on their creation, Travis tried to take his brickie skills to a new level and split a brick for a tricky corner. Sadly, this proved to be beyond his capabilities.
And with a stunning cement top, the Brickie announced the letterbox was complete. Travis and Rory etched their names into one side each and Rory added a “BB08” to another. The Geelong boy went for the simple, bold, “Rory”, while Travis added swirls and smiley faces around his name.
All the HMs were suitably impressed and the boys duitifully began cleaning up – just as good apprentices should!
Later that night, as the moon shone down on their creation, Rory and Travis stole a visit outside to inspect their Memorial Letterbox one more time. The rest of their HMs joined them and everyone admitted they were most impressed. “Man, it looks so good and even,” Ben remarked. “So good!” Alice added. “It’s pretty good,” said Rory modestly. “It is the best letterbox I have ever seen,” Travis said firmly.
Watch a Wrap Up of Week 11 in the House
