Sam and Monique had been a couple for a few months. When they first got together, Sam was pleased to find that Monique enjoyed riding her bicycle. She was fit and fabulous!. They'd enjoyed many fun times together while cycle touring, and it seemed that wherever they went, whatever they did, the sun always smiled benevolently on them.

Sam wanted to make their forthcoming Valentine's date night extra special. He'd persuaded a couple of friends to help him with some pre-planned arrangements. He crossed his fingers and sent a prayer heavenwards that although "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray" in this case they wouldn't.

Monique and Sam loved riding rail trails and cycleways together, but for this weekend trip Sam had a new experience in mind. He'd take her to his friend Linton's farm, located in the foothills of the Craggy Range. There were plenty of tracks, and also a musterers' hut in the hills for basic accommodation. Linton would be away, but Sam had arranged with him to leave an access gate unlocked, and to mark the trail to the hut with red ribbons and love hearts tied to fences and trees.

Another of Sam's friends, Barry, owned a boutique restaurant, so he was asked to provision the hut with a quality dining experience laid out on a romantic table setting.

The sun was shining bright when Sam and Monique left the city in Sam's SUV and set off for the farm. Their anticipation increased the closer they got to their destination. The scenery was lovely, with rolling hills, and sheep grazing in the fields. Craggy Range loomed through a mauve haze as a backdrop.

Monique looked gorgeous. Sam noted she was wearing a new pair of stylish cycle shorts. They parked near the barn, readied their bikes, and pedalled off. They discovered the access gate was still padlocked! "Maybe it's not the right gate?" Monique offered. But it had to be. Sam could see some red ribbons farther ahead.

They decided to lift their bikes over the fence. It could have been funny if it happened to someone else, but Sam was mortified when Monique's lycra ripped when she got tangled while straddling the wire.

Continuing along the track, they noticed random hearts and ribbon strips in strange places. A windstorm the night before had blown some of the markers away. The cyclists lost their way a few times. Then one of the rams in the field chased Monique, trying to butt her bicycle. She fell off into a mud hole. Sam's bike got a punctured tyre while he was trying to keep up with Monique and the ram.

Time was passing, and still the musterers' hut was a way off. Sam knew the feast awaiting them would soon make them feel better, and restore that loving feeling. But when they arrived the hut's corrugated iron roof was missing; it'd been blown off in the storm.

When they pushed the door open, mice scampered in all directions. Those darn rodents had been having a Valentine's picnic themselves! Sam gazed forlornly at what remained of their beautiful meal - just a few cheese crumbs left in tatters. Suddenly a possum erupted from under the table and went rushing out the door wearing the checked tablecloth. Monique giggled. "Have you got any other surprises for me?" she teased.

Luckily, the wine and glasses were untouched. Bedraggled in her torn and muddied clothes, Monique smiled cheerfully when Sam passed her filled glass to her. He enthusiastically clinked glasses in a toast to their future happiness.

His glass broke. They burst out laughing uproariously at their bad luck. Sam realised he must marry Monique. If she could cope with this and still smile she was definitely a keeper. Then she proved her worth even more: "We won't starve. I've brought some spare energy bars and fruit."

Their Valentine's night was salvaged. They would be under a romantic starlit canopy instead of a roof. It had definitely been a day to remember, surviving "the best laid plans of mice and men".