Hopefully by now you've all recovered from the tour. A request was made to share all your photos and memories. Can I ask that you send me a copy of your pictures so that I can put them onto a disk for distribution to all tourists. Please add any comments you may have to the blog - it would be interesting to read about your best bits!
Finally I would like to say it was a pleasure to be associated with group of individuals who were able to enjoy our experience to the full without causing any trouble on the way. Compliments on the behaviour of our team were received from hosting parents to hotel managers, making us as adults proud and leaving a positive image of Doncaster Rugby club with South Africans.
Regards
Steve, Yvonne and the gang
Sunday, 29 August 2010
The final days
As the tour neared the end we returned to Cape Town for our final days. The weather conditions were favourable enough to allow our accent up Table Mountain, spectacular views and photo opportunities awaited us. By early afternoon when we boarded the ferry to Robben Island the weather had taken a turn for the worst and visibility was hampered by fog at sea.
Robben Island was an interesting place to visit, with a guided tour being given by an ex inmate, who recalled many a story about his time spent as a political prisoner in the jail. Some of his stories made us laugh and others left the group in silence pondering how such things could have happened in our life time.
Our last night was spent at the City Grill on The V&A Waterfront eating and drinking fine food and wine. The nights festivities included an Oscar style awards ceremony, speeches, gifts and thanks. As always the Donny lads wanted to make this a memorable occasion, which was marked by Lawrence Arnold standing on a chair and treating everyone to a final view of his thong.
Robben Island was an interesting place to visit, with a guided tour being given by an ex inmate, who recalled many a story about his time spent as a political prisoner in the jail. Some of his stories made us laugh and others left the group in silence pondering how such things could have happened in our life time.
Our last night was spent at the City Grill on The V&A Waterfront eating and drinking fine food and wine. The nights festivities included an Oscar style awards ceremony, speeches, gifts and thanks. As always the Donny lads wanted to make this a memorable occasion, which was marked by Lawrence Arnold standing on a chair and treating everyone to a final view of his thong.
Paarl Gimnasium the final game
We were found with time on our hands prior to the game against Paarl Gimnasium. A quick rethink and some frantick phone calls ended up with a coach that would take us to a shopping centre. A couple of hours was long enough for the boys to browse and pick up some gifts.
This game was expected to be the hardest of the tour as Paarl Gimnasium have a 150 year history and are one of the top rugby schools in South Africa. Much to our delight they had put and U17's development squad together especially for this match, give us a fighting chance of keeping the score respectable! As we expexted these boys were good, they could run like the wind, turn on a sixpence and pass the ball out of any tackle, which caused the now battle scarred Doncaster boys some problems. Paarl seemed able to score at will in the first half but as before we stuck at the job in hand and started to pull things back. The final score was a deserved win for Paarl Gimnasium 34 - 17, the true victory went to the game of rugby as the lads enjoyed each others company swapping kit and having a very enhoyable night out in a local bar.
This game was expected to be the hardest of the tour as Paarl Gimnasium have a 150 year history and are one of the top rugby schools in South Africa. Much to our delight they had put and U17's development squad together especially for this match, give us a fighting chance of keeping the score respectable! As we expexted these boys were good, they could run like the wind, turn on a sixpence and pass the ball out of any tackle, which caused the now battle scarred Doncaster boys some problems. Paarl seemed able to score at will in the first half but as before we stuck at the job in hand and started to pull things back. The final score was a deserved win for Paarl Gimnasium 34 - 17, the true victory went to the game of rugby as the lads enjoyed each others company swapping kit and having a very enhoyable night out in a local bar.
Piketberg delights
With our enlarged group we travelled to Piketberg for our 4th fixture against Piketburgh High School. We palyed the game in beautiful surroundings, this was by far the most stunning rugby pitch we had played on, Mountains behind us and a lush green valley below set the scene for what was to be our first defeat. The local team were not that big but made up for this with their speed agility and general desire to destroy every one of the Donny lads. Piketberg played a very hard game that caused us some injury problems, at one point it looked like a scene from the Somme on our bench. As the game progressed Doncaster started to learn the ways of the South African boys and slowly but surely clawed the game back to a respectable 28 - 21 points final score. As is always the case once the final whistle went the boys were instantly mates, laughing and joking about the attrocities that had gone before.
The local boys were straight off to choir practice after the game and we were transported to a local farm for the evening. The food was excellent cooked the local way and washed down with lashings of beer and wine. The boys accomodation was not what they had become used to, a cow shed is by no means the same as a 4 star hotel but it was clean and dry with freshly laundered sleeping bags for all. Many thanks to Paul, Scott and Jack for volunteering to stay over night with the lads, whilst he rest of us went back to the guest house and a warm bed. Several pleas were made from those not used to roughing it. Chris Trem asked if he could sleep between Steve and Yvonne and Ben Fairclough offered to pay above the going rate for a room. All requests were denied in order to maintain team spirit!
Our next stop was on top of the mountain at a secluded farm occupied by a family who adopted a very different life style to our own. The track to the farm included our driver negotiating his way over a narrow bridge - need we say more you've guessed it the coach got stuck. We off loaded 45 passengers in the hope that the bus would not end up stuck in the river.
A short walk took us to a clearing where we were given a short induction to the farm. Two wooden sheds housed the environmentally friendly toilets, no luxuries here a stone step a wooden seat over a hole and a bag of saw dust to cover your waste! An adventure in themselves. Guided walks were taken by everyone, taking in a huge variety of plants and wild life. The adults who opted for the shorter walk were treated to oranges lemons and almonds from the local trees. It was very entertaining to watch Val's expressions as he bit into a freshly picked lemon. The lads and the rest of the adults followed a more adventurous trail that finished on the banks of a irrigation dam, giving them the opportunity to dive and swim in water we were told was the 3rd purist in the world.
The lads returned for lunch, which was the traditional South African dish of Potjiekos, a mild curried stew in a very special type of bread bun - delicious! After lunch much to our surprise our bus driver had got the coach back to the main road and ready for the journey to Spier winery.
The journey to the winery was a couple of hours, which came in handy for those of us in need of a nanna nap. We arrived a little later than planned with less than an hour to taste the delights of this famous wine making establishment. Not to be out done the adults were straight down to business selecting their wine of choice whilst the lads looked around the Cheetah park. Next stop Paarl Gimnasium School for players to be introduced to their hosts.
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