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.
Arrival at Cape Town
By now we were well practiced, making our move through Durban airport quite smooth. The only hairy moment was had by Tom Earnshaw who having been given his passport on the coach thought he had lost it by the time he reached check in. The look on his face said it all but the panic quickly passed when he found his passport in his hand luggage.
Having landed at Cape Town and located our coach we proceeded to the Cape Town Lodge. Word had reached us that the extended party had already arrived and were sampling the local beers. We were greeted by a merry bunch and Val Tamanis led the welcome party clapping the lads into the hotel.
Check in complete it could be put off no longer, Ben Fairclough was treated to and over due visit to the hospital. This time a short walk (seems odd walking someone with a potential broken leg to a hospital). Initially the doctor thought we were dealing with a break, how ever relief all round when the xray proved him wrong. Ben forgot the pain and skipped back to the hotel whilst I suffered the pain of parting with £250. Ben, Scott and I arrived back at the hotel to join the court session, which by now was well on it's way. Several punishments had already been awarded including strange cocktails and silly outfits. Joe Hepple modelled the where's Wally costume perfectly and took a liking to the red sun glasses, which he wore for the rest of the tour.
Having landed at Cape Town and located our coach we proceeded to the Cape Town Lodge. Word had reached us that the extended party had already arrived and were sampling the local beers. We were greeted by a merry bunch and Val Tamanis led the welcome party clapping the lads into the hotel.
Check in complete it could be put off no longer, Ben Fairclough was treated to and over due visit to the hospital. This time a short walk (seems odd walking someone with a potential broken leg to a hospital). Initially the doctor thought we were dealing with a break, how ever relief all round when the xray proved him wrong. Ben forgot the pain and skipped back to the hotel whilst I suffered the pain of parting with £250. Ben, Scott and I arrived back at the hotel to join the court session, which by now was well on it's way. Several punishments had already been awarded including strange cocktails and silly outfits. Joe Hepple modelled the where's Wally costume perfectly and took a liking to the red sun glasses, which he wore for the rest of the tour.
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Excitement in Durban
Having moved from Jo'Burg to Durban some of us were anticipating quieter times - with a game drive and river cruise on the itinery we expected a certain level of calm......how foolish of us!
The day began with a "quiet battle" in Jo'Burg airport regarding our luggage allowance. After some negotiation the airline deemed us to have a 40kg allowance and we moved to departures. seat allocation was some what spread and on this occasion we had no idea if all the boys had actually boarded. A brave parent stood up and asked all the Donny lads to show there hands. Suddenly we had at least 62 on tour! A mixture of our lads showing two hands and some South African men who wanted to join us.
Having landed in Durban we boarded a coach and made our way to St Lucia Estuary - our coach driver seemed to know where he was going so things were on the up. He expertly found the boat we were booked on and we began our cruise up the river. The captain asked us to make sure we kept the boat balanced i.e. not all standing on one side. This instruction was fine until we came across the first two crocodiles - you've guessed it we all moved to one side and the boat took a sudden lurch luckily the water was deep enough to cope with this.
The captain asked what we fed our players on he thought they were older than 16 and 17. He was advised pies - big ones and lots of them not steroids as he suggested.
As we moved sedately along the river we came across a group of hippo's. A fantastic sight! In particular we saw a mother and baby hippo basking in the late afternoon sun. So cute I can hear you say................umm. The opportunity to appreciate the size of a male hippo soon came our way. The resident male hippo took exception to our intrusion on his patch and let us know about it. He came out of the water opening his huge mouth and flashing his teeth at the same time we became aware of panic in the captain's voice. In desperation he ordered us all to move to the opposite side of the boat as we were stuck on a sand bank (with a hippo approaching this was not a good place to be) - apparently male hippo's break boats for fun!
After watching a spectacular sunset we set off to the Bushlands Lodge for a night in the bush. We were treated to an excellent 3 course meal followed by conversation around a camp fire. Some of the lads decided to try out the swimming pool whilst others enjoyed a beer or two.
An early start the next morning with a 5am alarm call making sure that most of us were at reception ready to leave at 5.30am. The jeeps were loaded with all but two lads, who was missing? So much for team spirit, in this instance with everyone wanting to get off on the game drive they soon identified who was late. The two culprits arrived 10 minutes late with packed suitcases ready for the journey. Josh Greaves and Ben Fairclough were told only kings and Queens take their worldly goods on safari.
The trip to the game reserve was an experience in itself. We were told to put on a warm top and that blankets would be available but we didn't realise we would be travelling on the main roads at 50/60 miles per hour in an open vehicle - it was freezing! Once on the game reserve the jeeps split up and went in search of the big 5. Everyone had their own stories to tell, each group seeing different animals. Giraffe, Elephant, Rhino, Zebra, Warthog buffalo.... to name but a few.
The adults, who foolishly were all on the same jeep, were treated to a fantastic display by another testosterone filled male. This time we were all engrossed by a bull elephant who was munching his way through several small bushes. As he did so moving closer to the track we were on. Word spread that he was there and we were joined by several other jeeps (not our lads).
Mister elephant clearly did not appreciate all this attention and decided to let us know. He walked onto the track in front of our vehicle angrily flapping his ears and waving his trunk. As his pace quickened so did our heart rate, we quickly realised that we were blocked in and that panic had set into the other drivers who were having immense difficulty reversing out of the way. This was heightened by the crashing and crunching sound of a jeep going over bushes and into trees. Our driver remained cool throughout - more than can be said for his passengers!! Photo opportunities were lost when non of us could hold a camera (apart from Paul Tinkler who thought the look on Scott Colbears face was priceless, he turned his camera to Scott and tried to capture the horror on his face). We are glad we lived to tell the tale, no doubt a dinner story for years to come.
Our next stop was Durban itself. This brought the delights of the coast and yet more opportunity to experience different activities. After checking into the Bluewaters Hotel, the lads went with John and Jack for a swim in the warm sea. After a short time in the water a lifeguard came running up to them shouting to "get out of the water" as they were swimming in an area without shark nets! The frantic efforts to get to the beach resembled a scene from JAWS. A mistake they would not make twice.
The next day the lads split up some opting to go onto the beach with body boards and rugby balls for a mixture of fitness activity, whilst the rest opted for a visit to the new football stadium. The cable car ride to see the views from the high arch viewing platform was the option taken by most of us whilst 3 brave lads, Tom Earnshaw, Chris Donk and Sam Colbear decided to take part in the high level bungee swing from the top of the arch down through the stadium. Chris said "that's the best 50 quid I have ever spent" and the smile on his face was priceless.
That afternoon saw our next game of rugby at the Crusaders Rugby Club. We arrived early to soak up the atmosphere and look at the standard of play in other games. The game started at 4pm, which was a relief to us as the temperature and humidity was causing us to over heat. The game was a very competitive and hard fought contest. The locals went ahead with some very nimble foot work from their back line who seemed to be able to change direction on a sixpence. Eventually we managed to pull the game back into the forwards and started to make in roads into their game plan clawing the points back slowly but surely. We eventually ran out winners at 14 points to 21.
The hospitality we enjoyed was superb we were treated to excellent food and plenty to drink after the match. We relaxed and soaked up the atmosphere for a few hours before making our way back to the hotel. For some this was not quite enough and a visit to a local nightclub was supervised by Jack a more than willing volunteer. The next morning we had a flight to catch so for those that got in at 3am it was hard to get up for the 8.30am departure time.
Injury Update
Danny Simpson - not recovered as well as we thought. A visit to Durban hospital confirmed he had broken his colar bone
Ben Fairclough - was desperate not to go to hospital in case his leg was broken............ update when we cover Cape Town!
The day began with a "quiet battle" in Jo'Burg airport regarding our luggage allowance. After some negotiation the airline deemed us to have a 40kg allowance and we moved to departures. seat allocation was some what spread and on this occasion we had no idea if all the boys had actually boarded. A brave parent stood up and asked all the Donny lads to show there hands. Suddenly we had at least 62 on tour! A mixture of our lads showing two hands and some South African men who wanted to join us.
Having landed in Durban we boarded a coach and made our way to St Lucia Estuary - our coach driver seemed to know where he was going so things were on the up. He expertly found the boat we were booked on and we began our cruise up the river. The captain asked us to make sure we kept the boat balanced i.e. not all standing on one side. This instruction was fine until we came across the first two crocodiles - you've guessed it we all moved to one side and the boat took a sudden lurch luckily the water was deep enough to cope with this.
The captain asked what we fed our players on he thought they were older than 16 and 17. He was advised pies - big ones and lots of them not steroids as he suggested.
As we moved sedately along the river we came across a group of hippo's. A fantastic sight! In particular we saw a mother and baby hippo basking in the late afternoon sun. So cute I can hear you say................umm. The opportunity to appreciate the size of a male hippo soon came our way. The resident male hippo took exception to our intrusion on his patch and let us know about it. He came out of the water opening his huge mouth and flashing his teeth at the same time we became aware of panic in the captain's voice. In desperation he ordered us all to move to the opposite side of the boat as we were stuck on a sand bank (with a hippo approaching this was not a good place to be) - apparently male hippo's break boats for fun!
After watching a spectacular sunset we set off to the Bushlands Lodge for a night in the bush. We were treated to an excellent 3 course meal followed by conversation around a camp fire. Some of the lads decided to try out the swimming pool whilst others enjoyed a beer or two.
An early start the next morning with a 5am alarm call making sure that most of us were at reception ready to leave at 5.30am. The jeeps were loaded with all but two lads, who was missing? So much for team spirit, in this instance with everyone wanting to get off on the game drive they soon identified who was late. The two culprits arrived 10 minutes late with packed suitcases ready for the journey. Josh Greaves and Ben Fairclough were told only kings and Queens take their worldly goods on safari.
The trip to the game reserve was an experience in itself. We were told to put on a warm top and that blankets would be available but we didn't realise we would be travelling on the main roads at 50/60 miles per hour in an open vehicle - it was freezing! Once on the game reserve the jeeps split up and went in search of the big 5. Everyone had their own stories to tell, each group seeing different animals. Giraffe, Elephant, Rhino, Zebra, Warthog buffalo.... to name but a few.
The adults, who foolishly were all on the same jeep, were treated to a fantastic display by another testosterone filled male. This time we were all engrossed by a bull elephant who was munching his way through several small bushes. As he did so moving closer to the track we were on. Word spread that he was there and we were joined by several other jeeps (not our lads).
Mister elephant clearly did not appreciate all this attention and decided to let us know. He walked onto the track in front of our vehicle angrily flapping his ears and waving his trunk. As his pace quickened so did our heart rate, we quickly realised that we were blocked in and that panic had set into the other drivers who were having immense difficulty reversing out of the way. This was heightened by the crashing and crunching sound of a jeep going over bushes and into trees. Our driver remained cool throughout - more than can be said for his passengers!! Photo opportunities were lost when non of us could hold a camera (apart from Paul Tinkler who thought the look on Scott Colbears face was priceless, he turned his camera to Scott and tried to capture the horror on his face). We are glad we lived to tell the tale, no doubt a dinner story for years to come.
Our next stop was Durban itself. This brought the delights of the coast and yet more opportunity to experience different activities. After checking into the Bluewaters Hotel, the lads went with John and Jack for a swim in the warm sea. After a short time in the water a lifeguard came running up to them shouting to "get out of the water" as they were swimming in an area without shark nets! The frantic efforts to get to the beach resembled a scene from JAWS. A mistake they would not make twice.
The next day the lads split up some opting to go onto the beach with body boards and rugby balls for a mixture of fitness activity, whilst the rest opted for a visit to the new football stadium. The cable car ride to see the views from the high arch viewing platform was the option taken by most of us whilst 3 brave lads, Tom Earnshaw, Chris Donk and Sam Colbear decided to take part in the high level bungee swing from the top of the arch down through the stadium. Chris said "that's the best 50 quid I have ever spent" and the smile on his face was priceless.
That afternoon saw our next game of rugby at the Crusaders Rugby Club. We arrived early to soak up the atmosphere and look at the standard of play in other games. The game started at 4pm, which was a relief to us as the temperature and humidity was causing us to over heat. The game was a very competitive and hard fought contest. The locals went ahead with some very nimble foot work from their back line who seemed to be able to change direction on a sixpence. Eventually we managed to pull the game back into the forwards and started to make in roads into their game plan clawing the points back slowly but surely. We eventually ran out winners at 14 points to 21.
The hospitality we enjoyed was superb we were treated to excellent food and plenty to drink after the match. We relaxed and soaked up the atmosphere for a few hours before making our way back to the hotel. For some this was not quite enough and a visit to a local nightclub was supervised by Jack a more than willing volunteer. The next morning we had a flight to catch so for those that got in at 3am it was hard to get up for the 8.30am departure time.
Injury Update
Danny Simpson - not recovered as well as we thought. A visit to Durban hospital confirmed he had broken his colar bone
Ben Fairclough - was desperate not to go to hospital in case his leg was broken............ update when we cover Cape Town!
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