Saturday April 03 - Game day

The second last day of tour started really early with the team heading off to play Cambridge High School at the same ground where we met St Peter's last Saturday. It was a hard-fought game where we took a dominant lead after the first half, 13-3.

The second half wasn't as kind to us, as they caught up and the game was tied 13-13 with 15 minutes to go. All the boys pulled together with some great defence to keep the game tied.

After the game we headed up to Eden Park, home of the Blues. We watched the Bulls vs the Blues, with the Blues having a convincing win.

by Josh Stone

The boys did play well today, with some great patches of both attack and (particularly) defence. A couple of lapses in concentration hurt us, but a pleasing end to the tour, with both the referee and touch judge (who had both officiated last Saturday) both commenting on the great improvement in intensity and skills displayed by the boys.

Tour breakfast tomorrow, and then we set the boys loose on Auckland, for a bit of sightseeing and some shopping. At this stage, our flight details are as planned :-

Flight EK435
Departing AKL 1715
Arriving Bris 1900 (although we then have to clear immigration and customs)

Remember, there is no bus for the trip back, so families will need to make their own arrangements re transport. See you all tomorrow.

Cheers,

Tony

Thursday April 02 - Fishing Trip

A beautiful day greeted us for our fishing trip. The keeper of the lake that protects it from the west wind was working overtime – a calm day ensured it was a very enjoyable day. Backs went on one boat and forwards on the other.

We dropped the lures down to 25 metres and hooked 5 trout, for 3 keepers. Benji landed the best one for the backs, and we enjoyed half of it smoked and half of it sushimi. After the magnificent BBQ lunch, we headed back for one of our best training sessions of the tour.

Friday April 02 - Tourists for a day

An early start as we headed for the Huka Jet, but it became an aborted trip early as the fog refused to lift, so the team leaders requested a Captain's Run at Taupo Rugby Club. It was foggy early, but then the sun poked through just in time for the staff vs team touch match. The staff had to battle a hostile referee, incessant whining from the opposition and sabotage from Joe P to run out victorious 4 -3.

It was then to the Huka Jet because we had the need, the need for speed. The boys enjoyed the 360's and the high speed antics of their drivers. It was then off to Rotorua, but the arly start made for a quiet trip as the boys punched out some serious ZZZZZs. It was then off to the Gondola and Luge, where the boys enjoyed tearing up the track.

Off to the YHA then, for a quick shower before heading off to Tamiki Village for our Maori Experience and Hangi. Chief Tama led the boys onto the Mori, and the buffet was destroyed by the 25 ravenous carnivores in the green blazers.

An early start tomorrow, as we head back to Cambridge for our last game on tour.

Wednesday March 31 - Tongariro Crossing # 3

No new info - just trying to publish a video.

Wednesday March 31 - Tongariro Crossing # 2

No new info - just some more photos.

Wednesday March 31 – Tongariro Crossing

A great day today as Old Boy Jeff East led the boys across the 17km Tongariro Crossing. The boys ventured through moonscape plains, over steep mountains, past sulphurous gases and lakes, past tramping huts, before heading to the 41° Tokaanu Thermal Pools.

The boys were excited as we walked past the desolate and striking Mt Ngauruhoe – you might know it as Mt Doom from The Lord of the Rings trilogy (we even found a Hobbit with the ring!). Craters of past eruptions were filled with brilliant blue water. Jeff told us these eruptions, some sending plumes of ash 13 km into the air, and coating nearby Lake Taupo in 5cm of ash.

It was a tough trek, but it just meant that we really enjoyed the soak in the pools when we got down. Some of the boys rated the following as the highlights of the walk :-

Alistair – all the views
Ben A – the finish; knowing you’d done it
Jack – sliding down the loose scree
Josh – dragging Leo the mascot up hill and down dale
Jacob – the big lake where we had lunch

The boys produced a great BBQ dinner for us all tonight – steak, snags, pasta and salad – so mums, get them in the kitchen when they get home.

Fishing and training tomorrow – we’ll happily tell you some fishing tales tomorrow.

Tuesday March 30 - Travel to Turangi

A quiet day today for the tourists as we travelled south to Turangi. A quick farewell to Terry at the Stadium Motel and then we were enroute through some beautiful countryside, with some very ordinary musical selections along the way. Raymond had difficulty negotiating the swings at our toilet break at Tokoroa, but coordination has never been his strong point.

We stopped at Lake Taupo for lunch, and then it was off to the thermal pools for a recovery swim and water slide. The boys liked the look of Taupo and are looking forward to spending more time there later in the week.

From there, it was a picturesque drive around the lake to Turangi. Turangi is a quaint little lakeside village and the motel is perfect for a team of boisterous boys. Buckets and Wilbur showed the boys what it takes to play good touch footy and the boys know they have a lot of improvement to go if they wish to be be competitive in the staff vs student 3-match series.

We are off at 6.50am tomorrow to the jump-off point for the Tongariro Pass. The boys have made their lunches and packed their snacks for the 17 km, 7 hour trek, and have retired for an early night. Expect some great photos tomorrow.