Updated Thursday 3rd August. Click on the photographs for a larger image
Monday 17th July 5.30pm
The team arrived in Cape Town tired and weary after the overnight flight from
Heathrow. Deen Sandhu had a very lucky escape in the baggage arrival hall in
Cape Town Airport He collected the wrong suitcase, fortunately he opened it to
get his tour jacket out and found it contained numerous dresses, he claimed not
to have packed them, a few of the team are not so sure!
Unfortunately, the weather was overcast and rainy and our scheduled visit to Table Mountain has had to be postponed. A brief bus tour passing the surrounding Shanti Townships was followed by a few hours at Cape Town’s largest shopping Mall, Canal Walk. We have arrived at our accommodation, (the Breakwater Lodge at the Victoria and Albert Waterfront on Cape Town’s Harbour) and have booked a restaurant for a group meal this evening. Pictured below are Nick Warren and Paul Beckett along with Dennis Topping outside the Breakwater Lodge
After a relaxing afternoon the evening was spent at Spurs Restaurant.. A committee was formed to operate a “fine system” for boys who “let the side down”. Pictured below the committee are meeting. A typical fine of 10 Rand is applied, Alex Nolan was fined for arriving at the airport in white shoes, and Charlie Steere was fined for placing his finger in an electric fan, other fines applied are not suitable to mention here!
Tuesday 18th July
An excellent day, beautiful weather. After an early breakfast we set off for a
guided tour of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was in prison for over 19
years. This was a very moving experience for the boys. A guided tour is provided
by one of the ex political prisoners. Pictured below is Mark Hallett inside one
of the cells adjacent to the one Nelson Mandela spent many years of his life and
a picture of our tour guide. Also are a few snaps of Table Mountain one taken as
the mist was rising at about 9.30am and the other taken about three hours later
The afternoon was spent on a visit by cable car to the summit of Table Mountain, the afternoon was very clear providing breathtaking views of the Cape Town and the surrounding coastline. Below is the group on top of table mountain
We arrived at Settlers High School late in the afternoon for our two day stay with our hosts.
Wednesday 19 July
Settlers High School starts at 8.00am and our boys all arrived on time even
though rather bleary eyed. The Settlers boys went to lessons and we set off for
our Day Tour to Cape Point. The day trip by coach was through some of the most
scenic routes in the Western Cape. Our excellent coach guide, Eric warned us all
about the baboons at Cape Point, unfortunately Tom Holt who had his headphones
on failed to hear the advice given. Upon arrival Tom purchased some light food,
as he was leaving the store he was immediately set upon by a hungry baboon. This
provided much humour for the rest of the tour party but could have been very
serious, a lucky escape! Deen Sandhu also purchased some food in the “safe
area”. When a baboon jumped up at him from the other side of the electric fence
he quickly and sensibly surrendered his food to the baboon. The tour also
included visits to the Cape of Good Hope (the most South Westerly point in
Africa) and Boulders Beach to view the hundreds of penguins in their natural
habitat. An excellent day touring this most beautiful part of Africa. Mark
Hallett commented “these views are off the scale”, loosely translated I think
this means excellent. We are now heading back to Settlers High School for our
first match of the tour. Below are some of the snaps of the days sightseeing.
Click on the image for a larger version of the photograph. The first match of
the tour resulted in a win by 2-1. A really good game the School very much under
pressure for the first half but became stronger as the game went on. Chris
Litter scored both goals one penalty flick the other a well taken goal from open
play. Julian Emslie was voted Man of the Match by the Settlers team
Pictured below are a few photos prior to the game with Settlers High School
Thursday 20th July
A morning visit to the Neethlingshof wine estate for a
tour and a lesson in fine wine tasting was followed by a visit to the local
Cheetah Sanctury. Our late afternoon match was played against Bridge House
School from the Franschhoek area near Stellenbosch. Another good performance
from the School resulted in a win by 3-0 win with goals by Mark Hallett, Alex
Brown and Chris Littler, Alex Brown was voted man of the Match
Friday 21st July
The weather has turned cold with heavy rain (much
different from what we have seen watching the Golf Open at Hoylake). The morning
was spent with a tour of Newlands Rugby and Cricket grounds followed by a team
meal at a local restaurant and a visit to a shopping mall. Our late afternoon
match was against Edgemead High School. Our team looked very tried and clearly
seemed to be suffering from too many late nights. The score, 3-0 to Edgemead was
flattering but we could have no complaints. Mark Hallet was voted man of the
Match.Pictured below is James Kirk holding the Rugby World Cup (replica)
Saturday 22ndJuly
We set off early on this morning for the short Journey to
Bishops College, one of the top Schools in the Western Province. The boys had
really set their minds on giving a good performance today (the last time
Birkenhead School had played Bishops College was in Rugby two years ago and they
had lost by around 100-0), we had a determination to let Bishops know we are not
easy opposition. The boys played exceptionally well losing by 2-1 with about 4
mins of play remaining we had been pressuring the home side for 15 mins forcing
several short corners. Unfortunately, a goal much against the run of play put
Bishops 3-1 up and we could not get back into the game. Julian scored the goal
and Paul Beckett was voted man of the match by the Bishops team. A disappointing
result but a great performance on the day. The boys spent the afternoon and
evening being entertained by their hosts.
Sunday 23rd July
We departed a wet rainy Cape Town heading for Port
Elizabeth on the Eastern coast. After a pleasant flight we arrived to a sunny
beautiful city with first rate accommodation only yards from the beach and the
entertainment of the Boardwalk. Alex Nolan and Chris Littler enjoyed a spell at
the casino in the afternoon and claim to have “come out on top”. The evening was
spent playing pool, bowling and even a bit of Karaoke…..the singing was louder
and more in tune than I usually hear from the boys in assembly. Mark Hallett won
the R50 prize for the highest score in the bowling. A few of the boys had a very
late night and tiredness was very evident the next morning!
Monday 24th July
We spent the morning sightseeing and go-carting (Charlie
Steere crashed into Mr Edmunds, the result was a written off go-cart much to the
disapproval of the organization who had opened the track especially for our
visit). Our late afternoon practice was followed by a game against Woodridge
College, who we met last year at the international Gresham’s festival. We did
not perform to our best and the 0-0 draw was a fair result on the day. Man of
the match was Nick Warren
Tuesday 25th
July
A morning visit to Jeffrey’s Bay sight-seeing was a rare
chance to see whales and dolphins swimming only a few yards from the beach. This
was followed by a game of golf with all boys taking part (not exactly Royal
Liverpool and no claret jug for the winners Deen Sandhu and Nick Warren), a R50
prize fund ensured a good competition.A short practice was followed by a
thrilling game against Westring High School. We went 2-0 down and seemed to be
struggling to find our form. A positive half time team talk from Mr Topping saw
an excellent come back with the team winning 3-2 with two goals from Chris
Littler and one from Julian Emslie who was voted Man of the Match.
Wednesday 26th July
We managed a morning visit to the VW car museum in Port
Elizabeth before heading to the airport for our short flight to Durban for the
final few games of the tour. Although only an hours flight from Port Elizabeth,
Durban is a very different city. Our hotel was only a few hundred metres from
the beach but after several warnings from the locals we where advised not to go
out alone. A tour meal in Mike’s Restaurant provided ideal preparation for
tomorrows test match against Hilton College
Thursday 27th July
(David Thompson’s 18th Birthday)
The morning was spent on a visit to the Township School Mphophomeni. This was a
very humbling experience for all. The Headmaster gave us a tour of the School
and we presented footballs and kit to them. A short visit to Howick Falls was
followed by our visit to Hilton College, one of only two all boys full boarding
Schools in South Africa. The contrast from what we had seen earlier in the day
was unbelievable, at Hilton the Head Boy has his own house (see picture
below)! Hilton College are currently ranked number 4 for boys
hockey in SA and provided tough opposition. Leading 1-0 at half time we provided
them with a bit of a scare. At Half time they brought on their two SA U18
players who made a big difference as our boys tired in the afternoon heat.
Although hugely disappointed we could not grumble too much with the final score
of 3-1 to Hilton College. Chris Littler scored our goal and Alex Nolan was Man
of the Match. In a 9 a-side game arranged to allow other squad players a game we
won by 2-1 with goals from Dominic Rowley and Sam Jones. Hilton College hosted a
dinner for all players in the early evening. Celebrations for David’s 18th
Birthday had to be put on hold as Hilton’s alcohol policy,
rural location, and boarding house accommodation left the boys rather isolated!
Friday 28th
July
A morning visit to PheZulu Village to experience life in
a Zulu village and see a crocodile farm was followed by a game against Westville
High School to be held at the international Queensmead Stadium. This game was a
surprise to us as we had anticipated an easier game against a development side.
A tired team eventually lost by 4-1, Chris Littler scored our goal, man of the
match was Alex Brown. Following the game we transferred to Glenwood High School
for a two night stay in their Boarding Establishment. Excellent hosts they
provided transport each evening for our boys to enjoy the local entertainment!
Saturday 29th July
Our final two matches of the tour took place. At 8.30am in a 9 a-side game
against Glenwood U16 team we lost by 4-2 with goals by Charlie Steere and
Dominic Rowley. In the main match later in the morning we finished the tour the
way we had started with some excellent hockey, winning by 2-0 with goals from
Mark Hallett and Sion Owen who was also Man of the Match. In the afternoon we
watched Glenwood 1st XV rugby side play against local opposition
Kearnsey College, quite an occasion with about 3000 spectators. Early evening
Glenwood School put on a braai (barbeque), the rest of the evening was spent in
the Gateway Centre, the largest Mall in the Southern Hemisphere. Rumour has it
that Deen and Charlie were seen dancing together in a local bar only to avoid
the attention of the other locals!
Following our 11 hockey matches we awarded:
Most improved player of the tour
David Thompson
Player of the Tour Alex Brown
Top Scorer of the Tour Chris Littler
Tourists of the Tour Fraser
Hynes & James Boumphrey
Captain of the Tour Julian
Emslie
Sunday 30th July
(Mark Hallett’s 18th
Birthday)
We set off from Glenwood School at 8.30am for our visit to St Lucia and a river
cruise to see hippos, crocs and birdlife (including eagles). As you can see from
the pictures below we saw close ups of all the wildlife. We then moved on to
Hluhluwe Game Reserve for a two night stay in thatched chalets. Two game drives
in open topped vehicles provided some thrilling scenery including elephants,
giraffe, rhinos, hyenas and much more. The photographs are memories but do not
do justice to the spectacular sights including a rhino only five feet from the
vehicle!
Wednesday 2nd August
All arrived safely back at Manchester Airport exhausted and ready for a rest!
