Post One

Wednesday March 31st
Everyone manages to assemble in Wellington on time (well almost on time Caleb) and have their passports as well. The only problem with checking was having two staff doing their own things for adding up weight of baggage. Luckily we were well under our allowance.
Flights were fine and we had no problems on the plane or off the plane. Anu has become our go to person for random searches, boot cleaning in the airport, setting off the metal detectors (which then meant the rest of the team had to remove their shoes for the scanner!). We are hoping Anu will be allowed back in to NZ with out too much trouble. Some of the boys managed to shop in Sydney airport and some early parcels. Steeping out in to Brisbane’s high humidity was a shock and our bus ride encountered a lot of road works as they are only done at night on the Gold Coast Highway (7pm to 5am) thanks to the friendly bus driver for that information. Each road works also had a police car with flashing lights to control any errant drivers. While travelling to Runaway Bay we hit a tropical downpour which cleaned the road, the bus, and woke up the manager. Checking in to Sports Super Centre was easy and we were glad to be settled in, well perhaps not Ryan who discovered a pet cockroach in his room which he tried to squash but managed to chase in to his bag. It is still awol, although we did sight another one about 5cm long in the lounge/kitchen. Once the coach and manager had settled in to their air-conditioned room the boys made do with a fan noisily circulating the air in each of their rooms.

Thursday April 1st
Breakfast at 7.30 am and the boys were sighted at 7am playing beach volleyball! A full cooked breakfast kept everyone happy. Practice was transferred to the artificial turf and the boys worked hard for a couple of hours. Our two vans were picked up and a lunch of rolls and cold meat was enjoyed by all. We headed off to the game at Palm Beach Currumbin High School with our Google Map and the superb navigational skills of Ed. Arriving about 35minutes early gave us plenty of time to warm up in warm and windy conditions. The field was a little bumpy but okay. The referee told me Shane Smeltz was an old boy of PBC and he gave him plenty of red cards as a younger player. Considering this was the boys’ first game as a team I thought we played quite well. The final score was 0-0 with a number of chances unconverted by both sides. Our best opportunity was just before half time when Lachlan found himself in front of the goal and could only kick it at the keeper. The game was played in a good spirit and the referee did not have a lot to do. Back to SSC and a swim for some before tea at 8pm, plenty of guessing as to what it will be, Caleb is holding out hoping for some ice cream all will be revealed later.