Adieu New Zealand, thanks for the memories
17.07.2013 
22 °C
NZ Alps
After a late night of bowling and watching the pride of Australia succumb to a pride of Lions, we made a last ditch effort to ride the ShotOver Jet Boats Sunday morning. But again the river looked a little bit too angry and the boats weren’t running, so we headed back into town for some last minute souvenir hunting. So a cruisy departure after a fun-filled 3 days in Queenstown, which became an even crusier 4hr layover at the airport, it seemed that NZ just didn’t want to let us go!
Apart from these last minute hiccups, the tour was an extremely successful one and we hope that the 30 tourists will take home with them memories and friendships that will last a lifetime. This was only made possible by the timeless efforts of many back home and on the tour, which we should all be extremely thankful. Special thanks to:
Brigid – tour organiser extraordinaire
Tour Committee (Brigid, Cate and Kelly) – for pulling together the myriad of components of the tour including flights and accomodation, tour itinery, incredible touring gear and of course, not to be underestimated… dining arrangements… I don’t know how you did it but no-one went hungry and the boys took home some valuable kitchen skills… we hope!
Long Lunch Committee (Carmel, Matt, Cheryl, Donna, Kelly, Cate, Brigid and Chantal) for organising a cracking lunch that set the benchmark for years to come. This was the major fundraiser for the tour and didn’t disappoint with a massive contribution! Thanks to all those who came and contributed to the day. Special thanks to Hugh and Gary Gerstle for organising the speakers and Vince Sorrenti.. maaaaaayyyttt!
John Whelan and his Jobs for the Boys programme. Very reminiscent of the movie “Oliver” – but i digress. Thanks John, it was brilliant to see the boys out in the community and equally to see the communities buy-in to the tour.
Touring Dads : Hugh the tour general and go-to man. Those Telstra management meeting skills deployed with great effectiveness; Coach Byron who turned a mixture of 21 Golds and Blues players into a lean, mean fighting machine; John “Da Vinci” The Artist Leotta, – saw some moves on the bowling alley and touch footy field that could only be seen to be believed; Cuz Khan – local liaison and interpreter; Doctor Dave – thankfully did not have a lot to do, also acted as scout of neigbooring wildernesss areas; BMG (Blog Meister General) Gav – the tour book will be out in time for Xmas, personally signed on request; Anthony Bick (Baz Luhrmann prodigee – video diary and part time laundry hand); Matt D (referee on the field and off – Judge residing for Kangaroo Court; Peags – kept the wheels of the tour and NZ commerce in general greased and running smoothly!
Jacqui Brain from Australian Travel Group – for co-ordinating 30 tourists over 7 days and 7 nights. It all went very smoothly thanks Jacqui.
Phil Robson from Total Rugby – the man on the ground in NZ who organised the games (very evenly matched) and the amazing morning where we met the Whitelock brothers (All Blacks, Crusaders) and training with the Canterbury coaches, amongst everything else. He was even there consoling us when we were smashed by the Lions… true ANZAC spirit!
ISC for the very generous contribution of full length compression gear for the tour. According to the boys, not only brilliant to play in but incredible warm!
Finally, the boys… what a top bunch of young men and a pleasure to watch them all grow over the course of the tour. Leading from the front:
Will Bremner – game captain – as always, put in 110% every game and gave it to the bretheren of his home country. Obviously hardened by his years in the mean streets of Lane Cove!
Sam Rigney – tour captain – made it on to the field and despite just coming back from a shoulder injury, never took a backward step. His post match performances were equally as impressive.. we have a diplomat in the making.
Jamie Bennetts – was all over the paddock and all over the tour – one of the characters of the tour, picked up skiing like he was born to it.
Matt Bickersteth – provided the starch on the field that we needed against some very willing opposition, excelled in the tight five and in downhill grass sliding. Hey Bickers, what’s your tour number??
Alex Brislan – solid in the midfield and saved his best till last with an outstanding game against Wakatipu
Connor Douglass – gave up about 20kgs to his opposition but soared in the linouts and was willing at the breakdown. Off the field, brought many a smile to the boy’s faces and a frown or two from the BMG.
Will Gerstle – excellent running of the ball and man-of-the-match against a quality opposition from Mt Aspiring.
Hamish Horne – solid in defence and attack, one of the best overall performers in a great back line with many try-saving tackles.
Nick Lupton – another man coming back from injury but this didn’t hold him back and as his confidence returned, so to did his elusiveness and speed in attack.
Nicholas Leventis – worked hard in defence and ran hard in attack – to cries of “giddy up” from the sidelines! Sad news Nick, the ski is still missing, search and rescue has been called off!
Dan Nolan – another solid contributer to the midfield and backline maestro, who ran and kicked the ball with aplomb.
Xavier Pegum – some excellent service from the breakdown and set piece, took a few knocks but survived a great tour. Always the first to volunteer his karaoke services when required on the coach. Was that heavy metal or deaf metal dude? Bring back disco I say!
Ramsay R-K. One of the only smiling faces Sat night. Well done Lions, well done Ramsay, a cracking tour with a try to boot.
Ryan Bento – a colussus on the field. Paul Gallen would be proud of his work in attack. The only lad to play touch footy with the dads – gold star!
Clancy Donnan – excellent work in the scrum and breakdown. Always looking for work.
Leo Frustaci – man of the match performances everywhere. Canterbury rugby scouts hands off!
Oliver Harris – as always, put in the hard yards on the paddock, particularly at he breakdown where the Kiwis gave us our toughest test.
Preston Kerr – another powerhouse in the tight 5 , did everything that was asked of him and more.
Ben Leotta – his appearances were hampered by injury but showed enormous ticker when on the field. Helped get the momentum back in the later stages of the Wakatipu match.
Jack McCreanor – Jack’s confidence built with each match and again instrumental in turning things around in the last game.
Charlie Payne – hard running, hard tackling as always. Excelled in the bowling alley as well with some controversial actions.
Take care.
BMG
SANY4236
goodbye_steve_1-3381
Posted by lcjru2013 17:26 Archived in AustraliaComments (0)
Day 8
16.07.2013
Posted by lcjru2013 21:10 Archived in New ZealandComments (0)
Final video
10.07.2013
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Day 1 video blog
10.07.2013
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Day 2 video blog
10.07.2013
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Day 4: Wanaka to Queenstown
10.07.2013
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Final video
10.07.2013
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Prayers answered, skiing on!
05.07.2013
Thanks for all the prayers for snow from all of you at home. You must have been extra good people lately…… coz we saw plenty! The initial forecast had been for rain but a cold front moving up from the Tasman transformed all that rain into plenty of snow. The boys and Dads had a one and a half hour lesson to start to learn the basics or in many cases, just dust off a few cobwebs. The boys were then let loose on the slopes… or to rephrase, were chaperoned under the watchful eyes of the support crew.
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Our run of bad luck ended when the winds that were driving the cold front, breached the automatic cutoff level for the chairlifts. After a few grizzles and grumbles we used this time to warm up and have a bight to eat. It was also good to hear a few stories from the boys, particularly those who had their first day on a ski slope ever. From what I saw, they all handled themselves very well and are to be congratulated for their perseverence and patience.
This patience was tested out again after lunch with the lifts remaining closed, even though it appeared as if the wind had died down somewhat.
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Thankfully the closure didn’t last long and the lifts were reopened. I’m not sure how the system calculates whether to open or close, but the lift to the top run was still very blowy and as the afternoon progressed the snow just kept building and building and building. Everyone took maximum advantage of these conditions and skiied like their was no tomorrow.. well I guess that makes sense as there isn’t really a tomorrow to ski… but I digress! One of our ski debutants,
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Nick Leventis decided he would employ a new system of transference of his skis from the top of the slope to the bottom. The standard system of attaching them to one’s ski boots was discarded for the straight-down-the-edge-of-the-mountain technique. This method received a complimentary lift on the back of a ski-mobile with a bonus flip to boot. The story did have a happy ending and Nick and all the boys sported ear to ear grins at the conclusion of skiing. The skis themselves will have a long overdue rest until the Spring thaw.
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Tomorrow’s rescheduled Shotover Jet ride I think might be a big ask as the river is now over the loading pontoon according to our bus driver. We may have exhausted our prayer quota for the trip, but please a few extra prayers tonight can only help. Oh, and please also say a small prayer for the mighty Wallabies as they do battle with the Lions tonight!
Love yez all, from all over here!
Posted by lcjru2013 20:58Comments (1)
Day 6 – Queenstown
04.07.2013
Another busy day today and alas the rain returned, playing havoc on all the carefully made preparations for a well-earned day of fun for the boys. A quick breakfast and it was off to the Shotover Jet Boat terminal. We had driven over the river a few times already since arriving in Queenstown and it looked pretty clear that this was going to be one of the highlights of the tour so far. The rains thwarted these plans and after consideration of the conditions they decided to postpone our ride through the Shotover River.
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Not to be discouraged, the tour management clicked into overdrive and we filled the gap with a game of indoor putt-putt golf. Although the tourists were disappointed they were not flying up the river in a jet boat, this diversion turned out to be great fun for the boys and especially the PGA quality Dads. The excellence of the tour management was further on display when the sun came out just as we finished bowling and rode the Gondola to the Skyline complex on Bob’s Peak.
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After an amazing lunch, where one of the boys commented that “this food is too good for us”, we prepared to head down the mountain in a way more adventurous style… down the luge track. The disappointment of the postponed jetboat ride was soon forgotten as we prep’d for the luge ride and started our downhill runs. The ride was nothing short of exhilarating and a few close calls where the competitiveness of the boys (and Dad’s) got the better of us, made for a thrilling ride.
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Having survived this adventure, we headed back to the river, positive that we would be able to have a ride. Again however the ride was called off as the water level of the river rose beyond a safe level, due to the earlier rains. Again, not to let the situation get to us, we decided to have a dip and slide at the Sports complex where the boys won their game yesterday. The Dads thought this was a great time to have their own game time against the boys, but the boys whimped out of the contest (all except for Ryan, that is). According to the boys, they were too tired.. however the truth will eventually come out that the Dad’s may have scared them a little…anyway, we digress. Anyway, the boys did a little bit of shopping, so look out folks at home, pressies on the way!
Dinner was another treat with a hungi dinner of chicken, pork, yams, vegies and beef.
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We’re still hoping to go skiing tomorrow folks and the locals think we’ll be OK so let’s all hope that they’re right! It’ll be a busy day and we’re hoping to find somewhere to watch the Wallabies beat the Lions!!! Talk soon.
Posted by lcjru2013 23:56Comments (1)
Lane Cove 32 Wakatipu 17
03.07.2013
wed arvo day 4 001
With the rain over, we were greeted by a crisp, bright blue sky. The trip south west through the mountains took us through prime Lord of The Rings country, with bubbling snow-melt brooks carving their way around magestic peaks. We travelled via the Mountain Pass, one of 2 routes south to Queenstown. Ironically, the passage was made easier following the recent rain as it defrosted the high mountain pass. We stopped for a quick team photo at Crown Range Summit where the boys (birthday boy Sam Rigney pictured) tried their hands at some extreme carpark ice skating. From 1km high the lookout offered some incredible views of the Remarkables down to Queenstown.
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The old gold mining town of Arrowtown provided another pleasant break where the tourists warmed up with a rich Patogonia Chocolate Shop hot chocolate. We’re not exactly sure what was in the hot chocolate, but it roused the boys from their slumber and triggered an unusual decision to try some free style grass sliding down the side of the road…. who needs ski slopes! It also triggered a bout of spontaneous singing with some bloke called Derrick getting some good wraps??
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We then travelled to our new digs at the Shotover Caravan Park and made ready for the 3rd and last game of the tour. The game had earlier been moved from the Wakatipu home ground to the recently built Events Centre. The Remarkables offered an amazing backdrop to the ground and the team appeared to be in a positive frame of mind, relishing the dry conditions. Incidentally we heard George Gregan’s Mosman team had played the game before with the opposing Wakatipu team coached by ex NSW and Wallaby Michael Brial… go figure!
Lane Cove received the kickoff and it was game on! Interestingly, with no haka the boys seemed way more willing in the opening phases and were rewarded with the first 2 tries. In fact Lane Cove dominated the first 15 mins or so, but when Wakatipu finally had an opportunity to run the ball, the fightback was on. Mistakes began to creep into the Lane Cove game and the locals scored 2 tries in quick succession taking the lead into half time 17-15.
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After a spurring half time talk and encouragement from parents and players, the team rediscovered their mojo and came out fighting. The game was in the balance for the next 20 mins with Wakatipu keeping their noses in front and looking the more likely to take the chocolates, despite some great effort and application from the lads.
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But the Lane Cove men dug down and found another gear, scoring a succession of 3 tries to take the lead and from here, they looked like men posessed, unwilling to yield an inch. In the end the Covies prevailed in their best outing of the tour…. what a game to finish!
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The aftermatch function took on a slightly different format with the Wakatipu boys performing their haka. This as well as the mandatory mountain of food made for a very satisfying conclusion to our rugby part of the itinerary.
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After a scrub down back at the lodgings, we headed up the road to Strike Bowl, where some unusual bowling styles were on display. Highlights were Charlie’s backward no look bowl, Xavier’s no look forward/sideward bowl and amongst the Dad’s John “DaVinci, The Artist” Leotta bowling style. We finished with meal and cake for Sam that the boys prepared in between training sessions and games…he hem. On the way home we were treated to a few haunting renditions of Sweet Molly Malone, You are My Sunshine and the Gambler, led by Khan Horne, Xavier Pegum and Australia’s Got Talent entry Clancy Donnan!
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Posted by lcjru2013 22:28Comments (0)