Nic Cammell's Blog

We are heading to the Hluhluwe game reserve now, and I am hoping to see some cool animals here. There is apparently a relatively large population of rhinos, both white and black so hopefully we will see some of them. The billeting was a really fun and interesting experience as I have never been billeted before. My family that i stayed with were absolutely lovely looking forward to being billeted in Cape Town. We just saw some big giraffes and about 20 or so zebra,Ii'm getting keen, Big 5 here we come!!

Random ramblings

Amongst the very first lessons of don't get burnt and smother yourself in sunscreen, South Africa has taught us many things. Firstly we are well off in comparison, not all people even get food or the means to build a house. As well as that, SA is full of many kinds of People, Africans, British, Greeks and kiwis. For instance I was lucky enough to have a civilised dinner with an ex professional gambler and the winner of the Ms Hooters SA, then walked out with my host, who claimed that the very expensive restaurant was average and that I would see much better women in cape town (lucky me I get to see both?). >:D

Secondly, their money system is problematic, I mean, who wants 5R cents, it probably costs more to produce and is about 1/120th of $1, very annoying to carry as well as use. In most countries I go "oo a coin on the road I want it!" with 5R cents I'm the one who puts them on the road.

At first I was unwilling to write these useless ramblings, but since I have verbal diahorrea most of the time, it is very fulfilling to badger someone once again instead of being that little twat who complains about sunburn all the time to the staff.

Toby

Chests Blog (Henry)

The last few days in Durban spent with our host family were amazing. Wyatt and I had our own sleep out which was pretty cool. Yesterday in the morning our host family drove us up to a dam about 30 minutes north of Durban. The scenery changed from houses to little huts, but eventually we got to a glassy, flat lake with zebras roaming wild. We spent the next few hours biscuiting and I attempted to water ski.. Too bad I was too big for the 30 horsepower motor to pull me out. We slept most of the afternoon in order to have energy for the evenings games where the Prems tied 4 all with Clifton. The game itself was good but we did have a few opportunities to grasp the win. We then feasted on some sheep after the game which was a good feed. We're currently on the bus to the game park, and the further we drive the hotter it's getting. We're all training hard and having a fantastic time.

Missing the family..... Lol JK

SA

Hey reuben it kiheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee hope you having fun in south Africa and having a good time, and you beta win or ill smash you J. Hi its Louis South Africa as much as we did hope you are enjoying your water polo and see you when you get back.

Game 2 (Prem Team)

The sun is slowly sinking, with a gentle breeze keeping things comfortable here at Clifton High School. Sorry folks, but the weather here is a millions times better than at home. (Had to rub it in.) On that breeze is a hint of the lambs and chickens, roasting on spits, which we will be having afterwards as part of a braai (barbecue).

The team are perhaps not in the best of shape, with Peter on the bench, and some less spectacular Delhi belly amongst some of the others. Not to mention the effects of a day at the beach for many. Billeting has left the boys cheerful and chirpy. Jack is playing up today.

Bill and Ben, the bar support crew, watch like hawks from their stools. The Toad watches like a toad.

Q 1: Mayan swims off for a quarter which sees our boys 2:1 up. Flash Harry saved a 5 metre. A good start against a good team.

Q 2: Jack swims at the start of the second, a very intense quarter, with a lot of attack and counter attack. 3:2 down at half time.

Q 3: Phillip swims off, but these Clifton boys are very fast and strong, not to mention comfortable in their home pool. Clifton have also put a fresh goalie in the water. 4:3 down. Maybe some time outs from James coming up?

Q 4: Reuben swims off this time. More fierce attack and defence. James calls time out with a cunning plan. An equalising goal keeps the pressure on both teams, with more fearsome defending at both ends of the pool. The final whistle blows: 4 all. A fair score reflecting how tough the game has been. Now it is time for some speeches and photos, and a braai. 

Deryn & Jane & Rob

Game 2 (Dev Team)

In the sunshine of yet another perfect hot Durban day, we are again watching the awesome Dev team play. 7 minute quarters in 30m pool - they will be fit when they get back.
They are playing Durban High School first team.
Quarter 1 started slowly, score line at end of quarter 2-4, refereeing tough but fair and a couple of exclusions led to some goals for the opposition.
Q2 much better and they found their feet. Score at the end 5-4 including a great 5 m both drawn and scored by Nic Cammell.
Q3 was a continued fight, again exclusions being one of the down falls. They are now finding it tough with the 7 minute quarters. James however remains calm with the score at 6-7.
Q4 and the tiredness has set in. However they kept on in what is a tougher game than yesterday's. Goals kept on coming. Final score 8-10.

Jane, Deryn, Rob

Dinner

Happy?

The Critics Sitting Poolside

That Way

Relaxing

Billeting - First Impressions

Games are finished and we line up to hand over our swap t-shirts and finally find out how we were to be billeted. The Clifton coach calls forward his players one by one, calling out the number of billets they would take. After each of these, Mr Skeen calls up the boy or boys who would be going with them.
I was left until the end, when a Clifton boy, John, came forward and said he was taking two, but could accommodate a third. The final three, Nick Godfrey, Max, and myself, went with him. We grabbed our suitcases and went to pile into their van.
From there we travelled through to their home, an impressive place behind a wall, like most of the more well-off neighbourhoods' houses. Their four dogs rushed out to meet us and we were introduced to their dogs and our new host family. We then were taken to our rooms and given a minute to settle in before dinner, a BBQ.

Mac

How To Be A Poor Guest

Following our game against the club team last night, each boy was assigned to a host family in singles, doubles or in one case a trio. I was assigned to the May family who welcomed me warmly into their home. Gareth even moved into his brother's room so I could have a room to myself for the night. When dinner was offered to me I asked to be excused to my room as I wasn't feeling too well. After retiring to my host's chamber, I promptly ran out and narrowly missed their toilet with some delicious projectile vomit. All four of the Mays then checked I was ok, offered me medicine, water and anything else I could want. I of course waited for everyone to fall asleep, only to vomit all over my host's bed, and made extra sure to wake up everyone in the household in the process. Again, they helped me change all my bedding, got me water, offered me a shower and gave me some pain killers.

Moral of the story is, if you ever travel to South Africa and stay with a host family, feel free to vomit in the most inconvenient of places. For some reason, when you do they remain helpful, kind and accommodating people.

Pete Burrell

First game/First night with billets

Our first game against a Durban club team,which was full of older players. One of those players just happened to be the south african men's captain! We were behind the whole game due to our lack of offence and poor covering. The score at the end was around 11-5. Afterwards we went with our billets. So far my family has been very hospitable and I get along with them. What I am liking most about is the heat and how everything is so cheap.

Miss you Mum,Dad and Kate

Ben

Our Man- Voos

Voos

Voos is our bus driver in Durban. He drives buses all over South Africa, often taking tour groups like ours, sometimes for up to two weeks at a time. He has been driving buses for 32 years, since he was 21.

Voos is an Indian who lives in Durban (Durban has an Indian population of more than a million). He has five adult children, one of whom is an epileptic. Even though he was born in South Africa (and his parents were born in South Africa) Voos supports the Indian cricket team, not the South African one.

We are the most famous water polo team Voos has ever driven around but he has had some other top international sportsmen. He looked after the Chennai SuperKings when the Indian IPL was played in South Africa one year. That team was coached by Stephen Fleming and included Mahindra Dhoni, VVS Laxman and Doug Bollinger. And he drove the Algerian football team in the soccer World Cup in 2010 and the Egyptian team in the Confederations Cup.

The Indian billionaire owner of the Chennai SuperKings thought Voos was such a cool driver that he sacked his BMW chauffeur and hired Voos to drive him in his 7 seater bus. So when the billionaire flew to Jo'burg or Port Elizabeth for a weekend, he paid Voos to drive his 7 seater there, empty, just so he could drive the owner around.

We're very lucky to have Voos!

Bill

The World Below

Another Beautiful Day

Some Serious Height

Fantastic effort!

Hi All 

We have been waiting with great expectation for your first game and the results certainly didn't disappoint - congratulations to you all.  We know that James has been working you hard and is preparing you well to compete against some very competitive South African sides.  It sounds like the Prem Team played exceptionally well to get the goals they did - well done!  We are very proud of the younger boys as the training has obviously been stepped up a notch and then some (according to Reuben it's 10 times harder than the final day of swim camp - well done James!) and with the added heat to get a win first up is very exciting.  Thank you Derryn, Rob and Jane for your report on the games - we are looking forward to hearing more.  Tuning into the blog is the first thing we do when we get up in the morning and the last thing we look at before going to bed and are thrilled each time to see what the boys have been up to.  Congratulations Reuben on your swim ups and your first international goal we are very proud of you!  Love to you all.

Ann, Ken, Ariana, Ollie and Molly ("meow")

PS:  Enjoy the sunshine you are experiencing as we are still not seeing much back here.