New Zealand Hockey Trip 2008

Back in the real world

2008-06-04T01:55:00.000-07:00

A week or so on and life is returning to normal.

I have shown my medal to just about everyone who is likely to be vaguely interested - and some who were not.

The team photo has arrived and I have made up a "trophy" with it plus the medal, certificate etc and hung it on my hockey wall of fame.

There have been many emails going back and forth between the team and everyone seems to have had a good time. Next time we meet we are likely to be on opposite sides.

I have also since heard my project in Thailand is approved, so I will be off there soon. Stay tuned for the next blog.

Final thoughts

2008-05-26T02:45:00.000-07:00

I did catch up the the 2 Mensa people on Saturday. We met at a movie theatre about 5 minutes from the motel and then walked a few hundred metres to a Vietnamese restaurant. The food was very good and I tried an Avocado shake which was an interesting and quite tasty drink. I had a couple of hours to kill in the motel before I left and was looking at the TV. They had quite a few Sky channels and I actually stumbled across a 30 minute program just covering hockey. They showed a number of the Olympic qualifying tournaments for the women. Mostly it was the goals and they made it look so easy.

The next morning I packed then drove down to Davenport for a look around. This is a harbourside suburb on a peninsular opposite the CBD so there is a great view of the city buildings and the main motorway bridge from the ferry terminal there.

I drove along the beach front seeing more of the water and came across a Maori war canoe off one of the beaches.

I then took a leisurely drove back the way I'd come in from the south, filled the car at over $2 per litre and then had fish and chips for lunch.

It was only a few km from there to the car hire depot and after checking back in I was dropped at the bus stop to the airport with a voucher for a ride. Even on that trip you drive along the water front. In fact the whole of Auckland is located on a series of beaches bays and rivers. The city and suburbs stretch from one side of the Island to the other.

I bought some Baileys at the duty free and that left me with just over $5 in NZ currency. I did meet some other hockey players and the mob from Rotorua in the airport. The plane was a bit late arriving but it seemed like we made up most of the time as it arrived in Sydney about the time expected. I watched the movie "I am Legend".

It took a while for my hockey sticks to come through and I was starting to get worried about making the connection. However you actually check in in the international terminal so that meant I was there in plenty of time. We then caught the transfer bus to the domestic terminal. The plane to Perth was again a 747 and was pretty full. I was sitting near the back in row 71. That suggests somewhere near 700 people. This time the film was "The Bucket List" There was almost time for 2 films. I did some channel flipping but in the end tried to get some sleep instead. Fortunately my bags were off early and David was waiting for my call, so I was out of the airport fairly quickly. It was still nearly 11 before I got home and well after midnight before I finally got to bed. That was 4 am NZ time so I've been a bit groggy today.

It was a great 2 weeks over all. It was fantastic to play for my country and the girls on the team and the result made it even better. New Zealand is such a picturesque place, you felt you needed to take a photo every time you crested a hill. Hopefully I will return some time and see the South Island which, hard to believe, is supposedly even more beautiful.

Cave emptor

2008-05-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

This morning I was up about 8 and arrived at the glow worm caves but 20 to 9. It appears there are discount tickets for everything but the attraction you want to go to, or else you find the discount after you've been there (viz, sky tower) or cancel because you've left you camera behind (viz) Hell's gate or the trip gets cancelled (viz Dolphin cruise)

The tours are 40 minutes and start on the hour so there was a bit of a wait. We were the first for the day and only about 10 of us. apparently they can get 3000 per day and usually go in groups of 50.

Unfortunately you can't take pictures inside. I can understand not allowing pix of the glow worms themselves since the light might be bad for them and the average idiot tourist won't know that a flash will defeat the purpose. Time exposure probably would just give a blur. Before we got to that part we walked around the rest of the cave complex, with it's usual displays of stalactites, stalagmites and so forth. It was interesting but not significantly different from some other caves I've been in.

We then got into the boat and went through the glow worm cave and that is spectacular. It looks like stars in the roof of the cave. we actually follow the river out of the cave at its source and then walk back up to the car park while the guide takes the boat back in. We could take some shots in the cave mouth and the nature walk back.

It was just on 10 when I got back to the main road North and I was in Hamilton well before 11. In the end I didn't stop, despite thinking I might do a couple of things, so I would have been better off going the bypass route. I got to the Outskirts of Auckland about 12 and had lunch at that same Westfield that I stopped at on the way out. (opposite where we filled the buses). The trip back was the 3rd time on that same stretch of road so I didn't bother with and photos.

It was 3pm before I booked into a hotel. I wandered all over the suburbs, first looking for an internet cafe and then just for a motel. Having passed some and realising I was nearly in the city I tried to go back, took a wrong turn and got so frustrated with busy narrow and one way streets I gave up and went across the bridge to the North shore and booked in to one I saw in the AA guide.
I then contacted a couple of Mensa people to arrange to meet for dinner.

Rapid relief

2008-05-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

At night the mud pools and geyser next door are flood lit so I took a time exposure shot before going to bed.

I left Rotorua about 10 to 10 this morning and had travelled less than 2km before the first road works. Fortunately there were only a couple and travel was speedy the rest of the way to Taupo. In fact, once I'd got onto the mostly straight and flat roads , it was easy to let the speed creep up. After a bit of travel through the hills there was a sudden change to a valley filled with thermal steam which seem to blanket a large area. (or maybe it was fog!). Later I passed through a pine forest. This time I checked out the attractions on the way into town so I wouldn't need to back track.

I saw the Aratiatia Dam, but missed the water release by a few minutes. I did however catch one of the jet boats speeding up and doing a 180 to brake. This rather spoilt the serenity as seen in the photo taken just before it arrived.

Water is released and flows through the rapids below. There is a rapids jet boat ride but the next one was at 2pm and $85. The one I saw above the damn goes the the falls and is $95. I gave that a miss as well.

I also looked at the prawn farm (boring - didn't go in but took some shots from the riverside restuarant) and the the Hakura falls. An amazing amount of water shoots down a small channel in the rocks. The colour of the churned, aerated water is quite different. It would fill an Olympic size pool in 1/2 second. It is hard to belive this is the start of the Wakato, the serene river that passes through Hamilton.

I had lunch in Taupo and then decide to drive around the lake rather than take the more direct route to the Waitamo caves. This took me clockwise around it heading south along the west side through Tauramanui, before turning East and heading towards Te Kuiti.

The lake itself is huge, many times the size of Lake Rotorua which itself was quite impressive. The drive south passed through Pine plantations then a road between the lake and the cliff. Once I headed east the road climbed the hills again and I stopped at the lookout to see the lake and surrounding area spread out before me. Surprisingly it was nearly 2 hours before the first roadworks so I made good time.

Eventually I reached the main road heading back north to Hamilton and it was about 4-30 when I came to Te Kuiti – “The shearing capital of the world”. Tauramanui was the trout fishing capital of the world. I wonder if the world knows about these 2 places? Once heading north the country side was more grazing land than forest and the sheep were again grazing on steeply sloping hillsides.

I decide to stay the night and look at the caves in the morning rather than try and see them today. I booked into a motel near the main road and then drove into the village where I found this internet café /bar. I will eat here once I finished.

Blowing off steam

2008-05-22T02:31:00.000-07:00

I slept in this morning and woke up just before 10 – normal checkout time. I had a quick shower, packed and was on the road by about 10-30. It took less than 2 minutes to hit the first road works. This wasn’t to bad but at the end of the multi lane highway they’d close one lane and it took ages to get off. I then headed east along the coast. The plain widens here and the mountains recede in the distance. There seems to be a lot of orchards in the district, mainly kiwi fruit.

The sun was shining again, much like the last few days in Hamilton, so it was quite pleasant. I even took off my tracksuit top.

Eventually I turned south towards Rotorua and again crossed through a gorge. I had bought some more CDs and a pie at the last town before the turn off. Hint – do not buy a potato pie, take 2 bites out of it and then expect to be able to eat it while driving. Eventually I found a side road to pull over and eat it before it got cold but I had to get out of the car since it had fallen over and leaked. Still tasted ok.

It was just after 12 when I got to Rotorua. It is quite a large town, so I didn’t need to worry about finding CDs here after all.

I found my motel, which is just opposite the golf course. It was too early to check in but I picked up some maps and advice and headed back into the town centre.

The town sits in a large lake, which is almost as big an attraction as the thermal pools. The first place I visited was Kurau Park, which has a number of thermal ponds in it and is free. There is even a couple of bathing pools about the size of 4 normal baths and only a few feet deep.

From there I headed to the lake front and briefly wandered around before driving to the Government Gardens. There is a museum in an elegant former bath house – lots of carvings and so forth on the outside, The blue baths, the Polynesian spa and the bowling club. I also walked part of the lake front trail, seeing more thermal pools.

By then it was time to check in and I discovered my room looked over the Te Puia Geothermal park. The bubbling mud pool is only 50m or so from my room and the geyser a couple of hundred metres away. Since it’s a $50 entrance fee I decided to forgo the Maori concert and just take my free pictures.

I decided instead to visit Hell’s Gate, another mud pool attraction back past the airport that I passed on the way in. When I got there I realised I left my camera behind so I head back to the motel – 30km wasted. As it turned out the geyser next door was erupting, so I took some pictures and movies of that and decided to call it a day for sight seeing.

I had dinner with a group of 3 Australian couple in their 60's, which was more enjoyable than eating on my own. The restuarant did not excel. The soup and garlic bread came without garlic bread; the pork chops and glazed pear had no pears, the vegetables in a crepe basket came in a bowl and the prawns with grapefruit and avocado had neitehr grapefruit nor avocado. Fortunately my lamb shanks with a side of vegetables were as ordered and very nice.

I then decided to use my 1 hour free internet but they did not support wireles and could not give me a cable to connect via the network. Hence I'm down the street in an internet cafe again.

I also found out last night that my laptop only has a DVD reader/CD writer so I have had to buy more CDs to send the photos to the team. They will get3 cds instead of 1 DVD. I have burnt about half og them so far.

Plenty to sea

2008-05-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

I left Dargaville about 9.30 and headed south through Brynderwyn to Wellsford. The land was a lot flatter than what I’d experienced yesterday, although to be honest I couldn’t see the last 50kms so that could have been flat as well. There were of course more hills on the way but the road didn’t go anywhere near as close to the beach. There were some spectacular views down to the river and the sea. It was again overcast and drizzling with rain from time to time.

When the countryside did get hilly it was more rolling hills rather than the jagged peaks for the north.

It took about ¾ hour to come across the first road works today and shortly after that I completed the loop rejoining the main north road that I’d travel up on Monday. I left it again at Wellsford again heading East on the Twin Coast road. This passed through Helensville to Kumeu and then headed east again. I must have taken the wrong turn as I finished up doing a loop through some farmland and decided to got back to the town and head straight to Auckland. This was through wine country, a bit of a change from the forests and farmland from earlier on. Even then I missed a turn off in the suburbs and went east to the main motorway before getting into the city.

I pulled off in Manukau to do a bit of shopping and then headed south towards Hamilton, hoping I’d get the right turn to Tauranga and not finish up back there. Eventually it came up and for about 80km the roads were mostly flat and the speed went up accordingly. At the end of the pain I drove through a gorge, which lived up to its name – it was gorgeous. The road ran between a sheer cliff on the left and a river on the right. I even pulled off a side road to see another waterfall.

Eventually I past through the hills and again saw the sea – The Bay of Plenty. I also saw the sun for the first time for a few days.

After a couple of tries I found an Internet place in a backpackers and booked ahead for a motel for the night, arriving about 30minutes later.

Tauranga is a beach town/city that was one of the unsuccessful nominations for our free day last Friday. The town has a number of deep bays and is a port. The entrance is dominated by a large mound call Mt Maunganui. It was nearly sunset when I got to it there are 2 sweeping beaches – one on the port side and the other pon the open sea where there were quite a few people surfing. That beach had a number of rocky islands in it as well. The mount itself is quite steep but that didn’t stop the sheep that were grazing on its side. I did a brief drive through the shopping/restaurant area and then headed back to the motel.

Up one side and down the other

2008-05-21T00:35:00.001-07:00

I was up before 8 to get ready for the boat trip at 8.45. However a bit after 8 I got a phone call from reception saying the trip was cancelled due to bad weather. Fortunately, I hade put the ticket on my room bill so it was just cancelled and I didn’t have to chase a refund.

I decided that instead of staying in Paihia and heading south the next day as planned, I would check out and do a tour of the North instead. Last night one of the comments made by motel-owning friends was that only 16% of tourists to Auckland head North.

On the way up yesterday there were a lot of road works. It seemed every few km there would be a temporary speed restriction and then you’d pass a rood crew of some sort. This certainly adds to the travel time. It was similar for the first half of today’s journey although on the second half I only came across a couple of actual crews. There were still lots of speed restriction zones however, usually because a repair had left part of the road a bit rougher than normal. And once there was a temporary road for a few 100 m where the main road had literally been washed away.

It was overcast most of the time and drizzling on and off so not the best for taking photos. Probably not the best for being out in a boat either.

I decide to have a quick look at Phil’s hotel – the Swiss Chalet – before I left. The rooms were a bit bigger than where I’d stayed but there was no poll, so it would depend on the time of year as to whether this was a better deal or not.

When I left the entire street was filled with trucks re-surfacing the road. I had to wait till they moved a couple to get out of the side street to the main road.

I left about 10:30 and looked at the nearby Harura and Rainbow Falls. The latter one is much higher and there is a 5 minute walk to see it. You an look at the top and also get down to the bottom. I also stopped at a chocolate factory near Kerikeri, as recommended by the receptionist. I had one sample piece but after the amount of chocolate our room consumed during the hockey decided not to buy any. From then on I pretty much drove no stop to Kaitaia, apart from some quick photo opportunities. I headed North on the Twin Coast Discovery Highway. This took me along the east coast, across the top of the island and finally back south, down the west coast.

The east coast route was similar to the trip up from Auckland, with winding roads through the mountains that suddenly descended to the coast. Once again there were lots of road works so travel wasn’t as fast as one would have expected from the distances.

The road was literally metres from the beach at times. Typically there was a sandy stretch between 2 rocky headlands and sometimes some rocky islands in the bay. You felt you needed to take a photo and then there’d be another similar scene around the next bend. There was a series of towns, Mangonui, Coopers Beach, Cable Bay, Taipa and Aurere, along Doubtless Bay. I then swung away from the coast again towards Awanui and Kaitaia. The latter claims to be the most northern town, but I guess it depends how you define a town. Were the others on the map just villages, perhaps? I had a Pie and chips there spilling crumbs over myself and the car.

The next stop was Ahipara, an unintentional detour off the main road. However, it was worth the small extra distance since it is the southern end of the 90 mile beach.

I was then heading south again through Herekino and Broadwood to the ferry at Kohukohu. Unfortunately I missed the 3pm ferry by less than 10 minutes and lost the better part of an hour before the next one. By then I was running low on petrol and had no choice but to pay $2.13 per litre in Omapere.

With a half full tank, I went to the headlands of the Hokianga harbour where I saw a huge sand hill on the north side. From there it was through the Waupoua Forest. The sign for 24kms of winding roads was not an underestimation. It made the winding roads previously seem like gentle, sweeping curves. Most of the curves were so sharp that I rarely got above 60kph and still had to slow down for some corners. It would be a great trail for a motor bike. I did stop and look at the first big Kauri tree – Tane Mahuta – about 5pm. It was only just light enough to photograph. It was impressive though – 13.8 metres around supposedly. From there I headed south as fast as I could, which wasn’t very fast till I cleared the forest half an hour later. I was glad to be out of there while there was still light left.

I had hardly seen anybody all day once I left Kaitaia. It was often 10-20 minutes before I passed the next car and even though I passed through a number of towns, nobody was outside. Usually it was only when I was stopped myself that I saw people. A lot of places I couldn’t even get a radio station.

It was another 50km to Dargaville so I put my foot down. At one stage another car came speeding up behind and looked like it was going to overtake before slowing down. Fortunately I worked out why. A flashing orange light ahead signalled a herd of cows were crossing the road. They were mostly black ones too.

It was dark by the time I arrived. I looked for an Internet café without success and in the end booked into an on site van I found in one of the accommodation guides. I then filled up the tank and had a roast dinner in a pub before heading back to the cabin for the night. This was half of a converted railway carriage – Adequate for one night but not for a longer stay. At least the bed was comfortable and the shower hot and lots of pressure.

The long and winding road

2008-05-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up with a sore back, the reslt of last nights unplanned nap. It eased off during the day but wasn’t the best way to start a day with a 4 hour drive in it.

I was ready for the pickup at 10 and got a message via reception to take a taxi and they would reimburse me. That ride cost $20, which was about the first day’s hire. Not sure how they make money if you have a short hire and they do that. The car is a Toyota Vitz. It looks a bit like an Echo but I’ve seen those around so not sure if it is a different model or just a name change. It’s 1.3l Auto and was fast enough for the trip, which doesn’t really allow you to do much over 100kph anyway.

It took me about 5 hours but I stopped at a shopping centre on the outskirts of Auckland and then for an hour in Wharangei. (The initial sound, surprisingly, is an “F”).

It was overcast most of the day and although I stopped a couple of times for photos, I was mostly shooting on the run, so focus and framing was a bit hit and miss. The journey included a lot of winding roads through quite hilly terrain. It seems as though these ranges just pop up from an otherwise flat landscape. The countryside is lush and green with hills covered with trees. Some are conifers, others are ferns and an occasional deciduous tree in its autumn colours is seen.

I wasn’t certain I’d taken the right road out of Wharangei, since it seemed to be inland but finally I saw a sign to Paihia, which is where I’m now staying, on the Bay of Islands. Even then you seem to transition from mountain road to coast road in a few hundred metres.

After settling in to my room, I wandered down to the wharf and the shops probably half a km away. While I was there I hear my name called and a couple of the 35s players were running up to me. They are here with family. I retuned to the hotel and booked 4 hour cruise for tomorrow.

I headed over to the RSL equivalent for dinner since Jen said they’d be eating there. I had a look in the restaurant are but didn’t see then so bought a drink and wandered over to the TV and started a conversation with a group there. Jen found me and said she’d been there and her son had notice ny tracksuit. I joined them for dinner and had a sea food platter for only $19. She was there with her friend, her sons, her mother and her friend’s parents so it was a reasonable group. When they headed off I rejoined the group who turned out to be motel owners on there night off - 5 guys and a woman. I had an interesting chat with them for a while before heading home. They seem to have a good life here and are having fun both with their businesses and with fishing etc on their days off.

On holiday

2008-05-17T23:27:00.001-07:00

This morning I slept in till about 6am. No pressure I guess. We got up a bit after 7 and finished the packing and then headed for breakfast. I collected a few more set of photos from a couple of the girls to add to the collection for the DVD.

About 9 they started loading the luggage on the truck and by 9-30 or so the buses were on their way. I had our room’s left over food as well as Janese and Betty’s. That together with my laptop made my sports bag pretty heavy. Even taking out the laptop once I’d arrived at the airport only helped a bit so hopefully that means it’s mostly the weight of the food.

The trip back was pleasant enough and I took numerous photos from the bus this time. The country side remains picturesque. We also go in the middle of some vintage car/hot rod rally and had these unusual cars passing us.

After collection the luggage and saying goodbye I headed for the bus to the city and after a short wait we headed off, arriving at my hotel about 1. I unpacked both the case and the sports bag and put on a load of washing, then went for a couple of short walks buying drinks and crackers. My lunch was avocado, ham, tomato and cheese on crackers.

I then booked a car for tomorrow and decided that my first stop would be Paihia in the Bay of Islands. The car people will collect me at 10 and it is supposed to be about 4 hours to drive.

I thought I’d better see something of Auckland, since I’m here so I wandered to the Sky Tower which is not that far away and basically saw a lot of Auckland. This is the highest tower in the Southern Hemisphere but if the facts are actually put out correctly, it is only the mast that is “tallest” the viewing height is lower than the AMP tower in Sydney. None the less it is plenty high enough and there are glass floors in the lift and at regular intervals around the viewing area. The lift ride to the top takes 40 secs and it is 382m high. I took lots of .photos.

I then walked down to the docks and then back to the hotel, several km I would think.

I had dinner at a chinse BBQ restuarant acroos the road from the hotel. Lots of chinese students there it seemed. My BBQ pork fried rice was only $9, so that could explain it. I had planned to go out later but fell asleep doing the cross word and woke up at 11-30. I was obviously in the wrong position as my back was sore again. Put on a final load of washing and then when to sleep again.

And the winner is….

2008-05-17T13:48:00.001-07:00

I had trouble sleeping overnight and after waking about 4 am finally got up about 4-30 and booked my hotel for Sunday night and sent an email to Mensa NZ. It was about an hour before I was back in bed and then slept for an hour or so.

We went for another walk and stretch along the river and this time I took my camera to capture some pictures of the autumn colours. The sun was streaming through the trees at that time (9-30).

Eventually it was time to got to the stadium where we saw part of the 35s game before starting our warm up. Australia needed to win 4 games today to win the trophy. We had already won 2 by the time we arrived, with the 35s looking good for the 3^rd.

Finally we started our game and I was in the starting line up. WE came out much harder and more determined than Thursday and had the majority of play. About halfway through the first half I got a ball about the 25 line, pushed it right and belted it towards to spot. Stokesey was there and deflected in to put us on the board. It felt almost as good as scoring a goal myself. There was no further scoring that half although we continue to have the bulk of the play.

We finally scored the sealer in the second half again through Stokesey after a short corner shot was deflected by the goalie and the rebound pushed back at the goals. That was it and eventually the clock ran down and we were winners. Much celebration and hugging ensued. We headed back to the hotel for champagne and to get ready for the dinner. All teams met in the breakfast room for presentations before heading to the racecourse for the wind up dinner. Again the food was good and plentiful.

We were up second to get our gold medals (descending order of age, after the men’s 55s). After dinner, there was dancing, before heading home about midnight. Australia also won the overall competition winning 6 of the 8 games on the last day.

A day off

2008-05-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

We had no games on Friday and one bus took some of the girls to Rotarua. I joined the other bus that went to Te Aroha to a mineral spa. After a bit of dram we finally got the tank filled on the bus and headed out of town. The fog was particularly bad at that time of the day – about 10. Eventually we arrived at the spa after having our session re scheduled twice. We split into 2 groups with 5 in each spa. This is a unique soda spa and there is no sulphur involved.

The half an hour was just about right as we’d left the pool a few minutes before the bell sounded to indicate our time was up.

We then had a look around the spa area but decided not to wait for the geyser to erupt. We had lunch at a nice little café and then wandered the town a bit before heading back to Hamilton. The fog had cleared by then so we could see the hills that form a background to the town. The autumn clours are lovely at this time.

The rest of the day was quite relaxed and we even watched a movie. Then Meg and I watch part of the video from yesterday’s game. It was not pretty, but gives us some good pointers on what we have to do tomorrow.

Pride goeth before...

2008-05-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

With a 3 test series we knew NZ would come out hard and they did. They scored in the first 5 or so minutes to go one up. Our first half was a bit of a shambles but we got our act together in the second half. We had a number of short corners and a lot of them were wasted with mistraps or high hits. One of mine went through the goalie's legs but didn't croos the line and eventually Janet scored one. That took us to extra time and we were both scoreless. I felt I did at least something by cutting off 3 passes along the right in the last minute to box them up.

It went to penalty flicks and unfortunately we went down 3-2. After both sides put in the first 2 we missed one, then they missed one. I had a chance to put us in front and hit the goalie's foot. Our goalie saved one and we need the last to even up but their goalie saved it. We were a bit down and now need to win on Saturday to win the series. We had hoped to wrap it up today.

We arrived back at the hotel for our pool session to find a sign saying it was out of order. Great we thought, but it turned out to be a joke from one of our team and we had to go in after all. Once I'd showerred the coach and I went down town where I got the thank you pages printed ready for siniing by the team. We had a picture of the team on the thank you note for the support staff. I also got the present for the assistant coach, who is seen in the picture below.

The team meeting was also a chance to have some cake with Myra, who's birthday was today.

We left for dinner and met up with the bu that went to the last game and finished up in the Crazy Farmer, which had steaks for those that wanted them plus a range of otehr dishes. I had the seafood rissotto and I was not hungry when I finished it. The manager was very good and set us up in a separate room with enough space for every one at a long table.

Most of the team came to our room after wards where we had a few drinks, some nibbles, conversation and signed the cards, photo etc.

Let the games begin

2008-05-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

Finally the first day of competition arrived. We were up at half past stupid in order to get there for the first game of the day. I have the record for first player on the ground in playing strip!

We were well into our warmup stretches before the NZ girls arrived and got through all our drills. The natitional anthem was playing as were doing the "robbing the nest" drill.

I was in the starting line up on right wing but can't remember if I even touched the ball in the first rotation. We scored first through Deb on a field goal. I went back on the right and started to get into the game and then moved to centre. We had 2 short corners with the second being the lay off to me on the left, but the trap wasn't good and although I got a hit it wasn't threatening the goal. We were still 1-0 at half time.

I started again on the right in the second half and had some good runs and passes. We scored again through Betty who got a touch to a hard hit from outside to deflect it passed the goalie.

Later Janese took a free hit from just outside that got past 2 defenders and onto my stick by the left post but I didn't get the right angle to get it in and it ran over the backline. Final score was 2-0 so we have the first win under our belt.

After the warm down were had our team photo booked. I ordered a tournament shirt taking the last "try on" in my size. I must have missed the email for the pre-order.

Once we got back to the hotel, we got our gear in the washing machine first and then we went to join the team in the pool. Everyone had to have 3 x 1 minute sessions in waist deep water and boy was it cold. We really appreciated the hot shower afterwards.

After a bit of lunch in the room, we headed back to watch the rest of the games, with our 40s and 45s both going down 2-1 and the 35s winning 2-0. 3 of the Men's teams won so it was 5-3 to Australia on Day 1.

We had a team meetign at 5 and then headed to the city centre for dinner where we went off in smaller groups to restuarants of choice. I was in a group of 6 that decided on Thai and we had a great meal at the Thai Village. After dinner we watched a video of our game. That's an interesting experience. You get to relive both your good and bad shots and see how skillful, speedy etc you actually are. Doesn't always match up with your self image.

By today, the bruises from my collision on Sunday were clearly visible. One on my upper arm and one on my hip.

Twas the night before….

2008-05-13T02:39:00.001-07:00

Our third and last day of training started with a walk at 9am. I had another massage after that. About 11am, a couple of us headed into town looking for gift ideas. Were only there an hour but came away with a plan.

Then it was time for our final training session. More of the same really with 2 12 minute sessions v 45s. Again we kept them scoreless and scored a goal ourselves through a contrived penalty flick. They had one as well, but our goalie saved it.

After showers, we had a team meeting and headed out to the welcome function. This was in a bar and it was the first time we’d got together with the men and with the new Zealanders. There was a bit of finger food and some short speeches. We then went back to the Londoner for dinner, as did the 35 team. Needless to say there was a bit of a rush on and the first of our buses left with some of our group still waiting for their dinner.

We are first of the rank tomorrow with the game at 9am and a proposed 6am wakeup time, so it will be an early night.

...Makes a country perfect

2008-05-12T21:35:00.000-07:00

We had an early breakfast this morning and then a walk at 8am. I had a massage straight after that s my back was playing up a bit. At 9 we headed for the ground and did a lot of penalty flick practice before the official warm-up started. The first hour was spent in drill and corner practice and then we played the 45s in 3 x12 minute sessions. I was off for the first but played the last two. The result was nil all so we played well as a team.

Some people went into the pool for recovery but it looked to cold for me, so I went straight to the shower. About 3 we headed into the CBD area for lunch. I just had an Optifast again and wandered off to the nearby shops. I spent up big buying a can of coke, a new green nail polish and some ribbon. This gave me a heap of $2 coins for the washer and dryer. We put a load through earlier and the spin cycle o the washer doesn’t work so the clothes need a wring out. The ones that couldn’t go in the dryer were still damp later that evening.

The night event was the Australian women’s dinner. This was a formal event and we all wore dress shirt and black slacks. It was held at the rugby stadium and was a buffet with butter chicken and a lamb roast as the main ingredients. The food was good and plentiful. After the main course we were all presented with certificates and badges. Photos were taken of state groups age groups and so forth.

A Country Practice...

2008-05-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning arrived far too early. Still hadn’t caught up the missed sleep from Saturday. The buffet breakfast was good, although they had run out of the first serving by the time I got there.

Then we were off to the stadium for the first training session. It was less than 10 minutes drive from the hotel, which is a pleasant change from some of the times in the Australian championships. The stadium has 2 turfs similar to the one used in the Sydney Olympics and Perth’s previous No 1.

As we hadn’t played together before, this was the first practice as a countrywide team. Jane the trainer first took us through a 20 minute stretch and warm up, together with the 45 team. We then did various drills, which will be part of our pre game warm up.

We finished with a half field game. This ended abruptly when I had a collision with Stokesy. She initially was worried that she’d hurt her knee but it turned out to just be a knock and I had a whack on my hip, which was painful but had no lasting damage.

We came back to the hotel briefly before heading out for lunch. I’m having my Optifast bars. I’m not on a diet perse and still eating nibbles, lollies etc as they are offered but at least I won’t be having a big lunch as well. While most of the group were eating I wandered off with a couple of others and got some money from an ATM. They had a coffee in a mall and I had a bit of a look around.

We had a team meeting in the early evening before a second training session at 6.30. After the drills we started working on short corners. It looks like I’ll be at the layoff position on the left of the trapper. Finally we finished up with penalty flick practice with a bit of a comp between 2 teams. Each match has to have a result so it is possible that one or more could got to flicks to decide the winner.

We headed back to the Londoner, the same pub where the others had lunch, for dinner, still in our practice gear and tracksuits. I had the Sunday Roast which was quite nice, and a shandy with some brown ale.

We got to bed just before midnight and about 5-10 minutes after lights out my phone rang. I was a call from Thailand from a company that is looking at taking on my Production System. It was only 7pm there. Once I’d got back to bed and we’d settled down again, Megan’s alarm went off on her phone. We’d got over that when Annie’s phone rang with her daughter wishing her a Happy Mother’s Day. That was at 12-30 and fortunately the last call of the night.

Something old, something new, something borrowed,….

2008-05-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

Not necessarily in that order. Of course, being 55 in the over 50 team I am one of the oldest players in the tournament and as it’s my first I’m also one of the newest but I was thinking of other things.

Some thing new – I got a call from Qantas on Thursday saying my flight had been cancelled and I was booked on a later flight, with a new flight number. I was leaving at 10 past midnight with a 3 hours transit so I was immediately worried about the connection. However the New flight left only 5 minutes after the one that was cancelled. Why this meant a new flight number, I don’t know.

At lat the day had arrived and I woke at 4am. Far too early really but since I was awake I checked in on the Internet. Move my seat across the aisle so instead of being in a block of 3 occupied seats, I was in a block of 4 to myself. When I got on there was a girl on the other aisle but we had 2 empty seats. I then went back to sleep for a bit. I actually did some work in the morning but stopped about 1pm and spent the rest of the day getting ready.

My sons came over for dinner on Friday night as usual and David had said he’d take me to the airport. I changed to my tracksuit and walkout shirt about 9-30. It is a proud moment when you first wear your country’s colours. We got there about 10:15, which seemed more than enough time. The queues were huge and you really do need to give your self a couple of hours to be sure.

I saw Betty and Janese at the end of the international check in queue and joined them. It was much shorter than the general queue and we were nearly at the counter when they halted us and gave priority to the Melbourne passengers since that was the next flight out. Eventually they cleared and we checked in. I caught up with a group of the men in the coffee area upstairs and it seemed everyone except me was going via Brisbane. The flight wasn’t bad and with the extra space I managed an hours or so of sleep. Just as I was about to board I noticed I’d borrowed some else’s name on my boarding card. A Roxanne with the same surname.

Once at Sydney I checked with the service desk who assured me it was just the boarding pass in error and that my bags really were going all the way to Auckland.

I found the Emirates check in, got my boarding pass and went through customs etc. There were a couple of other players in the departure lounge and the numbers built up over time. In the end there was quite a large contingent of both men and women on the flight. This flight was even better on a 777 with individual screens and on demand movies. I watched the Bourne Ultimatum, which I’d missed in the theatre. The flight was only 2 ½ hours. Once we were through immigration it was easy to find the rest of the group. In fact the Melbourne flight had been delayed and we caught up with the end of them in the passport queue. They had some containers for us to leave our bags in and the minibuses were ready so once the next flight from Brisbane arrived we headed south to Hamilton. I didn’t take any photos but the countryside looks very lush compared to Australia. Lots of water and some decent hills in the background. Picturesque seems an appropriate word.

The some thing old, unfortunately, is the hotel. Perhaps we have been spoilt with the accommodation we have had for the state team at the Australian Championships, which are usually self contained apartments with our own washer and dryer and kitchen. This is a motel and although our room does have a kitchen, not everybody has one in their room. We have a second floor with a double and a single bed for the 3 of us. There is one small cupboard for the 3 of us with a grand total of 6 coat hangers. There is also an extra single in the downstairs living room but n o one wanted to risk their back on it. There is also a spa but it is empty and non functional. The manager keeps telling how great everything will be once the renovations have been completed but that does nothing for us this week.

It is liveable but not luxurious.

After we had settled in and had a look at each other’s rooms we headed out in a bus to a nearby super market. They had cooked prawns on special so we bought some as well as some sauce as well as crackers cheese and so forth for dinner, as well as a bottle of champagne (and more coat hangers). Not all the champagne managed to get to the glasses with some of it on Annies tracksuit and the floor.We had just started eating when the bus with the bags arrived so we all went out and found our gear. It was well after midnight before we got to sleep. For me it was about 9pm Perth time and for the other 2 about 11 at home.

Uniform delivery

2008-04-23T06:17:00.000-07:00

It has been 9 months since the selection for the Australian Veterans teams were announced at the last Australian Championships but the time for the actual Tournament is finally approaching.

Every other year, 4 teams are selected at the Australian Womens Veterans Hockey Championship to play in the Trans Tasman Championships against New Zealand. These teams are age based with over 35, 40, 45 and 50 teams selected. In the alternate years they usually only have one or 2 teams - 35s and 45s. In 2003, I was selected as a shadow player (backup) for the 50s but did not get the call. (Nobody pulled out).

In 2005, I again nominated but wasn't selected. I was a bit disappointed as I thought I'd had a good tournament.

In 2007, I almost didn't nominate since I would be 55 by the time the tournament was played and thought I wouldn't have much chance against the younger players. When they announced the teams they had already called 3 players from WA, including 2 strikers, so I was both pleased and surprised to hear my name called at the end. I think 4 WA players in one Australian Vets team is quite rare and especially when 3 are strikers.

This time the tournament is in New Zealand, at Hamilton on the North Island. It alternates between Australia and NZ so it will be 4 years till the next NZ trip. I expect I'll definitely be too old for that,unless they have introduced a 55s team by then.

There have been a number of emails over the intervening 9 months from the Coach and manager and between the players but it is too long a period to remain constantly excited. You sort of put it on the back burner and get on with the rest of your life. Of course there were a number of steps on the way with travel booking, measuring yourself for the uniform and so one and of course numerous invoices to pay for those things.

However there is less than 3 weeks left at the time of writing and the uniform was delivered 2 days ago.

I spent time that evening trying everything on and with the aid of my tripod and time delay got a range of pictures. The best thing was everything fitted, although the dress shirt and track suit pants are a bit tight. Considering that it was self measured from a printed chart this was no small achievement. In addition the actual pieces are really nice and the colouring quite flattering.

The tournament itself runs for a week with arrival on 10th May followed by 3 days of practice and training. Although we will no doubt recognise our team mates from playing against each other in our respective state teams we have yet to play or even train as a unit. The tyranny of distance makes that impossible until we all arrive at the venue. This is then followed by games on Wednesday and Thursday with the final on Saturday.

On Sunday we get driven back to Auckland airport and many players will be leaving. However since I've never been to NZ before I am staying an extra week to at least see some of the North Island. It has been hard to organise anything specific, although I know a couple of players who are staying a few extra days. Hopefully, with 4 women's and 4 men's teams there will be somebody who is staying one and wants to share car hire expenses. Otherwise I'll do it on my own.