Today
As we sit on the plane back home we reflect on what has been a truly incredible few weeks. So many highlights, not only the places we have visited and the matches we have played but the people we have met and the friendships we have made. There are about 5 hours left until we land at Heathrow, we can't believe the tour is nearly over. We have been excited about coming since we started at Oundle four years ago and it has definitely lived up to all expectations. So, here we mark the end of the 2008 tour diary and with a tear in our eyes we say so long, farewell, auf wiedersehn, goodbye!
By Alice Banks and Thommy Purbrook
 

Last Full Day
We began the morning with a much needed lie in followed by some long awaited tanning. After a massive breakfast we then spent the rest of the morning doing some more tanning and swimming. We were also able to wander around the nearby shops but this proved far too hot and everyone soon returned to the pool. Soon after lunch the 4x4's pulled up at the hotel and we all set off very excitedly into the desert. We had a brief stop on the way to purchase some local dress where we were accosted by some eager shopkeepers who quickly covered us in various garments. The ride suddenly got very exciting and slightly scary as we arrived in the heart of the desert. Racing up and over dunes, spraying sand into the air and appreciating the passing camels was certainly a once in a lifetime experience. Some fantastic pictures were taken which I'm sure will appear on the 2008 tour highlights. We arrived in convoy at the Bedouin camp where we quickly got involved in the activities on offer such as camel riding and henna tattooing. After some food we enjoyed some belly dancing entertainment featuring Sarah Tunney as a chosen volunteer who may have found her future career path! We finished the evening with a little boogie and sing-a-long which included our newly learnt dance from Sydney, which we're sure was much appreciated by the locals! We returned to the hotel and after a quick night time dip in the pool we all headed to room 702 for an end of tour party which was soon brought to an abrupt halt by the arrival of Mr Terrett! What an incredible day, definately one we will never forget.
By Thommy Purbrook and Alice Banks
 

The penultimate evening on tour was the all awaited presentation dinner. We all dressed up and made our way to the Chinese restaurant on the top floor of the hotel. Despite everyone being quite tired, it was an enjoyable evening with delicious food, moving speeches and prizes. Miss Barnwell was successfully embarrassed as we all broke into a beautiful rendition of Happy Birthday, this was followed by her being given her birthday present from all the girls; a charm bracelet with a kangaroo charm to remind her of all our happy tour memories. The teachers awarded various prizes such as Top Goal Scorer, Best Tourist, Most Improved Player, Player of the Tour and Captain's Prizes. We finished off the evening by thanking all the teachers for the huge amount of effort and hard work they have put into this tour to make it such an incredible experience for us all and we would like to emphasise that now; without them this tour would not have been possible and we can't thank them enough. Unfortunately, on returning to the rooms the girls discovered room service so it was not until several hours later that we finally went to sleep having eaten far too much chocolate mud cake and ice cream.
By Alice Banks and Thommy Purbrook
 

Sunday 10th
Happy Birthday Miss Barnwell! Having done yet more travelling we were finally in Dubai, our last stop on our worldwide tour! We arrived at the hotel in the early hours of the morning yet the temperature was already sky high and many found themselves with trousers glued to their legs by sweat. Yuck! We were all very thankful for the fact that soon after our arrival we were to cool down at Wild Wadi, the wettest and wildest theme park in the world right next to the world famous Burj Al Arab (Sail Hotel), with many girls getting some wonderful photos of both. The park lived up to all of our expectations. It was great to see that the tour had been a social success with all the groups were mixtures of different year groups getting on so well. The middle of the day came and we all had to retreat into the shade for our lunch as the heat given off by the sun was unbearable. Though there where many rides were girls found themselves clinging to their bikinis we all had so much fun. The scariest slide in the park, Jumeirah Sceirah, involved an almost vertical drop followed by many bumps and twists. We soon realised that the heavier the rider was, the faster their experience passed. Therefore we were all very amused to see Mr Terrett bombing down the slide at the end. Although there was not much room for the tanning we had all hoped for, the day was classed as one of the best yet on tour, despite serious lack of sleep.
By Rosie Davis and Amy Francis (Former Olympic Water sports women).
 

Saturday 9th
This morning we said our very sad goodbyes to our last hosts and got on the bus with Anthony Milne, an OO who had very kindly organised our last stop in Australia - The Sydney Dance Company. On the way we were tantalised with clues as to who our mystery celebrity would be as sadly Cate Blanchett had to change her plans at the last minute, and told we were having a dance lesson with Ramon Doringo, a world class dancer who has worked with Australian Idol contestants and Madonna. Everyone was very excited to get going, and the lesson was amazing, having very long - and fairly strenuous for some - warm up, and learning a new routine. This proved to be hysterical, especially watching Thommy, a naturally talented dancer, shimmy her way across the dance floor. It shaped up to be a very slick dance thanks to the hard work of all the girls and Ramon's enthusiasm. Having finished our lesson, we were finally introduced to our mystery guest Richard Piper, an actor who is currently playing Billy's Father in "Billy Elliot the Musical", a musician, once of Juliet Bravo fame and amazingly an OO himself. Equally exciting was the news the Australian Sunday Telegraph wanted a picture of us with Richard, so after much tweaking of hair we had a picture, and even got a rendition of "He Could Be A Star" , and a dance! We finally said goodbye, and had a tour round the studios and workshops by two tour guides, which was fantastic. We all had an amazing lunch, and sat by the harbour, watching the fish and ducks - what a last day in Australia!

By the dancing queen extraordinaire, Lou Troughton

8th August:
We all met at Ascham school at 8:30am ready to go into Sydney. We caught the train into Town Hall and were given time to go shopping and do some sightseeing until 2:30pm. We all spent a relaxing morning wandering around the beautiful city doing some last minute shopping, before catching the train back to Ascham to prepare for our final match of the tour. After the matches, which were a very successful way to end the tour we headed off home with our hosts for our final night in Sydney and Australia!
By Miranda and Emily W.
 

Diary entry 07/08/08
We were dropped off at Pymble school this morning for the last time and said our goodbyes to our hosts. A big wave and we were off. We made our way to Homebush, the home of the Olympic Sydney grounds were we were given time to wander around the outside of the stadium, a good opportunity to buy some ice creams. We admired the many names of those who helped with the Olympics. The length of Jonathan Edwards' triple jump world record was mapped out on the floor as well as the records for high jump and pole vaulting, which are all incredible lengths and heights. After some relaxing outside a cafe, we went inside the stadium for a quick tour. Our guide, Kevin, took us to the top level were we looked down on the very spot were Jonny kicked over our winning drop goal on the 22nd November 2003, a moment we all remember well. We moved down to the pitch level to get a good look of the ground and took a photo for Oundle in the shape of an O! After a quick look in the gift shop we got back on the coach to make our way to the Olympic hockey ground.
After a quick change we were out on the fantastic pitch warming up. We were introduced to our coaches Jason and Kylie, who put us straight into some passing and hitting warm up exercises. We then moved onto more technical drills which improved our striking and stick skills. Halfway through the session the teams were picked for Great Britain and Australia captained respectively by myself and Alice Banks. We were given a useful psyching up session from Mr Terrett before professionally lining up in the tunnel ready to run onto the pitch making our Olympic debut. The match proved to be intense, well matched and fun for all. Great Britain took an early lead with a good goal from Fran Denny after a short corner, quickly followed by an equally good goal from another short corner by Amy Francis. It remained 1-1 throughout the match despite some close chances from both teams, Lucy Mitchell came very close to scoring and Steph Smith put her body on the line to keep her country in the game although it left her with a swollen thumb. Mr Terrett, the GB coach, used some alternative methods to please the crowd such as a lifted kick from Harriet Skehan, the goalie, for a 16yd hit and using six forwards leaving only one midfield to protect the middle of the pitch. Due to the draw the match then moved onto flicks which were riddled with tension. Both teams looked on as their representative went up for the flick. GB took an early lead with a brilliant flick from Zoe Kier (who showed off her athletic skill with a back flip for her celebration) and an outstanding save from Harriet Skehan. Australia came back with strength and became level with a good save from Sophia MacAskill. It was down to Harriet Skehan to give GB the gold medal. Silence filled the stadium. The flick went and Harriet kicked it right back. Great Britain had won! In celebration we piled on top of our brilliant goalie and then received a gold medal for our efforts. We finally stood to sing Jerusalem, played over the stadium speakers, at the top of our voices out to our many fans (Miss Goatley and Miss Barnwell).
With the match over we headed back onto the bus and off to Ascham which is where we met our hosts for our final two nights in Sydney and Australia.
Thommy Purbrook
 

Wednesday 6th
We arrived at school with the Pymble girls and made our way into Sydney on the double-decker train, which we all found very exciting. In Sydney, we had planned a boat trip, but before we got on board we took the classic tourist picture of the whole tour on the Sydney Opera House steps. The boat trip took us over to Manly beach where we saw a one legged seagull (please ask Lucy Mitchell or Lou Troughton for a photo) and shark nets around the beach but unfortunately no sharks. On the return journey the sun came out and we were able to get some fantastic photos of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. After the boat trip we were given some free time to explore Sydney, do some shopping and get lunch. Many of us returned with yet more souvenirs, Ugg boots and plenty of food. We made our way back to Pymble School on the double-decker train, causing yet more excitement and got ready to play the matches. Both games were very close and competitive although in the 2nds Miss Goatly got a little frustrated playing on a grass pitch and likened it to ‘a scene from St Trinians'. After the games we were very well looked after and given a traditional Aussie barbeque, the food was delicious and it almost felt like summer as we huddled around patio heaters eating burgers. After the food everyone returned home with their hosts to do various activities.
Sarah Bury
 

4th July
Today was another early start with a long bus journey to take us to Auckland airport. On the way there we stopped off at Haku falls which is a well known waterfall. It was a beautiful place with many Kodak moments! After a painful bus journey, (thanks to the choice of a Harry Potter movie!) we finally arrived at Auckland airport to catch our flight to Sydney. Our pilot was fantastic and got us all there in one piece...thankfully! We arrived in Sydney all tired yet happy to not walk out into floods of rain. We had a quick journey to our hotel. We stayed in the Menzies hotel which was amazing. Everyone had a double bed to themselves and we received a breakfast coupon, great news! However, before we could snuggle down into our luxurious beds we had a tour dinner, one with a special guest who was Mr Sanders. Only a few of us had met him after being taught English by him and it was very nice to see him after all these years. To begin the night, we all walked through Hyde Park on our way to the restaurant. It was a beautiful place and it was really nice for those who hadn't been to Sydney before to see it at night-time all light up. We then all went to an Italian restaurant called bar Reggio for a meal organised by Mr Sanders. We were all so hungry after all of our travelling and didn't waste any time before devouring the fantastic food. Everyone had such a good time and everyone got on really well. At the end of the night we all returned to our luxury rooms and didn't waste any time before going to sleep, preparing for the next exciting day.
Abby Smith
 

Report of 3rd August
The day started off with our first lie in of tour with breakfast at 9:45am! We opened our curtains to be greeted to the stragglers of the Taupo Half Marathon! We ate our continental breakfast and looked at Lake Taupo whilst having a geography lesson by Miss Barnwell. We had a look around the town and admired the amazing views. We packed our bags ready to go to the astro with our swimming stuff ready for the spas in the afternoon. The As played first and won 2-0; the Bs game then followed. We won 7-0, with 6 goals being scored in the second half! We had a great home-made match tea that was lush, made by the Taupo Nui parents and there was a presentation. The highlight of the day was the naturally heated spas. It was a great way to unwind after a tiring match... but, however, after we got out we had to walk up a very steep hill, which defeated the point in us relaxing beforehand. Once we arrived back at the hotel, we had to get ready for our tour dinner which included a theme of "Wear What You Dare!". Everyone turned up in ridiculous outfits and we got a lot of funny looks from other people in the restaurant. Two prizes were awarded: Tabby had to do a forfeit which was a song and dance, and Abi and Fran won the competition dressed as ladybirds.
Robyn, Lottie, Hattie
 

2nd august-
We woke up early this morning (not really unusual) and started on our way to Rotorua. The journey was long, but a truly brilliant film distracted everyone adequately. We arrived at Rotorua at around 12:30, and it would be fair to say everyone was overwhelmed by the smell of sulphur from the volcanic springs, although we got used to it surprisingly quickly. Here we met our guide, Paul Mcgarvey, of Irish-Maori descent, who gave us an introductory talk. Paul gave us a short, interesting history of the park which was called Te Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao (that is not actually a joke), which meant "The gathering place for the war parties of Wahiao". We also went into a sort of small museum, a sacred house and saw a Maori food store and Paul taught us lots of interesting things about the Maori culture and traditions. We learnt, for example, that the Maori's had 12 Gods, and Paul explained that Maori sculptures appeared distorted chiefly so as not to insult their gods. After this we walked round the park and saw Geysers, and bubbling mud pools both of which were at temperatures of over 95 degrees. We were then lucky enough to go into a Kiwi house where we saw a bird which was much bigger than most people had expected. After this we said our goodbyes to Paul, had lunch, and went to the Luge park. The Luge was a kind of go kart which you steered down the hill. We took a gondola to the top and were met by a choice of runs: scenic, intermediate and advanced. Most people started off with the intermediate and then went up to the advance. Everyone had an amazing time, it really was so much fun, and the rain was quickly forgotten. Particular mention should go to a number of people: Tabby Luxmoore Styles and Miranda Spencer for being particularly able to fall out of the carts, Rosie Davis for being unable to work the breaks, Lucy Horsell for almost decapitating a small Chinese boy, and Mr Terret, Mr Hipperson and Iona Darroch (and I'm sure some other people too) for their speed. After five runs each, which took about an hour and half, we came back down, with everyone completely soaked but having had a fantastic time. We then continued on our journey to Taupo, passing time with a deafening sing-a-long....

Lucy Mitchell
 

1st Aug
Last night, the tour split and the A squad spent the night being hosted by Diocesen School and the B squad were shipped off to Auckland Girls Grammar School. The B squad arrived at the school where we were meant to be meeting the hosts, to find out that we were going to watch them play a match against another local school. This was very much useful for us, as we consequently managed to pick up a few pointers on their game and how they play, working out which players were strong and those that were....not so strong. Therefore, we came to the match today feeling ready and prepared. On a similar note, the A squad managed to catch a match involving Diocesen and so when they were separated to stay with their hosts, they also, knew what to expect the following day.
Today started, for the B squad, with a riveting lesson on the Maori culture and a few of us even managed to learn The Haka, and performed it for Miss Barnwell and Miss Goatly who were, we could say, in awe of our newly acquired Maori skills. The Auckland girls were awesome and gave us (no teachers!) an excellent lesson. This lesson preceded the matches which were 50% successful with an extremely well fought 0-1 loss from the A squad, and a 1-0 victory from the B's. Much energy had been lost and we headed into the centre of Auckland for a 1 hour break to shop or eat or whatever was needed and once again the squads split for another night with the hosts in order to prepare ourselves for a full on day in Rotoura tomorrow.
Sarah Tunney
 

Diary 31st July
We had an early start yesterday morning. After lugging our HUGE bags up New Zealand's equivalent of Everest, we hopped on the bus and headed in to Auckland city centre to do some much needed shopping! We headed on mass to Canterbury where we were given an extra 10% discount because of the number of us...good stuff! We cleared the shop out (mainly by Alice Banks who spent her life savings in there...) and embarrassingly several people came out with the same thing! A lucky few of us had been tipped off by a guy in the All Blacks shop, that 4 of the team members were popping in later to do some signings. Mr Terrett allowed 9 of us to go (of course only if he could tag along...) whilst the remainder of the group went on a tour of the famous Sky Tower. I was one of the lucky few who got to meet the All Blacks. We rushed to the shop so we were about an hour early to meet them and at the front of the queue! "More FM" rocked up and of course insisted on interviewing the English girls! Probably a bad idea considering how hyper we all were on the Red Bull they gave us...nevertheless, we were interviewed by one of the presenters of the show who asked us if we were excited and were looking forward to meeting the players. I'm not sure how great we sounded though as when he asked who we were looking forward to meeting the most, our response was pure silence, followed by an awkward "all of them!" The nice man made a point of announcing to the listeners that we clearly didn't have a clue who we were queuing to meet! We found out later that it was Woodcock, Aofa, Muller and Carter. Despite our excitement and of course the crazy mob-mentality, we actually managed to get several rugby balls and postcards signed. However, much to Thommy's disappointment, she didn't manage to get her face signed. We also got Mr Terrett's "I LOVE NZ" t-shirt signed to the Oundle School Hockey Tour '08, which is a great souvenir for us to display at school. It was great to meet the guys, they were all lovely. So lovely in fact that Laura Greenlees and I gave two of them our Oundle School Hockey Tour wristbands, which they were thrilled with! Look closely at the telly because they might wear them in their matches for good luck! We then headed to the sky tower where we had a lovely lunch all together, including lots of cocktails! (Virgin ones of course!!) The restaurant revolved so that we could look at the view of Auckland whilst we ate. I think everyone agreed that yesterday was a great day. After lunch, we got back on the bus and Dave kindly drove us to the school where we met our hosts for the next two nights.
Lucy Horsell

Everyone on the tour would like to Thank Addis for their kind sponsorship that has allowed us to have Lunch in the Sky Tower.
 

29th and 30th July.
We are now firmly established in Auckland after a relatively easy trip across from Melbourne yesterday. We have managed to time our visit to coincide with some stormy weather. It's not cold but flooding and high winds have been causing problems here. Fingers crossed for the whale trip tomorrow. Yesterday, the girls were hosted by Takapuna Grammar School and have seen some of the beautiful bays and areas around North Shore. We had a brief bus ride through town and up Mount Eden this morning before matches this afternoon. They are back with their hosts this evening. They are all in very good spirits and have played their matches with commitment and energy today. There are matches on Friday before we head inland to Rotarua and Taupo at the weekend. It's all good fun.
TPH
 

28th July
The day began with another early start at Haileybury School. Everyone met in the year twelve common room to say some final goodbyes to their hosts. Then we were off again to our next destination, central Melbourne. Firstly we had a tour of the city courtesy of our bus driver for the day, Bill, and then we had the chance to explore Melbourne for ourselves to find lunch. But we were often reminded that the day was mostly about the tough hockey matches we had in the afternoon against Caulfield. They were said to be one of the hardest competition we would face in Austrailia. On the way, we made a slight detour to the famous home of ‘Neighbours', Ramsey Street! This was a great delight to all the members of the tour, even Miss Barnwell was jumping about at seeing the homes of her favourite characters! Then it was straight on to our matches. The first match was the B team match from both schools. This was a very good match to watch with all the team playing to the best of their ability. With a final score of 7-0 to Oundle. Then the A's played their match. Again, an amazing display of ability meant that Oundle could come out on top, winning 1-0. For further details see Jess's match report. Then everyone had a lovely match tea and enjoyed chatting with the Caulfield girls. Then it was back onto the bus to get to the hotel, but not without stopping to eat dinner. Many of us managed to eat one too many pancakes and had to come a further hour feeling a bit ill. And everyone is now preparing for an early start tomorrow morning - to be ready for 5am!
Harriet Shekan.
 

27th: Matches vs Haileybury.
This morning everyone met at Haileybury School ready to play the matches. There were many stories of the previous night's antics, with Rosie Davis featuring heavily! From what we heard, everyone had enjoyed their night with the host families. After a quick change and warm up, we were all on the pitch ready to go, but not until we had psyched ourselves up with our tour chant. Post match, we all headed back inside (as it was raining again!) where the captains (me) made a short presentation and exchanged memorabilia. We received fantastic new Haileybury hockey tops. They pulled the short straw as we gave them a dirty white tour t-shirt in exchange. This was followed by the food - an incredible spit roast accompanied by a fruit salad. However, the highlight of the afternoon was the special impromptu performance by T-Dog (MC Terrett) and his crew (Thommy, Fran and I) of our alternative rap. The audience was amazed. Soon afterwards, everyone dispersed with their hosts, some for a bit of shopping, others to the cinema and a lucky few got the chance to see penguins coming out of the sea. We returned to the hotel for a nap, only to be rudely interrupted by T-Dog to write this! Groovy.

by Alice ‘head banger' Banks and Thommy ‘rap is my middle name' Purbrook (with 2 words by Fran ‘beat box queen' Denny). We need a life.

Yesterday, while being billeted with the Milligans. Three girls and I were lucky enough to be taken to watch the wild penguins come ashore at twilight to nest. The Penguin centre is situated on Philip Island and ticket holders who have come to see the penguins are ushered down a lamp-lit wooden walkway towards the beach.
Tall stands rose out of the sand, four metres from the water's edge, packed with people sitting silently watching the waves. After about ten minutes, a murmur passed over the crowd as a little black spot was seen bobbing on the waves. The first penguin had arrived it waited for about 10 minutes - being joined by others - until a group of around 15 penguins had congregated before gaining the confidence to venture onto the beach. Waddling along in a wiggly line, the penguins made their comical way up to the grass covered sand dunes.
Walking back up the wooden walkway, the crowd was flanked by penguins plodding up to their boroughs. We could hear them calling to each other and see them (only 6" high with white tummys) running along next to us. Photography was not allowed as the flash hitting the darkness around the penguins would have terrified them, consequently we left with a stuffed penguin teddy each to remember the experience! Other girls had stories of Aussie rules football, ice cream making, cinema trips, visiting blowholes and Koala reserves with their billets, each leaving their hosts laden with gifts. Our tour had even acquired a mascot- the Australian flag bedecked koala teddy named Bruce.
Ellie Hiskett

26th July: On to Melbourne.
Having woken up extremely early and made our way to the airport, stopping briefly for a quick breakfast, we were soon on our way to Melbourne. The flight was about 3 hours long and most people used it as a good opportunity to catch up on some sleep. On arrival in Melbourne, we boarded the coach and made our way to Haileybury School. Here the girls were picked up by their host families and taken off for the afternoon to do various activities. The three of us (Thommy, Fran and I) stayed with the staff and went to check into our incredible 6* hotel (it's not really but that's what the other girls think!) We spent the afternoon having a quick look around the local town before heading back to the hotel to prepare for our big night out (the Old Oundelian's Dinner). We were all very excited particularly about meeting our chaperone! We all thoroughly enjoyed the evening. It was very interesting to hear how Oundle used to be and everyone was fascinated to hear about our tour and Oundle today. The food was delicious and complimented by speeches from the organiser, Mr Hipperson and the Headmaster, who is in Melbourne with his wife at the end of his epic tour during which he has met various Oundle pupils around the world. Unfortunately, we had to depart before the evening finished as we needed to prepare for our match the next day. We would like to thank the Melbourne OO Club, Neil and John for the wonderful evening at the Royal South Yarra Tennis Club.
 

25th July: back to Perth
This morning we all met at the sports centre. Many of us received "vulture" socks (the local hockey team) from our hosts and then we sadly bid goodbye to them. The bus journey back to Perth was quite long, however no one minded that much as our next stop was Caversham Wildlife Park and everyone was very excited about seeing a kangaroo! When we arrived we were allowed to feed the kangaroos and everyone posed for their friends cameras. Next was an entertaining farm show on how to shear sheep and crack a whip in which Rosie Davis and Mr Hipperson willingly volunteered, but failed miserably! We were then given tours of the other Australian wildlife where we saw and took hundreds of pictures of koalas, wombats and tazmanian devils. Special mention should go to Ellie Hiskett who got an amazing video of koalas fighting!
 

24th July
The first part of the morning was spent comparing notes on the night before with some of the girls having been billeted out with families for the first time and the rest having spent the night in the residential part of the local school. Discussions were rudely interrupted by Mr. Hipperson returning from his starring role on local radio (Mr. Terrett kindly did his make up so he was looking his best!) advertising the ‘Poms on Tour' which seemed to be a highlight of the week (us being here, not Mr. Hipperson being on the radio!). After catching up on the important details of how the Aussie boarders had to hoover their own rooms and do their own laundry (shock horror!), match preparations commenced....
Post match, after a tasty tea and presentation ceremony, it was back to the hosts. We have been brilliantly hosted here in Narrogin and everyone has been incredibly kind, going out of their way to make us feel welcome. Many of the girls were coming back to the hockey centre for the evening to support their hosts in further league matches and were obviously looking forward to being there to cheer them on! It's been a very enjoyable and successful couple of days here and we will be sad to leave, but it's back to Perth tomorrow bright and early.
Quote of the day: Mid-way through the second half: which way are we shooting?
Miss Barnwell
 

23rd July: Out of the city
Everyone was up early to have a nice breakfast before final packing and boarding the bus for our trip out of the city to Narrogin. After an hour of driving through a forest, the countryside started to open out and the sight of sheep in fields was a welcome! A short break at a petrol station in Williams, then the heavens opened and allowed the girls to see the wintery side of Oz. We arrived at the sports centre in Narrogin: a very impressive complex with astro, rugby, training areas as well as an indoor and outdoor pool. After a quick lunch we trained on a very wet water based astro but as the session progressed the rain lightened lifting everyone's sprits. To warm down all the girls moved to the pool for a wallow. It was then time to wait for the billets to come and pick us up. Everyone was very excited and looking forward to seeing the real side of Western Austria. Mr Hipperson is up early in the morning to go to the local radio station to do an interview. The TV and print media will be attending the matches to report on the outcome. I am sure it will reach the British media as well.
Quote of the day: Do I really have an accent?
Mr Terrett
 

22nd July: First Match

After an early start and a continental buffet breakfast we all gathered in the foyer and made our way to Queen's Park, next to the world-famous WACA. Here we endured "light" exercise and flexed our muscles in the form of a groovy boogie called the Peanut Butter Stomp created by Alice Banks. We strolled past the Swan River and were then set free in Perth to find ourselves some lunch and explore. Luckily, some of us found another boys rugby tour all the way from Leicester Grammar, who were very friendly. Upon returning to the hotel, we were whisked off to the Perth Sate Hockey centre for our first matches of the tour. We were split into two squads (A and B) and whilst one team played the other supported in the stadium. Sadly, we lost these both (A 4-0, B 2-1) but the experience was worthwhile (See match reports). Once we were showered, we again set out into the city centre to have supper. Many of us found some nice restaurants and some are, at the moment, still returning from their nights out on the town!
Quote of the day: "Is Harriet here? Is this a possum?"
Emily Kier, Rosie Davis and Harriet Skehan.
 

21^st July: Travel?

6th June:

21st May:

Tour Training

Training is now well underway for the tour, with 3 sessions having been and many more to come. For many of the girls going on tour this is the first time they have picked up their sticks since last season and so the sessions have been very useful in allowing us to get back into the swing of hockey as well as learning some new skills. However, I think the most important part of training for us all has been mixing together and getting to know each other before we set off on tour together. Unfortunately, we have not had any matches yet as last weekend’s scheduled match was cancelled, but we are all looking forward to the forthcoming match on the 22^nd June against Oakham.

Alice Banks

25th April:

Today Dr Shave, a sport physiologist, came to talk to us.  It was very informative and we learnt a lot about the different mental and physical demands that will be put on us during the tour.  We also found out about how different factors such as temperature, humidity, fatigue and travelling constantly can affect our performance, and how to deal with these appropriately.  The main emphasis was on health in general; specifically dehydration and personal hygiene and we now have lots of useful tips to take with us on tour. For example, take sports drinks and snacks that you know you like, but most importantly ‘remember to take your laminated urine charts!’

Alice Banks