Shetland Islands

The club asked if Peter and I wanted to go up with our 2nd team to the Shetland Islands, so we took the opportunity. Haylee was also able to come due to a couple of the boys pulling out. We left on the ferry at 7pm Friday night, and arrived up in Lerwick 12 hours later after a pretty rough ride (just ask Haylee - she was close to spewing a couple of times). 

Shetland is the most northern part of the UK and is actually in the Arctic Circle. The place is pretty barren and has no trees due to the cold, windy conditions but is still very interesting. Before the game we checked out the Clickimin Broch which is an old Viking house over 2000 years old. It was amazing how well preserved the place was, just shows how good the Vikings must have been at constructing the Broch’s way back then. We also saw a group of wild seals catching the sun on some rocks before we headed back for the game.

Clickimin Broch on Shetland

The usual kickoff time was moved forward to 12pm for our game on Shetland due to it getting dark quite early in the winter. It was freezing before the game, and the wind made it even colder. Haylee's feet were going numb standing on the sideline watching. I played a full game for the 2nd’s due to the lack of numbers, and we were beaten convincingly by a decent Shetland team. At the end of the game I was shattered, after a lot of running and tackling. The skill and fitness levels of our seconds team was very poor, and I told the boys that if they want to improve they will need to get to training. It didn't help either that a couple of the boys had an all night drinking session on the ferry on the way over. From this I gathered that these boys weren't too serious about their rugby.

We had quite a rough trip back on the ferry which Haylee didn’t really enjoy (again). After getting back early on Sunday morning, it took us a while to lose the rocking feeling of being on the boat.

After doing the schools rugby coaching work for 3 months, I have now managed to get myself a good full time job. I start on Tuesday as an Accounts Assistant for Canadian Natural Resources (an oil company) in Aberdeen. The job will suit me well as they are based right next to the train station and pay a decent wage also.

Lochaber Trip, All Blacks & Edinburgh

It has been an interesting and enjoyable three weeks since my last update.

On the first weekend of November we travelled down to Fort William to play the Lochaber team. The game was played in front of some great scenery - with the UK’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, in the background. We were also told this area was also used in the filming of the Braveheart movie. We played very well and won 42-0 in a good 80 minute performance. I also managed to get my UKCC Level 1 in Rugby done this weekend, even though I missed one of the three days due to rugby. The club put both Peter and I through the course, and I think I will be a better coach after completing my Level 1.

Lochaber Rugby Club with Ben Nevis (UK's highest mountain) in the background.

The next weekend was a busy one. We had a cup game on Saturday against the Kinloss Eagles, followed by a trip down to Edinburgh to watch the All Blacks play Scotland on Sunday. The cup game on Saturday was a chance to give a few of the fringe players some game time for the 1st team. There were a few boys injured and we gave some of the regulars a rest as the cup is not our main focus for the season. We were up against a tough army team who realistically should be in the Caledonia 1 League, and lost 35-10. It would have been a different story if we had our strongest team playing.

We got up early on Sunday and headed down to Edinburgh, arriving at 12pm. We stayed in the Murrayfield Hotel which was the perfect place to stay for the night of the rugby. After arriving, we had a few drinks at the Murrayfield before heading to the game (a 5 minute walk). It was good to see a few NZ mates and randomly ran into one of my old Wellsford teammates (Jockey) with a group in their All Black kilts. Walking into a full Murrayfield Stadium was an awesome experience, we have seen nothing like it. The Scots are very passionate supporters and this showed in the national anthem. After a slow start it was good to see the All Blacks carve it up in the second half.

At Murrayfield watching the All Blacks carve up Scotland.

Haylee and I stayed an extra couple of days in Edinburgh to do a bit of sightseeing around the city. We managed to catch the All Blacks leaving their hotel on Monday morning and it was good to see all the kiwis waiting outside to support them.

Edinburgh is quite a cool city, split into the old town (which is built up high along the Royal Mile) and the new town. The castle is built up on the highest point and can be seen from most parts of the city. The old buildings and layout of the city make it very unique, and it was interesting to find out that the old town itself was built on top of a bridge. We had a good look around the impressive castle and learned a lot about the citys history from this. At night we did an underground tour which went down into the vaults of the bridge & apparently these vaults have a few ghosts hanging about that luckily we didn't run into. On the Tuesday we checked out Carlton Hill and the National Museum which were well also well worth the visit.