Garioch Winning the League

On the last weekend of March we had our final league game against Moray away up in Elgin. If we won this game it meant we would win the Caledonia 2 North League. We had a bit of a setback in the week leading up to the game, losing five of the Army boys who play for our team. On Thursday/Friday Peter and I managed to rally the troops and get a decent enough team to put out for Saturday.

We got up to Elgin early and had a good intense warm-up. This seems to be important for our team as it usually means we start the game well. We dominated the first 20mins before letting them back into the game before half time. We then played pretty well in the second half to close out the game 24-10 and win the league!! Continuing the trend we had another average ref for this game who seemed to be a lot harsher on our team than the other. It was like he was evening things out a bit as we were clearly better than the opposition. But in saying that, at least he wasn’t deaf/speech impaired like the one we had the week previous.

After the game we had a court session planned for back at the clubhouse in Inverurie. The Scottish boys had not had a proper court session before so Neil/Peter & had a good one planned. It was a pretty good night, having a few beers with the whole team and some good banter with them as well. I think everyone enjoyed themselves which was good to see.

Champagne flowing after winning the league.

As we have now won the league, we now have a three-way playoff to get into the next division for next year. We will play the top team from the Caledonia 2 Midlands league and one team from the Caledonia 1 league. These playoffs are scheduled  for the 20^th and 27^th of April (after our Sevens tournament on the 14^th).

Isle of Arran

One of the many places Haylee and I had on our wishlist to visit when we came to Scotland was Arran. So on the weekend of the 16^th of March we made the trip down past Glasgow to visit ‘Scotland in Miniature’. We arrived on Friday afternoon and put our stuff away at the b&b we were staying at, and headed out to check out the town of Brodick & the Brodick Castle (which was getting renovated). After some fish & chips for dinner we had quite an early night ready for an early start in the morning.

Nice spot for fish & chips - was a bit cold though!

We caught the 8am bus and went up to Lochranza (on the very tip of Arran). The northern part of the Island is very rugged and made up mainly of mountains. Lochranza didn’t have much more than a castle so we walked around the island a bit before catching a bus to Blackwaterfoot on the western side. From here we walked quite a way around to see the Kings Caves, which had drawings inside from over 2000 years ago. We carried on along the track and down the road to go and see the impressive Machrie Moor stone circles (dating back to 1800BC). Some of the rocks were about 8m tall, I don’t know how they managed to get them up there back in the bronze age! After we got back on the road we decided to hitch a ride back to Lochranza as the bus was still another 2 hours away and it was freezing.. We watched a rugby game over a pint at the local pub, then saw an awesome sunset before bussing back to Brodick.

Got to be up there with one of the best sunsets I have seen

On Sunday we planned to visit the Glenashee waterfalls in the morning before we caught our ferry back to the mainland. We hitched again from Brodick to Whiting Bay with a nice local who gave Haylee some hand cream from Arran Aromatics as a souvenir. This saved us quite a bit of time so we took our time walking up to the waterfalls (which were alright without being spectacular). We got back to Whiting Bay and caught the earlier bus back to Brodick – giving us time for a hot drink before getting on the ferry.

Giants Graveyard - some of the many stone circle remains on Arran

 We managed to spend a bit of time in Glasgow in the afternoon before getting our bus back to Aberdeen. It was very busy on the streets due to St Patricks Day, was cool watching all the street performers and checking out a few shops while we had the chance. We definitely chose the right weekend to go as Arran had a really bad snow storm the week after and had no power for a week – we were quite lucky! The trip was definitely worth it, and although it would have been better visiting in summer, Arran lived up to expectations.

Planning Our Big Trip

We have started booking a few flights & planning our travels a bit more now that we have a few dates locked in. We are leaving Aberdeen for Madrid on the 14th of May, leaving Europe for Brazil on 12th of August and leaving Chile for NZ on the 2nd of October. Both Haylee and I are really looking forward to it after what has been a long rugby season here in Scotland.

In the next couple of months we will continue to work hard and save money for the big trip. We currently have a couple of weeks off rugby, which gives us a chance to see a bit of Scotland. Haylees good friend Emily has been up over the weekend from London, so we managed to get out and show her a few local attractions. We went over to Loch Ness on Saturday, visited the Urquart Castle and Culloden on the way home. Culloden is the site of the last battle between the Red Coats and Scottish Clansmen (fighting against English rule). This was apparently a bloody battle only lasting a couple of hours, and there are gravestones with clan names on them - marking mass graves where soldiers were buried. We found one with ‘Fraser’ (the clan of which Haylee descends from) on it. On Sunday we braved the snow and went over to see Dunnottar Castle. Even though we had already been there, it was still good to see it again.. We spent 2 hours there before getting a hot drink at Stonehaven on the way home.

Cottage at the famous battle site of Culloden

Haylee & Em & Nessie

Fastest town in Scotland... Nairn

This weekend Haylee and I are heading to the Isle of Arran, which is apparently like a mini version of Scotland. We are catching ua bus down to Glasgow, train to Ardrossan and ferry over to Arran. It was pretty cheap getting down and back as we booked nice and early, worked out at NZ $80 each return.

It seems like it has been a long season over here playing and coaching rugby. This may be because I have had back to back seasons and being new to coaching. The Scottish weather definitely hasn’t helped as quite a few games have been put off due to the weather. In saying that, it has been a great experience as we have learned to live in a different part of the world, seen some pretty cool places, met some nice people, and I have learned a lot about being a coach. I think living over here has made us appreciate home a bit more - especially the weather!

Two Days In Prague..

We got to Prague around 4pm on the 3rd of January and although we struggled with the language (not many people speak English here), found it really easy to get from the airport to our accommodation. We had booked a place to stay before our trip for NZ$60 a night and were happy to find a modern apartment when we arrived. We decided to check out the city the next day then go on a day trip somewhere if we had time the following day.

The underground tube system here is very good (and cheap) so we made good use when we went to look around the city on our first day. We started at the Old Town Square then headed over the river where we got a good view of Charles Bridge before catching the funicular up the Mala Strana. We got an even better view of the city when we climbed the Petrin tower (an old communist radio tower) at the top of Mala Strana - well worth the climb! By now it was a nice sunny day and the view down to the castle and across the river was stunning. Prague is a nice looking city with all the terracotta roofed old style buildings, the blue tops of the many synagogues, the river going through the middle and Charles Bridge make it look even better!

Stunning city of Prague

It was a good walk from here through the monastary to the castle grounds where we headed next. The castle was also well worth a look, is quite a large grounds surrounded by a stone wall with old buildings in the middle (including the impressive cathedral). The guards here seem so serious about their jobs, walking around with bayonets and looking like angry men. The walk down from the castle is awesome, a long narrow stone staircase going between tall buildings either side. Down the bottom we grabbed some lunch then went to the John Lennon Wall, where people have used graffiti to remember John Lennon and speak out against communism (they tried to cover it up but didn’t work!). We managed to see the famous copper pissing statues before crossing the Charles Bridge back to the Old Town Square.

John Lennon Wall - Prague

One day was definitely enough to check out the city of Prague, and although it sounds like we went to a lot of different places - everything is so close together making it easy to get more done. After a big day we headed back to our apartment then went to a local bar/restaurant to get dinner. This ended up being a very cheap meal, paying around NZ$7 for a good sized main and around NZ$2 for a 500ml stein of beer. I tried the traditional dish of beef goulash which was very filling and washed it down with a couple of Pilsners - good end to a good day!

Haylee had the idea of heading to see a bone cathedral (which she had read about) in a town about an hour out of Prague. We didn’t have a plan at all and headed to the train station which was a bit challenging as no one understood English. We managed to get a return trip to Hutna Kora for around NZ$8 each. Once we arrived at the station it was a 10 minute walk to one of the weirdest places I have ever been to, a Cathedral with stacks of human bones inside. Apparently the area was a very popular place to be buried back in the day, due to there being soil from Jerusalem on the site. When the plague hit and over 40,000 people needed to be buried, there was not enough room. So some crazy monks decided it would be a good idea to stack the bones up in neat piles and make things out of them (like a chandelier and family crest). This place is so unusual and definitely worth a visit if you go to Prague.

We walked down to the town after to have a look around and get some lunch, but found not much going on. We didn’t see one local at all and when we finally managed to find a pizza place that was open (to get some lunch), we were told that everyone was on holiday. Thats about all we found out.Was a bit weird - especially how there was a church with 40,000 skulls in it just down the road!

After catching the 3pm train back to Prague, we decided to walk around the Christmas markets and use up our spare Krona before we headed home in the morning. We spent a bit of time here drinking honey mead and mulled wine, and buying a couple of souvenirs. On the way home we got a 1 litre of Pilsner from the supermarket for NZ$2 to enjoy back at the apartment - ready for our flight home in the morning.

Christmas & Sightseeing in London

Haylee and I headed down to London on 23 December for a couple of weeks away from rugby & Inverurie. We got our first taste of the famous London Underground tube on the 24th as we had to get to West Brompton before Christmas day (as all tubes were closed this day). I remember it was all a bit overwhelming at first, with so many different tube lines and so many people at the tube stations. We managed to find our way in the end and were quite amazed by the whole experience.

We caught up with Brendan and Scotty Wils for Christmas, along with a bunch of other kiwis (15 in total). It was quite a coincidence how I knew them both from different rugby teams, and they had since met while in London - shows how it is such a small world. It was my first Christmas away from the family, but had a good time in London with a good crowd. We had a proper kiwi meal with 3 chickens, 2 legs of NZ lamb and a 10kg ham, and pavlova for dessert. After the secret santa it ended up being a big night drinking, and got to know the group pretty well by the end of the night. We spent boxing day chilling out at Scotty Wils’s place and helped him clean up a solid mess from the night before.

Christmas in West Brompton

We started to properly check out London on the 27th, firstly picking up our London Passes (giving us 3 days of access to all of the sights for £66 each) then visiting the Buckingham Palace, Winter Wonderland & the Tate Modern Museum (which are all free to visit). After this we caught up for dinner with Gareth (Fonterra workmate) and his wife for dinner at the West End before heading to see the Wicked show at a theatre. This was something Haylee really wanted to do so I tagged along and ended up being better than I thought it would be.

Our first day using the London pass started on the 28th. We had quite a big day and were able to; see Big Ben, go into the Westminster Abbey, go on a Thames river cruise, visit the Tower of London, go up the Tower Bridge and see the Design Museum. I have always wanted to see Big Ben and it did not disappoint. The Thames River Cruise (with good commentary on the way) and views from the Tower Bridge were other highlights of the day.

Big Ross, Little Ben

We headed to Wimbledon the next day where we went on a guided tour around the Tennis Grounds, before catching up with another mate Joe for a beer at Shoreditch.

The final day using the London Pass saw us head to the Lords Cricket Ground for a guided tour around the Museum (with ’The Ashes’) and grounds which I really enjoyed. The guide was right into his cricket and took us through the pavilion, changing rooms and media centre - telling us stories throughout. I also picked up a pair of cricket pants from the Lords shop which I can proudly wear for Wellsford when we get home.

On New Years eve we spent the morning in busy town of Camden, checking out the markets and having some of the famous street food. We were back later that night to celebrate New Years at Koko with a few of Haylees friends, where a band and DJ’s welcomed in the new year.

Although we didn’t get up to much on New Years day, we were able to visit a few of places we hadn’t seen on the 2nd. We started off at St Pauls Cathedral, which was much bigger than I expected but just another cathedral really from the outside. From here we headed to Covent Garden, an area with lots of street performers and markets. We visited a pub once run by Haylee’s Uncle & Aunty (the Marquess of Anglesey) for a beer, before getting lunch in Trafalgar Square. After lunch we went to see Harrod’s (the famous luxury shopping centre) where there were things like signed Mohummad Ali boxing gloves on sale for £90,000

Although it was well worth a visit, I don’t think I could ever live in London as it is far too busy. By the end of our time here I was starting to get sick of the crowded underground tubes and engineering works which made our trips take quite a bit longer than planned.

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.