Day 7 - Thursday 1st April

It was an early start to the Netball girls day - first they went to the Hamilton Netball courts. A training session with Nicola Brown (ex-Magic Netball player and current NZ Womens Cricket player and fastest female bowler in the world), in which she took us through a variety of ball skill games and passed on valuable advice, from her experience of playing Netball at a high level.

An 1 hr later, the girls departed the courts, enjoyed lunch and showered before travelling to Westfield Hamilton where they had a lot of fun shopping and enjoying local food. Unfortunately, our scheduled game against St Pauls Collegiate was cancelled today. In the afternoon, the girls had another training session, which included drills, fitness and fun team games. Two teams were included - Courtney, Kate, Alex and Tayla against Melanie, Tamara, Kirsten and Emma - with only 1 point separating in the winning team (Tayla's team). It was a friendly competition, with some cheating involved by both teams. We finished with a 200m challenge race, with athletic Kirsten going for another 200m race with Mr Riggall - he was victorious!!!!!!!!!!!!

We headed back for our team meeting, showers and dinner - dinner tonight is bangers and mash, with spaghetti and spring rolls. We are having a great time with our Netball and watching Disney Channel!!!!

Looking forward to our next game on Saturday and putting our training work into practice.

Tayla G.
:)

Day 6 - Wednesday 31st March

As the end of our stay in Taupo come to a close, it was time to depart for our next destination, Hamilton. After a short game of neucombe and shooting knockout, we travelled on the bus for 1.5 hours up to our third stop of the tour.

Checking into Stadium Motel was next, before jumping back on the bus and travelling to Waikato Diocesean Girls School. Before starting our game, we enjoyed a quick tour of the school grounds and visited their Hall of Sport Fame, being amazed by their diverse range of sports offered at the school, such as canoe polo and diving. Next we had our warm-up and took to the court. Unfortunately, we did not play to the best of our abilities, losing 22-15. While we were all disappointed, we ended the afternoon with a friendly afternoon tea with the opposition girls.

On the way back to our accommodation, we made a quick stop for a group grocery shop, and were very budget conscience. We ended the night with a team meeting, eating nachos and, of course, watching some more Disney Channel.

Quote of the day "heavy feet, wet skin".

Kirsten G.

Day 5 - Tuesday 30th March - Taupo

The girls ended last night with a relaxing four hours of team bonding (which did not include a 7 hour hike) but did include group massages, ANZ championship matches and hair braiding.

The morning we enjoyed a well-needed sleep-in, mae our own breakfast and laughed at Courtney, Mel, Nikki and Kirsten, wondering why there was a bowl of mince at their front door. We drove through town and had one of our best training sessions to date, with us all gelling together as a team, working on court play and played awesome games.

After our training we hoped on the bus and had an enjoyable trip singing Bon Jovi songs to Huka Falls and Aratiatia. We saw the waterfalls, the water gates to the dam opening, Mr Riggall's bad parking skills and the team finished with an icebath in the lake streams.

Following another short drive and a speed change, we headed into town for an afternoon of lunch and shopping. After a massive walk to get fish & chips, we discovered the shop was closed today!!!!! Instead, we had chip sandwiches, fed the birds and had the rest of the afternoon for shopping and free time.

Tonight we are looking forward to cooking another dinner for ourselves - but we don't want to leave this place!!!

Bianca P.

Day 4 - Monday 29th March - Rotorua & Taupo

Tamara and I (Courtney A.) woke at 6.50am and woke the rest of the girls at 7.10am (like normal). We enjoyed a fantastic cooked breakfast with pancakes, bacon and toast. We went back to the rooms, packed and loaded the bus - loading the big bags into the bus is like a game of Tetris!!

When arriving at the Sky Gondala, we decided to replace our pre-arranged Huka Jet Boat (now cancelled) with a ride on the thrilling Sky Swing. The faces on the girls was hilarious to watch from the ground!!!

We then went over to the Luge ride. We all enjoyed the Scenic route first (compulsory) and some decided to brave the advanced route.....twice. The speed collected allowed us to get air when travelling down some of the steeper hills. Don't worry families - no one fell off and everyone had a helmet on. After the Luge, it gave the girls a chance for more soveniur shopping.

Subway was lunch again and we decided to eat at a pleasant rest stop on the way to Lake Taupo. We arrived mid-afternoon (short drive from Rotorua), allocated new room mates and went grocery shopping for our next two dinners and breakfasts. This was followed by a team run along Lake Taupo.

Now, after swimming in a 39 degree pool, we are hanging around, watching TV and just chillin'.

Courtney A.

Day 3 - Sunday 28th March - Hungi concert

The tour bus arrived and we all piled on. The tour guide chose a 'chief' to lead our bus of people at the village. Mr Fairbain was chosen as our leader. On arrival, he faced some scary warriors in the welcoming ceremony - the ceremony was a traditional dance of the indigenous people. During this time, we learnt about their weapons, carvings and tattoos, befor4e gathering inside to watch another performance which featured dances of the Mauvi people. It was amazing!!! Especially the haka which scared all of us.

The hungi feast was next and we all devoured our food with the majority going back for seconds and even thirds (even Mr Fairbain). The traditionally cooked food included chicken, lamb, fish, mussels, bread, carrots, potato and kumaua. Unfortunately, no pumpkin :( Desert consisted of pavlova and chocolate pudding, which was great. Apparently NZ pavlova was good but not as good as back home. Mr Fairbain was then presented with a token of gratitude for being our 'chief' and we all held hands and sung "This is the hour".

Back on the bus, we sang songs to represent our countries. Waltzing Matilda & We are Australian were sung along with randitions of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" and songs from the Lion King.

The night was long and exciting - we arrived back to Kiwipaka and headed off for a well-deserved sleep.

Courtney A.

Day 3 - Sunday 28th March

Grammar Lions tour is going on with great enthusiasm so far in New Zealand. Today the day started off with myself (Alex P) and Emma S waking up to the guitar alarm on her phone. Both grunting, we decided to fall asleep without any arguments - you could say that we were rundown.

After breakfast, the girls packed their backpacks with all our essentials ready to hit the courts at 9.30am again today. Winning one of our two games "us Aussies", as the Kiwis call us, thanked us for coming to their tournament and clapped us all before we left to come back to our accommodation - Kiwipaka.The two teams that played in the fianl were incredible. The McLarens (Auckland) team looked as though they had played together for years!!! All of us were cheering loudly from the sidelines.

On return from the courts, the girls were chilling out in the lounge and decided to check on the boys progress via their rugby blog. As we scrolled through, the pictures really said it all - the boys standing in the line watching the haka must have been extremely intimidated!!!

With our win of 2 matches so far, it is safe to say that we are the most successful netball group from SCGS touring so far. Not sure we can say the same about the boys......

Tonight we look forward to go to the Hungi, and see the Haka being performed for ourselves.

Alex P.

Day 2 - Saturday 27th March

Today we work up after a late night and arrived at the courts ready for our first game. Unfortunately, we lost our first and second games, but upon the recent successes and won our third match (v JPC Rotorua). Nicole hurt her shoulder again. Some good teamwork and hardcore attitudes featured in our third game. Our last game was a challenge against some tough opposition, but all team members and staff commented on the improvement and some determined performance. Mr Fairbarn was impressed with the improvement shown by the girls throughout the day.

On leaving the courts, we collected Subway for lunch and enjoyed it by Lake Rotorua. Soon after, we visited the nearby thermal pools on the Lake and topped off by the typical sulphur aroma that Rotorua is famous for.

Professor Kate H's lesson for the day "Steam is hot"...........

When we arrived back at Kiwipaka, we were all ready to relax with a hot swim, when Alex's thumb met the door. Looking forward to a relaxing evening and some more games on Sunday.

Melanie P.

Day 1 - Friday 26th March

An early start (with new luggage) greeted our travellers on Friday morning, with an 8.25am departure from Brisbane. The girls were very excited, with limited sleep the night before they gathered at the terminal at 6am. Before departure, our last acts in Australia were to play card games. Go Fish, Snap and Tongues all included.

The flight was enjoyed by all, with movies watched, games played, and new friends made. Along with the entertainment, breakfast was served with the choice of either omelette or chicken korma. The food was delicious and enjoyed by all.

3 hours later we landed in Auckland and gathering our luggage, we made our way to Rotorua, arriving at 8pm.

Positive comments were received about the girls behaving on the flight.

Here I write this blog amongst yelled suggestions and giggles and featuring much singing. The countryside beyond the windows is beautiful, framing an ideal place to start our adventure in New Zealand.

Tamara A.

Pre-tour meeting and Service

In preparation for the NZ Netball tour, students and staff invovled in the tour met last Wednesday night (17 March). This meeting was designed to inform students of their tour responsibilities and tour itinerary. A very excited group left the meeting, looking forward to their upcoming 10 days in NZ.

This week will see the final stages of tour pre-planning, some last minute packing and a Tour worship service, conducted by Pastor Jon Taylor this Wednesday morning in the Chapel. Touring students and family members are invited to join this service at 7.30am and stay for a bacon and eggs breakfast.

All involved are looking forward in anticipation to Friday mornings' flight and the following days.