Day #11 - Joyolis, Ueno, and our Farewell Dinner

After once again a lovely buffet breakfast here at our harbour side Hotel, east side of Tokyo city, we jumped on the bus and headed off to give the boys a bit of a surprise,.... and indoor amusement park called Joyolis.

Completely indoors with many of the rides being either via virtual reality or ones that involve you sitting in a capsule and it moves around as you play the different games. The boys thoroughly enjoyed this and many of the different other aspects to this place in their three hour experience. To get a full understanding of some of the ride, have a look at the Flickr page videos that AB took. Thankfully I didnt attend this, (leaving this for Matty Brown, AB and Rye and Mimi), or I would have been ill for the rest of the day. 

Instead, Normo, Leigh and myself, along with our guide/host Toshi, went to the Tokyo Fish Markets for a few hour. Again photos of our experience are on Flickr.

Following the indoor Theme Park, we jump back into the bus and headed to the centre of the city and a large garden space, a little bit like Central Park in New York city. In the centre is the Emperor's palace, and wonderful historical Japanese building perched high on a hill, and surrounded by a moat.  We got the obligatory photo group photo in front of the Palace, but were quickly ushered away by many of the police/palace guards there, that seem to not like large group gathering.

From here we jump back into the bus and headed north to Ueno. A large shopping market area where the boys could do more retail therapy and also get themselves a little bit of lunch. Many of them picked up a bargain but they soon realised, unlike in China, bartering in Japan does not exist. The prices were as labelled, and there is no negotiation. Many of them again bought souvenirs and trinkets for their love ones so expect to have a pretty nice little present when they return.

We headed home mid afternoon back to our hotel for a quick shower and then headed off for our evening meal, a lovely buffet and farewell dinner. At the farewell dinner we are able to enjoy many of the local delights that we’ve had on our trip with a few new ones but the boys seem to always go back to either the desert bar, and also the curry bar, of all things.

At the end of the dinner we presented our hosts Toshi and his family with some small gifts from TSS rugby and from the boys. We also presented some funny awards which I’m sure the boys will let you know once I return home. All the photos of this night were uploaded to Flickr.

Tomorrow we leave the hotel mid-morning and head off to the famous Tokyo SkyTree which is a large observatory, approx. 700 m high. From there we have a bit of lunch head into a temple and market area. leaving for the airport around 5pm... and onto our flight home. 

I am not sure whether I’ll be able to upload photos from tomorrow whilst at the airport so I may have to do that once I return to Australia, also along with the final blog. Thank you for all the emails and texts of support of this blog and the photos. I hope you have enjoyed them and they will be a lasting memory for your son, of this unique and wonderful tour.

See you back in Australia

IB

Day #10 - Shinjuku and the Wallabies v Wales.

As has been the case for the last two nights when the boys have been billeted the boys have returned the next morning full of enthusiasm and enjoyment of the experiences meeting a new family and making new friends. This was the case once again this morning at Sagami HS, where the boys were fare-welled by their abilities and their families before we set off heading towards Tokyo.

As it’s one of the largest cities in the world it’s understandable that the traffic here in Tokyo even on a Sunday like today is quite heavy. We are getting used to travelling around in a bus together and getting on and off very quickly has become second nature to all of us over the past 10 days.  As was the case today we pulled up near the mega-store for the Rugby World Cup and had to race off the bus before our bus driver got a parking fine. The mega-store is in the middle of an area called Shinjuku and it was full of rugby enthusiasts shopping for the latest Rugby World Cup clothing. Our boys didn’t miss out and purchased quite a lot of stuff at premium prices unfortunately. As this is the World Cup it’s usually the only chance you’ll get to get these items.

After having lunch in one of the largest sport stores in the world which was five stories high and full of sporting equipment we grabbed all the boys once again hopped in the bus and headed out to Tokyo Stadium. The stadium is located about an hours drive from the centre of Tokyo West but as use as I’ve said before you would never know it because the high-rises just continue as far as the eye can see. We got to the stadium and immediately hopping off the bus you could hear the atmosphere already starting to build with music, laughter and people having a good time from the forecourt of this stadium itself. We let the boys have a look around the fan zone before we all headed off to find our seats and prepare ourselves for what was to be a close match.

As most would’ve seen we feel we were fairly hard done by, by the referee on some of the decisions and also potentially the Australian coach may have made some selection mistakes particularly in the first half. But let’s hope the final three games will show promise heading towards the finals.

We got out of the stadium reasonably quick and back into the bus and headed to our final hotel destination which is over near Tokyo Disneyland. It’s a lovely hotel and what a nice way to finish what has been such a wonderful tour. We have two more days of sightseeing around Tokyo before heading back to the coast on Tuesday night and arriving early Wednesday morning. More tomorrow…

Best regards,

Ian Browne

Day #9 - Sagami and Game day!!!

Today was one of those days where you felt that you had absorbed the culture of Japan. The boys today were able to intermingle with students from Sagami high school in a way that I haven’t seen them interact this entire tour.

It started with a japanese calligraphy display from a group of young ladies that welcomed us to their school. They were all a part of the Japanese calligraphy club called kenji. From here we were taking into a classroom and enjoyed making fans for our loved ones with Japanese kenji writing on each side. Many of the boys love this and enjoyed learning something new from the morning activity.

Lunch was served in the dining hall of a Sagami HS, and then it was time for game.

The under 14‘s had not had a victory this tour but today played out of their skins, and really displayed athletic ability not seen during this rugby season. Even though we were down at half time the under 14‘s stepped up in the second half and insure a win for us on the last game in the tour. It was a very proud moment for all of us particularly as this school so one of the best rugby schools in Japan. Below is the scoreline,

The game v Tokai Sagami HS were ;

 Sagami U14

1st half - try, try, K

2nd

Final Score - 12

TSS u14

1st - Rameau try,

2nd - will Carter try, Emerson R try, carter try, Dwyer K

Final score - 22

Man of the Match- Lachlan Murphy/Emerson Rameau

In the opens match today they certainly knew they’d came up against one of the best side in Japan. This side push them to limit and ended up scoring quite a few tries against our tired yet enthusiastic defence. The school line below indicates how the match went.

TSS Open

1st - NIL

2nd - Vousty try

Final score - 5

Sagami

1st - try, k, try, k, try, try, k

2nd - try, k, try, k, try, k, try, k, try, k

Final score - 61

Man of the Match- Syris Schmidt

After a wonderful post match celebration we are both schools made speeches about the game and then we watch the final few minutes of the Ireland versus Japan rugby match. It was a great match made even more special for us being in Japan at the same time and with our hosts at Sagami high school.

The boys are now at their billets and will enjoy what has been a wonderful experience for them staying and being hosted by families each of the three nights on this trip. Tomorrow we head back into town and prepare ourselves for the Australia versus Wales match on Saturday afternoon.

Best regards,

Ian Browne

Day #8 - Gotemba & Tokia

We woke this morning to lovely blue sky look out the window you could see Fuji is nice and clear. We took this opportunity to get a few photos of the mountain is with you later in the day it would cloud over. After quick on scene and then some breakfast we are on our way again down the mountain from the hotel towards a beautiful lake area which was called Lake Ashe. A beautiful area with any glacial water is coming down into it and also a lovely place apparently to fish so Mr Holtsbaum told everybody. According to Dr Google Holtsbaum there was a pike trout salmon and bass all available to catching this lake.

Upon leaving this area we headed down the hill into Gotemba, and visited a wonderful Peace Park. Within the park there were lovely manicure gardens although Matty Brown tells me the trees grow like that naturally. I’ll leave you to be the judge when you look at the photos. There were also some temples and a bell the boys enjoyed ringing which symbolised interest to the spiritual area.

We left here and the boys were super keen to get some retail therapy so we took them to a premium outlet shopping centre where they spend a couple of hours wandering around the stores buying up on the cheaper items like shoes and clothing. This for them I think was the highlight of the day.

Mid afternoon we headed off to Tokai University where we met the head coach and assistant coach of the rugby union team here. A very successful team in Japan also coached hear by Grant Andersen who is on our trip helping us with our boys. We got to visit the home facilities of the rugby team but also have a look around the campus at all of the different departments. With 18,000 students at this university it is one of the biggest in Japan. Probably the highlight of the visit to the campus was going to see the judo team training in a purpose-built facility. As we watched we found out they were world and Olympic champions training in front of our boys and this was a very special moment. But then next door the kendo team started training and if you look at the video on Flickr you’ll understand that this also was a very special moment for all of us involved.

Well strolling around the campus we ran into old boy Noah Scallan who at now has been at the university for two years on a scholarship and playing here for the seagales (yes that’s the actual name) rugby team which is the universities rugby club. The name of the club was in reference to the sea wins the come off the Pacific Ocean nearby.

After a few hours at the University we headed over to our hotel dinner and the boys in preparation for tomorrow at a team meeting and then off to an early bed. The game tomorrow Will be played at Tokai Sagami High School which is nearby to the university. You will notice the address is on the blogger for all those that are here in Japan to come and watch.

Game day #3 - Saturday 28.9

Venue:
Tokai University Sagami High School

3 Chome-33-1 Sonan, Minami Ward, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-0312, Japan

U14s - approx 2pm

U16s - approx 3pm.

Day #7 Odawara and Hakone

Firstly I’d like to commend the boys, we have now been here for over a week and their manners and behaviour have been impeccable. We haven’t had much trouble at all and they have listen to all instructions and thoroughly enjoyed assimilating into the culture here in Japan. It’s wonderful to see.

Another part of this trip has been the billeting and each boy gets quite excited now about the opportunity of meeting new families and going back to their places. Last night the billeting was excellent and we had no problems with all family is very grateful that our boys could stay with them for an evening. Our boys were treated once again very very well, and greeted us with heaps of stories about their night away.

After collecting all the boys this morning from their billets at Kugayama HS, we traveled south down around the Tokyo bay to an area called Odawara.

How to many years ago was the one of the capital of Japan being the gateway to Tokyo for many of the international shipping routes they brought goods and spices to the country. Today we visited at Odawara castle which was an outstanding example of traditional Japanese temple and palace for the original royal families here in this country. We spent a good couple of hours strolling around the grounds and looking at what was a wonderful structure. Finally enough it was the base for the Wallabies as well over the past week prior to them moving up to Sapporo to play the game last weekend. They now have moved into an area in Tokyo which we hope to visit them this coming weekend before the game.

For lunch we went to a local shopping centre and the boys enjoyed a good hour so just wondering around and looking at all of the different specialty shops there and also grabbing some of the local delicacies. Many of them tried ramen which is a noodle and broth mixture, that comes with light vegetables and beef or chicken. Delicious....

Following lunch we hopped on the bus once again and travel for about an hour and a half up to an area called Hakone. This area is it the foothills of Mount Fuji which we will visit tomorrow. We had the wonderful pleasure of being able to take all the boys today to a waterpark nothing similar to what we have in Australia. The boys had an absolute ball for over two hours running down slides and visiting all the different and unusual pools. One of these pools was the coffee pool. The guy there every couple of hours gets the guests to go to the pool and sit as he explains about coffee and then he sprays it on all of the gas within the pool. Another one of the great features at this waterpark was a small pool where you put your feet in and fish come and nibble on your skin. Just about every boy enjoyed or tried this as it was very unique and certainly quite an unusual feeling. Personally I didn’t really enjoy it as much, as most of the fish in the tank seemed to be eating something  on one of my feet and the sensation was quite unusual.

Our time in the waterpark ended and we hop back on the bus and headed up the hill to our location for the evening. A wonderful resort where once again we were spoiled by an incredible dinner in a buff a where the boys thoroughly enjoyed trying many of the different delicacies on offer. Have a look on Flickr to see what I mean.

Another highlight today was having all the boys "DRESS" for dinner. In each room here (Tatami rooms again), the boys had a traditional robe, and we all wore this to bed. Photos again are on Flickr.

tomorrow we head over to Mount Fuji and hopefully will get somewhere near one of the base camps to be able to look out over the area. It has been off and on quite cloudy but fingers crossed tomorrow it will be a clear day. Just another note the area that we are in now is very volcanic and has many springs but also there is a warning at the moment for a live volcano. This will pose any problem problems for us as we are quite safe but it’s actually quite interesting that the boys got excited by the fact that they may see a volcano explode... which is unlikely to happen.

Day #6 Yokohama & Game Day.

Early rise this morning with breakfast in another. Again the boys are thoroughly enjoying the different kinds of food display each meal. Jumped on the bus and headed around an hour and a half to the western suburbs of Tokyo to a school Kugayama High School.

This was one of those experiences the boys will never forget is they joined the billet in their individual classes and went through lessons including maths, English, PE which was probably the most exciting for the PE staff here where they did the Kendo ( which is a form of martial arts with a stick or sword).

From the videos on Flickr you’ll also be able to see your boys engaging in volleyball lessons which got very exciting with many of our boys being quite talented in this area. This excited the others from the school and ended up being quite enjoyable game.

Myself and Mr Holtsbaum decided to walk around some of the classrooms involved with our boys and noticed that one was doing what we thought was a science lesson. Mr Holtsbaum decided to take over the lesson and talk about neutrons and protons in English two boys that can only speak Japanese. This went over really well except one boy put his hand up... and said, ‘sir this is an geography class!!!’

Another story, in another maths lesson one of the our boys were sitting there going through some mathematics and put his hand up and ask the teacher what was that Japanese symbol on the board the teacher said that is the square root symbol. To boisterous laughter by the rest of the class, as it was a Yr8 math class, and our student was a Yr 11 Senior.

School supplied a lovely Bento box for lunch and then the boys got them selves ready and headed off to the rugby match

The game v Kugayama HS were ;

 Kugayama U14

1st half try K try K Try

2nd try try k try k try

Final Score - 43

TSS u14

1st NIL

2nd NIL

Final score - 0

Man of the Match- Lochie Murphy/ Charlie Coffey

The under 14‘s had a huge game stepping up in their defence and also in their attack but the main thing was there aggression at the ball and really played well. Even though they lost the contest it was a much greater improvement by all players.

TSS Open

1st - vD Schyff try, Arscott K,

2nd - Schmidt try & k, Vousty try, Schmidt  K, Burnett try, arscott K, try ? Schmidt K

Final score - 35

Kugayama

1st - try k

2nd - try

Final score - 12

Man of the Match- Jet Budgen (special mention Sam Morris/Massimo Du Littis for playing the entire game front row)

The game started with Syris Schmidt  as captain and and many players in our backline in new positions for the new game. Tss was first school to score with a great break away by Jack Breen to give Michael Van Der Schyff a try. Kugayama came back with a strong try but TSS continue to dominate the lineout thanks Jack Breen and Michael van der Schyff. A really strong effort like those Massimo and Sam Morris in the front row along with Harry Vousty playing the entire game and dominating scrums. Big improvement in this game with the offloading and also intensity at the breakdown also great to see all boys willing to play in different positions.

After the game we had a wonderful presentation from both schools exchanging gifts and pleasantries and then the boys excitingly went off the billets for the evening.

Tomorrow is a sightseeing day we are heading to a Japanese castle but that has a waterpark in it and the boys will have an enjoyable and fun time I’m sure. Overall a great day

Day #6 Game day
Here is the address for the match today;
3 Chome-22-1 Shinishikawa, Aoba Ward, Yokohama, Kanagawa 225-0003, Japan

14s at 4pm

16s at 5pm 

post match following

Day #5 Sapporo to Yokohama

Food on this trip has been exceptional. The hotel we stayed in at Jozankei, had a wonderful buffet  breakfast and dinner. Particularly last night that the boys thoroughly enjoyed. The dinner had such a variety of traditional and western food including snow crab from the Atlantic, wide variety of noodle and ramen, and also wagyu beef you could die for. so so tender... The pleasing thing is the boys seem to be enjoying more of this style of food, and also trying something new each time.

Today was a big travel day so we got up early and went for breakfast.  Again huge selection for breakfast, in a dining hall/area that seated well over 1000 people. The food was exceptional. Have a look at a few of the pics from that on Flickr.

After breakfast we packed our bags and headed off to the airport bus ride, through security and onto our ANA aircraft... BUT one student missing. Luckily, Id stayed behind because I noticed a bag left unattended in our area. I waited and waited at the gate hoping they'd not shut it, and we'd miss the flight, but lucky for the young man, he turned up, (stuffing his face full of Japanese Chocolate), and we got onto the plne just before the door closed.

A good flight down to Tokyo and then on to Yokahama by a bus through the Japanese freeways. Yokohama is a southern district/suburb or Tokyo about 1.5 hrs drive from Tokyo city centre in good traffic. Its a very industrial port, with heaps of shipping and docks. In the distance coming into the city via the huge bridges you could see for the first time Mt Fuji... we look forward to going there in a few days time.

Dinner tonight was in the world renown Yokohama Chinatown. Lovely restaurant that served us with some of the local delites and traditional Chinese meals as well. After a stroll around the local markets, we headed home for bed.

Tomorrow is a very early rise (6am) for breakfast and then off to SCHOOL. The boys are attending classes for the morning, then play their billets in the afternoon, before heading home for their second night away billeted. 

Day #4 - Sapporo to Jozankei

It was a late night at the rugby to see Tonga nearly beat England, .... well not really.... even scoring a try was tough for them.

 An eventful atmosphere, 40,000 seat Sapporo Dome, full of Poms, singing ‘swing low ....’ and then there was a hand full of us all going for Tonga. A funny sight though was to see a bunch of slightly inebriated Aussie fan walk in with BBQ tongs... and start clapping them together chanting ‘tong..a’ ... we all got a laugh from that.

Due to not getting back to the hotel until 11ish, we have the boys a well deserved sleep in and rest this morning, before once again jumping on the bus, and heading into Sapporo Central.

But for that we enjoyed the hotels delicious breakfast... traditional Japanese breakfasts are not very appealing to the eye or smell, just ask Leigh Holtsbaum who tried the local delicacy "Squid and Guts marinated on Salt"... lets just say, he wont be eating that again.

Sapporo Central is a bustling vibrant area especially on a public holiday like today, and also when its raining. On a side note, apparently we are in the middle of a typhoon up this way but apart from a bit of rain, its fine...

In town, we walked around and gave the boys some t]free time to explore a 2km covered mall. at one end was the local fish markets and then 100s of shops and restaurants in between. A few of the bys tried the differing Japanese ramin and noodle houses, with others preferring MOS Burger???... apparently quite nice.

After this we once again head out of the city and back towards where we played rugby yesterday. Jonzankei is a very rural wooded lush green area, with many Springs, and Onsens. The hotel itself if a very traditional one, with a tatami room in all rooms. from here boys will pull out a thin mattress and sleep on it tonight, Japanese style!!! Look at the photos to see our room for an idea of what I'm talking about.

In the basement of the hit though is a huge water park and onsen (hot springs bath house) area. Thuis afternoon Matt Brown conducted a stretching session and then we all enjoyed a few hours of what action. You'll notice my photos today from there are sa little foggy its because of the heat and steam in the rooms... anyway, the boys had a ball, and thoroughly enjoyed the relaxing day.

Tomorrow we head back to Tokyo, and then onto Yokohama for the night.... A big travel day once again but certainly looking forward to see another part of this wonderful country.

I do hope you are enjoying the Blog and Flickr. ... all the best Ian

Day #3 - Yamanote High School

After arriving back at the school to greet all the billets and the boys we commenced a coaching clinic with the TSS staff and students as instructors. It was unbelievable to see the skills that the Japanese players have and certainly impressed our coaches and boys a lot. This training session went for nearly 2 hours and the boys thoroughly enjoyed mixing with the billets and also with other players from the local rugby club. The Billet families also stayed and watch the boys in action, showing off their skills.

The stories from last night seem to be ones of a new experience but also one of meeting others that love the game of rugby. The families that took our boys out show them a traditional Japanese night with their homes and with their families they all enjoyed a wonderful evening and have some fantastic stories to tell.

Another bus ride took us all to a magnificent sport ground called Barbarians Rugby club in Hokkaido. Owned by a Billionaire rugby enthusiasts, the Tongan national side was also there preparing for their game tonight v England. Have a look at the pics for today to see how well maintained the grass pitches were.

The game v Yamanote HS were ;

 Yamanote u14

1st half try, k, try, try,

2nd NiL

Final Score - 17

TSS u14

1st 0

2nd Houlahan try,

Final score - 5

Man of the Match- Will Carter

TSS Open

1st - Sibson try, Breen try, Arscott K

2nd - Sibson try, Thornborough try, arscott try, arscott k, arscott try, arscott K, Burnnett try,

41

Yamanote

1st - try, try, k

2nd - try, k,

19

Man of the Match- Luca Sibson

Both games were very well played considering limited training g together and also a bit of Tour Tidiness coming in. The photos will again show how well drilled the Japanese sides are, and how well our guys mixed with the boys after the match.

After a lovely post-match fiction, speeches and Gifts, we jumped back into the bus to go to our new Hotel (third this week). A quick shower, some of the boys had an Onsen, and then off to Tongan game back at Sapporo Dome.

Go Tongan !!!!

 PS: The Flickr Page maybe another day... having trouble with WiFi in this hotel...

Best regards,

Ian Browne

Day #2 - Narita to Sapporo

After a very early start (430am up) with a delicious buffet breakfast inc mackerel, French toast and coco pops went off like a treat... we assemble for the bus back to the airport. With a quick head count.... suddenly we realised that we had our first two Sleep In boys. Not naming them both we in my team this year and now have a small fine for being late...  :) .

Narita Airport is a busy and bustling place but the boys really have got into the habit quickly of being ready for checking and getting through security. Great to see...

After an 1hr flight, we arrived to a cloudy and cool Sapporo dressed in our Tour Gold shirts. Funnily enough, the flight contained many Aussies doing the same as us, going straight to the stadium to watch the early afternoon match.

And WHAT a stadium it is. If you haven’t already type into google ‘Sapporo Stadium’ and see how the field transforms from baseball to rugby pitch... amazing venue, fill with a sea of gold. 1000s of Aussies here for the first game. Superb atmosphere.

After sorting tickets, getting our seats and allocating groups we settled in for a wonderful display of running rugby by the Fijian side to lead Aust at half time. The atmosphere was outstanding and what a venue!!!. Thankfully the wallabies turned it on in the second half and won convincingly in the end.

After the game we all regathered and heading off to Yamanote High School for the boys to meet their billets for the night. It was great to see our guys meet their Japanese host with a wonderful Aussie version of ‘konnichiwa’. All looked a little nervous but were reassured and welcomed openly. I’m sure there will be some stories told in the morning.

Tomorrow, we have a big day.... coaching clinic in the morning, our first game in the afternoon and then to top it off, back to Sapporo stadium to see England play Tonga tomorrow night. Big day... hope you enjoy the photos...


Best regards,
Ian Browne

Day #1 - Gold Coast to Narita, Tokyo

A big travel day today going from the Gold Coast airport all the way through to Narita International  in Tokyo. The boys seem to enjoy the flight watching many of the movies and some even having a bit of a sleep. Some of the anxious boys where superb and seemed to relax straight away, as the group all sat together on the plane. No a single concern... except a few struggle with the Immigration forms, writing in purple ink (apparently not good instead of Japanese Black???).

We arrived in Narita and were transported to our local hotel for a lovely Japanese buffet dinner and then headed off to bed around 9:30 pm.

With a big day ahead tomorrow it’s an early rise at 4:30am for a flight out of Narita at just after 7:30 am, we are all looking forward to seeing our first World Cup Game in Sapporo stadium ,  Wallabies play Fiji... 

Some photos on Flickr are available with a few more to come from boys and coaches phones...


Best regards,
Ian Browne

Dear all,

With now only a few weeks to go, there are a few things to finalise.

FINAL MEETING FOR ALL STUDENTS. PARENTS VERY WELCOME…

Thursday 12^th September

Hall of Fame - 6-7pm

Boarders go to early dinner at 530pm before coming down to CC at 6pm.

All clothing and gear will be handed out at this meeting. It is important that all items once handed out, are then NAMED prior to departure.

FINAL MEETING POWEREPOINT

Attached is the final meeting PowerPoint. Please have a look and if you have any concerns, ask any questions on the night or email me.

MEDICATION & INJURIES

Please email Siobhan.Maguire@tss.qld.edu.au with any changes to medication or injuries. The School’s records MUST BE ACCURATE, prior to departure.

DOWNLANDS SATURDAY 14^th September

As discussed prior, Ipswich will be the Touring parties last game for the season, and all tour members will NOT play v DC. This is to minimise injuroies prior to Tour and ensure we are fit and heathly.

For the final two weeks leading into the Tour, students are to train with normal teams, minimise contact, but keep skills up. Assist your coaches during sessions and maybe act in opposition to the TSS Teams playing Downlands.

On the Saturday, we will conduct a training day for our Japan Tour boys on River Oval. (wear TSS kit to these sessions NOT TOUR KIT)

10am – 11:30am Training

11:30am – 12pm Recovery Session / Information with Matt Brown @ Pool

12:30 – 1pm Tour Meeting to finalise preparation

1-2pm Lunch together etc and watch what will essentially be our 2nd XV play v Downlands

BUS TO GC AIRPORT

Meet at TSS – Friday 20th September at 715am SHARP at bus turnaround

Depart TSS - Friday 20th September at 730am

Return TSS - Wednesday 2nd October 830/9am

·         Drop off and collection at OOL Int. Airport by parents, is fine. Please let Mr Browne know if this is occurring.

COMMUNICATION on TOUR

For those at home whilst the Tour is on, you can keep up to date with how things are going via the following two sites;

https://tssrwctour.blogspot.com/ this will outlie what the Tour has been up to for the day.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/183682216@N03/albums this will show you in photos and videos.

I will try to ensure that at the end of each day, I post how the day has been… from the follows and Blog, some parents have collated this and made their son a “book’ as a memento of the trip.

Enjoy…

Finally, any queries or questions please come back to me…

Best regards,