aarons water boy
posted by Burra U14s Fiji Tour 2005 @ 10:29 AM
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Burra U14s Fiji Tour 2005
Welcome to the official Weblog of the 2005 Under 14 Burraneer Rugby Club Tour of Fiji. This site will keep you posted on events leading up to our departure and of the goings on during our stay in Fiji. Everyone will have the opportunity to have their say on this site, even the Mums left at home.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Monday, October 03, 2005
A Dad's Perspective - Our last Day
Hi its Ivan, well sorry guys that we have not posted previously but internet access where we stayed was impossible, it would be an understatement to say that these last 3 days the team spent in the village under the care and hospitality of the Fijians will remain an unforgettable memory for the kids as for the fathers.
The 3rd game played against the school team of Cuvo was a great game with our boys getting away with 3 tries in the first half, one scored by Aaron by a great break from the back, one from Lefty who still thinks he is a back sprinting out to the corner and John Morely with Patrick converting 2 goals. The second half the heat set in together with a sense of complaceny saw the opposition score enough points to overwhelm us in a close game 25 to 19.
The loss whilst never welcome, was well accepted after seeing the joy on the opposition faces. ( Not to mention the avoidance of a major international incident).
This was followed buy another Kava ceremony which we participated in due to our diplomatic sensitivities to our cultural hosts. These Kava drinking ceremonies often seemed to end up with the dads trying to get numbed out so that they could put up with each others snoring in the communal bure, interdispersed with the kids chemical and biological warfare during the night , with no gas masks dropping from the thatched ceiling.
We were extremely well fed and the sight of the kids eating mashed potatoes, other non recognisable vegetables and coleslaw with their fingers sitting on woven mats was a sight to be seen.
The great work done by the parents and organisers of all the kids to get them there, and sadly those who were left behind, will never be forgotten or underestimated, as it as an experience the boys will treasure for all of their lives.
The mothers should be happy that the village was declared a non alchohol zone for the Sat and Sun by the Methodist preachers, which saw the dads placed in a precarious position with the only alternative being the Fijian Kava drink which is the most amazing sight when they mix it up and strain the tree roots through a footy sock causing a mud like substance to wash through their fingers only to be picked or scooped up with a coconut cup/shell.
Rijnard was quick to pick up that the cups came in two sizes one with a nipple and one without. The nipple cup was the bigger one, and the non nipple one the smaller one. Due to the taste of this mud like substance and the look of the Fijians faces as they seemed to force it down, coincided with our requests for the nippled cup to only be filled to low tide height. Ie only half full.
On the last night in the village with the last problematic Kava drinkers not wishing to offend the hosts, Steve Morely, David Coles , Rijhard and myself were slow to evacuate as the other fathers slowly left under various excuses like checking up on the kids and the NRL, Steve Morely made the fatal mistake of asking to be excused during the middle of a bowl being made up.
Well the complications of what was becoming an incident parallel to the Cuban Missile Crises was only avoided by Steve realising that peace could only be achieved if he sat back down.
He did that and whilst we were hoping that all the shops that sold the stuff were now closed in the village, and as we finished what we thought was the last bowl, Ace the Hulk Hogan look alike giant Fijian Warrior informed us that for him Kava was available 24 hours 7 Days a week in the village.
The look of horror on our faces must have made our hosts feel sorry for us as two more bowls later we were dismissed.
Back to the kids, just as well we were not doing an under 16's tour as the 14's found a cheer squad amongst the other dwellers of the Fijian resort who became water carriers during the game.
Mush to the disspointment of the backs who believed they were the chick magnets, the girls kept carrying the water bottles on and giving copious quantities to the forward pack.
With the cheer squad in skimpy tops on the sideline our boys played the best half of Rugby we as fathers have ever seen, but the Fijians were too fast and capitalised on the errors of our boys during basic ball handling as they must have had their minds focused in other areas.
The last day of the tour saw the team head off via flat bed truck to a water fall, which to the fathers delight could only be entered after another Kava ceremony.The Boys saw the participation in the Kava ceremony as a passage to manhood, equal to that of the American indians, ie a Man called Horse for those movie buffs.
We then returned to the village and had a magnicifent send off with singing and a BBQ on the beach. This same beach the day before had been used as a test launching pad for John Morely who thought it would be funny to climb a coconut tree which had half fallen over and was hanging preciously 5 -6 metres from the beach.
With the other kids climbing up tree the tree got closer to the ground and the other kids pulled on the branches. then to Johns total surprise the Fijian kids jumped off at the same time as the local kids let the branches go, and behold the human catapult.
We as fathers were relieved to see Steve Morely arrive in time for responsiblity to pass to same, .
We are now at the hotel outside the airport in Nadi Toka Toka and relaxing with a number of beers.
Much thanks and recognition should go to Denis Burns whose vision and determination saw this trip become a reality. His cultural awareness did not go unrecognised by the locals, and his methodic application together with the parents and kids who were here and those who stayed behind together will all those who supported the fund raising and organisation of this tour in any shape or form will never be forgotten.
The benchmark has been set, friends have been made and we hope that we will not be the last Burra team to visit this special and unique Rugby Paradise.
posted by Burra U14s Fiji Tour 2005 @ 4:05 PM
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Previous Posts
- The Nite
- Marcus
- The Presentations
- The Last Cuvu Cuvu
- aarons water boy
- Aarons song
- Are we really going
- arriving back at plantation
- big wigs arrive
- billy boiling
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