Today Densel offered to take us to the annual Metropolitan Under 19's football tournament in Belhar. It's the biggest under 19's tournament in South Africa, and teams come from all over the place just to play there. Even Swansea City's under 19's flew over just to play in that tournament. So we were pretty keen on seeing what it was like.
Had to be up early though, as Densel wanted us round his place for 8:30. Thanks to Martin waking me up, I managed to get up in time to go. When we arrived at Densels, his wife made us a really nice breakfast, and had some more of that herbal tea that we tried yesterday. Still tasty though. We got everything packed in to our car, and went to drive off.
Car wouldn't start.
Uh oh. There'd been a couple of times before where the cars taken a couple of attempts to get going. Today it wasn't starting at all. Not wanting to miss the matches, we unpacked our car, packed up Densels car and set off.
We made a stop at a local Spar supermarket to pick up some refreshments for the day, and some hot cross buns for tomorrow. They were nice and soft. Happy days.
We then headed to Belhar, which was about a 10 minute drive from Densels. It was packed already, it was only 9:30. We managed to find a parking spot, and we headed in.
Now, I would just like to publicly thank Martin for being a lot more alert than me this morning. Many a time in South Africa, we've woken up to overcast skies, and ended up having really hot weather. I assumed this after waking up. but after Martin said he was taking a jacket, I decided to do the same, and pack a jacket and jumper.
I don't know what I would've done if he hadn't have reminded me. It was so cold and rainy. I wore shorts which was a big mistake, and was freezing the whole time. So thank you Martin for saving me from freezing up. See, he takes care of me out here, mum. Someone has to.
Swansea was the first game we saw. They played well, but didn't manage to beat a fairly solid South African team, drawing the game 1-1. Conditions were terrible, which was probably what the Swansea players were used to as well.
Second game was Ajax Cape Town against their local rivals Vasco. Ajax Cape Town are pretty much the kings of Cape Town when it comes to football. They're the only professional team out here. So they were expected to win. However, after the Ajax keeper went walkabouts, Vasco managed to grab a quality, yet surprising winning goal. The game ended 1-0. Good stuff.
We watched one more game, with a couple of unknown teams, which was a really good game, then Densel asked us if we wanted to watch the Arsenal-Liverpool game round his mates house. Ofcourse we agreed. So we headed off, grabbed a huge chicken tikka gatsby, and went to his friend's (Gary's) house.
Martin and I were the only 2 Arsenal fans in a house filled with Liverpool supporters. So naturally, when we started playing exceptionally, we rubbed it in completely. Every goal was pure class, though, which made it even easier to rub in. 4-1 victory, 9 points ahead of 5th, 7 behind 1st, and sitting in second place (for now!). Happy days all round.
After the game, we headed for a cheeky curry. However, after eating part of a huge gatsby, I wasnt too hungry, so didn't finish it. We then headed to Densels to pick up our car and head home.
Car still wouldn't start.
Uh oh.
We tried for so long, but the car just wouldn't start. We tried connecting the battery up to Densel's car and jump starting it. No luck. In the end, we had to get Joe to tow the car to his, and Densel was nice enough to let us use his car to drive home in. So big up to coach Densel for letting us do that. Hopefully we can fix the car for this week, as we don't fancy going by train to places, after news stories of robbings and muggings happening at rush hour on the trains has been circling. Public transport in general seems to be a no-go around here. So we're pretty bummed that the car has failed us. Hopefully tomorrow it'll work though.
Up early again tomorrow, to go to Joes church for their Easter service. Vinolia is performing in the drama play, so it'll be good to see her act out the Easter story. Plus we get to have some Koeksisters, so its all happy days.
We're now into single figures for days left. Crazy.
Harry
Saturday, 4 April 2015
Day 72 - Danielle's Family Lunch
Hello folks.
Huge apologies that this blog is coming so late, after getting back from Danielle's last night I pretty much crashed in my room, and have only just gotten back from the day out with Densel! So many apologies. But here's the blog for yesterday!
While we were on our Simons Town trip with Joe, Lourens and Wasima, Danielle (another lady who works for Communicare, but in the main Support Office in Town) called us, and asked us if we wanted to spend Good Friday round her sisters for a big family lunch. Of course, we agreed. She gave us an address, and told us to be around at noon for a 12:30pm lunch.
We left at around 11:30, to make sure we got there on time, which we did quite well in and arrive just after 12. Knocked on the door, they seemed surprised. Apparently they didnt expect us so soon. We forgot about African time, which basically means that Africans arrive later than said time, always. So obviously, they were surprised when we turned up near enough on time.
We sat outside, in the back yard, with a cold coke in our hands, and looking over their pool. It was a breezy day, but a nice one nonetheless. We just sat chatting to Danielle's mum, who was very lively for a woman who's surpassed 70 years old, while waiting for others to arrive. Slowly, one by one, they began flocking into the house.
It was so funny. There were about 9 of us on the table. 5 Women, 4 lads. Me, Martin, Chrissie (An adorable 3 year old, who I managed to befriend), and Jonte (Chrissie's dad, i think) made up the men. The women, however, seemed so lively and hilarious. It was like being with the Loose Women ladies. It was hilarious. 2 of the sisters were planning to travel to Croatia via London early next year, Jonte wanted to go Thailand in June. They were so full of life it was quality.
We had lunch of pickled fish, Hake, and hot cross buns. Apparently its a classical South African Easter meal. To be fair it was proper nice. After having some of the pickled stuff at Berghof, we were a bit hesitant, but it was really nice! The hot cross buns were amazing too.
After lunch, I promised Chrissie that i'd watch The Amazing Spiderman with him. It ended up being the main event of the rest of the day. Everyone was pretty sleepy after a big meal, so we all jsut gathered round and watch the movie. Chrissie fell asleep about 10 minutes in, so after choosing the film, he left it for all the adults to watch. I didn't care, I love those films.
After the first one was over, we made a unanimous decision to watch the sequel too, much to Martins disgust. We HAD watched the sequel twice before at Berghof. Shame, I wanted to see it again!
It was really nice, they cut up this amazing chocolate cake, as well as giving us tea, it was really nice and chilled out. As it was quite windy outside no one really fancied jumping in the pool.
After the second one finished, everyone was pretty much exhausted. So Martin and I made a move for the car, and Danielle said we can follow her car home, as she was heading to town with her mum and daughter. We said our goodbyes, hopped in the car and set off.
10 minutes in, Danielle pulled over. We did too, very confused. She got out the car, and told us we're heading to her sisters house for tea. Always being in the mood for a cheeky cuppa tea we agreed. Danielle said she had to just nip to her house quickly, so her mum and daughter jumped in our car and directed us back to Danielle's sisters house.
Got there, sat down, chilled out for a bit. Danielle's mum made me some soup, and Martin some lasagna which was really nice, and she made us some of this South African herbal tea, which actually tasted really nice. Happy Days. When Danielle got back, she put on the movie Blended, with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. It was actually a really good, funny film. It also had Terry Crews in, who's one of my favourite actors. So it made it even better.
After the movie was done, it was gone 11, so Martin and I said our goodbyes to Danielle, her mum and her daughter, and headed home. I was exhausted so headed straight to the room, while Martin went downstairs to use the wifi for a little bit.
Exhausting day done. Onto the next blog post!
Harry
Huge apologies that this blog is coming so late, after getting back from Danielle's last night I pretty much crashed in my room, and have only just gotten back from the day out with Densel! So many apologies. But here's the blog for yesterday!
While we were on our Simons Town trip with Joe, Lourens and Wasima, Danielle (another lady who works for Communicare, but in the main Support Office in Town) called us, and asked us if we wanted to spend Good Friday round her sisters for a big family lunch. Of course, we agreed. She gave us an address, and told us to be around at noon for a 12:30pm lunch.
We left at around 11:30, to make sure we got there on time, which we did quite well in and arrive just after 12. Knocked on the door, they seemed surprised. Apparently they didnt expect us so soon. We forgot about African time, which basically means that Africans arrive later than said time, always. So obviously, they were surprised when we turned up near enough on time.
We sat outside, in the back yard, with a cold coke in our hands, and looking over their pool. It was a breezy day, but a nice one nonetheless. We just sat chatting to Danielle's mum, who was very lively for a woman who's surpassed 70 years old, while waiting for others to arrive. Slowly, one by one, they began flocking into the house.
It was so funny. There were about 9 of us on the table. 5 Women, 4 lads. Me, Martin, Chrissie (An adorable 3 year old, who I managed to befriend), and Jonte (Chrissie's dad, i think) made up the men. The women, however, seemed so lively and hilarious. It was like being with the Loose Women ladies. It was hilarious. 2 of the sisters were planning to travel to Croatia via London early next year, Jonte wanted to go Thailand in June. They were so full of life it was quality.
We had lunch of pickled fish, Hake, and hot cross buns. Apparently its a classical South African Easter meal. To be fair it was proper nice. After having some of the pickled stuff at Berghof, we were a bit hesitant, but it was really nice! The hot cross buns were amazing too.
After lunch, I promised Chrissie that i'd watch The Amazing Spiderman with him. It ended up being the main event of the rest of the day. Everyone was pretty sleepy after a big meal, so we all jsut gathered round and watch the movie. Chrissie fell asleep about 10 minutes in, so after choosing the film, he left it for all the adults to watch. I didn't care, I love those films.
After the first one was over, we made a unanimous decision to watch the sequel too, much to Martins disgust. We HAD watched the sequel twice before at Berghof. Shame, I wanted to see it again!
It was really nice, they cut up this amazing chocolate cake, as well as giving us tea, it was really nice and chilled out. As it was quite windy outside no one really fancied jumping in the pool.
After the second one finished, everyone was pretty much exhausted. So Martin and I made a move for the car, and Danielle said we can follow her car home, as she was heading to town with her mum and daughter. We said our goodbyes, hopped in the car and set off.
10 minutes in, Danielle pulled over. We did too, very confused. She got out the car, and told us we're heading to her sisters house for tea. Always being in the mood for a cheeky cuppa tea we agreed. Danielle said she had to just nip to her house quickly, so her mum and daughter jumped in our car and directed us back to Danielle's sisters house.
Got there, sat down, chilled out for a bit. Danielle's mum made me some soup, and Martin some lasagna which was really nice, and she made us some of this South African herbal tea, which actually tasted really nice. Happy Days. When Danielle got back, she put on the movie Blended, with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. It was actually a really good, funny film. It also had Terry Crews in, who's one of my favourite actors. So it made it even better.
After the movie was done, it was gone 11, so Martin and I said our goodbyes to Danielle, her mum and her daughter, and headed home. I was exhausted so headed straight to the room, while Martin went downstairs to use the wifi for a little bit.
Exhausting day done. Onto the next blog post!
Harry
Thursday, 2 April 2015
Day 71 - Sunflower Creche Easter Activities & Drommedaris Boys
Today was our last bit of working before a long Easter weekend break, and it went really well in my opinion.
We had an Easter activity morning for Sunflower creche, where we had about 60 kids, split into 3 different groups. We had 3 different activities set up in the main hall at the Learning Centre. We had colouring in, egg painting, and Martin squared off a little area where he was going to take a group for various activities. I helped Azille with egg painting, and the creche teachers watched over the colouring in. After a short period of time, the groups moved round, and did another activity.
We started off with a classic Martin and Harry introduction, where we got the kids shouting and lively ahead of the day. But instead of getting them to shout Arsenal, we got them to shout Easter instead, which went really well. After that, I read out the Easter story that Azille wrote out for us, before splitting the groups up and getting them into their activities.
Egg painting went really well, except it got really messy. We used food colouring to colour the eggs, as it dries quicker. But its so difficult to get off your hands. I've washed my hands so many times, and you can still see a bit of blue food colouring on my palms. It's a nightmare! It was really fun though, and the kids really enjoyed it too, which was the main thing. Plus it was a bit of a chilled out activity, before they went straight to Martins lively session.
After all the activities were over and done with, we got them sat down and handed them bowls of goodies, which they chewed on, before walking them back to their creche. The teachers were really grateful for our sessions, and it was really nice to see how much it meant to them and the kids being out here and getting them active. Its been a pleasure working with every creche we've been at, and it's been really nice to see the smiles on the kids faces as we get them up, about and playing.
We had a bit of a break before our last session, so we chilled out for a bit. Martin put up the pictures of today, while me and Joe sorted out the Ruyterwacht notice board with photos from the circle opening, which was decent.
At around 3, we headed to the Drommedaris complex, and sorted out all the books that had been donated to help start a small library there, in order to help the kids learn and relax. So we spent a couple of hours sorting the books out with Joe and Jodi, getting it in a decent state so it can actually be used. We managed to get it all done, which was nice, but it still looks really bare, with Joe even saying that they need more books for it.
When it got to 5, Martin and I parted with Joe and Jodi, and headed to Atlantic Club, where A-D was waiting with us with his Drommedaris boys. Most of them were on holiday for Easter, and we only had 8 boys. So we decided to have a match. it gave me the perfect opportunity to level things up between me and Martin, with the scores at 5-4.
After arguably our most even game of the bet, Martins team crumbled with about 5 mins to go, and just flopped, enabling us to run rampant over the last few minutes and win 9-5. Which means its now 5-5 overall between Martin and I. In the car on the way home we agreed that it will all be settled at our soccer clinic with De Beers next week, where we're going to each coach a team, and whoever wins, wins the bet. Its on. I'm on a good run now, winning 3 in a row. Ready to win this!
Tomorrow off to Danielles house, she's kindly invited Martin and I round for lunch, so we're heading there, which I'm looking forward too! Easter weekend is shaping up to be a pretty decent one!
Harry
We had an Easter activity morning for Sunflower creche, where we had about 60 kids, split into 3 different groups. We had 3 different activities set up in the main hall at the Learning Centre. We had colouring in, egg painting, and Martin squared off a little area where he was going to take a group for various activities. I helped Azille with egg painting, and the creche teachers watched over the colouring in. After a short period of time, the groups moved round, and did another activity.
We started off with a classic Martin and Harry introduction, where we got the kids shouting and lively ahead of the day. But instead of getting them to shout Arsenal, we got them to shout Easter instead, which went really well. After that, I read out the Easter story that Azille wrote out for us, before splitting the groups up and getting them into their activities.
Egg painting went really well, except it got really messy. We used food colouring to colour the eggs, as it dries quicker. But its so difficult to get off your hands. I've washed my hands so many times, and you can still see a bit of blue food colouring on my palms. It's a nightmare! It was really fun though, and the kids really enjoyed it too, which was the main thing. Plus it was a bit of a chilled out activity, before they went straight to Martins lively session.
After all the activities were over and done with, we got them sat down and handed them bowls of goodies, which they chewed on, before walking them back to their creche. The teachers were really grateful for our sessions, and it was really nice to see how much it meant to them and the kids being out here and getting them active. Its been a pleasure working with every creche we've been at, and it's been really nice to see the smiles on the kids faces as we get them up, about and playing.
We had a bit of a break before our last session, so we chilled out for a bit. Martin put up the pictures of today, while me and Joe sorted out the Ruyterwacht notice board with photos from the circle opening, which was decent.
At around 3, we headed to the Drommedaris complex, and sorted out all the books that had been donated to help start a small library there, in order to help the kids learn and relax. So we spent a couple of hours sorting the books out with Joe and Jodi, getting it in a decent state so it can actually be used. We managed to get it all done, which was nice, but it still looks really bare, with Joe even saying that they need more books for it.
When it got to 5, Martin and I parted with Joe and Jodi, and headed to Atlantic Club, where A-D was waiting with us with his Drommedaris boys. Most of them were on holiday for Easter, and we only had 8 boys. So we decided to have a match. it gave me the perfect opportunity to level things up between me and Martin, with the scores at 5-4.
After arguably our most even game of the bet, Martins team crumbled with about 5 mins to go, and just flopped, enabling us to run rampant over the last few minutes and win 9-5. Which means its now 5-5 overall between Martin and I. In the car on the way home we agreed that it will all be settled at our soccer clinic with De Beers next week, where we're going to each coach a team, and whoever wins, wins the bet. Its on. I'm on a good run now, winning 3 in a row. Ready to win this!
Tomorrow off to Danielles house, she's kindly invited Martin and I round for lunch, so we're heading there, which I'm looking forward too! Easter weekend is shaping up to be a pretty decent one!
Harry
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
Day 70 - Silvertree Creche & Wesbank Football Club
Today was a good day. A really good day.
It started off with our final ever creche session, at our favourite creche, Sivertree. Granted, the Silvertree sessions didn't go as well as we'd hoped, with the kids seeming to be fully comfortable with us, therefore seeming to be completely disruptive and not listening at all. It was a nightmare, the second group were better than the first, but were still a pain. Oh well, no more creche coaching, which feels weird, as its all starting to wind down to us leaving, which is a nice feeling. As much as I've loved my experience out here, I'm starting to miss home more every day, so it's the right time to finish it all off.
Like I said in my blog a couple of days ago, Maddie's (the girlfriend) mum has been amazing, and has raised £100 for us to buy gear for the kids we coach out here. After we decided on giving the gear from my mum to Wesbank, we decided to use this money to try and boost girls football out here, which is progressing, but very very slowly. So we decided to use the money on the Ruyterwacht girls team, who don't actually have a kit to themselves for when they play matches. So after we finished at Silvertree, we headed down to a sports store called Mike's Sports. After having a look around, and seeing what we could get for our money. We managed to get 10 football tops, which was made of really nice material, with numbers, as well as the Communicare logo, along with Ruyterwacht FC written on the front, all for £100. Which is a bargain compared to prices back home. We were really happy.
The guy at the shop said the kit would take around 3-4 weeks to come through, so we wont be around to see it, but he'll send us mock up photos of the kit which I'll post when they come through. So thank you so much to Lucy Mcgill for that!
After that, we picked up Lourens from the Learning Centre, loaded up the car with the gear my amazing mum sent us, and headed to Wesbank. We got there, had a nice chat with the coaches, admired the surroundings, before getting down to business.
We started off with the boots. 35 pairs of boots. It was amazing. As we were unpacking them, they were in a state of shock, naming each pair of boots we brought out, and reeling off in delight. It was amazing to see their faces, it was really touching. We got quite a few pictures that both Martin and I have put on Facebook so take a look at those!
After dishing out the boots, we quickly distributed the rest of the kit, which they all went nuts for, it was quality. They were wanting everything! We had to stop them and leave the bigger stuff in the boxes though, as they were too big for the kids there, so the coaches said they'd save it for the Senior team, which is nice.
After that, our day was over. A pretty amazing day in my opinion. It felt really nice to be able to give something back to the kids. Luke and Jeff had a load of Nike Arsenal gear for last year, which Arsenal had to get rid of, and sadly we had nothing to bring. So it's really nice to be able to give the kids something before we go. So thank you to my amazing mum, Elli, and to Maddie's amazing mum, Lucy, for helping us give something back to the community out here!
Early night tonight as we have a very early start tomorrow. We're doing Easter egg hunting and painting with a big group of kids, which should be fun!
Harry
It started off with our final ever creche session, at our favourite creche, Sivertree. Granted, the Silvertree sessions didn't go as well as we'd hoped, with the kids seeming to be fully comfortable with us, therefore seeming to be completely disruptive and not listening at all. It was a nightmare, the second group were better than the first, but were still a pain. Oh well, no more creche coaching, which feels weird, as its all starting to wind down to us leaving, which is a nice feeling. As much as I've loved my experience out here, I'm starting to miss home more every day, so it's the right time to finish it all off.
Like I said in my blog a couple of days ago, Maddie's (the girlfriend) mum has been amazing, and has raised £100 for us to buy gear for the kids we coach out here. After we decided on giving the gear from my mum to Wesbank, we decided to use this money to try and boost girls football out here, which is progressing, but very very slowly. So we decided to use the money on the Ruyterwacht girls team, who don't actually have a kit to themselves for when they play matches. So after we finished at Silvertree, we headed down to a sports store called Mike's Sports. After having a look around, and seeing what we could get for our money. We managed to get 10 football tops, which was made of really nice material, with numbers, as well as the Communicare logo, along with Ruyterwacht FC written on the front, all for £100. Which is a bargain compared to prices back home. We were really happy.
The guy at the shop said the kit would take around 3-4 weeks to come through, so we wont be around to see it, but he'll send us mock up photos of the kit which I'll post when they come through. So thank you so much to Lucy Mcgill for that!
After that, we picked up Lourens from the Learning Centre, loaded up the car with the gear my amazing mum sent us, and headed to Wesbank. We got there, had a nice chat with the coaches, admired the surroundings, before getting down to business.
We started off with the boots. 35 pairs of boots. It was amazing. As we were unpacking them, they were in a state of shock, naming each pair of boots we brought out, and reeling off in delight. It was amazing to see their faces, it was really touching. We got quite a few pictures that both Martin and I have put on Facebook so take a look at those!
After dishing out the boots, we quickly distributed the rest of the kit, which they all went nuts for, it was quality. They were wanting everything! We had to stop them and leave the bigger stuff in the boxes though, as they were too big for the kids there, so the coaches said they'd save it for the Senior team, which is nice.
After that, our day was over. A pretty amazing day in my opinion. It felt really nice to be able to give something back to the kids. Luke and Jeff had a load of Nike Arsenal gear for last year, which Arsenal had to get rid of, and sadly we had nothing to bring. So it's really nice to be able to give the kids something before we go. So thank you to my amazing mum, Elli, and to Maddie's amazing mum, Lucy, for helping us give something back to the community out here!
Early night tonight as we have a very early start tomorrow. We're doing Easter egg hunting and painting with a big group of kids, which should be fun!
Harry
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Day 69 - Tafelberg Creche & All Stars Football Club
Today we started our final full week of coaching, as next week is full of Easter activities, and coaching clinics. To think that this is our last full week of actual coaching is really weird, as it doesn't feel like long since we arrived here and got underway. Crazy.
We started off at Tafelberg creche, which is based pretty much at the foot of Table Mountain, and has great views over Cape Town, as well as a close up of the mountain really close next to it. We got there, introduced ourselves to the teachers and the kids, got ourselves set up, and started our session.
We had 2 classes today, and we did pretty much the same thing as we usually do, movement game followed by passing the ball around in a circle. With the second group, however, we managed to get the ball on the floor, and had them kicking the ball back to us. Credit to Martin for doing it, as we'll probably use it for Silvertree tomorrow. That's why he's the creche coach of the partnership while i'm the club coach.
After we finished both classes, the 2 year olds were unleashed onto the play area we were on. They were absolutely adorable. We finished at about 10:20, but stayed until 11 just playing with these babies that had appeared on our grass. It was so fun, and they were so cute, and after getting over that original hesitation at not knowing who you were, they got quite clingy which was cute.
We then had photos with the teachers, and waved them, and the babies, goodbye. We had a 6 hour break between then and our All Stars session, so after dropping Joe off, we headed home to chill out for a bit.
We were told to meet Dalla at the All Stars training field at 6, and we managed to get there a lot quicker than we thought, arriving 25 minutes early. We took a ball and had a bit of a kickaround, while waiting for group we were coaching to turn up. We had under 12's today, so a younger group than what we had last time.
Pretty much as soon as they turned up, we got underway. We did a session called "Skills Corridor", which Martin and I did for our Youth Module assessment, along with James, which got us a lot of praise from Ciara, our coach, so we thought we'd do it. We had 11 kids, so Martin volunteered to join in the training just to make it easier in terms of numbers, while I took the session. They did really well actually, for a group of 11 year olds I was really impressed. We got quite a lot done, and ended with a small match. We've enjoyed both sessions with All Stars, and it's a shame we started with them so late, as we could've done a lot more with them that would've been more beneficial than with other clubs. Oh well.
After getting home we headed out to Yindee's for a Thai meal, food was delicious, again.
Got our last ever creche session tomorrow, which feels even weirder to say, with Silvertree, followed by handing all the gear sent over from my amazing mum to Wesbank Football Club. Should be good!
Harry
We started off at Tafelberg creche, which is based pretty much at the foot of Table Mountain, and has great views over Cape Town, as well as a close up of the mountain really close next to it. We got there, introduced ourselves to the teachers and the kids, got ourselves set up, and started our session.
We had 2 classes today, and we did pretty much the same thing as we usually do, movement game followed by passing the ball around in a circle. With the second group, however, we managed to get the ball on the floor, and had them kicking the ball back to us. Credit to Martin for doing it, as we'll probably use it for Silvertree tomorrow. That's why he's the creche coach of the partnership while i'm the club coach.
After we finished both classes, the 2 year olds were unleashed onto the play area we were on. They were absolutely adorable. We finished at about 10:20, but stayed until 11 just playing with these babies that had appeared on our grass. It was so fun, and they were so cute, and after getting over that original hesitation at not knowing who you were, they got quite clingy which was cute.
We then had photos with the teachers, and waved them, and the babies, goodbye. We had a 6 hour break between then and our All Stars session, so after dropping Joe off, we headed home to chill out for a bit.
We were told to meet Dalla at the All Stars training field at 6, and we managed to get there a lot quicker than we thought, arriving 25 minutes early. We took a ball and had a bit of a kickaround, while waiting for group we were coaching to turn up. We had under 12's today, so a younger group than what we had last time.
Pretty much as soon as they turned up, we got underway. We did a session called "Skills Corridor", which Martin and I did for our Youth Module assessment, along with James, which got us a lot of praise from Ciara, our coach, so we thought we'd do it. We had 11 kids, so Martin volunteered to join in the training just to make it easier in terms of numbers, while I took the session. They did really well actually, for a group of 11 year olds I was really impressed. We got quite a lot done, and ended with a small match. We've enjoyed both sessions with All Stars, and it's a shame we started with them so late, as we could've done a lot more with them that would've been more beneficial than with other clubs. Oh well.
After getting home we headed out to Yindee's for a Thai meal, food was delicious, again.
Got our last ever creche session tomorrow, which feels even weirder to say, with Silvertree, followed by handing all the gear sent over from my amazing mum to Wesbank Football Club. Should be good!
Harry
Monday, 30 March 2015
Day 68 - Train Trip To Simons Town
After yesterdays lazy day, we were back to business and early starts today, but instead of working, we were meeting Joe, Lourens and Wasima for a train trip to Simons Town.
After a short walk, we met Joe and Lourens at the train station at 9, before we then met Wasima. We got our tickets, got some drinks and got on the train towards Simons Town.
About an hour and a half later, we arrived, and hopped off the train. We were here! To be honest, there wasn't really much in terms of big attractions, it was just a small, cosy town. After going for a short walk, and Martin and I having photos outside the British Hotel, we found a place that sold scones and had morning tea there.
It felt unbelievably British, and made me miss home a little bit, but it was nice to have scones with jam and cream, after 10 weeks without it!
The scones, to be fair, were huge! We got this decent sized saucer of jam, cream and butter. Being one of those that doesn't like butter, I didn't have that, but loaded my scone up with jam and cream. It was delicious. The scone was warm and spongey and the jam and cream just made it even better. Topped it all off with a nice sized pot of tea. Very British. It was fantastic.
When we were done, we jumped back on the train, and headed to Muizenburg, where Wasima wanted to go for lunch. It was only a few stops back down the line we came on, so we arrived after about a 10 minute train journey. It was a decent looking town, that was undergoing a fair amount of construction so still looked a little rough. The beach looked really nice though, shame its quite far away.
Being the gentlemen we are, we let Wasima chose the restaurant for lunch. She picked out this Italian place called Primi, which looked quite nice to be fair. I had a Peri Peri Pizza, with a beautiful chocolate brownie for dessert. Food was nice, but it took a while to get service, and for everything to arrive. Oh well.
After everyone was finished, that was the trip over, so we jumped on the train and headed home. I took the opportunity to have a quick nap, as I was a bit tired. Martin and Joe, the lovely fellas, took the opportunity by the hand, and took photos of me while sleeping, then started teasing me about it in the car after. Unbelievable. I have to spend another 2 weeks with these jokers!
Evenings plan is to chill out. We start our final coaching week tomorrow, which feels unbelievably weird as it doesn't feel like long since we started this whole trip. Its all starting to wind down though, and at the right time too, because the home sickness is starting to kick in, and I personally am missing home a fair bit now.
Before I wrap this up, I just want to make a special shout out to my girlfriends family, especially her mum. She's managed to raise an amazing £100, which she has sent over to us, so we can buy gear for some of the kids we coach. After a few chats with Joe and Martin. We've decided to put the money towards buying kit for the Ruyterwacht girls team we coach, who currently have nothing to play in, apart from the spare kit that the boys use. Hopefully we can use it to boost girls football out here, which is really lacking out here, which is a shame. But thank you so much to Lucy and the rest of the Mcgill family for raising that money for us. It's amazing how charitable everyone's being while we're out here.
Harry
After a short walk, we met Joe and Lourens at the train station at 9, before we then met Wasima. We got our tickets, got some drinks and got on the train towards Simons Town.
About an hour and a half later, we arrived, and hopped off the train. We were here! To be honest, there wasn't really much in terms of big attractions, it was just a small, cosy town. After going for a short walk, and Martin and I having photos outside the British Hotel, we found a place that sold scones and had morning tea there.
It felt unbelievably British, and made me miss home a little bit, but it was nice to have scones with jam and cream, after 10 weeks without it!
The scones, to be fair, were huge! We got this decent sized saucer of jam, cream and butter. Being one of those that doesn't like butter, I didn't have that, but loaded my scone up with jam and cream. It was delicious. The scone was warm and spongey and the jam and cream just made it even better. Topped it all off with a nice sized pot of tea. Very British. It was fantastic.
When we were done, we jumped back on the train, and headed to Muizenburg, where Wasima wanted to go for lunch. It was only a few stops back down the line we came on, so we arrived after about a 10 minute train journey. It was a decent looking town, that was undergoing a fair amount of construction so still looked a little rough. The beach looked really nice though, shame its quite far away.
Being the gentlemen we are, we let Wasima chose the restaurant for lunch. She picked out this Italian place called Primi, which looked quite nice to be fair. I had a Peri Peri Pizza, with a beautiful chocolate brownie for dessert. Food was nice, but it took a while to get service, and for everything to arrive. Oh well.
After everyone was finished, that was the trip over, so we jumped on the train and headed home. I took the opportunity to have a quick nap, as I was a bit tired. Martin and Joe, the lovely fellas, took the opportunity by the hand, and took photos of me while sleeping, then started teasing me about it in the car after. Unbelievable. I have to spend another 2 weeks with these jokers!
Evenings plan is to chill out. We start our final coaching week tomorrow, which feels unbelievably weird as it doesn't feel like long since we started this whole trip. Its all starting to wind down though, and at the right time too, because the home sickness is starting to kick in, and I personally am missing home a fair bit now.
Before I wrap this up, I just want to make a special shout out to my girlfriends family, especially her mum. She's managed to raise an amazing £100, which she has sent over to us, so we can buy gear for some of the kids we coach. After a few chats with Joe and Martin. We've decided to put the money towards buying kit for the Ruyterwacht girls team we coach, who currently have nothing to play in, apart from the spare kit that the boys use. Hopefully we can use it to boost girls football out here, which is really lacking out here, which is a shame. But thank you so much to Lucy and the rest of the Mcgill family for raising that money for us. It's amazing how charitable everyone's being while we're out here.
Harry
Sunday, 29 March 2015
Day 67 - Lazy Day
After the excitement of yesterday, there's really not much to say about today at all.
I had a lie in, as I was exhausted from yesterday, and got up around 11:30. I had spoken to Ian Williams (manager of Berghof) and one of the head chefs about using the kitchen to make a family dish, which has been heavily criticised by the Arsenal lot, as it sounds gross, but tastes amazing. It's called Tuna Fish Crunch, and contains a mixture of boiled egg, peas, tuna and curry sauce, topped by ready salted crisps. Sounds odd but tastes amazing.
Anyway, I'd asked Ian about using the kitchen to cook it, and he said it was fine, along with the head chef. So I went down to double check I could use it. Sadly, the head chef wasn't in, and one of the other chefs was. I already wasn't a fan of her, and disliked her even more when she said she couldn't let me in. I was gutted. I was about to prove to all the Arsenal chaps that my dish was delish, with evidence from Martin. I'll have to wait until next week!
We had a roast for lunch instead, then headed to Checkers to grab a few bits for the apartment. Got back, watched the Gerrard vs Carragher charity match, and just chilled out.
We got a bit hungry later on so went to Da Vinci's for dinner. It's our favourite restaurant, along with Yindees. Food was beautiful. I had a burger while Martin had a Pizza. After that we headed back to chill out some more.
Like I said not much to say about today. After a tiring day yesterday, and a trip out tomorrow with Lourens and Joe, it was nice to laze about and catch up on rest. Tomorrow should be good though, read about it same time tomorrow!
Harry
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