Day 14- Gold Reef City

After reluctantly leaving Sun City this morning, we made our way to Gold Reef City in Johannesburg. The children were able to go down an old gold mine before spending some time at the nearby attrations. Special mention should go to Matthew R who won a large teddy bear which he promptly gave to a nearby infant.

Next step home. If all goes to plan, Lochinver parents should be able to pick up at Heathrow at around 7am and St. Hugh's parents from school at about 11am. We are on flight SA234.

Day 13 - Sun City and Tribal Drumming

This morning the boys were able to experience different water sports on the lake thanks to the generosity of the Nicholas family. They then spent some time in the Valley of the Waves before spending the evening learning about tribal drumming.

Day 12 - Sun City

After two very physical games in two days, we moved on to Sun City for a more relaxing final two days. The location proved a real hit!

Day 11 - Johannesburg

We left Durban bright and early for our flight to Johannesburg. Upon arrival, we drove down to  Unika Laerskool for our final game of the tour. As against Umhlali, we put out an 'A' and 'B' XV with Unika lending us a number of players to make up the second team. It was the first time Unika Laerskool had hosted an overseas side and they were keen to make a good show of it, starting with the two teams lining up to sing their respective national anthems before the game.

Both matches were then played concurrently. Similarly to yesterday, the 'B' team found it quite difficult but the 'A' team raised their game once again and put in another fantastic performance against an Afrikaans side determined not to give up. We eventually won 35-3 and the performance clearly met the approval of the watching Afrikaans cheerleaders.

In the evening we went to Montacasino, a surreal indoor recreation of an Italian village complete with painted sky, for dinner and to celebrate Ed and Khalil's birthday.

Day 10 - Umhlanga beach and Umhlali School

This morning we went down to Umhlanga beach where the boys either played in the sea or in the sand. Some even just slept.

We then moved on to Umhlali school to play our only game in boots. The 'A' game was unfortunately delayed by an hour but was certainly worth the wait. Indeed it was one of the best U13 perfomances I have seen in a long time. The boys played with an unmatched physical intensity throughout the game which, combined with intelligent use of the ball and very good technical skills, meant we ran out eventual winners 35-5. It was truly an exceptional performance and a privilege to watch.

The 'B' game was more disjointed, primarily because we borrowed six players from Umhlali to make a second XV. However it proved to be an entertaining game with Umhlali winning 24-0.

The evening was spent in a curry house in Durban with some of the boys trying a local delicacy, Durban Bunny, which is a curry contained inside a hollowed out loaf of bread.

Day 9 - Ushaka

Today the boys went to Ushaka marine world, a perfect way to rest the various niggles  they had picked up in yesterday's game. They started by going around the aquarium before watching a dolphin show. James S was picked out of the crowd to kiss a dolphin - soemthing he enjoyed! The boys then got to play in the water park which featured the longest water slide in Africa. In the evening we went bowling.

Day 8 - Ashton School and Durban

We had trouble leaving Hlulhuwhe on time due to a rhino squaring up to the coach. We therefore only made Ashton school with minutes to spare. Warm up time was limited and both the 'A' and 'B' team games started with a number of handling errors. However both teams eventually got into their stride and won their respective matches, the 'A' team winning 54-5 and the 'B' team 15-5.

We then spent some time on the beach before making our way to the hotel. The evening was spent watching a live music show which the children got so involved in that the band was applauding them at the end of the evening.

Days 6 and 7 - Hluhluwe Game Reserve

On leaving St Lucia, we drove down to Hluhluwe Game Reserve, the oldest game reserve in Africa, where we arrived just in time for our evening game drive. We had three game drives in total, one that evening, one at 6am the following morning and one at 4pm. The boys were split into three groups for the drives and each came back with different experiences, whether it be caught up in a herd of fifty elephants or having a face off with a rhino.