As our team were gathering in Auckland, the delayed arrival of our birthday girl Rachel caused the first episode of unexpected turbulence to our journey. While the Christchurch contingent were rendezvousing with our Auckland friends in the international terminal, Rob and Bevan waited for Rachel's delayed domestic flight to arrive. The minutes ticked by and the anxiety levels slowly rose waiting to see the 'delayed' label by Rachel's flight to changed to 'landed'. Once the flight had arrived, little did Rob and Bevan know that Rachel had been whisked out a secret side door to an awaiting international terminal bus. After a few frantic phone calls, Rob and Bevan were forced to leg it through blustery gales to the international terminal while our teammates, who had already boarded the plane, held the flight. Rob, with those lanky pins, covered the metres swiftly while Bevan's much shorter strides struggled to keep step as they charged towards the awaiting plane. The three tardy kiwis were ushered on board, the rest of the team erupted in a rousing and slightly satirical ovation. Finally, we were ready to depart.
The turbulence continued as we took to the skies, Kelsey finding it all a little too much to handle as she made use of those paper bags provided in the seat pocket! Between the bumps, we all did our best to catch some of our own dreams with some shut eye.
Awaking in the morning, we were greeted with a magical sunrise, the type you can only see from well above the Earth's surface. Below in the darkness, city lights from the Philippines could be seen twinkling like glow worms. The cloud plumes above extended all the way to the horizon where they were met by a stunning scarlet red which faded through the colours of the rainbow to a soft violet high in the sky. Another jet liner streaked across the sky below us and as the brilliant colours faded into the white light of the new day, our decent to our destination began.
At Hong Kong airport, we were welcomed by the smiling face of our tournament liaison volunteer who, after the team had a compulsory coffee fix, herded us to the team bus. The mountains and skyscrapers of Hong Kong whisked by and the excitement levels steadily climbed as we tried to soak in this chaotic metropolis.
Arriving at B P International Hotel, we dropped our bags and prepared to brave the heat of Hong Kong as we couldn't check in until later in the day. Stifling humidity and bustling energy embraced us as we walked through Kowloon towards the Star Ferry. The ferry, a 10 minute journey linking Kowloon to Hong Kong Island, still had plenty of bumps but fortunately everyone kept their breakfast down. Wandering through the streets of Hong Kong, the heat started to take its toll on weary bodies. After a lunch stop for some traditional wonton noodle soup, we begin making our way back to the hotel. Leaving the restaurant, we failed to note that Rob had popped back in for a toilet stop and after realising this a few streets over, we declared "Hong Kong has him now", trusting Rob's wisdom would carry him to the hotel safely!
Back at the hotel, we met our friends from the Australian team and also discovered multiple other nations were staying at the hotel for a water polo tournament running at the same time! We happen to be sharing a floor with the Sri Lankan side. The stress of getting ourselves settled, rooms sorted (after moving beds around from room to room) and processes in place, soon calmed down with our first official team meeting. During the meeting it was announced that Bevan would captain the team and Rosa will be the vice captain. A proud honour for them both to be leading such talented, positive and together team.
The buffet at the hotel could be dangerous, great food and great abundance. It is an absolute luxury and by far the best tournament food we have had in some time. Hopefully self control will kick in to stop us becoming the NZ eating team instead!
Tomorrow, we are looking forward to getting into some Korfball with a visit to Carl's old school for a training session before having a short training match against Australia tomorrow evening!
Till tomorrow, keep smiling :-)
The turbulence continued as we took to the skies, Kelsey finding it all a little too much to handle as she made use of those paper bags provided in the seat pocket! Between the bumps, we all did our best to catch some of our own dreams with some shut eye.
Awaking in the morning, we were greeted with a magical sunrise, the type you can only see from well above the Earth's surface. Below in the darkness, city lights from the Philippines could be seen twinkling like glow worms. The cloud plumes above extended all the way to the horizon where they were met by a stunning scarlet red which faded through the colours of the rainbow to a soft violet high in the sky. Another jet liner streaked across the sky below us and as the brilliant colours faded into the white light of the new day, our decent to our destination began.
At Hong Kong airport, we were welcomed by the smiling face of our tournament liaison volunteer who, after the team had a compulsory coffee fix, herded us to the team bus. The mountains and skyscrapers of Hong Kong whisked by and the excitement levels steadily climbed as we tried to soak in this chaotic metropolis.
Arriving at B P International Hotel, we dropped our bags and prepared to brave the heat of Hong Kong as we couldn't check in until later in the day. Stifling humidity and bustling energy embraced us as we walked through Kowloon towards the Star Ferry. The ferry, a 10 minute journey linking Kowloon to Hong Kong Island, still had plenty of bumps but fortunately everyone kept their breakfast down. Wandering through the streets of Hong Kong, the heat started to take its toll on weary bodies. After a lunch stop for some traditional wonton noodle soup, we begin making our way back to the hotel. Leaving the restaurant, we failed to note that Rob had popped back in for a toilet stop and after realising this a few streets over, we declared "Hong Kong has him now", trusting Rob's wisdom would carry him to the hotel safely!
Back at the hotel, we met our friends from the Australian team and also discovered multiple other nations were staying at the hotel for a water polo tournament running at the same time! We happen to be sharing a floor with the Sri Lankan side. The stress of getting ourselves settled, rooms sorted (after moving beds around from room to room) and processes in place, soon calmed down with our first official team meeting. During the meeting it was announced that Bevan would captain the team and Rosa will be the vice captain. A proud honour for them both to be leading such talented, positive and together team.
The buffet at the hotel could be dangerous, great food and great abundance. It is an absolute luxury and by far the best tournament food we have had in some time. Hopefully self control will kick in to stop us becoming the NZ eating team instead!
Tomorrow, we are looking forward to getting into some Korfball with a visit to Carl's old school for a training session before having a short training match against Australia tomorrow evening!
Till tomorrow, keep smiling :-)