Days 15 & 16 - A wee tour of Scotland and The Last Supper

Luke & Donny - mates for life

With a big day ahead of us, we departed Yarm and drove directly for Edinburgh. We had a slightly more interesting border crossing with at least a sign welcoming us to Scotland. Our first stop - a steep climb, reminiscent of Castle Hill, to Arthur's Seat, the highest point for spectacular views of Edinburgh. Arthur's Seat is the remains of a 350 million-year-old volcano, of which Edinburgh Castle is also located on one of its vents. The view from the top was well worth the climb and we all appreciated the yoga poses and further boy band cover shots at the top. Donny also enjoyed the trip up .... Donny the wombat is our mascot who has been the sole responsibility of the youngest touring party member the entire trip. Luke Carnes, despite forgetting him a few times and using him as a footy on several occasions, has otherwise done a good job ensuring that Donny was present for all the exciting moments of tour. If you look back, you might be able to spot him hiding in a few of our group pix.

Having worked up a hunger, Donny and the rest of us were off to our accommodation in central Edinburgh followed by some shopping and lunch time along the Royal Mile. The atmosphere of this restaurant and shopping street, with bagpipe players and other performers, is really fun. Here we were able to stock up on last minute souvenirs and presents, particularly those of us with Scottish heritage wanting to track down clan memorabilia.

Back to the hostel for time to shower and dress up for our final dinner together. Our beautiful and dapper looking group had dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant then we had the tour 'break up'. Both teams were presented with their jersey or bibs from the tour, and were asked to share their favourite experience. It was really pleasing to hear that apart from the obvious ones, like Cardiff & Millennium Stadium, many students commented that their favourite part of the tour was playing sport with their friends for the last time outside of club.

The final awards for tour were presented - MVP for netball awarded to Tahryn Kellie for both her wonderful captaincy and also her standout game play. For the MVP of rugby for the tour, Tom Wright walked away with the nod for his excellent attitude and skill level. For the Best Tourist, we couldn't go much further than Wade Forster, who lifted morale and kept us entertained on a daily basis. His energy levels on and off the field made a huge difference to our touring experience - thanks for the laughs and memories Wade!

And as fate would have it, just like at the start of our trip in France, as we were finishing up our touring speeches, the Ignatius Park College rugby boys appeared in the lobby. A chance for the students - such as our best dressed for the night, Angus Small (embracing his strong Scottish heritage) - to chat and catch up with their mates before turning in for their final sleep in Europe.

The next morning we were up for cooked breakfast - with some (unwittingly) trying haggis and black pudding for the first time (then feeling rather sick from the psychological implications of what they had just consumed), then onto the bus for a stop at Edinburgh Castle on our way back to England. This really is a remarkable place and our very Scottish tour guide did a great job of explaining the historical significance of the different parts of the castle. Albeit a very quick tour, we were able to see the most important parts, such as the Crown Jewels (with the 2nd oldest crown in Europe), the canons, church and the still functioning army regiment. We have been absurdly lucky with the weather this trip - one day of rain in England and Scotland over two weeks is unheard of - and today was no exception; a spectacularly clear and crisp morning to spend on top of the volcanic hill that is Edinburgh Castle.

Very sadly it was time to say goodbye to Edinburgh, but not yet to Scotland. Our lunch stop was the bordering town of Gretna Green. This is a lovely little romantic spot - historically, the legal age for marriage in England was 18 years old, yet it was only 16 years old in Scotland. Young, smitten English couples would run away to Gretna Green, being technically a Scottish town, and elope there. We decided to wait until AFTER our lunch stop in Gretna Green to explain the importance and possibilities of this little place to the students .... Better safe than sorry.

And finally, with Brian at the helm, we embarked on our final leg of the journey to Manchester Airport (with a slight tour of the city as we drove through). We are all feeling the usual mixture of desire to go home to a slower pace, normal food and familiar beds, but obvious sadness that our trip has come to an end. With nervous excitement and anxiety, we have all our fingers crossed that the planes will be airing both the Australia v England World Cup game, and more importantly (for this blogger anyway) the NRL grand final on their live sports channels. 40 rowdy Aussie supporters watching the games at the back of a plane will hopefully be the perfect way to tie up this sport tour.

From the point of view of the teachers, and with some of us having taken quite a few large tours over the years, we genuinely could not have asked for a better group of students to travel with. We are so proud of the conduct, attitude and camaraderie of the touring party, and it has honestly been an absolute privilege and pleasure to travel with them all. I am certain that this extraordinary trip will be one that none of us will ever forget and we will talk about for years to come. A big thanks to Mr Derrett for all his efforts organizing this trip and to Mr Fairley for his continuing support and encouragement of School tours!

Touring TGS staff

 

 

Posted by K Kybus