Monday- Match Day #1

Finding time to post updates has been difficult with everything happening here on tour, but I'm trying!! Monday was our first day of matches. Now, since we only have 12 players w have another team, the Suburbs Marauders fill in for us and we do the same for them. This arrangement basically has us old farts playing two matches each match day instead of one, but it's all good!

Our first match was vs the Upper Hutt Yellowbellies/Bays squad. It was a pretty friendly match for the most part with no major injuries to report. The highlight of this match was the opportunity to play with and against (he switched sides at the half) former Wallabie Stephen Larkham. This gentleman had 102 caps playing with the Wallabies before he retired a few years ago. You don't get chances like that every day! One more aspect of the tours that makes them worth all the planning and travel.

The Olde Barking Dogs won our first match 15-10 (even though we really aren't supposed to keep score). We then had a couple of hours before we had to fill in for Suburbs for their match against the Southern Downs Raging Rodents at 2:45 p.m. We sent eight Dogs to the sidelines as reserves, and the majority of us played at least two additional 20 minute halves for them. I think Marc and Paul Blong played at total of all six 20 minute halves for these two matches. Paul also scored his first try in our first match of the day!

Today, Wednesday, is our 2nd day of matches. We take on the Eastwood Charcoals of Sydney, a GREAT bunch of ruggers and huggers. It promises to be a very friendly match, and I'm sure, one filled with hijinks and tom foolery (yes, I said tom foolery). Kickoff is only a couple of hours off so I need to end this for now and go get my kit packed up. I will hopefully have time to update tomorrow, but with a tour of Pearl Harbor planned for the morning I'll just have to play it by ear and update when I can. Aloha!!!

 The 2012 Edition of The Olde Barking Dogs

 First match vs Upper Hutt Yellow Bellies

 We scored!!!

End of First Match

 Myself and Tom Boehmer with Stephen Larkham

 Paul and Marc Blong with Stephen Larkham

 Cheer Leaders for the Suburb Marauders

 All four teams after 2nd match of day

Vintage Rugby Carnival Has Started!

Our Carnival kicked off yesterday, and it was a great time all around. The rest of our "Dogs" arrived through the morning and afternoon. We went to the park about a ten minute walk away where we will be playing our matches and gathering afterwards for socializing, trading, and meeting new and old friends.The number of participants is estimated at over 1,000, with about 40 teams entered. After a parade of teams march to the am-pi-theater we partied to live music, food and drink for three hours under tents next to the fields. It was a fun evening, and a great kick off for the week of Rugby ahead. The Olde Barking Dogs first match is at 12:15 p.m. today. We will also fill in for another team as they only have 9 players. They in turn will fill in for us as we have 12. I will attempt to post some match photos tomorrow, but looking at heading to Pearl harbor with some team mates, so can't make any promises. I am in Hawaii after all!!  Aloha!

Aloha!!

My wife Kim and I started our journey west Wednesday night by driving from Mason City to Des Moines. We stayed at the Airport Hilton so we wouldn't have to drive 2 hours VERY early in the morning. Our first leg to Denver went off without a hitch, then after a short layover we were in the air just over seven hours to Honolulu. We had pre-booked a shuttle from the airport to our hotel, the Aston Waikiki Beach, and were checked in and in our lodging for the next 10 days by 4:30 p.m. local time (9:30 p.m. Iowa time). We upgraded for our stay to an Ocean Front room since this is also about the 20th Anniversary of when we met.

After unpacking we went to get our bearings and check out the area right around our Hotel. I have to say that we were a little shocked about the amount of homeless/street people in the area. I guess if you are a little down on your luck and have to live outside for awhile, what better place than Hawaii?? We grabbed a light evening meal at Wolfgang Puck's here at the hotel, then stopped at an ABC store to pick up a few things.

The reverse jet lag finally caught up with us about 9:00 p.m. The only problem with that is we woke up at 5;20 a.m. today! I came down poolside to check our email and get a feel for the free breakfast concept. About 6:30 a.m. this place goes CRAZY when they open the breakfast area up. I got a little cooler bag and loaded it with muffins, bagels, mini-muffins, some cereal, and fresh fruit bowls. Took it all back up to the room to share with Kim. Excellent free eats by the Hotel!

Kim and I then did a walk over to the pitches to check out where the matches will be this week. We walked back along the seawall and checked out some more of the local sites. By 10:00 a.m. we were on the beach in the warm sunshine. There is a tidal pool directly across from our Hotel, so no huge waves knocking us on our butts! About an hour later we moved to the pool deck (where we still are), made claim to a cabana for two, and are just relaxing for awhile.

There  have been a couple groups of Ruggers checking in this afternoon, and I did meet up with a couple of guys from the Eastwood Charcoals! Gonna tip a couple with them later. I will attempt to update as often as I can, but hell, I'm in Hawaii folks, so no guarantees!!

Hawaii Bound!!

In just a couple of days I will pack up my kit and head west to Hawaii for my 4th Olde Barking Dogs tour! There will be four of us Dogs who will be making our 4th consecutive tour with the OBDs: myself, Ron Tjaden, Craig Skott, and my room mate from Edinburgh, Scotland, Clancy Turner. This will be our first Vintage Rugby Carnival, and am greatly looking forward to running into many old friends from past tours. My lovely wife Kim will be making this trip with me, her first tour with us. Can't wait to hit the beach, the pitch, and quite possibly a couple of bars to hoist some cold ones with new and old friends. If you're going to be in Hawaii for the Carnival the Dogs will be residing at the Aston Beach Hotel, so look us up! I trade heavily, especially pins and t-shirts, so don't hesitate to look for me. My pin count is presently over 250, so always looking for new ones! Aloha!!