Parents and well-wishers; we've arrived safely.

Day 2

Ever since take off from Sydney Airport, the trip thus far has been one of superlatives. It all started when Coach Thomlinson ran into an old sparring partner on the plane, then suggested he should sit next to him and his wife at the pointy end of the plane. Despite being educated at 'our friends from down the road', Hug Jackman was the perfect gentleman and promised to follow the blog of the boys' progress while in South Africa. Coach Toth kept an eye on things up the back. Qantas crewmen Steve went out of his way to comment on how well-behaved the boys were; in fact, the best sporting team he has looked after in 20 years.

We touched down on time in Johannesburg and met Bruce (who spent Christmas in South Africa) and our contact, Andy. The boys had just enough time to stretch their legs and it was on the bus to the Pilanesberg National Park. Many of the boys (and coaches) took the opportunity to catch up on a bit of sleep over the 2.5 hour trip. I hear the scenery was fantastic heading towards the former volcano, home of the 3rd largest game park in the continent.

The first thing we noticed upon arrival was the clear sky and the rich smell of earth in the air. The boys went to their cabins, headed down to the buffet dinner and ensured the got plenty of rest before our early rise the next morning and the anticipation of seeing the 'Deadly Seven' in the flesh.

A 5am rise to see some lions seemed a bit of a tall order for Liam and Ben, attracting the first fines on tour. After the mandatory indemnity form signing and locating sunglasses we were off. In what must have been no more than two minutes we followed a trail of excrement that could have only led us to one animal - a bull elephant! Lefty as we called him (he only had his left tusk) wouldn't stop following us and we thought we had acquired a mascot for the tour. Further venturing led us to a sight that had our guide, Gift, and Andy telling us how lucky we were. A black rhino - with only a few in the park, I think the boys appreciated how luck we were. As our three hour journey continued, we saw enough impala and zebras to think that the lions must have been lying down after overeating as opposed to hiding. Giraffes, water bucks, kudos, wilder beasts, and even a couple of crocodiles followed.

After breakfast and a team aqua session, coaches and boys enjoyed free time. Some swam, others walked and I believe one or two even slept. Others enjoyed a lesson on currency conversion from Coach Toth - 7 rand (about 80 cents) for a Coke; what a country! 4:30pm saw us ready for our evening drive, with no one late. Adam had recharged his impressive zoom iPhone camera and cam was reminded yet again that his camera was still in Sydney. After a few giraffes and springboks we seemed to be driving quite quickly without stopping for much for the next half hour. Then Gift told us why, as did about 20 cars stopped at the top of a shallow valley. A lion had been spotted near half a dozen zebras. Coach Thomlinson had only two hours ago watched a similar scenario on a nature channel. The boys were having mixed feelings in anticipation and the van was splint those cheering for the lion (led by Bruce) and those on the side of the zebra (led by Luke). One lion then turned into 2 mature females with a cub, possibly teaching it how to hunt. The boys will be able to retell it much better than I can write but to cut a long story short, the zebra (named Issy Falou) sidestepped his way through and lived to tell his relatives. After that excitement, the lads were hungry so we headed to our dinner reservations; a braii under the nighttime sky, with some of the game we saw earlier on our plates (just joshin' - sort of). After dinner and a chance hippo sighting on the way home, it was off to bed early in order to try and catch some of the first day of the Sydney test on TV in the morning.