Some of the boys had an interrupted night's sleep due to the howling wind outside and a seagull stuck in the ventilation shaft. The breakfast fare was top shelf yet again; hot food, pastries, cereal and of course the staple toast. Things weren't looking that promising as we piled into Miklo's bus. The windy conditions meant that the cable cars were closed so we ventured to Signal Point. Interestingly enough, Coach Thomlinson tried to make a call from there and there was no signal - it's Africa...
Max and Luke had the good idea that the team should try walking up the mountain, more for a warm up before the Langa game than for any sense of achievement. The lads set a cracking pace following the underneath the cable car line. The scenery even from the height we achieved was breath-taking. As we progressed, the boys enjoyed putting on their best Australian accents when speaking to our fellow hikers - Michelle and Natalie from Toronto, Canada seemed to garner the interest of the boys. As we headed down the mountain, there was movement at the station and talk of the cable cars reopening. The boys got to the front of the line and watched the tourists pile in behind. Within minutes we were taking in one of the new 7 wonders of the world from the cable car and then the city of Cape Town from a height of 1065m. Hopefully the pictures do the view justice as I'm sure my words would not.
An hour up the mountain did not seem enough, and after a photo that may make Coach Thomlinson's wall at home, we headed down and towards our lunch destination; Sheila's house within the township of Langa. Eric our guide talked us through the oldest township in Cape Town. Sitting down at Sheila's, we were treated to some fantastic local music and the band asked a few of the boys to fill in and jam with them. Cameron was definitely MVP.
Our game was relocated from Langa Stadium (due to a training camp for the Zimbabwe Soccer team
- and the guards withs AK-47's were a definite deterent) to the Pinewoods School. Captain Adam lost the toss and Barker were forced to field on a hot windy day. Regular wickets for the boys kept the Langa Invitational team under pressure. Bruce was pick of the bowlers here with 3/5 off his allotted
four overs. Due to the windy conditions, Sammy Sundries was the top scorer for the hosts and the target was set at 74.
Captain Adam and Brad opened the innings and got off to a cautious start. 0/10 off 3 overs through some tight bowling from Mtubabe and Sibitu. Adam started playing cross bat shots and Brad started playing expansive drives which led to a sharp rise in the run rate. After two big 6's Brad was dismissed for 34, caught by Michael, who was playing for the Langa XI, while Lachie played the shot of the innings, a six over mid wicket to tie the scores. Barker won the day by 9 wickets but cricket was the winner on the dayas both teams came together, shook hands and sat in front of the backdrop of Table Mountain. As a reward for yet another win, the boys were left to their own devices for dinner. An early night followed in preparation for Wynberg tomorrow.
Jacques Kallis Oval, here we come.......
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| The spectacular Table Mountain and adjoining Lion's Head. |
The back up photo when we found out that the cable car was closed.
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| Captain Liam suggested we warm up for the Langa game in a non traditional way. |
Here's the real team photo as a result of a little devine intervention.
The Barker Music tour meets the Barker Cricket tour - though Lachie seems to be a little out of time.
One of the main challenges of the Langa game was to display the score in the howling wind.
A fantastic game played in great spirit ends on a high note.
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