Happy New Year from South Africa
01 Jan 2010 12:11
It’s New Years Day and I’m in a hotel room in Durban, South Africa. All I can think about is getting back to England and training. If I could leave right now, I would but my flight isn’t until tomorrow and I won’t be home until the 3rd. It might sound like I haven’t enjoyed myself but that’s a long way from the truth, it’s just time to work now!
I’ve spent Christmas and New Year here in Durban with my Dad and a friend. We came mainly to watch the Cricket (England have just played the second of a four Test series out here) and also to visit our teammate “Troye” who grew up here. Unfortunately, we arrived a day late because our plane was damaged at Heathrow. This meant that we limped into town on Christmas Eve after two separate nights at airport hotels in London and Johannesburg.
All this was forgotten when Troye picked us up on Christmas Day and took us to his cousins house where we enjoyed a Christmas Dinner of barbequed Prawns and Chips! After showing us around his old neighbourhood, Troye dropped us back at the hotel, where we spent the evening outside in Durban’s strange climate. (Rainy but warm and humid at the same time.)
Boxing Day saw the start of the Cricket at “Kingsmead” stadium. It was a great atmosphere with nearly 20,000 fans filling the ground, shouting and cheering for their team. The Test ran the full five days and was a great game not least because England beat South Africa comfortably in what was one of their best “Away” performances ever! I felt very lucky to have seen England win away on my first trip, especially after hearing from one of the “Barmy Army” that this was the first time he’d seen England win on the road in sixteen attempts!
With the Cricket over, we had a day or so to relax at the hotel before celebrating New Year. As I said before, my thoughts were already turning to training and my next tournament. The day after I got home, I’d have to report to Norfolk for Camp with the rest of the GB squad. I’m looking forward to that more than New Year if I’m honest. As it turns out we had a really nice night and I woke up this morning feeling fine…even after a few drinks!
Now my brief “off season” is over, the preparation for the 2010 World Championships starts in earnest. My Blog entries will become more frequent again now so please keep checking back and following my progress to Vancouver in September…Thanks.