UK (RWC), France, China.

England

Our tour party departed late on Saturday evening 26 September on the official carrier China Southern Airlines. Dan had left previously for a conference in Spain and John Neville had left a few days earlier. John Sidoti was already in Europe. 

Tour Party at Sydney Airport

We wore our tour uniform and enjoyed a brief interlude in the lounge in Sydney before departing. Our stopover in Canton (Guangzhou) was uneventful except that Murray discovered the attributes of Chinese squat toilets – which had apparently recently had a significant amount of inaccurate usage!

We arrived ahead of schedule into Heathrow and we emerged to our waiting transfer car in less than half an hour. Our flat at Earls Court was terrific- very large with plenty of bedrooms and a great base for our stay in London. We were joined by the rest of the Tour Party (Dan and John) and after a quick reconnaissance Rod discovered The Bolten – a nearby pub which was to figure prominently in our subsequent activities.

The Bolten

We met some locals and learned that on the previous evening that England had been defeated by Wales in the RWC. The Australia vs England match was scheduled for the following Saturday and a loss by England would see England out of the tournament- an ignominious outcome for the host nation. We agreed that we would watch that match on the big screen on the following Saturday and our new friends were happy to reserve the table at The Bolten and to join us for that match.

London

We used the first few days to explore London – for some it was novel, others had explored previously but there is always something new to discover about this wonderful city. We took the Big Bus tour and also walked through the West End and then along the side of the Thames near Southwick and the Shard. 

Buckingham Palace from St James Park

Everywhere we looked were cranes and construction/refurbishment – I had seen nothing like this degree of construction activity previously in London. Then there is the CrossRail project happening underground with various above ground building sites.

I visited St Albans to collect the RWC tickets from Sarah, my former PA from Goodman, as she had kindly provided the postal address. I had not visited St Albans previously – it has the oldest church in England and was the major Roman Settlement during occupation nearly 2000 years ago. It is only a 25 minute train trip to central London – as are so many districts surrounding London.

 Dan and Murray with George Gregan -120 test caps between them

On Tuesday evening we saw the West End musical, The Book of Mormon, which is an absolute must see. Outrageous and hilarious and hopefully it will find its way to Australia at some point.

Tower Bridge

Wales

We had booked a people mover vehicle over six months ago and were disappointed to discover on the day before our rental that there was nothing available! Fortunately our decision to check the day before we had scheduled the pick up gave us an opportunity to apply our persuasive skills. We were allocated a bigger vehicle for the six of us + luggage. It was apparently also reserved by someone else for the following day but somehow the rental company would deal with that crisis then!

The Tour Group in Bath

We set off for Cardiff on Wednesday morning with Australian flags affixed to the two front side doors and called at Bath on the way. A beautiful town with literary links to Jane Austen and a strong rugby profile. Some beautiful architecture by John Nash was on display – he had also designed many central London buildings including Buckingham Palace.

John Neville & John Sidoti at the Royal Crescent Bath

Cardiff offered a very welcoming environment for RWC visitors and the Welsh were delighted that England had been beaten and hoped Australia could finish them off in the coming weekend. 

Clever marketing by RWC at Cardiff Castle

We met with two of Daniel’s contacts from a policing course he had undertaken in UK a year earlier. They were very good company and enjoyed being exposed to the cultural influences that we so readily propagated. We were also joined by Matt Reardon – a friend of John Neville from SPC who is on a one year opera singing scholarship in Wales. During the evening he was prevailed upon to sing and was well received!

Downtown Cardiff on match day

Millennium Stadium dominates the city and we were there to see Fiji vs Wales on Thursday 1 October. Our seats were very high in the stands and the roof was closed. We had an excellent birds eye view but due to the long distance from the facilities we noticed that some patrons up behind us used buckets as toilets and these were ferried down to the toilets at half time!

Fifteen minutes before kickoff - the stadium was full 15 minutes later

It was a very physical and open rugby match – could have gone either way but Wales prevailed. It is remarkable how these athletes can back up for another game a week later after what they put their bodies through.

Dan, Rod & Murray Cardiff

Cardiff

We had an opportunity to explore the town centre including Cardiff Castle. Cardiff has several wide pedestrian streets which allowed crowds of fans to socialise pre match. In the UK there are no curtain raiser matches and the crowd filters into the stadium mainly in the 30 minutes prior to kick off.

Abergavenny Wales

On the Friday we explored some of the Welsh countryside and valleys and spent some time at Abergavenny before heading back to Reading and London. Some of us met with Alan Burnicle and one of Dan’s cousins for dinner and some community singing at the Golden Eagle.  

The Burnicles - Golden Eagle London

Saturday morning was a chance for some shopping in London and errands before the big game between Australia and England on the big screen at The Bolten. I also was able to meet with Cathy and Chris Edwards who were on an “official” RWC Tour. We enjoyed brunch at Aldwych and I was surprised to learn that they had booked their tour over two years previously.

Tony the Pianist at The Golden Eagle

For our Bolten appearance we all dressed in our tour “outfits” and were a very noticeable contingent as we took up our places at the reserved long table. The match was a wonderful spectacle and Australia got there in a fast and tense game – meaning England was eliminated from the RWC Tournament of which it was the host! The media in subsequent days was very severe on all aspects of English rugby administration and players!

Tour Group with interloper The Bolten

We were naturally magnanimous in victory and celebrated with the vanquished locals, an enthusiastic crowd and a Beatles Tribute band until closing time!

One thing led to another and I was called upon by popular demand to be lead singer for a few numbers! This was followed by a conga line through the pub – apparently it was the band’s first performance at the pub so we are unsure if they were allowed back.

Leicester

The Tongan Haka - didn't make much difference in the end

Sunday it was off to Leicester where we saw Argentina play Tonga. The match was played at the Leicester City Football stadium. In a very festive atmosphere with a sold out venue and the very large Argentinian contingent was vocal and engaged. Soccer stadiums are usually small and intimate arenas and most spectators are close to the pitch and can usually hear the players calling each other.

Tour sponsors gained excellent exposure - Rod even received calls from locals needing renovations!

Argentina won a very free flowing game but as with other pool games, the second tier teams including Tonga acquitted themselves very well and the standards are definitely rising.

Lakes District

Murray, Rod and Chris - Grasmere

The Cumbria district of NW England is famous for its natural beauty and its history which dates back to pre-Roman times. It is an ideal location for country walks and was therefore an excellent interlude between the weekends of RWC action.

Easedale Tarn - Cumbria

Our Tour Group took the train on Monday from Euston to Manchester – where coincidentally the Conservative Party annual congress was being held. At Euston station saw some people alighting from cab with two skeletons and a wheel chair. We queried whether this reflected long delays in waiting for cabs in London. But their handlers explained they were en-route for some health related protest at the congress in Manchester.

Village of Ambleside

We also met on the train some union officials from the postal service which has been privatised. They were also heading up to Manchester for some serious protest rallies and demonstrations. We enjoyed chatting during the 2 hour train trip. I think the same issues face post offices worldwide: technology, email, electronic despatch and payment of accounts on line, and private delivery networks for online purchases. This loss of volume leads to loss of revenue and ultimately less employees

Ambleside

Again we enjoyed a terrific apartment with plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms. Dan had gone to Amsterdam to visit a friend and we were joined by Chris Ferris who drove from Dublin via the Holyhead ferry. We had a ceremonial presentation of his official Tour Jersey and very much enjoyed Chris’ company for our five days in Cumbria.

Cumbria

On our first walk we had some rain – the first since arriving in the UK – but it eased off quickly and we had no more rain until after the tour concluded. We set off for Easedale Tarn and it was a reasonably demanding walk but the destination was well worth it. As we approached the caldera like summit the sun emerged and made the scenery that much more compelling.

Grasmere

On Wednesday we took a walk near Grasmere and later in the day a drive towards the west coast where we came upon ruins of a Roman Fort. It had been built by crews shipped in from Croatia about 350 AD! The roads were single lane and often close to the edge of the cliff. Problems usually arose when a car travelling in the opposite direction appeared. One or other vehicle had to back up until there was sufficient space to squeeze past. We were in a van which added complexity to the challenge!

Cumbria

Each evening we ate out except for one night when Chris procured some disposable bbq’s on which he cooked the meat while John Sidoti performed his culinary magic.

Coniston Waters

Our walk on Thursday was around Coniston Waters - one of the larger lakes in the district. It had also been the scene of Donald Campbell’s ill-fated attempt on the world water speed record in 1967 in which he perished.  At some stage in the 60’s he had held the land and water speed records simultaneously – the land speed record was achieved in his vehicle, Bluebird, on Lake Eyre salt flats.

Murray amid the ruins

Our walk took us along the west side of the lake past John Ruskin’s beautiful house which is now a museum and followed a pony trail along the ridge. The autumn foliage was beautiful and for most of the walk we were in sight of the water.

At the White Lion Ambleside

Later in the afternoon we sat in the sun out the front of the White Lion pub and met a couple from Liverpool who are regular visitors to Cumbria. They told us about a nearby tiny pub in the village, The Golden Rule, and as the sun set we all relocated there. In discussion with the couple we revealed our sets of false teeth which went down very well.

Enough said

As we were leaving we could hardly contain ourselves when a couple entered whose real teeth were just as appalling and one also had an eye patch!

Formal dinner on last night at Ambleside - note gold ties and dubious dental work

London & Twickenham

On Friday it was back to Manchester and the train to London – this time to a small – really small hotel in Victoria – thankfully for only for two nights. We only planned to sleep there and we had a big day following with the Wales vs Australia match at Twickenham – the home of Rugby. 

National Anthems - Wales vs Australia Twickenham 2015

We took the train and discovered that it was also World Zombie Day and we saw some heavily made up and realistic looking ghouls and misfits at the station and on the train. They told us it is an annual event in London and over 5,000 were expected to attend a rally!

We arrived at Twickenham in plenty of time and as per local custom set ourselves up at a pub to enjoy a few hours pre match – “soaking up the atmosphere”. Rugby crowds are a good natured lot and we enjoyed the banter before and after games when spectators generally behaved as though they had actually played the game – Well played mate! Fantastic effort! See you at next week’s quarter finals etc.

Rod Hogan with two former bosses of NRL

The Australia vs Wales game was a tough encounter. None of our tour party had been to Twickenham previously – we had seats behind the goal line. We saw an incredible 12 minute passage of play during which two Wallabies were in the sin bin and the team defended a very relentless and determined Welsh side who were desperate to score. Again Australia prevailed and Wales and Australia were then the two teams from Pool A to proceed to the knock out stage.

In a crowd of 80,000 Rod found Alan Burnicle

Drinking

It is true to say that we often enjoyed the pub atmosphere and quite a few drinks! However, it was really odd that no one experienced hangovers. (Maybe Rod did!). We all agreed but could not explain why. We were drinking pints but perhaps we were also in lots of conversations and the weather was cool so perhaps the overall amount of consumption was less than we imagined.

Another sponsor

Gloucester

Our final tour match was ‘The Decider’ – USA vs Japan, which was held at Gloucester. We travelled out from Paddington by train and because it was a late 8:00pm start we stayed overnight. Our seats were very close to the action and Japan was successful and finished their campaign very positively. They will be looking forward to hosting this tournament in 2019 in Japan.

"Geishas" among the crowd at Gloucester

This was the end of the ‘official’ tour and we all headed off next day in different directions.

This devoted fan was in a form of body paint - and very appreciative of the coaching efforts of Eddie Jones

York

My next destination was the Yorkshire Dales National Park so I headed out by train to York and picked up a rental car.

Accommodation - West Burton

I found the village of West Burton and my farmhouse a few miles out of the village - a beautiful setting among deep valleys with generally treeless walls. Lots of walking trails across moors and interesting little villages. My childhood reading was mainly British story books and I suspect that even subliminally I have developed a connection with the bracken and heather of the moors. I based myself there for three nights and enjoyed driving and daily walks through the National Park.

Yorkshire Countryside

Among these were Hawes and Ingleton which had a long walk that took in five separate water falls.

Walking south of Hawes

Orgeres

Next stop was a few days in Orgeres with Gar and the boys. John (senior) joined us on Sunday evening arriving from Rome. I watched Greg playing in his local soccer comp on the Saturday and we enjoyed the RWC quarterfinals on TV – although not many French would have enjoyed the NZ vs France game!

John and Gar in Orgeres

Looks like their plans to visit Australia in July next year are firming up and the boys are old enough to really enjoy the experience.

More London

Shopfront display - Selfridges - Oxford Street

I had planned to spend a few days in London before leaving for China on Friday evening. Caught up with friends for dinner on two nights and also saw a new play, “The Play That Went Wrong”. Again a very funny play showcasing British humour with all its pace, wit, cleverness and timing.

At the end of the day in Yorkshire

I was also present during the State Visit by China’s President Xi Jinping. The Queen et al really turned on a fantastic series of state functions including gilded carriages down The Mall and state banquets. I notice that Angela Merkel is in China in the next week or so. Everyone needs to deal with China and trade fosters some mutuality and hopefully improved understanding. I was quite surprised at the shallow and even xenophobic reporting by UK journalists – who usually produce very thoughtful articles.

Trafalgar Square transformed by RWC

My exit from London via Heathrow was delayed on Friday night due to an unexpected Chinese visa hitch. Earlier in the year I had obtained a two entry visa for China on the understanding that the first entry had to be made by the visa date and the second in the same year. I had been to Harbin in June and therefore thought I had a current visa for China. I was not stopped at baggage check in despite passport inspection but was stopped as I attempted to board the flight because the visa date had expired two weeks previously. It was late at night and I was obviously surprised! My bags had to be retrieved from the hold of the aircraft and by the time all that was done it was nearly midnight, the airport was nearly empty and the best option was a Heathrow hotel!

Christiana & Martin - locals from the Bolten

But every cloud has a silver lining and I had to reschedule flights and the best option was to leave on Monday night – which gave me another three full days in London including two RWC semi-finals! I could have got scalped tickets for both matches at Twickenham but it is more fun if you are attending with someone. The tickets would have been very expensive too so the better option was to revisit The Bolten at Earls Court which I did for both matches. The atmosphere in the pub was really electric and both games were tense affairs. I also reconnected with some of the people we had met at The Bolten during the early stages of our tour.

The Thames - west of London

During this unexpected layover I explored the area to the west of London near Heathrow including Kew Gardens, Hampton, Richmond and nearby villages. Although these areas are densely populated, the public parks are extensive and were showing their autumn finery. I walked for ages each day! On the Saturday night I went into central London to the recital hall in Wigmore Road. The Scottish Ensemble was performing – 12 string musicians playing the works of Schubert plus a modern piece based upon a Schubert theme. It was a real treat to discover the composer was in the audience. She must be brilliant and was aged 35.

Hampton - west London

London has museums everywhere you look! I saw a Museum of Cartoons, Museum of Steam and Water, Museum of Music, etc etc

Guangzhou

Left London without any complication on Monday evening and flew on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It is a noticeably quiet aircraft and has large windows with electronic shading. I had changed my flights so that I could use the 72 hour China visa that is available to all travellers in transit through major ports.  Arrived at the hotel late on Tuesday evening and will leave on Thursday evening. My visit coincided with the 118^th annual Canton Fair. It is held over three weeks with different industry groups being represented each week. The venue is massive and covers a huge range of products. For example there are 330 exhibitors of men’s footwear alone!

I remain convinced that there is a market to tidy up Chinese translations in public places

The other noteworthy development since I was here in June is that China no longer blocks Google or Facebook. This is smart at so many levels. It is probably also because the Chinese had modified the WeChat App so that it is pretty much the same as Facebook and there is no way they would attempt to block WeChat – it is used by pretty much every person in China who has an internet connection! It might also be a local thing in that Guangzhou is so close to Hong Kong.