andywg
Bored into leaving
Well, it turns out the Mystery Military Tour for Westcliff Rugby Football Club was to Antwerp in Belgium, though the actual games were played just over the border in Holland (one was in Goes and I forget where the second game was).
First off, as many will know, it was fancy dress, so here is your author at 6:30 am on Friday 5 May 2006, now known as William Wallace
And here we get an idea of the other costumes...Some of us wondered whether smurfs and Oompa Loompas could REALLY be classed as military or not...
Then, it was decided that Jesus should have a more appropriate sized cross, and thus he was handed it. And good fun was had by all! (Especially our first hosts who started to set fire to it...)
Someone got the wrong outfit (told to be a STORM trooper, came as a CLONE trooper) and thus had the pleasure of a baileys and cider. MMmmmmm! A great way to start your day.
Next up, we had to make sure that everyone knows who the tour ***** is, fortunately the tour captain had just the thing...
Just time for a photocall after the parade (the looks we got...
) before heading off
Once on the move, we can see here the somewhat volumous amount of beer that was loaded up for the coach journey. IIRC it was at least 4 crates of Carling, 2 of Master Brew and one of cider. Not to mention there was a bottle of aftershock as well.
Once we arrived at Dover we all jumped off the coach and played rugby (in costumes) in the waiting to board area. It started as touch, but soon became full contact despite being on concrete. After about 10 minutes there was an amazing announcement:
We loved that! So it was left that we would have to just have our photos taken by bewildered foreigners instead.
On the ferry we caused quite a few looks, and this was too good an oppurtunity to miss from our "James Bond"
Before long we made it to France and the lovely site of Calais port
And here there is a 36 hour gap in photos as I became too drunk, then hungover, and then drunk again to actually take any pictures. The first game was played on the Saturday in searing heat. We had a comprehensive win over our Dutch hosts, but they provided great entertainment. They especially enjoyed the fact the game started with a prayer from Jesus! And we loved the fact that when we arrived at the club the hosts were already drinking beer in the garden.
However, after that match, and another night on the streets of Antwerp investigating all the bars, we headed to our second match. We were a little surprised to see the pitch...
Though some of us got into the flowery meadow spirit quite quickly
Then it was nearly time for kick off, and the game progressed with us pushing on to a very large victory (something like 60 points to 12)
And after a successful second win (extremely rare for a touring side) we declared ourselves far better than the Nazis (we were unbeaten in Europe). It was a little sweeter winning the second game as the other team were all drinking lucozade and warming up properly and really were there to win the game and nothing else. How they must have felt after we turned out onto the pitch drinking and smoking and still beat them...
But they took it in good heart at the end
Finally, just to prove I didn't spend all the waking hours in rugby clubs and bars, here is a picture of Antwerp Central station (over the road from our hotel) and a lot of bikes that just seemed to always be parked in the way.
First off, as many will know, it was fancy dress, so here is your author at 6:30 am on Friday 5 May 2006, now known as William Wallace
And here we get an idea of the other costumes...Some of us wondered whether smurfs and Oompa Loompas could REALLY be classed as military or not...
Then, it was decided that Jesus should have a more appropriate sized cross, and thus he was handed it. And good fun was had by all! (Especially our first hosts who started to set fire to it...)
Someone got the wrong outfit (told to be a STORM trooper, came as a CLONE trooper) and thus had the pleasure of a baileys and cider. MMmmmmm! A great way to start your day.
Next up, we had to make sure that everyone knows who the tour ***** is, fortunately the tour captain had just the thing...
Just time for a photocall after the parade (the looks we got...
) before heading off
Once on the move, we can see here the somewhat volumous amount of beer that was loaded up for the coach journey. IIRC it was at least 4 crates of Carling, 2 of Master Brew and one of cider. Not to mention there was a bottle of aftershock as well.
Once we arrived at Dover we all jumped off the coach and played rugby (in costumes) in the waiting to board area. It started as touch, but soon became full contact despite being on concrete. After about 10 minutes there was an amazing announcement:
We loved that! So it was left that we would have to just have our photos taken by bewildered foreigners instead.
On the ferry we caused quite a few looks, and this was too good an oppurtunity to miss from our "James Bond"
Before long we made it to France and the lovely site of Calais port
And here there is a 36 hour gap in photos as I became too drunk, then hungover, and then drunk again to actually take any pictures. The first game was played on the Saturday in searing heat. We had a comprehensive win over our Dutch hosts, but they provided great entertainment. They especially enjoyed the fact the game started with a prayer from Jesus! And we loved the fact that when we arrived at the club the hosts were already drinking beer in the garden.
However, after that match, and another night on the streets of Antwerp investigating all the bars, we headed to our second match. We were a little surprised to see the pitch...
Though some of us got into the flowery meadow spirit quite quickly
Then it was nearly time for kick off, and the game progressed with us pushing on to a very large victory (something like 60 points to 12)
And after a successful second win (extremely rare for a touring side) we declared ourselves far better than the Nazis (we were unbeaten in Europe). It was a little sweeter winning the second game as the other team were all drinking lucozade and warming up properly and really were there to win the game and nothing else. How they must have felt after we turned out onto the pitch drinking and smoking and still beat them...
But they took it in good heart at the end
Finally, just to prove I didn't spend all the waking hours in rugby clubs and bars, here is a picture of Antwerp Central station (over the road from our hotel) and a lot of bikes that just seemed to always be parked in the way.
sexy boy, hope you had a lovely time, bet Nina prods your bruises. You need to do it more often, lovely to see Nina and Ami while you where away. 
