Ode to Gibraltar - help needed!

Sitting in A & E first with Savanna and the with Indi (hope you are both on the mend) I couldn't help but scribble in my note pad. It would be great if any of the tourists could pen their own verses following the same rhythm and rhyme scheme...please hand any offerings to me asap. They can be on any aspect of the tour!

Descending deep like Tolkein dwarves
We trekked into the ground,
Where stalectites and stalegmites,
Vast ancients towers abound.

Up on The Rock the monkeys wait
To jump on all who dare
To leave their coach and venture out,
All long-haired girls beware!

Serena's head was checked for nits,
And Indi cuddled too,
But Dani seemed to come off worst-
Her left foot splashed with poo!

Then out for lunch in Casemates Square
Our senior teams went with friends,
Where shops aplenty lure you in
And tempt us all to spend!

The U14 teams went back
Post-lunch at Maccie D's
To try the pool and test the beach
And catch up on their zzzzzs.

To blog I tried without much luck
From one till nearly three,
The laptop nearly joined the girls-
Hurled out into the sea!!

But just in time a signal came,
Connection made at last,
A quick update of what we'd done-
albeit rather fast.

To video the dolphin pods
We tried without much joy,
But in the gift shop Emily found
A baby dolphin toy.


The challenge I now set to all
Is to complete my rhyme,
Please try to make your verses scan
And keep it all in time.

Good luck all poets, do your best,
Please try to add some more,
With luck we'll pen an epic work
That will reflect our tour! X

Gibraltar Photo Competition

Why not enter enter your best photos of the tour in this competition. Maximum of three enties per person, 7X5 matt finish - hand in a named envelope to Miss Litherland by Friday 12th November! Dolphins, friends, scenery, action shots...the subject matter is up to you.

Home at last...

Hi girls - just to say 'thank you' for making our Gibraltar Netball Tour 2010 such a great trip - as we said last night, you have all been such good company! Keep an eye on the blog over the weekend as there may be a few extra bits and bobs added...?
Hopefully you'll all manage to find a little bit of time to recharge before Monday and possibly even have a lie-in (I'll try to avoid giving you an early morning wake-up call!).
Good night, sleep well and enjoy having the windows open without worrying about monkey invasion!
The Staff

Flight delayed!

The flight from Malaga has been delayed. The girls will call you en-route but you may want to check the Newcastle Airport website for any updates.

Newcastle Airport website now shows that the flight is expected to land at 15.35

15.54 - The flight has now landed and the girls are waiting for their luggage.

16.15 - Girls are on the coach now.

And we're off

Leaving the hotel...see you later!

Tour Dinner and Awards

At Charley's restaurant, Ocean Village, we acknowledged the girls' netballing efforts.
The following awards were presented
Players of the Match:
Seniors - Beth
U16 - Indigo
U14A - Pippa, Charlotte, Emily
U14B - Luci, Jenny, Kate
Most Improved Players
Seniors - Charlotte
U16 - Lauren
U14A - Ellie
U14B - Lucy
Player of the Tournament (voted by team)
Seniors-Beth
U16-Aishu
U14A-Charlotte
U14B-Sarah,Sian

Senior Captains Devenne and Beth thanked the staff for looking after them and the girls for all their hard work.
The staff thanked the girls for their excellent company and superb spirit. They have shown teamwork and friendship, both within and across the age groups.

Back at the hotel we were entertained by several 'talent acts' before the following additional awards were presented:
Most injured team - the U16
Most lightweight luggage - Lydia
Underwater Sea Goddess - Serena
Secret of the Day - Pippa
The Black-Eyed Pea - Lucy
Best Exit in an Ambulance - Indigo
Best First Aiders - Carrie and Beth
Hardest to Wake Up - Lucy and Sophie
Most Diligent - Lewis
Top Three Cheerers - Polam Hip Hip Hooray!!
and at that an award for everyone.


See you all tomorrow!

our review of the hotel by Karis and Sophie

As soon as we arrived we felt right at home, the rooms were cozy and the beds were like sleeping on clouds. But i think the best thing about the hotel is the food, breakfast is always a treat. The amazing thing is that we are only meters away from the beach; the sand is a light gold colour and feels soft like feathers and the water is warm like bath water- every girl's dream. The pool was cold but it was a delight after a hot day.

Our final games...

It was agreed that the best way to end our tour was for the PHS squad to play and watch each other, so we mixed the U14s together and combined the Seniors and U16 1nd enjoyed two really fun and competitive games! It was a lovely atmosphere, with everyone (apart from our unfortunate wounded) getting a final game. Then off into town for lunch and shopping - everyone really starting to feel confident and at home - always the way at the end of a holiday.
Back at the hotel now, on the beach, packing, tidying rooms...

other injuries?

Unfortunately another set of crutches...poor old Savanna sprained her left ankle 1 minute and 30 seconds into her very first match and is also on crutches...she didn't even manage to touch the ball! She has been very brave and just about managed to keep smiling, even though it's been very frustrating and disappointing for her! But she has managed to do everything else with the help of various sherpas and a bright purple wheelchair. I do love A & E!

And Lucy has been sporting a fantastic little 'blackish' eye since her first game and an interesting brush with an elbow, we think.

Slight re-jig for last day...

Hi Mrs Martin!! Everyone sends their best...
At the courts from 10-12noon today instead of this evening, then into town for lunch, shops etc before back to hotel to pack, chill then change into 'glad rags' for end of tour dinner this evening. Updates to follow later, i hope - and details of yesterdays fixtures. Have a good day everyone! Off to track down wheel chair for Indigo so that she can hit the shops - I don't fancy giving her a piggy-back! off to do some banking...

Hi Mrs Hilton - update

Pleased to catch you this morning. Indigo is in excellent spirits and clearly very adept on the crutches (having used grandma's lots, she tells me). Hope she has managed to speak to you. These pics were taken at A & E - she was fab - saw Doc and had xray within 15mins, rest as explained.

Tuesday

Sounds like yesterday was another busy day! Hopefully you will all (including the staff) get some time to relax today. Enjoy the last of the matches this evening and then of course the talent show! Looking forward to hearing all about that! See you tomorrow!!!

KM

More Photos Tuesday

Tuesday photos

Tuesday - and dolphins!

Another very full day and some VERY tired students! I have to say that they have all been absolutely fantastic today! After breakfast we set of for some additional training fixtures/matches against teams from Kent College.The U14 squad became A, B and C teams and played their little white socks off as the mornming (or even the morning!) sun intensified - a very new experience for us all as yesterday's match was indoors. The seniors played a practice match against each other, followed by a quick freindly against the Kent College senior hockey team , rather hot at netball too, it appeared).

Having changed out of our sweaty kit, we all went up to Casemates Square for a leisurely lunch - all girls finding their own lunch in the very safe and centrally placed town square (staff positioned right in the middle outside a rather pleasant little cafe!) Everyone coped very well and managed to find something appropriate! then off for what was to prove a stunning experience - DOLPHIN WATCHING! And were there dolphins? Were there ever! Hundreds of them popping up around us all over the place. Not the easiest things to catch on film, or so I found, but the air was full of oooohs and ahhhhhs and splashes and sploshes! Wow. I think we could and would have happily stayed for another hour at least -
The dolphins were followed by a relaxing hour around Ocean Village where most of us found a cafe or an icecream (or in my case a combination of the two!). Then back for the evening's fixture. I'm now catching up with the staff and hope to publish the details asap...watch this space... and some photos... (although probably not any good ones of dolphins!).

Results!

Brilliant results - well played everyone! The photos look great - wish I could have seen you play! Must have been a very long evening though - 5 matches back to back!!!! Hope you all not too tired today. Good luck to the U14 squads against Kent College this morning and to everyone for the matches this evening. Have a great day - pouring here at the moment!

KM

Fixture 1 Photo sample

Just a few before bed...

Mrs Martin, they did you proud!

A special message

The girls asked me to send a HAPPY BIRTHDAY message to Miss Chetwood! XX

Match Results

An impressive first fixture:
U14B beat St Annes 10 - 3
U14A beat Development Squad 10 - 0
beat West Side 7 - 6
U16 beat ' a purple team?' 14 - 8
Senior Team lost the Elite Squad 10 -25

The teams played back to back games in the local school sports hall. Although a bit of a pain, it was good for the teams to see something of each other and be able to offer support.

The U14 teams played first then went out for a late evening supper before coming back to bed. The senior teams finished later and have spent the last few hours enduring the slowest chinese meal in the history of the world. That they have just returned in still reasonable spirits is again very much to their credit!
more details, match reports (i hope) and photos to follow tomorrow!
Off to bed!

Matches!

Best of luck to everyone in the matches today! Looking forward to reading about your day. You will be pleased to hear that it was -2 degrees at my house this morning, so make the most of the sunshine. It looks as though you had a superb day in Morocco and it was lovely to read that people had commented about the excellent behaviour of the Polam girls - well done!

KM

A few snaps of Monday

Monday - A rock, some monkeys and a very cool cave!

Finally managed to see some monkeys and what an experience it was!
We set off at 9.30, travelling in two coaches to see the sea, a lighthouse then journey up the Rock. Very informative drivers put lots of 'flesh' on the whole experience, testing the girls on what they knew before letting them back on the coach - a brilliant technique and one to remember when I get back to PHS! At the Rock we were greeted by the monkeys...hooray...but quickly ushered into the Caves of Saint Michael - wow! I hope the photos do them justice.
Back out into the sunlight to be sat on (and worse in the case of poor Dani's foot) by several cheeky monkeys before setting off for lunch.
The U14 teams went to 'The American Embassy' for their meal (aka Macdonalds) then jumped on the public bus back to the hotel for a quiet pre-match afternoon on the beach, by the pool and/or in their rooms. The Seniors and U16 went to suss out Casement Square in preparation for the rest of the stay, finding their own lunch, the once again heading back the hotel. It's now 4.40 and the first teams have just 'left the building' heading for St anne's School and the first set of matches (the rest of us will be following on in 20 mins).
Kent College students arrived here earlier tody and we are set to play them at U14 A,B and C level in the morning whilst the Senior and U16 teams have a training match!

Hopefully a match report to follow later tonight.
Apologies if your daughter's photo jas not appeared - they take a while to load...I'll do my best!

Girls say hi!

Jenny, Amelia and Kate (all L4) have joined me in the foyer and say 'hi! great holiday, seen monkeys attack lady - it was funny! Been in the sea. The pool is freezing. Off to play netball. Love you lots XXX'

morocco photos