Arriving Home

We all arrived home safely after a much quicker coach journey to Norwich. At the Heathrow Airport some of the boys met the actor who plays Filch in the Harry Potter films.

It has been the most amazing tour, we have all got along so well and been so happy. It will be remembered forever!

Famous People

We saw and met some New Zealand Rugby players at the airport.

Arrived at Johannesburg Airport

We have safely arrived at Jo'burg airport. We are all checked in and eating and drinking before our flight in an hour.

Checked out of Hotel

We have checked out of our hotel this morning. It was brilliant, converted from an old prison. The boys made the most of the gym!

V & A Waterfront

We have had lots of meals and done lots of shopping at the Waterfront! Lots of us went on the big Ferris wheel.

Norfolk U13s vs Wynberg Boy's Junior School. Match Report

Norfolk under 13 cricket tour of Cape Town, sponsored by Almary Green, came to end with a 30 over match against Wynberg Boys Junior School, the school which first harnessed the talents of Jacques Kallis.  Norfolk won the toss and elected to field for the first time on tour.  Wynberg got off to a flying start and their opening batsmen scored 50 runs before the first wicket fell in the 9th over.  The expected acceleration of the run rate did not materialise and Norfolk managed to stem the flow of runs with some tight bowling on an Astro Turf pitch which caused the ball to bounce in a rather lively way.  After their allotted 30 overs Wynberg managed to score 144 for the loss of 5 wickets. This total seemed to be achievable given a fast outfield. Norfolk opened steadily and lost their first wicket in the 5th over with the score at 24. After 10 overs Norfolk were 52-1 and on track to overhaul their target.  A flurry of wickets however left Norfolk all out for 110 and Wynberg won by 34 runs. James Hardy top scored with 22.  So ended a memorable 4 match tour where the boys enjoyed an experience of a life time which will never be forgotten.  Thanks to all the sponsors and people who made this tour possible.

Mike Williams

Wynberg Boys Junior School vs Norfolk U13

This was our fourth and final fixture. It was a little cooler (25 degrees) and not much wind. The setting was beautiful. Sadly we lost but the boys had good energy in the field and there was good team spirit. Match report to follow.

After the game we had a magnificent tea and Judge made a speech highlighting his thanks to  Wynberg school and their brilliant match hospitality. He presented them with a mini-tour bat, a Tour pennant and a Tour brochure. He hoped they would display these momentos in their pavilion.

In return, their coach thanked us for playing such a good game of cricket and their captain presented ours with a gift.

We had our final team photos.

Guess who is at the bottom!!!

And our wonderful parents...

Table Mountain

We were very happy that the wind had subsided so we were able to go up Table Mountain.

The views were amazing!

We were very lucky as when we got to the bottom the conditions became too windy so the mountain was closed again!

Squad Meeting and Presentations

We couldn't go up Table Mountain as the weather conditions were too windy to take the cable car up.

As Toby and Jake were leaving the next day we had our end of tour mini presentations and speeches. 

Judge presented each player with a mini-tour bat which had their photograph on and all the boys names. We also received a Tour pennant each. When Judge made each boy's presentation he said a little 5 second tour personal ditty from which we could guess who Judge was talking about before he said their name. 

Afterwards Kevin and Luke made short speeches saying how proud and impressed they were of their Norfolk boys.

We finally all thanked our fantastic Tour Manager Judge and of course our awesome Ali.

Robben Island

After waiting in the Robben Island Museum we took a very slow boat over to Robben Island that took about 75 minutes. A lot of the group had gone on a safari instead.

When we arrived we had a bus tour of the prison premises and we saw the lime quarry where the prisoners had worked for eight hours each day without any protective gloves or goggles. They told us that Nelson Mandela had so much dust in his tear ducts that he could not cry tears when he left prison and had to have an operation on his eyes.

After that we were shown around the inside of the prison by an ex-political prisoner. We saw the courtyard were Nelson Mandela had kept a small garden and had hidden his diary in the soil.

We also were shown his very tiny cell!

It was all very moving how poorly the people were treated at the prison and all the group that visited were very pleased that they went and learnt a lot about life in the prison.

Coming back it took only 25 minutes in a super fast catermoran. It was brilliant fun and we had to hold on very tight. 

Beach Cricket in February

Who says we can't play cricket in February!

Norfolk U13 vs Paarl Skool Gimnasium Match Report

In their 3rd game on tour in Cape Town, Norfolk Under 13's, sponsored by Almary Green and Eastern Voice and Data, lost their unbeaten record when they were beaten by Paarl Skool Gimnasium by 7 wickets.

Norfolk lost the toss and batted first for the third game in a row. Norfolk's openers put on a bright and breezy 36 for the first wicket, which fell in the 8th over.  Another good stand of 36 left Norfolk at 72 for 2 after 14 overs.  This was a great base to build a good total in a 25 overs match.  Further good stands left Norfolk's score at 134 - 6 in their allotted 25 overs. Top scorers were Dan Hastings (29), Dani Long (25 retired), Calum Metcalf (24) and Jacob Rhodes (22).

When Paarl batted Norfolk never really looked like taking enough wickets against some pugnacious batting from their opponents. Anything bowled short was hit with ease to the square leg boundary.  Paarl hit the winning runs in the 20th over with 7 wickets to spare. Some good cricketing lessons were learnt as we move on to our final game.

Mike Williams

Paarl Skool Gimnasium vs Norfolk U13's

This was our third fixture on a slightly cooler day (25 degrees) and no wind. Sadly we lost. Match report to follow.

At the end Kevin thanked Paarl for their hospitality and for allowing us to play. He handed over a Tour pennant, Mini Tour Bat and Tour Brochures.

Baphumelele Children's Home

Sadly we were not able to visit the home in Khayelitsha due to safety reasons. So instead a few staff came to visit us at the hotel. Paul explained to our guests how much effort and time we had put into fundraising for the home. He also spoke about how generous local companies and groups had been in donating lots of different items that the children's home needed.

Then Lira and Tammy explained the background and all the projects of Baphumelele Children's home which we all found thoroughly interesting. 

The boys helped move the bags into their car.

Lira said she would send us lots of photos of the donated item being put to very good use.