The Running Man

Good Neighbour 2006

Ok better late than never :P so here are the updates from my Good Neighbour weekend in Canberra (24 - 25 Nov) which is an annual national volleyball tournament for volleyball teams from all over Australia of different levels. For the tournament, my group formed 2 teams - a mens (Team Soba) and a ladies (Spicy Soba) team taking part in their own divisions. There was also 'groupies' who joined us on this weekend, basically to support the teams and for entertainment purposes haha (thx guys/gals)...altogether there was a group of 20 of us who set out for Canberra. Thank you to Nick for driving the 2+ hrs to Canberra, and here is the pre-road trip photo of the occupants in the car: Lysa, Leo, Nick and myself :) Here are some other photos from the road-trip (in the karaoke kamry..haha):

Our first and only 'toilet' break on the trip...and we made it a moment to remember :P haha j/k

After a long drive we finally made it to Canberra, to be met up by some of the other players (and groupies ;) After a late dinner, and when settling in to the serviced apartments (20 ppl - we booked 3 rooms meant that there was a bit of a squeeze and guys/girls sharing beds :0 haha). There was also a 'little' bit of pre-tournament drinks from those who were in (surprise surprise) my team's room and some of the players and groupies joined in as well :P here haha..all good fun :)
The last photo is a 'glasses' photo of Team Soba...

Next morning...it was the start of the tournament, and we had stocked up on bacon, eggs and bread (we would be having that for bfast for the nxt morning too :P)...oh and I should also mention the sheer quantity of food especially snacks we had brought up from Sydney that day (we had to feed and snack for 20 ppl...and Maz had bought soooo much you just don't believe its possible to finish it all :P haha) we pretty much filled up the fridge and cupboards in our apartment :P...a guy heaven! After bfast, we got into our uniforms, took some team photos, went into a briefing about the tournament (that was how serious it was)..ahaha. Oh did I also mention as part of our 'uniforms' we had to wear these long red and white socks, white headbands, and dye our hair red :P This is the 'fun' aspect of the team to show we weren't all serious :P thats pretty much the aussie way of life during competition...some light heartedness :)

Spicy Soba

Everyone playing volleyball
Here are some individual 'posey' type photos of team soba (remember we were dressed up in those socks for fun...I think we looked like those Jap Tepanyaki chefs with our headbands):

So how did we go on that first day? We played 4 games (won 2, lost 1 and drew 1...due to the time limit imposed on the game). It was really exciting and fun to take part in it all as well as having won the very first game..that was a moment to remember! :) haha. The rest of the time was spent either watching the girl's game or having referee duty :P or just lazing around and getting sleep. But when it got to game time...we were all turned on and serious...haha. Here are some of the pics from the games and the day:

Our first game was at 9am and last game was 5pm...so we all had to spend pretty much the entire day there on the volleyball court (which was in Australia National University - ANU). Went back to the apartment for a swim and sauna :) which was nice. Needless to say we were pretty tired and hungry...I could have eaten a horse haha...so the entire group then went to this Thai/Chinese resturant in Canberra (for those who have visited Canberra...they would know that there is pretty much a limited variety of food there so resturants tend to combine cultures..haha)...food was ok :P


After dinner, and a quick walk around the Canberra CBD (again...for those who have been to Canberra...this is quite possible :P) we went back to our apartment (again to our room :P) where the girls thought up some 'party' games haha...pretty fun...and well the photos below only tell part of the story...trust me nothing rude was happening (but there were lots of laughs and involved vegetables...haha)...

A large group photo of all of us with some of penalties we had to wear if we'd lost the games :P haha...

After the fun and games, some of us stayed in the apartment to play (boring) cards...while the brave few of us (me, Dave, Nick, Leo, Lysa, Alicia, and Lorris) all went out to sample the Canberra clubbing scene. It was pretty ok and there were lots of Asians around (probably students studying at ANU) all dressed up...we went to this R&B club, after seeing the long line at our first preference...still had a good time and partied until about 3am (conveniently forgetting we had a volleyball game the nxt morning) ahha.. As usual what could be better than maggi mee at 3-4am in the morning before going to bed and after a hard night of clubbing and partying :) Best maggi mee I have had for awhile...

The next morning, we had bacon and eggs again...and got ready for our final game...but this time a little more relaxed :). The girls team won a few games after some initial gelling problems...and we unfortunately missed out on the semis, losing to a team that had the current Australian volleyball team's head coach :P needless to say they were really super super good...*(wonder what they are doing in Div 3) haaha...



We had a late lunch in Canberra and drove back to Sydney...with plenty of memories and bruises to show for it (I had both of these severe bruises on both my hips :P)...

posted by Darren at 6:47 PM