GRAEME'S BLOG DAY ONE

You are quite correct. There was no DAY ZERO.

If you are reading this it means that I got the dongle working and managed to post from the bus taking us from Buenos Aires Pistarini Airport to the Mayflower Suites Hotel. If you are not reading this then we are both in a lot of trouble.

I am writing this on our Airbus A340 about 90 minutes short of landing. The crew are coming round with another “meal”. They have already served us lunch and a sandwich over the past 10 hours but none of the offer resembled real food. Heaven knows what's coming now. Oh, plastic ham and cheese roll, palmeritas (pretzels), mixed fruit cup and a KitKat. Could have been worse.

Winding back to Heathrow at 4:30 this morning, pretty much everyone was on time (last arrivals Tolan Padre y Hijo, do we have a fines committee?). Arrangements were smooth as and the Gulliver's rep complimented us on how well behaved the boys were. Some sports tour groups, she said, were a nightmare, messing about with trollies and causing a nuisance; girls worse than boys. Our lads, she said, were a credit to their club. Good start.

Madrid flight was about 20 minutes late taking off and then circled in turbulence for another 40 minutes before landing in a misty/smoggy 43 degrees. Straight from gate to gate by bus (Barajas Airport is huge) and no time for shopping or searching for travel adapters. Boarded up on our Airbus (342 seats in all), 50 odd MRFC tour fund raising T Shirts scattered all over economy class. The plane is named Miguel Hernandez. I asked a wheelchair man who MH was and he said a writer, he thought. Didn't know anything written by him and why would he? Someone Google it for me and add a comment, we might as well learn some culture.

Sources close to Gareth tell me that BACRC and Uni de Rosario have asked us to play 2 mixed teams and St.Brendan's and the Uruguay RFU plan to put out one U17 and one U16 side against A and B selections from us. Perfect. U16 in these parts means 1994 born and U17 1993, so our squad straddles both categories. The best laid plans, of course. The BACRC games are planned to start at 14:00 local tomorrow (18:00 BST) and I will try to get scores up near real-time.

So, maybe more later if I can stay awake for the welcome meal. If not, mañana.

Couldn't get the wireless to work in the van, so sent from hotel wifi. Here's us in the van:

DAY MINUS ONE

The tour match shirt looks fab, doesn't it?

Sadly, Pam's and mine were ordered after the main batch and have not arrived. I think Martin Sanders is in the same boat. We think they will be with Hawkinsport tomorrow while we are flying. Missed them by hours. I am going to see how much it would cost to get them couriered out because I really want to wear the colours with pride and support the boys properly.

Snapped up the last fridge magnet and a tea towel plus collected speeches of Councillor Dudley and a an audio-cassette of Queen Street at 2am on a Saturday morning. That should give them a rounded impression of our town. The Maidenhead Heritage Centre knew who we were and exactly what we wanted when Leo and I walked in. I guess they have seen many of you over the last couple of weeks. Have we all bought fridge magnets and tea towels? Oh well.

Belatedly checked the electric plug standards and discovered that Argentina and Uruguay have different standards (see last post) and that I am not sure the universal adapters we have will cover either of them. No point in panicking now, it is too late, so going to take what we have and try them. If not, the first part of our Buenos Aires City Tour may be finding a shop with 50 travel adapters to sell! How else will the boys style their hair and the coaches recharge their iPods?

The waiting is almost over. Set the alarm for O Dark Thirty. Vamonos.

ELECTRIC PLUG ADAPTERS

Wouldn't you know it. Argentina and Uruguay have different electrical plug sockets.

http://www.adaptelec.com/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&zenid=849029c48a2fd05c0e8e805da3cdefdb&keyword=uruguay

Argentina has the Australia/Chinese type, Uruguay the Italian type.

We don't have either!

GRAEME'S BLOG DAY MINUS TWO

I am going to write a personal blog at least every day from now on. These are my personal thoughts on a trip which Pam and I have been looking forward to for about three years, since the long term tour plan for the age group was first sketched out. I plan to get half-time and full-time scores up for all our matches and to publish full match reports within 24 hours, but it is not just a rugby tour, is it? Hopefully we will also be able to get on- and off-field stuff from other authors up, including photos and text from Dennis Orchard as official photographer (Dennis, I now have Photoshop Elements, as you suggested), and material from players, staff and supporters. Email me or call me to discuss. As for my own content, I am going to be honest and straightforward and express my opinions. I hope I do not offend anyone but, if I do, I invite you to add comments or, if the offence is egregious, email me and I will publish unedited any rebuttal you wish.

We should all be very grateful to the organising committee and the other individuals who have made this possible. You all know who you are and I want to say to you now that anything I write here which seems to be a criticism of you or what you have achieved is not intended as such. Don't take it personally, don't doubt for a moment that your efforts have been appreciated, and don't let the odd moan about frayed T Shirt hems spoil your day.

So, here we go. Tried to get Billet Gifts yesterday only to find Maidenhead Heritage Centre closed on Mondays. Should have done it last week. Received Argentina SIM cards at second time of asking. Pleased with the tour polo shirts – South American Blue perfect for supporting Los Teros in Uruguay, apart from anything else. Not so pleased with the player's violet T Shirt – hem has come unstitched before it has even been worn. Hope it is an exception and not the rule. The Gulliver's Travel bags are great and so are the wheelie bags. The Piranha training (spectating in my case) jackets feel warm and well made. Can't wait for tonight to see the tour match shirts!

I trust all the boys are preparing conscientiously in the same way Leo is – playing Xbox until 4am?

I would like to put up a Tour Sponsor's section in the blog header. Can I get logos and website links for Tokyo Marine and Inchcape Shipping? And for any other sponsor? Email to grmsmth6@gmail.com, please.

Tasty Bird

The Southern Lapwing, known as Tero in Uruguay. Has vicious spurs - as pictured. Will defend its nest and young vigorously against other animals, however large.

Passing not its strong point - tends to puncture the ball.

Buenos Aires Rugby & Cricket Club U17s

...against Newman on 30 May 2010.

TRAFFIC NEWS

Before they were arrested by the FBI, our sources have passed on the news that Junction 8/9 of the M4 might be closed from 22:00 to 06:00 on the night of 7th/8th July. Add 5 mins to your planned journey time and go the other way.