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New Zealand 2011
Well, that certainly was a trip of a lifetime. 60 Aussie tennis battlers took over the North island of New Zealand for 17 days…. New Zealand may never be the same! On December 6, 2011, 12 eager Bowral competitors, including chaperones Cherie Martin and Cass Chidiac boarded the new A380 plane along with an Australia-wide group of 60. With a mixture of excitement and trepidation we hit Auckland airport ready for our adventure of tennis and R&R around the north island tournament scene. Little were we to know of the camaraderie, fun and life long friendships we were encounter over the next two and a half weeks. The Kiwi hospitality kicked off immediately on our arrival at Hamilton where we participated in the Waikato Pepsi Cola Junior Open.
The tennis at this event was of the highest quality, with our kids playing some great matches.
Matches of note included a nail biter on day one where Najat Chidiac defeated Ellie Ashley from Melbourne. The end score of 7/5, 6/7, 12-10 reflecting the battle.Cameron Poulos and Daniel Wylie won their opening doubles encounter in another beauty, 6/7, 6/2, 10-3. This match was against players from the Cook Islands. They then played an amazing match to go down against the number one seeds 6/3, 6/3. In the under twelve's they played against a pair from Tahiti and Fiji, such great memories and friendships built from all around the world.Daniel had great success, including winning the 10 boys singles Plate event. His final against Robert Healy from the Cook Islands was monumental. Dan showed terrific spirit to come from a set and 3-0 down to claim the title 10-6 in the Super Tie-Break.Lachlan Schereck won a 12 boys consolation match that had the crowd looking for their heart pills. Lachlan defeated Chris Iramayan from Melbourne, 9/8 after saving 4 match points.In a close loss, Tom Lindsay and Finn Corbett showed some great heart against a Cook Island/New Zealand pair. They grabbed the second set 7/6 after losing the first 6-0. In the end they fell at the final hurdle, 10-8. We then headed to Gisborne on the East Coast to participate in stage two of the Waikato Junior series. The drive through the gorges of New Zealand from West to East coast was a sight to behold and also a test for the junior’s lolly-filled stomachs, yet we managed and after a massive welcome from the local club in the form of a BBQ dinner and celebration, we were ready to play.This tournament provided some real highlights for the Bowral crew. Daniel Wylie and Hanan Chidiac made the finals of the 10 boy’s and 12 girl’s events respectively. This was such a great performance from the two players. Tom Lindsay made the semi finals of the 12 boy’s singles event after a massive all Bowral match against Lachlan Schereck in the quarterfinal. Nick Wilson and Lleyton Gayford had some great matches in “gizzy” after having to play in the under 16 events. Cameron Poulos made the final of the plate event in the under 10 singles, before losing to giant Samoan, Marcus Fong, 7-4.In Gisborne we were also treated to a Haka performance from members of the New Zealand Junior Haka champions. This was in conjunction with a traditional hungie dinner. This was all held at our accommodation on Waeki Beach, the location of the first sunrise earth receives each day. The next adventure took us to the Art-Deco capital of the world, Napier, for lunch before heading off to Great Lake Taupo to watch Tom Lindsay take on the Bungee jump. It was awesome and so was Tom’s effort. After a few Aussie’s experienced the Bungee we headed to the volcanic region of Rotorua where we were in heaven as we immersed ourselves in the hot sulphur springs. A welcome reward for our exhausted competitors.Our challenge event at Rotorua was a real highlight as the Aussies defeated the Kiwis to win the Michael Kinder Cup. A great result, where all our players enjoyed great success.Now we were off to the Rotorua fun park where we enjoyed the luge ride and the Bungee swing held over the beautiful view of the volcano mouth. Auckland was the final destination where all players had some time to shop, sight see, and solidify their new found friendships before heading home from a trip never to be forgotton.
