Touch

One of the best things I've done since coming to Singapore is start playing touch rugby. It's different to normal rugby same way as American football is different from touch football, therefore a lot more people can enjoy it.
It's amazing exercise running around for 2-3 hours in heat and humidity, starting and stopping, run forward, run back, down, up, jump, down, throw.
The biggest difference is you're not allowed to tackle the person with the ball, you simply touch them and they put the ball down. Another is instead of scrums to restart the play you just play the ball either by rolling it in between your legs, or if it's a penalty or successful try by touching it to your foot and going.
The views are incredible too! Most of the times we play on the river at the heart of the financial district. Other times we play on a man-made beach.
The best thing about playing though is the team; I only started a few weeks ago and they welcomed me (and any other new player) with open arms and taught me to play. Thanks team for being so great!
I'm already looking forward to the next game!

What new things have you learned to do recently?

Cropool Anyone?

Has anyone ever heard of cropool, or croquet pool? My guess is probably not; Have-A-Shot in Wanaka claims to be the only place in the world that has it! Chris was pretty good at it. For me on the other hand, never having played croquet before, it was a learning experience to say the least.

This is what the "field"(?)/"table"(?) looks like.

And this is how you play:

I'm not sure I'd like to play again, but it was cool experiencing something not many people have.

Has anyone played anything like this before? Or maybe even cropool?

Hiking, Glenorchy and Middle Earth

The hikes around this area are incredible. Glenorchy is one of those places that you see in movies all the time but don't know what you're looking at; Lord of the Rings was one of the most popular movies that was filmed here. It's peaceful, beautiful, full of amazing walks and hikes, and almost no people live here. We were lucky enough to go on a hike here in our first week in the South Island. This hike is from a little random trail half an hour away from the city.

And these are from Glenorchy.

(The water in this pool is actually clean enough to drink!)

Middle Earth fans,
Q: Can you guess which scenes from LOTR these were in?

A: Lothlorien, Amon Hen, Orthanc and Isengard

My First Rugby Match

First time I saw rugby being played was at school. Not really understanding the rules of an oval shaped ball being kicked forward and thrown backwards I'd see the team practice as I'd walk to the gym. Then when I came to New Zealand it was rugby everywhere. And then I learned that it wasn't just one kind, but two. Two different types of rules, just in New Zealand, league and union. And then you have Aussie rules, and Gallic football, the Sevens, and Six Nations, and I'm pretty sure that's maybe half of them. Great. And then the New Zealand Warriors were playing at a stadium near by, the only New Zealand league team. Chris got us tickets and a few of us got together and went to watch.

The energy was amazing, drinking was plenty, and the stands were full despite the drizzly weather. We watched the first half from the stands.

 

And the second from behind the try line. I much rather prefer the second view as the players were scoring only a few feet in front of us. You can actually see how physically demanding this game is when you're that close. By the end I finally grasped the basics by asking way too many questions.

 

 It would take too long to explain what everything is called or how it's done, but basically:

• The game starts on a coin toss in the tunnel, then whoever wins gets to pick who gets to receive the ball first. 
• Then the opposite guys have x amount of tackles to get the ball back. 
• Kicking forward is allowed, as in throwing backwards. 
• You cannot tackle anyone unless they have the ball. If the ball goes forward it automatically goes to the opposite team. 
• Penalties get solved by either a scrum (guys all hundded together pushing the other teams guys) or a line out (one guy from each team gets picked up to try and catch the ball). 
• The referee is king and if a player gets hurt, unless is on the verge of a concussion, he usually continues to play.

And there you have the basic rules of rugby.