Titans USA Tour 2023

“Everyone should believe in something. I believe I should go to the beach.” Unknown

Who would have thought, on one of the few mornings we could sleep in to whatever time we wished, there were a few of our tourers up bright and early – and they were boys! What is this topsy turvy land?

But there was a reason (and it wasn’t to see the sunrise), Jack, Jackson, Mitch, Finn and Domo were off on a 6.00am fishing charter. Great to see them getting involved in all the island has to offer. And, drumroll please, Mitch and Jackson actually caught fish. The next crew off the on the high seas at 7.15am were the two Harry’s, Cayde, Jonty and Mackye with Harry Mules returning with the goods. Looks like it’s fish for tea!

After two and a half weeks of go, go, go, we’re actually getting used to the relaxed way of life. We don’t mind this ‘Fiji Time’ thing. Today, our holiday makers have enjoyed more snorkelling, swimming, and a mini golf extravaganza – there’s even a rumour of a hole in one from Harry Mules. Would you believe the spasmodic wi-fi reception has actually been a blessing, with the students sitting and talking, without a word of a lie…and they even seemed to enjoy it. I know it’s crazy!

Tonight on our last tour night, we experienced a Fiji celebration. Our young travellers had the chance to learn, understand and taste kava. While it may not have been a crowd favourite, they all braved a taste with some even heading back for seconds. Brave soldiers.

Knowing they could drink kava and survive may have given them just enough courage to hit the karaoke stage. Geoff and Teangi led the way with a heart-warming duet from Frozen. Very authentic. Bayley and Matilda sang what we think was a Taylor Swift song (we could only tell that because number 1 Swifty fan, Sharon was dancing). My word that was a long song - it hurt! Coming up next was Bucks singing an oldie (showing his age) 'Don't Go Out In the Rain' - a favourite of the Northies. From there it was a plethora of singers and even some back up dancers, before our grand finale featuring Johnny and Charles on the stage, with some reluctant crowd surfing by Johnny (and they even caught him!)

The Flag!

As we come to the end of the tour, it gives us a chance to sit back and reflect on our flag winners over the tour.  While we’ve had a lull of flagging over the past few days(purely just for the fact that we were busy, not that we didn’t have anyone worthy), we need to acknowledge the stellar recipients who earnt their flag title – they’re all special (very special) in their own ways. Tonight, however was an important night and we had to vote, it was time to decide the most memorable flag moment as well as the official overall flag winner for 2023- some (not all) would say highly sought after accolades.

For the most memorable flag, we narrowed the contenders down to five. Drum roll please. 1. Geoffrey Slattery and the lock-up on Alcatraz Island (Day 4). 2. Johnny Gosse and the tale of the napping shower (Day 7). 3. Ellie Bouchier and the mystery night-time bed swapping saga (Day 6).  4. Cayde Watson and Mackye Baron in Wrestlemania 2023 (Day 12), and, 5. Sam Domaschenz and the great coca-cola fiasco (Day 10).

It was a close vote, but congratulations to Geoffrey for locking down the most memorable flag title, edging out Cayde and Mackye for the win. Congratulations Geoff, you have the title of the first Titan to be kept captive at Alcatraz!

For the crowning of the 2023 Overall Flag Winner, the voting became more serious.  Everyone had the chance to vote on who they thought deserved the honour of being the Grand Poohbah of the flag. There was excitement at the awards ceremony, and a fair bit of nerves from some of the more obvious contenders. In the end, there were three contenders. 1. Ellie Bouchier for her constant night shenanigans of sleep-walking, sleep-wrestling and bed-hopping; 2. Johnny Gosse for shower-napping, trying to pay for items with his room card and his de ja vu moment at the hotel (which we’d already stayed at); 3. Mackye Baron for walking into a pole, his part in Wrestlemania and attracting the ladies.

It was a close vote, there was counting and recounting, but in the end the majority rolled and Johnny Gosse was hailed the champion. A worthy recipient. Congratulations on the title Johnny, wear it with pride.

And that brings us to the end of the 2023 USA Tour Blog, I hope you’ve enjoyed the updates on our daily activities. It’s been busy, but we’ve loved it. We’re leaving our Fijian island oasis at 4.00am tomorrow (let’s see if the boys are up and as up and about as they were this morning for fishing) before boarding our 8.00am flight back to Australia. Then it’s a six hour bus trip home. We’ll be tired and some of us will no doubt be cranky 😊 but we’ll be home. We’ll see you all soon.

Signing out!