Recode Magazine

The British Lions are set for their latest tour. Taking part in Australia the tour is set to land in top cities such as Melbourne and Sydney. So why not make 2013 a year to remember? Join the Lions for some great rugby and the chance to visit one of the finest regions on the planet.

The Team:

Reaching Lions squad status is undoubtedly the pinnacle of achievement for any rugby player and making the test team for the 2013 Lions tour would naturally be even better. Thus many hopefuls will be looking to make an impression in the two major ‘shop windows’ of the new season, namely the European competitions and, of course, the six-nations tournament that is set for February and March.

Indeed, head coach Warren Gatland has estimated that after six months of scouting he will be ready to name his official squad for the Lions tour 2013 fixtures by the end of April. No doubt many of the ‘maybes’ and ‘possibles’ will have changed by this time, some through loss of form, others possibly through injury.

However, experts and pundits are predicting that many of the players who went to South Africa in 2009 will be retained for the Lions tour 2013 fixtures. Included here are players such as Jamie Roberts, Tommy Bowe, Adam Jones, Mike Phillips and Brian O’Driscoll, all of whom will be hoping for the nod. In addition, many are certain that both back-row Stephen Ferris and fly-half Jonathan Sexton, both of Ireland, will be certain inclusions. Indeed, many are predicting that the Irish team along with the Welsh, will provide the bulk of the players as the Lions look for their first tour win since 1997.

The Country:
The last time the Lions toured Australia was back in 2001 in a tour that saw over 25,000 Lions fans join the team down under. This tour was by all accounts nothing less than thrilling and the 2013 is set to be even better with even more fans expected to make the trip.

Also with everything that the Australian region has to offer it is not hard to see why. If you can drag yourself away from the rugby for a day or two unearthing the delights of this beautiful country is a chance not to be missed. From the untold attractions of Sydney, think harbour and opera house, to the spectacular barrier reef and from the glorious Cairns to the wonders of cosmopolitan Melbourne, Australia is only limited by one’s imagination.

The Fixtures:
The tour kicks off with a match against the Barbarians. An historic game that is set to be held in Hong Kong on Saturday June 1st, the match will mark the beginning of this 125th anniversary tour that includes a further nine matches spanning the whole of Australia. The highlights of these will of course be the three test series matches which are due to be held in Brisbane (Saturday June 22), Melbourne (Saturday June 29) and Sydney (Saturday July 6) respectively.

The tests will be bridged by six further tour matches which include the opener against Western Force on Wednesday June 5th at Patersons Stadium, the match v Queensland Reds at Sunscorp Stadium (Sat June 8), a combined NSW/Queensland team will meet the Lions at the Hunter Stadium (Tue June 11), NSW Waratahs v the Lions will be at Sydney Football Stadium (Sat June 15), the ACT Brumbies entertain the Lions in Canberra (Tue June 18th) and finally the Lions meet the Melbourne Rebels at AAMI Park on Tuesday June 25th.

AUTHOR BIO
Simon Bell writes regularly on the subject of sports tours for a wide range of related websites and blogs. He has been patiently waiting for official confirmation of the Lions tour 2013 fixtures since South Africa 2009 and plans to visit http://www.gulliverstravel.co.uk/rugby/british-irish-lions-2013 for some tour package ideas.

THUS CHILLINGLY NAMED by Australian polar explorer Douglas Mawson, a forbidding stretch of Antarctica’s George V Coast drew 12 hardy Australians and New Zealanders. To arrive during the 100th anniversary of Mawson’s birth,they set out in the Dick Smith Explorer, a 65-foot steel-hulled schooner designed as a fishing trawler, bound for one of the windiest places in the world. The Oceanic Research Foundation supported their goals: to compare data with Mawson’s on climate, wildlife, and the coastal ice sheet, and to study icebergs.

Sailing from Sydney, the crew loaded final provisions at Hobart, Tasmania, then got under way to spend Christmas (1) at sea, where they relished a feast of ham,chicken, roast potatoes, wine, and Christmas pudding. The New Year (2) brought the test of the first gale, and a first glimpse of the southern lights. About a week later (3) the sailors sighted their first ice and neared the south magnetic pole (4), discovered in a different location by Mawson in 1909. While under its influence, the crew relied on their sun compass, though overcast shies once rendered it useless for ten hours.

Explorer reached the George V Coast (inset below) on January 10, anchoring at Cape Denison in an arm of Commonwealth Bay that Mawson had called the boat harbor (5). There, mapping and other studies were performed—along with a wedding. But fierce weather caused a near disaster, and down the coast dangerous pack ice near Mertz Glacier Tongue (6) thwarted measurements.

Finally there were the icebergs. Many sci­entists believe these huge floating fragments of ice shelves and glaciers could supply pre­cious water to arid areas of the earth if a practical method for towing the bergs long distances could be devised. The waters around Cape Denison abound with ice­bergs, offering ideal conditions for study of the effects of wind and wave action, impor­tant information should the bergs ever be towed to distant places.

BY EARLY DECEMBER I had gathered a team of 11 scientists, expert sailors,and general crew members. Six of the team had had previous antarctic experience: Harry Keys, a geochemist; Karen Williams, field assistant; Jeni Bassett and Paul Ensor, both marine biologists; Dick Heffernan, a geophysicist and mountaineer; and Dot Smith, a veteran crew member from one of my earlier expeditions.

The newcomers to Antarctica were Don Richards, my first mate and radio operator; Garry Satherley, a newspaper deputy editor who was to be ship’s handyman and me­chanic; Barbara Muhvich, Garry’s wife and fellow journalist; Malcolm Hamilton, a tele­vision director and cameraman; and Marga­ret Huenerbein, a sailor and veteran trek leader in the Himalayas.

The team was divided almost evenly be­tween Australians and New Zealanders. As in the past I chose a sailing vessel for the expedition, to demonstrate that even in navigating through hazardous seas conser­vation of energy is possible.

Our vessel was a 65-foot three-masted schooner with a quarter-inch-thick steel hull capable of withstanding the inevitable colli­sions with ice. I named the ship Dick Smith Explorer after a fellow Australian and prin­cipal supporter of the expedition. Sponsor of the project was the Oceanic Research Foun­dation, a nonprofit organization I had estab­lished in 1977 for study of all aspects of earth’s seas.