Dave Gallaher by Matt Elliott

Author:Matt Elliott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2012-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

Ka mate ka mate ka ora kaora,

Ka mate ka mate ka ora kaora

Te nei te ta nga ta pu huru huru

Na na e piki mai whaka white te ra

Hu pa nei, hu ka nei, hu pa nei kau pa nei white te ra

Together we live, together we die

This man we bring is the murderous one,

He slew as long as the sun shone.

So shame on him! Shame on him!

Shame on him as long as the sun shines.

Once out of the Southern Ocean, sailing conditions improved and heat replaced cold — which created its own problems. O’Sullivan suffered sunstroke and Gallaher suffered an illness for a few days. It was suspected to be related to the sickness that had hospitalized him in Africa. Fortunately, there were few serious accidents on the trip. Gillett fell on the deck and suffered a cut around the eye. Johnston, too, fell badly, grazing the skin on both shins, which became infected. McGregor suffered a bad strain of some sort, while Tyler twisted his back in a scrum session. Newton was clobbered in the chest during a boxing bout and had to refrain from practice for a number of days. Wallace, whose shoulder was still strapped, suffered from a painful toothache. A dentist passenger suggested that the offending incisor should be pulled. However, he had no instruments and the weather had been too rough to conduct such a procedure. Mackrell, too, was ill.

Although the warmer weather was greatly preferable to the cold, several players began to suffer from boils. This was indicative of both the physical demands of the team’s training and the extent to which it was difficult maintaining an active sports team’s personal hygiene on a ship. Small cuts and bruises became infected, and in the warmer climes bacteria quickly spread between players. The infections certainly weren’t symptomatic of poor diet — most of the players were gaining weight on the journey.

The Rimutaka steamed on towards England.

A couple of days out from Plymouth, a fancy dress ball was held. The sporting contests that the players had been competing in came to their conclusion with a series of finals. Gallaher came third in the potato race behind the dead-heating Hunter and Harper. He also won chalking the deck. Such simple events had proved a good light diversion from the heavier demands of training, and were important in keeping the players in good spirits.

On 8 September, in the wee hours of the morning, the players made their way up on deck to see the Eddystone Lighthouse and, shortly before dawn, they were disembarking from the Rimutaka onto a tender to be taken to shore. After six weeks at sea, the team had arrived ‘Home’.

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