A total of 385 Medway tourists, all proudly wearing matching tour tops, descended on Hemsby Beach Holiday Park for a weekend full of rugby, laughter and a healthy dose of chaos.

On Saturday, we were hosted by North Walsham Rugby Club, who very kindly opened their doors to us over the Easter weekend. We enjoyed brilliant rugby, great food and the warmest of welcomes. Thank you for having us.

That evening, with our Movie Tour theme in mind, tourists filled the holiday park dressed as characters from their favourite films. From Mrs Doubtfire to Austin Powers, they were certainly a sight to behold.

Easter morning saw coaches transformed into giant bunnies, adorned with plastic eggs, being chased around by mini tourists desperate for a chocolate fix. In the afternoon, we all came together to enjoy a delicious hog roast from The Spitting Pig, an Easter egg hunt with Buxton, and plenty of fun with tug of war. Then came the main event. Our Under 11s, on their final Minis tour, performed their very own rugby version of Thriller, complete with choreographed dance moves and scarlet and gold smoke booms.

Hot tub parties, scooters, and hundreds of pound coins were turned into thousands of tiny paper tickets, later exchanged for penny sweets and squishies. Red carpets appeared for Oscar acceptance speeches. Did the Lions ever get their carpet back?

Ozzy the snake made his usual appearances, slithering around the park and sneaking into many unlocked cars before finally settling with the Coombs family. I am pleased to announce he is now curled up for a well earned rest on Bella’s bed until the next tour. Coach John Gilbert finally discovered the realities of first aid with stick tape and a white coat. Billy Humphrey learned that “this is a rugby tour”, and Chris Kent finally found the right toy pig and managed to feed his family.

And finally, a massive shoutout to Kirsty Gill, our tour organiser for the past three seasons, who was awarded the Jan Pattenden Spirit of Tour Shield. Very well deserved.

Thank you to everyone for bringing the fun, chaos and Medway Magic.
From your very proud and (slightly exhausted) Minis Chair.

Until next time, that’s a wrap!