A PACIFIC ocean sunset provided a spectacular backdrop to the Outback Queensland Barbarians’ first night in San Diego. The city lies in the far south-western corner of the United States below Los Angeles, stretching out along the Pacific coast and the US-Mexican border. The deck at Canes Bar and Grill at Mission Bay provided a prime spot to watch the sun set over the ocean, a first for many of the Outback Barbarians who are used to seeing the sun rise over the Pacific in Queensland. Following an 8:30am training session the next day, the Barbarians headed into town for some sight seeing, and rented a string of mountain bikes to tour the beachfront and city park areas. Emerald’s Kelly Edwards and Mount Isa’s Andy Homuk were able to teach their team-mates a few tricks learned on BMX bikes as youngsters.

A HIGH razor-wired fence is all that seperates San Diego in California from Tijuana in Mexico but the two places are worlds apart in every way. Compared to the relative opulence of Southern California, Tijuana spreads out below the border as a sea of slum-like houses shrouded in a haze of smog and dust. It's central shopping area is a favoured tourist destination for its cheap silver and leather goods, Mexican food and tequila and Corona bars. The highway from Tijuana back to San Diego is the world's largest land border crossing where no less than 25 lanes of traffic crawl through the customs booths. The Barbarians had an action packed two-hour trip to Tijuana on Friday where they loaded up on sombreros and ponchos and spent some quality time with a bartender who provided a unique tequila drinking experience with a towel and whistle.

RUGBY’S status as a minor sport in the US means that local clubs rarely have access to quality playing fields. The Barbarians have encountered some hard playing surfaces on their tour compared to the relatively well-tended fields they’re used to at home. Most of the players had bark off from head to toe following their four match stint at Missoula where the surface was rigid and like sliding on bitumen. The field at San Diego was softer thanks to some good grass cover but the surface did a fair imitation of melon-hole country with undulations and divots from one sideline to the other. A few of the boys likened it to trying to run on cultivation. The players have also had to put aside their modesty as well – no rugby field they have played on in the States has had change rooms so all gear changes etc have been a public event on the sideline.

THE San Diego Zoo is renowned world wide for the diversity of its exhibits, which includes tigers, pandas, polar bears, gorillas, eagles and just about every other animal known to man. The Barbarians visited the zoo on Wednesday before their match against the combined Armada and Aztecs team. Most were impressed with the zoo but a few wondered whether the wool was being pulled over their eyes by one exhibit which the zoo had listed as a “New Guinean Singing Dog”. It looked every bit like a standard Aussie dingo... and it wasn't singing.

WHILE most of the Outback Queensland Barbarians fly back to Australia on Sunday night (Monday morning US time), Condamine's Sonny Power and Bollon's George Winks are staying on in the US to work during the wheat harvesting season. Sonny and George flew to Calgary in Canada on Friday where they joined up with a contract harvesting team of 16 people, including Condamine's Riley Sturrock who is already there. The group then travels to the John Deere factory at Illinois where they pick up three brand new headers and anoter prototype header, and then they travel to the Texas/Oklahoma border to begin work. The group, which includes New Zealanders, Germans and Dutch, will operate four headers and support machinery including trucks and chaser bins, and will stay together until the harvest season cuts out in November/December. Goondiwindi's Trent Raymond has also left the touring group and will spend the next three weeks in Canada catching up with friends he met during a working stint in Alberta several years ago.

IT would be almost impossible to visit the US without taking in a McDonalds restaurant at least once or twice. Given that a fair percentage of Aussie beef exports to the US end up as hamburger patties for fast food outlets like McDonalds, the Barbarians have been patriotically supporting the Queensland beef industry by working their way through a few tonnes of hamburger meat while in the States. Maccas outlets are almost everywhere – about the only thing you see more of than Golden Arches in America are US flags. McDonalds in the US is relatively similar to Australia but with a few notable exceptions – the size of the meals available and the lack of healthy eating options such as salads. Double and triple stacked burgers dominate the menu options in the US, and there is little chance you will be left wanting more. The smallest size of drinks and fries compares to the biggest size available in Australia, and the meals just get bigger and bigger from there.