Let me start this out by saying wow. And wow again. We started out the day getting our costumes and such ready, then took the bus into town around 1ish to grab some grub from the grrocery store then head to the stadium. I had yet to eat anything, so Ann and I bought a loaf of bread, and because beer is $7.50 each at the stadium, we bought a six pack of Tui tall boys for $13. We sat in the trainstation and wolfed down the bread, then headed to the bathroom to be the classy, classy ladies that we are to skull (aka shotgun) our beer. This was Accomplishment #1 of about 3 of the night, as I have just barely begun to enjoy beer, let alone be able to down it like a boss. After about two and a half for me and 2 for Ann, we put our third one behind the garbage can in the hopes it might still be there after the game, and headed, somewhat drunk, to the stadium.
It was a great walk there, everybody was so jovial and happy! Got some pictures with All Blacks and Canadian fans (note: our costumes were AWESOME!), and even the newspaper people wanted pictures of us! We went to Ann's and Hilary's seats first, which turned out to be only one row and a couple seats apart, then I headed to mine across the stadium, stopping at the beer station along the way ;). I thought I might be able to find them in the crowd, so that we could all wiggle our bums at the camera at the same time, but I wasn't. No matter, I ended up sitting beside this Kiwi dad and his 7/8 year old son, whom I had a friendly cheering match with. I was a lone spec of red in a surrounding sea of black, which was a bit comical when they sang the anthem as I was the only person in about three rows to be belting it out. I stayed in my seat, which was actually a really good seat, for about half of the first half, until Ann came and got me as there was an empty seat beside hers. So away we headed, both pretty toasted at this point, back to her seats. It was a ridiculous time, the two of us, cheering at the top of our lungs, for our team. I've already decided that I'm going to every World Cup after this one, and following Canada around, because cheering for YOUR team is just the best, you're so much more intense, so much more enthusiastic. It was great! I'm actually pretty proud of the boys because we got points on the board, and FIRST at that! Also, I've decided that I am going into physio, so of course I will be following the Canadian team around because I'll be one of their physios! :D
We left the stadium, and on the way out met up with some of the people we'd played touch rugby with. Ann and I were eager to get to the train station bathroom and see what had become of our beer (sadly it was gone), and get to McDonalds to ensure we would be able to last all night, so we said we'd meet up later and headed on our way. McDonalds was deliciously greasy and gross, just like it ought to be, and after, we headed to a pub called Betty's to meet up with our friend Tony, whom we had met on Matui-Sommes Island the week before. We watched the Rugby League Final there and drank water (pacin' ourselves, Accomplishment #2!). For those of you that don't know, Rugby League and Rugby Union are two different sports, Union being the Rugby World Cup game. This was the first time that the NZ Warriors had made it to the Final, so of course they turned off the RWC match to watch it. Unfortunately the Warriors didn't win, but it was still a good game to watch. It's a much quicker game than Union, it seems, and you need to have more of a head for the game I would say. After that, we said good bye, and headed over to The Establishment- oh The Establishment :)- as that's where Hilary and the other Canadians were.
Mom, you've always told me that timing is everything, and boy, are you right! Ann and I show up there, get ourselves a drink and head back to the table, then what do I see when I look out the window, but the Canadian Team Bus and all the Canadians getting out of it! :O! Talk about turning into a 14 year old girl! So I elbowed my way to the front of people at the door, and saw them come in! Kleeburger came in and Hilary, Ann and I got a picture with him, which due to the drunken state of the photographer turned out blurry.
Before we parted, I asked "May I please touch your beard?"
He looked at me. "Go ahead," he said.
And oh man, I sure did! I got both hands in there and HANDLED it, and it was GLORIOUS!!! Surprisingly soft too. Accomplishment #3, and the pinnacle of my Rugby World Cup experience 2011, DONE, like a boss!
So all the Canadians went upstairs, and to get there you had to have a special band, which only special people got, so I went into the throng of people on the dance floor to shake what my momma gave me. I tried to talk to the bouncer, who was a good looking Maori. I felt bad for him because he had started doing bouncer stuff at 9am and wasn't off until 2am so I bought him a Redbull. Due to the nature of our costumes, my bum was slapped quite a few times, though apparently the beard was the most drawing thing about the outfit. I ended up dancing on this chair, and then giving out these maple leaf tatoos to many people in jovial Canadian fashion, trying to stick them onto people's cheeks, first by using beer then as my drunkeness progressed, licking them to their faces. At this point, some of the Canadian players came down, and I laugh at myself to say that I was licking one of their faces, trying to get this tatoo to stick. He was like "Eww gross!" But I thought it was hilarious, who wouldn't? Anywho, so a little while later I ended up talking to this chick who had a band, and she got me upstairs! Kleeburger was gone at this point, so I couldn't get a better photo :(, but I still had a blast! My costume was a huge hit, and I boogied for about an hour I'd guess up there, until I was bored. I didn't ask most of the players for pictures because I didn't want to be that person who's flakey and that because, sadly, I don't know who most of them are (though I do know they're all really good looking!). I ended up talking with the forwards' coach for a few minutes, which was cool to get a different perspective of the game. I also saw the bus driver and gave him many accolades for his good driving skills :P.
I headed back down stairs, and started partying it up again. The rest of the night is a blur, I have some photos, but the rest of it was a lot of dancing and more drinking and more bum touching. Ann and I stayed until 5am, or when the bar closed, both of us really happy and stoked on an amazingly awesome and wonderful night.
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