Auckland, Cape Reinga, Paihia, The Final, and Beyond

Well the last two weeks have been busy, busy, busy! Also, I am going to be much less detailed in my posts as something Jim said to me really hit home: By putting my stories up on the internet for you, I'm letting you know what's going on, but then I won't have any stories to tell when I get back because you'll already know them all...

Anywho, so after Jim and Marcia's for that one night, we were off to Auckland to stay with Keri Dias, a girl from Smithers who now lives here. That night we went on an international pub crawl, 4 bars, 4 drinks, for $10.  It was a lot of fun and quite the way to break Auckland in; there were games they put on, much drinking and dancing, and in the group of us that went, we had a bucket list for the night that involved things like getting peoples' numbers and writing them on our bodies or getting drinks bought for you. I, in true Cavallin fashion, crossed off quite a few of the tasks, and I am pretty sure I won! Not surprisingly, we spent Friday hungover.

Saturday was the first Semi Final, between France and Wales. Ann and I painted our faces, or rather I painted our faces, saying WALES across our cheeks, each letter in the colour of the Welsh flag. I shall just say there's always a problem when you paint your face looking into a mirror... The atmosphere on the way to the match was good, though during was a bit boring as our section wasn't very cheery, and they stopped selling beer at 10:30, wtf?! That's okay, I got a yummy hamburger and took many ketchups and some tartar sauce from the canteen. Hey, I'm a backpacker, and it was free. Plus the lady at the till thought it was hilarious. The Welsh unfortunately didn't pull through, but ah well, can't do much for that, stupid French, you can blame 'em for everything! :P

Afterwards, we went out with Terrence, an Irishman we met in Raglan, and a met up with a bunch of other Raglan people at this bar called Degree. It was pretty happening, so we stayed there for the entire night, Ann calling 'er a night earlier than I (who knew I was such a party animal?), and me eventually sneaking away with this hombres awesome tophat! It's black with a white fern, but it's a legitimate fabric tophat. Score! There was a group of dudes dressed in black jackets and these hats, most of them super wasted, so I used my ninja skills and got it off one of the guys, who then found another one by the end of the night, so I just kept it. They probably brought extras because they're such legit kit, you could never have too many AB hats! I ended my night around 5am that night, and basically spent all of Sunday in bed/being a bum before heading down to the Fanzone at Cooks Wharf to watch the AB-Australia semi around 7ish. It filled up by 8, the game started at 9; it was pretty packed. It was amazing when the All Blacks scored, EVERYBODY jumped up and started screaming/cheering and hugging and high fiving. Ann and I went out afterwards, back to Degree, but it was wayyy too crowded, so we decided to make the ridiculously long walk to the Ponsonby district to meet up with our Wellington friend, Michael, and his brother. It took us about an hour, we both considered going back, but stuck it out, which was good because it was a reletively decent night. The bar was cool, good vibe, and the drinks good and legitimately made; none of this shot of x, press the button for the mix crap; the bartender took lemon, mashed it with a pestal in the glass, added ice, then shot, then mix, then sugar (?), then garnish and straw. Legit.

Monday saw us meet up with Terrence, whom had decided he also wanted to head up to Northland and Bay of Islands to scuba dive, so we rented a car, Irma. Oh man, driving on the left side of the road is a bit of a headache, honestly I felt like I was learning to drive all over again! Basically, I'd try to turn on the turn signal, but instead would get the windshield wiper! At least the gas pedal was on the same side as back home... Terrence knew i was a bit nervous of driving, so he drove us all the way to Paihia, which was a super windy drive. I'm just going to say it because it has to be said, but their road engineers are terrible over here! Also, their speed limits are ridiculous! They change very frequently, so as soon as you've sped up, you have to slow down, and then as soon as you slow down, you have to speed up -_-. Eugh!

Anywho, so we got up to Paihia, a super nice and chilled out town for the week. On Tuesday, we went up to Cape Reinga, the northernmost point in New Zealand. It's quite beautiful with the lighthouse and you can see where the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean merge, although I honestly thought the wind was going to blow me away! Pictures are on their way, although Ann has posted some on her Facebook.  After we had our fill of the Cape, we went sandboarding on this massive dune! 90 Mile Beach was somewhere in the vicinity, which is actually only about 70 miles long and famous for it's sand dunes, but we never got there. It was a bit of a hike to the top of the dune, this thing was huuuge! And at the top, it was a bit gulp!-enducing. My first run was hilarious, I ended up falling off the boogie board about halfway down and rolled, rather ungracefully (my MO, it seems), all the way to the bottom. It was fun, and funny to watch I'm sure, sand got EVERYWHERE- my mouth, ears, eyes, nose etc.- but I got up and did another run, albiet slowing myself down with my feet quite a bit. We called 'er a day soon after, and barely made it back to civilization as poor Irma was running on fumes, but thankfully we were able to eek it to a gas station, and back to Paihia.

Wednesday, Ann and I just hung out in Paihia, poked around a local market that had been set up for the cruise ship patrons that were in town for the day and explored. That night, we went out for dinner for the first time, aside from buying drunk McDonalds or what have you, to a rib place. Yum! Of course, not as good as home, but it was such a good meal: a big plate of ribs, a platter of assorted finger foods ie. kebabs, battered fish, wings, samosas, two drinks each, dessert, and a glass of port (ooo la de dah! :p). Talk about thoroughly satisfied! Thursday, Ann and I took a boat tour around the Bay of Islands, over the course of which we learned some of the history of the area- it's where white man first established a colony, where NZ's first capital was, and the first white man was born in NZ. We got to see dolphins, so cool!, and the Hole in the Rock, which is a tunnel through an island that's the last bit of land before the Pacific Ocean. That was neat, we also saw some interesting lava flows- straight up and down- which got me thinking about rocks, damn you geology! That night, Ann and I made a large pot of sangria, which I more or less drank half of, and as a result, was rather witty and hilarious; "As a backpacker, sangria kills two birds with one stone: you get drunk, and you don't get scurvy!" We went out to a sports bar for karioki and rocked the house down! The next morning, however, I did not feel like such a rockstar...

We had planned to go see the Kaori Forest and the Father of the Forest, the oldest tree in NZ, approximately 120km away in the morning, but didn't really get on the road until about 1. It was a great day for a drive, even if the roads are super windy and annoying to drive on.  As it turns out, we couldn't find it. The forest wasn't very well marked, there might have been two of them or something, and we wanted to be back to watch the bronze final at 8/8:30, so we said "Screw it!" and drove back to Paihia, stopping for 1/2 an hour at some natural hot pools, perfect for my tired little body. We watched the game at a bar across the street, then headed to bed for an earlyish start the next morning to get back to Auckland.

Saturday night was tame, didn't go out in preparation for Sunday night and the Rugby World Cup 2011 Final, which was INTENSE! I seriously considered splurging for a ticket, but thought the better of it thankfully, and predrank at Keri's- I am the facepainting master, apparently- then went to a fanzone down the street. It was the most amazing thing when NZ scored, EVERYBODY got up screaming and shouting and hugging. The last ten minutes were so incredibly quiet and tense, but oh man, when the end whistle blew, to see the tears of joy down some Kiwi's faces and the general jovial atmosphere, the cheering, hooting, hollernig, "ALLLLLLL BLAAAAAAACKS!", high fives, smiles, laughter, everything, it was AMAZING. Of course, we went out and got liquored, had a great time, stayed out 'til the cows came home, and were super tired and hungover, but happy, the next day.

We had thought to leave on Monday, but that didn't happen due to our state, and so spent the night in Auckland again [partying], this time on a yacht, as one of Ann's hostel roomies from Wellington had made some sweet as connections the week before! First time I've ever been on a boat like that, man it was cool! I wished we could have sailed it, but then that was probably not the greatest of ideas. Tuesday, we got out of Auckland and headed to Rotorua. Once there I discovered I had left my wallet at Keri's house (damnit!), but thankfully I still had my passport and a decent amount of cash. Wednesday saw us go ZORBing, which is basically rolling down a hill in a hamster ball, adding water to the mix if you like. Only a Kiwi would think of such a thing! On top of being so much fun, it was a bit special to me because in departures, thebesttvshowintheworldthatIcouldgoonforeverandeverandeverabout, they go ZORBing at the same place. On Thursday, we went to a place called Paradise Valley, which is a nature reserve, only slightly more bad ass because there are [native New Zealand] lions there! Ha who ever would have thought that my first encounter with the large cats would be in NZ? We got to pet the cubs, and then watch the adult ones feed- their roar is scary, and super loud! That night, we went to a hangi (Maori feast, where food is cooked in the ground) and Maori concert. The food was delicious, I loooove mussles!,  though because of a gas leak we weren't able to see the hangi :(. There were a bunch of people at our table, a few from OZ, a couple from Spain on their honeymoon, and a British guy. We had good conversation and a few laughs during dinner. The concert was cool, they had such beautiful voices, and they did poi and at one point, got some ladies up to try it, and some men up to haka. After, it was back to the hostel to get our stuff as Ann was headed to Taupo (toe-poe) and I, back to Auckland to grab my wallet and some other stuff we had forgotten.

Friday was a long, long, looooong day, spent mostly on the bus. I left Rotorua at 8:30 am, got into Auckland at 12:15, caught a cab to Keri's to grab my stuff, and was back on the 12:45 bus to Taupo, which arrived at 5:45. -_-. I slept much of the way, but of course, it's never a restful sleep on a bus, so I was pretty blah for the rest of the night. The next day, with two other people from our hostel, we went sailing! I got to get a bit hands on, hoisting a sail and helping to jibe (move the back sail from one side to the other), and even manning the helm for a bit! It pretty much confirmed to me that I definitely want to get more experience on a sailboat. We sailed out to this big Maori carving which is actually only 30 years old, a gift to the people of Taupo from two Maori brothers. It's a beautiful piece of art. After, we went to Burger Fuel, an amazing burger joint, for some post-sailing munchies, then back to the hostel to hangout, playing two games of RISK (which me, being a ninja, I totally kicked ass at!) inturrupted by a very difficult game of Trivial Pursuit- the Canadian version is hard enough, but the New Zealand version?! It's tough. After I conquered most of the world, but alas due to Mission Cards didn't secure the win, we called 'er a night, Ann and I planning on catching the bus back to Wellington so we can get to the South Island ASAP! 

Canada vs New Zealand

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.

Friday and Saturday

So the past few days have been decent. Friday saw us having a relaxing day, going into town around 10am to run some errands ie. picking up some last minute things for the Canada vs All Blacks game on Sunday. We also played touch rugby again, with more Canadians this time, which was fun, though a bit more competitive. Afterwards, we headed to The Establishment for a beer with our new friends, then to the grocery store to buy some chicken and celary for the stir fry we were going to make for dinner. We got home around 7:30ish, having a late supper, though a good one. It was to bed earlyish that night, I tried to figure out my iPhone business, but alas, I got too frustrated, and gave up around 11.

Saturday morning, we went into town early because the All Blacks, or some of them, were going to be at a Telecom shop. Telecom is a communications company, I think one of the biggest ones in New Zealand. Anywho, so we got there and waited in line for about an hourish, during which time, Telecom employees came down the line asking for two females to do a push up contest. Hilary and I of coure volunteered, and in the end we both got a black Telecom/All Blacks beanie! Saweet! So after that, we just went back to Simon's to get our costumes for the Canada vs NZ game ready; some components needed shapes drawn and painted in. We got home and internetted a little bit, I tried to get my iPhone figured out, but alas no dice, then worked solidly on the awesomeness that was to become our outfits for the next day's game. Saturday's game started at 6:30pm, so we showed up around 5:30ish. I ended up sitting beside, again, a really attractive Kiwi fellow, and a couple of his friends. He made me laugh, and actually explained the rules of cricket to me once it was clear that Tonga was going to win (also, he referenced quidditch while doing so, I gave him a high five). I got pretty drunk during the game, and after Kiwi Sam invited me to a couple house parties, but alas he went one way in the crowd and I went another to find Hilary and Ann, so I am not so sure I shall see him again. Sigh.

Ah well, Ann had met up with Roxy, a fellow player from PG, and we all walked to the bar together. Em phoned me along the way, which was very great to talk to her, on Ann's cell phone- speaking of phones, Roxy mentioned calling Rogers and getting them to unlock my iPhone for me! It was a pretty tame night, we called 'er in to take the 11:30 bus back to Simons in order to save ourselves for the sure awesome that was to be the next night. So mote it was.

Napier: Canada vs Japan

The next morning (Tuesday), I was up around 7 to catch some free brekky and pack up my tent and my backpack. I was happy that I had enough time left when I was finished to hop in the shower as I didn't know what my accommodation for the night would be and was starting to become a smelly individual. Mike showed up just after 9 o' clock, and as soon as we got our packs into the trunk, we were off!
He's a really funny guy, this Mike. He's 32ish, with a wife and two young kids, but still a very fun guy to be around. The drive was good, a bit long (four and a half hours to travel 300km) and we had to go through the really windy stretch again, our stomachs (especially the next day!) weren't too happy about it. We made a few stops along the way, including the Tui brewery, but we made it to Napier around 2, enough time to try and find accommodation at a hostel, which there wasn't any, no surprise. We checked out this campsite in the middle of town, where they did have room, but it was $27/night, and I, for one, didn't really plan on sleeping too much and I was able to keep my stuff in the trunk of the car, so I backed out. Ann and Hilary decided to spend the night there, and after she got her tent set up, Hilary, Mike and I went to go find a park for the car, and see if we could get into this Irish pub that had gone "loonie" so to speak. Ann had wanted a shower, so she stayed behind at the campsite and we were going to meet her at the pub. However, it was much too crowded, and so we just decided to go to the stadium.

There were heaps of people, many dressed up in costumes, walking there, fans bantering at eachother, I photobombed some people, it was fun. After we'd gone through bag check, Hilary and I headed to the merch' tent to pick up a Canadian jersey. I was in line first and unluckily, there was only one game jersey, the one we both wanted, left! Because I was already wearing my '03 RWC Canada jersey and she only had a red tank top, I let Hilary have it. They have them at stores and will be at the Canada vs NZ game, so I didn't mind giving it to her. I bought some beer- Heinekin tastes awful out of a can- on the way to our seats, and we painted faces while we waited nervously for Ann to show up as we knew she wasn't going to be a happy camper; there was a communication breakdown re: cell phones, so Ann didn't know to go straight to the stadium. Anywho, she arrived, before kick off, I painted her face, and we both got right into the game, her unhappiness very soon forgotten in our chanting and screaming. She had also procured a Canadian flag, which we drew a beard on with black face paint.

It was a great game to watch, a close game, and the best thing ever to be cheering for the home country. I was yelling at the players, taking so many photos on Ann's camera, being an entertaining and happy drunk, supporting Canada, openly admiring KB's beard (it's seriously so magnificent, even Santa Claus would be hard pressed to replicate a beard of that magnificence!). Our boys played well, with heart, but they couldn't sneak the win, finishing the match with a 23-23 draw. After the end whistle blew, the Canadians walked around the field, and so Ann and I, jumped up and down, waving our bearded flag at them. They all pretty much smiled and waved (some of them were soooo hot!) and took a team photo, then walked to the other side of the field and mingled with the Category D fans. Mer :(. Ah well!

The walk back to the car after the game was just as fun and jovial as getting there; people were laughing and cheering, although boisterously drunk (or more so)! We got back to the car, and drank some Tui, bought earlier at the brewery, on the beach and BS'd until we were ready to go out. First we went to that Irish pub, The Rose, but it was PACKED and we had to wait in line for ever, where we met some guys from Williams Lake, of all places. Luckily Mike knew somebody who was on the patio, so we just waited until the bouncers weren't looking and woop! snuck in! Like I said, it was packed, so we chatted with some Frenchies, then peaced to The Blue Water, a bar/hotel(?), about an hours walk away- which you can bet we cabbed! We went there because we heard that that's where the Canadians were. They were, but they were upstairs, which you weren't allowed to go to because of that fact. No matter, we met more Canadians hanging out, and Phil Mackenzie, the #13 (Inside center), came down. I couldn't work up the courage to talk to him, parce que je suis un petit poulet, but I did eventually say hi, after Steve, one of the new Canadian guys we were with, started talking to him. It was just a hello, but no matter, we were enjoying ourselves. It was hilarious: so Mike had ordered a big bottle, 750 mL aka a two-six, of Speights, but the bartender had given him a little glass, a sippy cup really, to drink it with, whereas I, a small, blonde girl, ordered a giant mug of Tui. Hehe!

After we were done with The Blue Water, we headed to the Thirsty Whale, a bar/club about ten minutes walk away. It was a good atmosphere, and it was here that I met more Canadian players, and some Japanese players as well. I was fairly drunk when we got there, but somehow, magically almost, people just kept buying me beer. Sidebar: I drink so much beer, like pretty much every day I have at least one. Beer gut is forming, must do some preemptive excercise! Eventually the four of us had split up, Ann and Hilary having gone home around 1/1:30am, and Mike and I were off doing our own things respectively, though we had agreed to meet at the door when the bar closed. Anywho, so during the odd hour and a half, I ended up bumping into Matt Evans, the Canadian fly half (#10) who has a very Cary Elwes-esque handle bar moustache, though I was a bit rude and said "What's with the 'stache?" Obviously he didn't like that, and cut our conversation short. I continued on my way and ended up hanging out with some really tall Canadian gents (not players) who were props. They picked me up a la scrum, and then we got some more people in on it, possibly-probably some Japanese players (I was pretty intoxicated) and had a scrum in the middle of the dance floor! Ha ha! Good sports! Then the Japanese guys were trying to get me to do a shot, but I knew I wouldn't be able to stomach it, so I cheersed them with my beer, or rather, "Kumpai!"d. After that, I probably went to the bathroom, and then made my way back to the bar, trying to find Mike. I ended up talking with a couple Canadian players, Jamie Mackenzie (the other brother) scrum half, and the number 22- sorry man can't remember your name- who came in for Pritchard during the game. After we finished our conversation, I continued on my search for Mike, who I correctly thought had left, then returned to the bathroom- apparently this is the most calm place in a bar- where I met this other Canadian chick who was very kind and said I could catch a ride with her to wherever I needed to go (which I didn't know where that was!). I can't wait until I get my iPhone situation figured out, having the maps will be invaluable in situations like this! Anywho, I returned for one last look around, then found Steve whom I caught a cab back to the waterfront with around 3am. Mike was in the car, thankfully, and so he and I BS'd for a few minutes before we both PTFO'd. It was a ridiculously fun night, and in the morning I was in definite need of some coffee before we drove the 4 hours back to Wellington.

Mike dropped us off at the Te Papa museum. After all our stuff had been expelled from the trunk (passers by wondered how it all could fit in the trunk), we said our goodbyes and thank yous, and parted ways. The girls and I headed to the library to get on the internet, which unfortunately didn't work on our laptops because the connection sucked. When we were done, Kieth picked us up and we headed to his house to spend the night.
We picked up some steak, and I bought a new adaptor, which I am happy to say does not fall out of the wall and my plugs stay in. Once home, I plugged in my computer, then went down to the kitchen to help prep dinner, peeling potatoes, chopping onions, etcetera, etcetera. I was feeling pretty grungy and gross, and also majorily hungover, so I hopped in the shower before we ate. When I came back down, I was pretty surprised to learn that I was in charge of cooking the steak- I know, right?! For those of you that know me, my prowess in the kitchen doesn't equate to much. It turned out to be a pretty swell evening, good food, good wine, good people. Matt, the ranger from Matui-Sommes, stopped by for a few minutes too. After dessert, we headed upstairs to watch some Leonard Cohen before calling 'er a night around 10 to get some very much needed sleep!

Thursday, well today, was a very relaxing day, up around 9, and we had bacon and eggs for breakfast! They cut their bacon in circles over here as opposed to strips, but it still tastes the same, so yum! Heh I whisked the eggs this time, and they didn't drop! I seemed to have redeemed myself! Although later, I spilt tea all over myself, so maybe not... Ranger Matt came over for breakfast which was nice, after which Ann and I headed out for a walk along the beach in the sunshine and suprisingly gentle wind! It was glorious, I snapped some great photos, and we collected some shells to make necklaces out of. After about an hour, we headed back to Kieth's to pack up our things before heading out to Simon's house. We met Simon on Saturday at Kieth's, and he lives closer to Westpac Stadium than Kieth, so we've decided to bunk here for the weekend. Once we got here, we got internet figured out, and Ann and Hilary went to the grocery store to buy some food while I opted to just chill out and get some much needed catching up done on my writing! I guess they got side tracked by a Dollar Store because they came back with a ton of red and white stuff for the Canada-NZ game! I can't wait, it's going to be so much fun!!!! And that's all I have for now! I will update all on Monday morning with plans and such, as that's the day we're planning on starting the trek up north to Auckland and beyond!

SCOOOOOOTLAND vs Las Pumas!

So as I mentioned previously, Ann and I had these yellow tartan blankets with us. We turned them into kilts, then painted our faces the blue and white Scottish flag. Also, we wore fleece pants, and I had the absolutely BRILLIANT idea of wearing bright coloured undies to flash the camera with! :D. This was the only game we had sitting all together, and it was unfortunate that Hilary didn't have a blanket, but it was the most fun I've had at a game yet! Our seats were about halfway up, and halfway in on the side of the oval. The crowd was a good mix, though let me tell you: those Argies sure know how to cheer for a team! They had drums and whistles in the stadium, and had a good chant that they'd all sing. I would say one of the best, and rather key, components of RWC is the fans and costumes; we create the atmosphere, and it's a very peaceful gathering of boisterous and drunk and LOUD people. It's great :).

Anywho, so we got to our seats, and looking over our right shoulders, who's sitting there but the Scottish players who weren't playing that evening! And they were so attractive! Ann and I were brave enough to go over and snap a quick picture, and I don't even know who they are or what positions they were playing, but I got start struck! They were good sports about it and smiled for the camera. My hands were shaking and my legs felt like jelly as we walked away! We watched the first half, laughing at the two bickering Scottish and Argentinian fans a few rows below us, and actually at one point, it looked like it might get a bit sour, so when the crowd quieted down a bit, I bellowed "Oi! Boys, settle down!" in classic keeping the peace Canadian fashion :). So after the first half, Ann and I, both anxious to get on the jumbo tron, moved to the near empty Category D seats behind the Argentinian try zone. It was raining like a SOB and windy, but those seats were just great; it was like you could reach out and touch the players. The camera man situated behind the try zone turned the camera on us, though I don't think we got on the jumbo tron. Ah well, points for a valiant effort though, as we stayed behind for half an hour, hoping we'd get on screen with all the cheering Argentinian fans. After the game, it was back to the hostel for a supposed change, then out on the town, still dressed in our game attire. It was a fun night, though we had to get up early the next day because Kieth was going to take us fishing by the sea, near the Kapiti Coast (or so we thought, turns out we were on the opposite coast!).

Camping in the City

The walk back into the city and to our new hostel, Rosemere Backpackers, was a lot easier for me because we had eaten a lot of the weight that was bogging me down, plus the way I had packed it to get out to Matui-Sommes was a bit silly: I had my backpack, my tent strapped to the bottom of my backpack, and my daybag with cans strapped to it. It was a much longer walk to this new hostel from Queen's Wharf, and there was a hill at the end of it, making it a bit exhausting. We got here to find that there is no secure locker for our things, which was a bit of a concern for me as we're not sleeping in the building. Also, we are paying $30/night on the weekends and we were told there was only room for two tents , so I definitely wasn't impressed. However, now that I've been here for a few days, it's actually pretty decent. It's only four blocks to Courtney Place, which I can't remember if I've mentioned is the happening part downtown part of Wellington, and also their lawn isn't somewhere people generally notice. The first couple days I carted my computer and other things everywhere with me, but like I said the gate is pretty inconspicuous, so I don't think anyone hardly notices the lawn. There's also free breakfast, and free 1/2 hour internet, so all in all, I'm not to surplussed that we're paying to sleep on somebody's lawn.

So Friday night was the USA vs Australia game! I cheered for the Wallabies, who kicked ass, when I was watching the game. I say that because I ended up sitting beside a petrolium engineer from Calgary. He has one heck of a skookum camera, a Canon S-LR with a nice lense, I had some definite and clear camera envy for sure. He gave me a quick lesson in photography, and even let me take some pictures, and furthermore, it came up in conversation that he had 3 tickets to the Canada-Japan game on September 27th in Napier for sale, and for only $40+free ride up to Napier (4-5 hour drive). This of course, intercepts our Catchpool Valley plans, but I'm here for World Cup, and you have to take these opportunities when they come! Ann and I went out Friday night while Hilary stayed in as she had developed some blisters on her toes from walking with our heavy backpacks I guess. Ann and I took it easy, though at this time I can't exactly remember the details of the night- this weekend has just kind of melded into one big, long stretch of time. Saturday saw us hit the hot tub at the local pool to soak, and then *drum roll pleeeease!* I PLAYED RUGBY! Well just buggers, on the beach, but it's the first time I've touched a ball and ran around with it since I buggered myself. And man, let me tell you, that was my favourite day of the whole trip up until then. We met up with Serena, the Canadian girl from the Fanzone at the Canada-Tonga game, and some of her new friends, all of them having no rugby playing experience. There was a good ten of us, so we were able to divide up into even teams and start playing. Our game attracted a small audience and more players. It was super fun, and at the end of it, we were all definitely ready for some beer! I was super proud of myself for getting out there and still managing to play with the same passion and tenacity, though perhaps a bit more caution, as I used to. I did twinge my knee slightly, but after a couple minutes making sure I was okay, I was right back into the game. I am thinking I might be able to play tackle at a leisure level again someday, as long as I'm taped right up, maybe get one of them fancy braces. It was just the greatest.

So Saturday night. I'm not sure how it worked out, but we were invited to Kieth's house for dinner and to watch the All Blacks-France game. He picked us up and was teasing us that he had a tiny caravan filled with rats and possums, hopefully they would have vacated by the time we got there. Not really knowing the man, I believed him, and of course to my surprise, we arrived to 71 Dundin Street, Seatoun (a suburb of Welly). He built his house himself, out of recylcled materials which came from old buildings they had to demolish or renevate to make earthquake safe. He has loads of stories, so we traded some, enjoyed a beer or wine, then his other guests arrived. Rob, one of Kieth's coworkers/boss, and his wife and their two boys, Fraser and Levon, showed up first, then Simon, whom I think is Kieth's cousin?, then Kenneth and another fellow, can't remember his name, then his sister and her grand daughter arrived. Rob's wife and I prepped fruit salad for dessert, while Hilary was on top of salad making. We had some good conversations, the meal was great, and then the rugby afterwards totally topped off the evening, making it a true Kiwi experience; good food, good people, good rugby. As I said, the match was between New Zealand and France, who typically knock the All Blacks out of the quarter finals. It was a good match, and thankfully, the home team took it for the win! The girls and I caught a ride back to the hostel with Kieth's sister, and headed to bed so that we could get up early to go out to Catchpool with Kieth, whom had kindly offered to take us out there and show us around for a few hours since he had to go out there anyway to grab something.

It's a bit bizarre to be on the left hand side of the road, especially if you're sitting in the passenger seat; I'm not so sure driving here would be a good idea until I get more driving-places-in-a-car experience under my belt! Anywho, we got out to Catchpool just in time for the rain. We walked around for about an hour and a half, of course getting soaked, but I think it was much more beautiful in the rain than it would have been if it was sunny out; everything is always greener when it pours. Kieth pointed out animal tracks, plants, and a few different bird species us to snap pictures of along the way, in between listening to his stories about the place and tell him about ourselves. He's a really funny man, full of P&V and a shithead (I mean that in the best possible way); he's always pulling your leg and cracking jokes. Besides that, he's just one of those truly beautiful people in the world, so genuine and kind hearted, and always up for a laugh. I would liken him to a godfather or great uncle, or a really young [hearted] grandpa.

So after we had our nice walk in the rain, Kieth took us for coffee at his friends Pat and Ruth's house. Again, Kiwi hospitality just keeps blowing me away, and you can be sure it is one of the few things I hope to take away from this trip and pass along to others. Pat gave us warm, dry clothes, made us coffee and a hot lamb sandwhich (first time having lamb!), and let Ann and I borrow a couple tartan blankets to take for the car ride, and then let us take them not only to the game, but out on the town as well! Furhtermore, they offered us a room if we would ever need or like one. Back at Kieth's, we ate some ___ fish and again shared stories around the table- the man not only has a ridiculous amount of them, he sure can tell 'em too! Then it was back to the hostel to prep for the game!

This Week in New Zealand

It seems I have a few ammendments to make...
1. It is actually Springboks, not Springbox (though it pretty much sounds the same).
2. It's actually Bokke, not Boka. Bokke, meaning buck in Afrikans, is not surprisingly the mascot/emblem of the Springboks.
3. Staying in one place for 3 weeks may be cheaper, but the excitement factor of the new place goes down as time goes on...especially when the weather won't make up it's mind!

So the last time I left off, we had decided to chill and hang out in the hostel because the weather wasn't too good, but then (of course) the sun came out for a simply brilliant afternoon. We almost went sea kayaking with a few of our SA chums, but then we weren't allowed to wear pants of any sort (eventhough earlier the SA's had been told only no jeans), so we just ended up hanging about the waterfront. Ann had lent me her camera to play photographer for the kayaking (she's got a nice Nikon SLR) which I happly retained and took some photos, regardless of the group not getting in the water. We headed back to our hostel to make dinner, Macaroni a la Watties, which between Hilary and I, cost us $4ish for the food, and $9 for a bottle of vino (more my doing than hers). We ended up making too much for the both of us, so we invited one of our roomies, a nice German fellow by the name of Alex who was looking at the hostel menu, to eat with us. Afterwards, we we went out to Public, a restaurant/bar, to say good bye to our South African friends. This ended up being a longer than expected night because we went back to their hotel and ended up hanging out in the lobby with a bunch more South Africans, who, in their gentlemanly nature, just kept putting fresh glasses of beer in front of Ann and I. They were a funny bunch of old dudes, it was a bit sad to say good bye, but with another Springboks game coming up, we're sure to meet some more!

So that was Monday. Onto Tuesday. What happened Tuesday? I think this was a bad day weather wise and I may or may not have spent the majority of it in bed... Yeah it was. I woke up and went on the internet, then came back to the hostel at some point and fell asleep reading, and when I next awoke, I was greeted by HAIL and THUNDER and LIGHTNING. Eugh. Talk about roll over and go back to sleep! Nothing of significance happened.

Wednesday: GLORIOUS DAY! We went up the historic Wellington cable car. There was not a cloud, or if there were there very few, in the sky. It's this old tram that goes straight up hill ~800m, right from the city center (ah yes, the hills of Wellington!), with a final destination at the Wellington Botanical Gardens, which we of course walked around and appreciated- pictures are coming! I'm still trying to get my camera figured out, I'll admit I miss my Canon a bit for that fact. Also, my power adaptor is pretty frustrating; it's so big, and plugs don't fit securely into it, so they just fall out a lot of the time or it will just fall out of the wall. -_-. Good thing Ann and Hilary have ones that don't act like mine! After touring the Gardens, we went up to the Carter Observatory, but not wanting to pay anything more than free to go in, we said no thanks to the tour, and ate lunch on a hill that looked over the Gardens and city. Afterwards, we wandered back to the cable car and just took in some [more] good ol' vitamin D. We headed back down around 3pm to chill and get ready for the Canada vs Tonga game, which no I was not in the stands for; we painted our faces and wore red and waved our flags. We are, however, saving our total Canadianizing for the NZ vs Canada game on the 2nd, well 1st for most of you, so don't worry, you WILL see me on the jumbo tron :D. After we were all ready, we headed down to the Fanzone, pretty excited like, making people smile at our fanaticism. And, as I'm sure you all know back in Canada, WE WON! There was much boisterous cheering and hoo-haa ing both during and after the match, some might say patriotic anthem bellowing (out of tune?) on the walk to a Base Backpackers- oh yeah, we hooked up with another Canadian girl, from Kamloops, and her hostel bar had cheap drinks, so we went there to celebrate! It was pretty tame, Ann and I played some pool, Hilary played fooseball with our new Canadian friend and some other CADs that were there, then Ann and I had to do a Micky D's run- I had a Kiwi burger! It's like a regular hamburger, but with egg and a slice of pickled beet...a bit strange, but I do love beets! I think I lasted until 8:30 or 9, which was because I was laying on a couch watching the England vs Georgia game (I think that's who played?), and it was just too darn comfortable for my eyes not to start closing of their own accord. So that was Wednesday!

Onto Thursday then! The weather, not surprisingly, was windy- it's SO windy in Wellington, it's nickname is the Windy City I'm pretty sure- and cloudy, it started raining at one point, BLAHHHH. This was unfortunate, but ah well. We had wanted to go to Zealandia, a nature reserve in the city, but we decided it should wait for sunnier skies so we could get full enjoyment out of it. It was lucky, then, that we missed the hourly shuttle at 10:50! Ann was MIA, it's funny how we hit and miss that way because we're in different rooms. So yeah. We had half a mind to wait for the next one, but then the rain, previously mentioned, started, so Hilary decided to head back to the hostel, while Ann and I went to a portrait exhibit of rugby players that had just gotten off the pitch, I guess the artist was trying to capture the look of the game? It was a $5 mediocrely spent. After that we went back to the Te Papa museum, and me, not being a sick and tired zombie, took pictures! Among others things, there's a whole giant squid preserved in flemeldahyde (sp?), weird and creepy looking, but I guess it's the largest in tact specimen in the world. There's a lot to see, so I still might go back and catch what I missed! Afterwards, we came back to the hostel and made dinner; the previous day, we had bought ingredients to make a taco-sans-taco-mix-or-tacos salad, but got so caught up in the jubilance of winning that we didn't make it. So we made it! Fried ground beef, TORE, not ripped, lettuce, Dud :), chopped tomatoes, onions, carrots, then sprinkled some pumpkin and associated seeds on top. Could have used a dressing to bind it all together, but all in all, not bad. After that, we headed to the hostel bar to watch the USA vs Russia game. Oh boy! Something tells me they don't think the Cold War is over, the way they were crashing into eachother, even a small bit of violence erupting at one point! The US won, I think, which meh, I was just cheering for the team with the ball. We met this nice American fellow, Luke, and a Brazilian woman (forget her name!) who didn't understand the game, so HIlary and I explained it to her. It was kind of funny, she was remarking how "fat" some of the forwards were, which hell I wouldn't want to be skinny in that game! Or any mens rugby for that matter! She ended up going to bed after the game, but we stayed and chatted with Luke for another hour or so. We ended up inviting him to Zealandia with us, which leads me to....

FRIDAY, FRIDAY, GOING TO ZEALANDIA ON FRIDAY!
Oh man, what a day! The weather was perfect, I mean perfect! The wind wasn't too bad, the sun was showing it's beautiful, beautiful face! So we took the 9:50 shuttle- it's free!- up to the nature reserve. On the way, we saw the Scottish team bus at the top of the cable car (it's one of the stops on the shuttle route)! So Zealndia, what is it? Basically, they're trying to restore this small tract of land to the way things were prePakua, or before white man. Which isn't to say that the Maori didn't come here and screw with the ecology, but you know how it is- rats, possums, invasive plant species (some the Maori brought), goats, the list really does go on and on! Anywho, so they've fenced the area off, it might be 3km?, and have fencing running through it to keep certain animals on one side, hopefully keep mice out. We saw green geckos, tuatara, it's a lizard, and the oldest animal on earth!, kaka, or the native parrot of NZ, some other kinds of birds, and these flightless birds that were thought to be extinct less than 100 years ago! Super cool! If I've called something the wrong name, you'll have to forgive me, I can't remember if I've got it right or not. Also, there was an old gold mine shaft we were able to go in a bit, which was cool, though it would have been more awesome to have taken the tour of it. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't operating that day or something :(. Ah well, we went on a suspension bridge and a damn- I guess the small valley had been a water resevoir in the late 1800's, though now they've created a wetland for waterfowl habitat. It's pretty cool. They had some nice things in the gift shop too, but alas, I exercised restraint like the good lil' backpacking hobo that I am :). We finished our time off there lounging in the sun on the grass and enjoying a late lunch- SUCH A GREAT DAY! We- Ann, Luke, Hilary and I- returned back to the city, where we decided to all chip in and make another salad. Dietary fibre is a bit hard to come by as a backpacking hobo :(, so I didn't mind! We used chicken, fried with onions and garlic, such a heavenly combo, this time and added avacado and dried cranberries to the tomato/carrot/lettuce/seeds concoction. We also had gone on a mission to a liqour store- although you got to love the NZers for having vino and beer in their grocery stores, there's no hard bar, probably for good and obvious reason- which was a success in the likes of vodka. So we enjoyed dinner, imbibed a bit, watched NZ vs Japan (a slaughter), then went out dancing! We went back to The Establishment first, sadly we lost our American compatriot as he had to take the bus back to where he's staying, in suburb somewhere, then we hopped to another bar around the corner, don't know the name. It was alright, really quite less packed than The Establishment, but still fun. We met this Australian, Michael, and his friends, one from OZ as well, the other from Ireland, and their new Kiwi friend. He bought us a shot, then tried to kiss me, which was a surprise, but because I am a ninja, I avoided! We left there shortly afterwards and went to a club called Rain, which was SO much fun. The music was stellar, the vibe was great, there were a few gay dudes, nice change up. And they had a coat check! Another thing about NZ, or at least Wellington, the bar-pub-restaurants all turn into clubs at some point in the night, they all have DJ's and bouncers, few have a coat check, but get this, there's NO COVER! It's awesome! It's made up for in the price of drinks though; $10-12 for a vodka-red bull or Jagerbomb! Good thing I've got long eye lashes, heh. So after Rain, we were all pretty pooped and headed back to the hostel and bed at the respectable hour of 3ish.

Saturday. Well didn't get up until 11, which is the longest I've slept in thus far on the trip. It's a bit hard with 7 other people in the room to sleep past 9 or 10, but somehow I did it, possibly because I am a ninja? We had the South Africa vs Fiji game at 6, but wanted to get there early, so we just had a chill day- went on the internet, I reorganized my bag (it has the most uncanny ability to just regurgitate its contents all over my area of the room!). The sun was out in the afternoon, so we headed down to the waterfront for a nice stroll, and ended up getting gelato (ginger nut and caramel, yum!), people watching for a time, generaly just taking 'er easy. Our attention was drawn to the Fanzone because, as I mentioned before with the various performances they put on on the stage as well as showing the rugby on a big screen, an East Indian dance group was performing. It was pretty good, very Bollywood, enjoyable to watch. We watched the first bit of the Argentina-Romania game, but left before half time to get back to the hostel and get ready for the game! Plus Romania was getting their asses handed to them. On the way back, we saw the SA bus, and a few of the players board. It was hard to tell who was who, player or staff, but that was kind of neat to experience before we watched them play.

It was a decent game, Fiji played with heart, South Africa, well, they're South Africa. Fiji lost 47-3, which was too bad. I noticed a different feel to the crowd this time around; there was loads more cheering and that, but it seemed more tense in a way. I was a bit bored during the match, and cold, which I know I shouldn't be because I'm here, at RWC, but it wasn't that exciting of a game, and I wasn't worried over who was going to garner the win. At halftime, because we were in different seats, I walked around the stadium to where I thought Ann and Hilary were, managed to find Hilary, and snagged an empty seat below hers. I know I will be more into the next game though, because it's USA vs Australia, and you can bet I will be vocal in that match. The one plus of not following the game so closely was the fact that I took pictures!
Afterwards, we returned to our hostel. Ann and I enjoyed a glass of wine while Hilary made herself some grub, then I had to sew the handle of my party purse together since it ripped when I was out with Ty in Vancouver before we went out on the town. Ha you think My Drunk Kitchen is funny (youtube it if you're curious to know what it is), how about My Drunk Tailor Shop! It could have been the wine, but I'm willing to bet it was the dollar store sewing kit; my scissors bent as soon as I tried to use them, I poked myself with the needle, also bent, more than once, and I had a muck up with the thread. Of course, as you all know how domestically inclined I am not, it may have just been me. :P It probably would have helped my case if I had been paying attention to what I was doing at the time, but I was talking to a new roomie, Canadian.
We went back to The Establishment, ha the bouncer actually said "Again?!" and laughed, didn't even check our IDs, and let us in. It's just a good place, always have a good time there. We got on the dance floor, and had a small lost-passport-mistaken-pocket crisis with Ann, which was thankfully resolved in a few minutes- she'd just put it in a different pocket. We went upstairs, somewhere we'd failed to check out our previous two times there, which was just like the downstairs, but less crowded, more room for dancing. We started dancing with a group of people, met a group of Kiwis, who were having a good time. We bar hopped to a few different places, Lotus, a good dance club, tried to get into Rain but I was too tipsy apparently so the bouncer didn't let me in and told me to go eat something. Now I know I didn't look wasted, maybe I had the drunk eyes on a bit, but I thought I was fine and he was being silly. We went to a different bar and danced it up, had another drink, went to the convenience store so a Burmese-Kiwi guy we were with could get smokes, then back to Rain, and we got in! He made me touch my nose and stand on my left leg, but I was like "Sir, I had knee surgery on my left knee, my balance sucks on that side, can I stand on my right leg?" Ha, take that, bouncer man! Heh Em, you and I make a crack team :P. We danced some more, then I was done with the crazy music and flashing lights. The Burmese fellow, Lian, took me to Burger King, and oh man, it was delish! I had something like a McChicken, and fries, and Coke. Then it was back to find the rest of the group, and onto yet another club, briefly, before they got in their BMW and graciously gave me a ride to back to the hostel. Made it to bed by 3am again.

Today, Sunday, is gray and rainy, we are taking the time to just chill, repack, do laundry, watch Canada vs France at 8pm, get prepped for our 3 nights of camping on Matui Sommes Island, which is in the middle of the harbour. It will be really nice to be somewhere different, it's a bit boring here, but I'm not too pumped for the unpredictable weather...I wish I had brought long johns! Anywho, it's time for said preparations to be underway, I shall write again sooner than this post was in relation to the last one!

The Magic of Sport

I will try and make this 'entry' as chronologically correct as possible so you few people who are reading it will get a good idea of what I've been doing the last twoish days.

When I last left off, I was suffering from some serious tiredness and had a nap. After I woke up, Ann, Hilary and I took a walk around the city to explore a little bit. While I was asleep, Hilary had bought a phone and Ann was trying to get hers fixed (it wouldn't hold a charge) and they had also explored a little. We bought, for dinner, Subway, which I have seen at least 3 or 4 restaurants of within an ~5 block radius. One thing I like about buying things here is that there is no tax! The price on the sign is the price you pay, which I guess only differs in North America? I will have to travel more to verify this ;). I'm doing pretty decent with spending, albiet it's only been what, three days? Anywho, so that night, we went to the lounge and attempted to learn a card game called Golf from Hilary. There was a group of cute South African boys drinking punch that invited us over to their table to play a 'Canadian' game, which neither of us knew any, so we just ended up BSing, joshing eachother about our accents (apparently the Canadian accent is not neutral, no matter what we think) and drinking some rather delicious lime-sprite-vodka-ade before the Opening Ceremonies.
For those of you, okay so all of you, who didn't get to see them, they were pretty cool, and the Kiwi that I was sitting with was pretty stoked that "Kiwis did that!" It was sort of like the Vancouver Olympics with the lighting on the stage/floor and dancers, but with a unique New Zealand twist; it told the traditional Maori story of how New Zealand formed and there was Maori dancing and singing, it would have been sick to be there. I got to watch the players- All Blacks vs Tonga- get ready and run onto the field, but was called away before the Haka to help Ann, who had imbibed a little bit too much. After we got her to bed, at the shameful hour of 9ish, I was pretty much pooped and hit the hay- when I looked in the mirror, my eyes made me look like I was ripped out of my mind!

The next day, my body-clock still on Canada time, I woke up at 6 am, got up around 7, and Hilary and I (Ann was PTFO) went across the street to trainstation, which conveniently houses a supermarket (aka grocery store) to buy some grub for brekky and beyond. Food is kind of expensive, or everything is rather, over here, but I managed to get two small loaves of cheddar-bacon bread, a banana, a small bag of bulk trail mix, and a six pack of yogurt for $15.70NZ. That lasted me all day, and a into the next, so I guess to extrapolate it, it's cheap...ish. After breakfast, we went to Micky D's- the poshest McDonald's I've ever seen- for a tea and free internet (you have to pay for it at the hostel, also I deduced from the interwebs that I have viral conjuctivitis, but it's going away!), then came back to the hostel to drop off what we weren't going to eat during the day, and, Ann still passed out, went out into the city to both explore and find certain shops: Hilary wanted to find the Auto Association and Visitor's Center, and I was looking for somewhere to unlock my iPhone for me. Depending on cost, I might just not unlock it and be phoneless (kind of refreshing), but then again I feel the maps feature could be very useful... On our exploration mission, we stumbled across the Wellington Underground Market, which is kind of like a big craft fair; there's lots of pretty jewelry and knitted things for sale. A few hundred meters beyond the Underground Market, is the Fanzone. They've set up a big stage for various performances- a dance troupe when we were there- and big screen for all the matches. I'm pretty sure there's beer available somewhere there too ;).

Speaking of beer, I forgot to mention that when I was watching the intro to the first match of RWC 2011, one of the drunk South Affies offered me some of his beer. It was a darker beer, so I was pretty hesitant, but he persisted, and it was delicious! Annnd- this is mostly for Hannah- guess what?! It was Tui! So yummy! Needless to say, when Hilary and I returned to the hostel later that day to watch some rugby, I ordered us some (enjoyed it for ya Han!). We watched the Namibia vs Fiji and France vs Japan games. Didn't pay too much attention to the first one as there was free pool and a supersized version of connect four, also Jenga, that we played, but the France-Japan game was a good one; Japan almost got ahead! Though they lost 25-42 in the end. All that beer and boisterous cheering for the underdog had tuckered me out, so again I had an early night, trying to get prepped for last night and our first stadium match, South Africa vs Wales!

Yesterday was nice. We walked A LOT. We spent a large chunk of the day at the Te Papa museum, which is this huge museum to do with the history of New Zealand and Maori culture. It's pretty cool, there's lots to see (and it's free!), though I didn't take too many photos as I'm still kind of a [sick] zombie. Hilary and I went through this virtual learn-the-haka thing, along with some other people. It's not too difficult, but you look hilarious trying to pick up on the movements, which you find out when you get out of the room via a TV that by standers (and staff) snicker at, though you can't really blame them. After that, we went up a couple floors to see this Maori dance show, and we're pretty sure we saw the president of South Africa, and if not him, then somebody really important from South Africa; he had body guards and hangers-on, how could he not be? As it turns out, this was actually the Vice President of South Africa, which I found out from my South Affy chums later in the evening.

So the evening! Wales vs South Africa. What a game. Wales, which I think I should mention is who I was cheering for, really should have won, but the ref didn't call a conversion as through...bugga! Even the SA's I was hanging with after said yeah, it should've been called through (plus SA played like shite, so they weren't too proud of their team). I took not very many pictures because I was trying to watch the game and because I was so far up, my camera wasn't up to the task :(, but what I do have I will post on facebook. Besides, it wouldn't have been able to capture the feeling of the place; I'm sure it's the same with every large event where there's a bunch of excited and boisterous people, but it was just the coolest thing to be in a place where a bunch of people came together to appreciate a really special and awesome game, that's the magic of sport I suppose. There were two fans, sitting probably ten seats and one row apart, both drunk, one Welsh, the other Boka (nickname for the Springbox I guess), who were having chanting wars with eachother; as soon as one would start up so would the other, and it was a contest to see which fans could chant louder. I helped out on the Welsh side of things :). I am excited to see what happens in my next game, which is again South Afreeka, verses Fiji on Friday. Should be interesting!

On the way into the stadium, Hilary and I were accosted by a really atractive Kiwi offering a draw for Finals tickets on behalf of Land Rover, which of course we obliged. Because we all bought our tickets seperately, Ann, Hilary, and I weren't seated together; I was seated at the very top, in the middle of a section- good seat, get a full scope of the action- and Ann and Hilary were seated apart, but in the same row, about midway up and midway in one section over. It was okay though, because I sat beside this rather handsome Kiwi. He was really nice, and I almost invited him for a beer after the game, but because Je suis un petit poulet, je ne le fais pas. Just as well because after, we ended up going out with a bunch of South Africans (said ones previously mentioned) + one Amurrcan in South African colours who now lives in Cape Town. We went to a bar/club called The Establishment, which had a really good atmosphere, lots of people, both in Welsh red and Springbox green, though I can say the two weren't making any efforts to socialize together. The Welsh guys I talked to were really funny, good dancers, having a good time. The South Affies were decent gents, but I was glad to take my leave of them (they're just...South Africans) when we headed to back to our hostel around 2:30. And that's all I have for now! The plan for today, is to hang out at the hostel and watch rugby on the telly as the weather here is gross; windy and rainy, not conducive to good walking conditions...