We went up to Wellington - as you know - and conveniently timed it for the Wales vs Ireland RWC game. We had met a couple in Hamilton at the Wales vs Fiji game called Jacey & Dai and they had travelled to Wellington as well so we planned to meet up with them for a drink before the game. We met them in the fan zone where J was getting her face painted, so I joined the queue to get mine done and the boys went off for a wander. J&D had tickets to the game but we were going to watch it in a pub...or so I thought. But then the OH came back with the news that he'd "just got tickets" off someone who'd been upgraded to a corporate box. That was that, we were going to the game!
Rugby World Cup 2011: Wales vs. Ireland (Wellington Stadium)
Off we went to the stadium - to be greeted by a sea of green and sporadic groups of red. Just to add to the madness of it all: after the anthems I heard : "Nikki Thomas!" and as I turned to my right I discovered Big Dave - a guy who I used to work with in 2003 in Newport, South Wales! I hasten to add he was called 'Big' Dave because we had a 'little' Dave too...not because he was abnormally large. We were sat only 3 seats apart, it really was surreal amongst some 60,000 fans! So him and his friends joined us after the match as we made our way victoriously to the Welsh Dragon Bar to celebrate our win with lots of singing :-) The following day was the Australia vs South Africa game and J&D had been given free tickets to it by some people who were going home! So after a freshen up the boys went off to the stadium and me & Jacey went to the Welsh bar and made an afternoon of it. So we had 2 amazing evenings with J&D and having missed the train back to Paraparaumu on both nights we all slept very cosily in their camper van.
The following week we settled again in the Welsh Dragon bar to watch the Wales vs France game and how tense it was: we got into the bar and settled onto strategically place barrels with cushions on; the owner was dressed in a Welsh flag cape and he was pacing up and down the pub. He refused to say how he thought Wales would fare - the Welsh have a tendency to not want to jinx the team: we worry that if we say they're going to do well then it will be our fault if they falter.
There was one Frenchman in the bar - and he only looked young. To be fair he stood his ground and after plenty of cajoling he sang the French national anthem proudly amidst the 'foes'. I'm not going to talk about the game because it is too soul destroying...I'm not going to mention the red card that should never have been a red card, I'm definitely not going to mention our kicking 'ability' and I promise not to talk of all the dreams I heard smash into pieces in the Welsh bar that evening. It was heart breaking to go out the way we did. The Welsh have a habit of saying "as long as we play well we don't mind losing"...but we do, it makes it so much harder because we DESERVED to be in that final. But....c'est la vie. After the game we were interviewed yet again by a guy with a microphone (nope, no idea where he was from). We were deflated, gutted, destroyed but PROUD! The Welsh team played so so well throughout the whole tournament. It was sad to see Adam Jones go off and for Sam Warburton to be sent off after just 18 minutes was sacrilege but enough talk of the game ;-)
After a few more days in Wellington we were due to take a complete leap of faith and make the 8 hour road trip to to Auckland (again: conveniently in time for the Wales vs Australia Bronze play off - in Auckland) to meet up with J&D again. On the way this time we did actually see goats (real ones this time), llamas, chickens, and a pig just to add to the farm animals we'd seen on previous road trips. The views once again were breathtaking.
Driving to Auckland: From sun soaked sea views...
Driving to Auckland: ...to snow capped mountains
J&D were staying with a Kiwi family (with Welsh connections) whom they had met while hounding the Welsh team for autographs at Sky City and the family invited us to stay there too. We found our way to their absolutely beautiful home and were made to feel like we'd known Merv & Pete (the owners) our whole lives. Merv has familial links in Wales as it's where she was born and her cousin Julie was over from Barry Island too which was great! She's like a bottle of pop and has a lovely strong Welsh accent :) It was Thursday so we all had a few drinks and prepared for a fab, fun-filled weekend with the Cavanaghs. The next few days looked something like this:
Friday: We spent the day out & about. Merv had the day off work so she took us all to see some local sights. We went to bees online as Dai wanted to see bees making honey and after watching the honey bees we tasted and purchased plenty of honey! Then we headed off to Coopers Creek vineyard for some wine tasting then settled outside in the afternoon sun for a bottle of wine and a cheese / fruit / crackers platter - simply divine!
Afterwards we went for a meal along the river in order to line our stomachs substantially. In the evening we headed to Eden Park to see if we could get tickets to the Wales vs Australia bronze play off and if not we were going to watch it in a pub. After about 15 minutes of walking around we were just about ready to cut our losses when they decided to check with the ticket office to see how much the tickets were which were remaining. The answer: $200 each. So the OH walked up to a group of people and asked if they had any spare tickets to which they replied "yes, 2" and put them in his hand. He asked how much they wanted for them and they said we could have them for free! They'd had another 3 too but had already given them away. So THANK YOU very much to that Irish group from the cruise liner - you made our night! So we were 2 down - 4 to go. We continued our hunt and the others found a couple of South African guys who had 4 for sale - perfect!
The cruise liners at Auckland Harbour by the Fan Zone
All 6 of us chipped in for the 4 tickets to make it equal and it meant that we ended up paying only $140 per pair of tickets! Amazing. So once again we were off to the game with Category B tickets thanks to the cruise packages that had rolled into Auckland Harbour that weekend. Me & the OH got to our seats and were surrounded by Aussies - with only 2 other Welshies in the area - which made us sing the national anthem with even greater oomph! After the game we met up with the others and had an amazing night singing in a local bar with some really lovely Aussies and fellow Welshies - it was brilliant!
Rugby World Cup 2011: Wales vs. Australia (Eden Park, Auckland)
The Fan Zone, Auckland
Saturday: Pete's birthday so we all went to the races at Ellerslie. Having never been to the races before we had to be inducted into the culture and Merv, Pete and Julie were excellent teachers in advising what a 'Quinella' was and how we placed bets, etc. It was a great afternoon and the OH won 4 races! $34 was his biggest win. The others won a few races too and I won nothing, absolutely zilch. The OH certainly made up for my losses. Despite that it was such a fun experience and we all had a great day out followed by a lovely meal at the RSA (like a RAFA / social club in Wales) and a relatively early night ready for RWC FINAL day!
Sunday: We started an excited day with a gorgeous eggs florentine created by Merv (definitely 5 stars Merv!!), then we went to explore Lion Rock & Piha beach on the way to the paaaaarty at Merv's sister Lindy's. What a night - great food, great company, great drinks and a WIN for the All Blacks!! :o) We all enjoyed seeing the win after a super tense match!! Over the moon that they won as no one can disupte the fact that the ABs definitely deserved it. We celebrated long into the night and got home at about 4am.
Lion Rock (can you see the lion?) & Piha Beach
Monday: After recovering from the night before Merv taught us a new card game called 'oh hell!' After developing a serious addiction to the game we were up until 4am again(!) playing it.
Tuesday: We went for a lovely walk along the beach just down from the house with views of Harbour Bridge and Sky Tower.
Wednesday: Back to normal for Merv & Pete as they were back in work and Rugby Fever was almost over: just a few victory parades in the streets of New Zealand for the All Blacks and the cup. We watched the Auckland parade on the TV where 250,000 people turned out to see them - pretty impressive for a country with a population of 4 Million and it's indicative of the pride the nation has in it's rugby achievements. BUT before that we were taken out for a spin in an absolutely AMAZING beautiful red Mustang. We went all along the coast and enjoyed breathing in the sea air while in super luxury comfort - it was awesome!! Thank you John & Christine, you made our week!! Spent the evening at the RSA pub quiz where our team came 2nd (no thanks to me really but the OH and the rest of the team did well).
Wow! THE Mustang
Friday: Had 'fush n chups' before a great game of 'Oh, Hell!' with Merv's friends with a few drinks which went into the night.
Saturday: a HUGE (very very difficult) quiz at the local tennis club. There were so many of us we had to split into 2 teams as it was a maximum of 8 per team. There were raffles and loads of spot prizes which just made for a great night. We came away with some random prizes ranging from wine to gardeners hand wash to a voucher for expensive sports socks! Also, our teams came 1st and 2nd so we won loads of things for that. I knew a few of the answers but ironically the answer I was solely responsible for which was correct was in the 'Kiwiana' round - I knew I was a Kiwi at heart ;-)
In the middle of all of the activities above we were searching for a home and I was searching for a job so it's been pretty hectic! It's now the following Tuesday and in the past week J&D went off to have a look around Tauranga and me and the OH have found a unit which we have secured so we now have an abode! We'll be moving in as soon as our shipment is in Auckland so that's exciting! I am now looking for a job in Auckland and wondering how I am ever going to navigate this huge city. The strange thing is that when we visited last year we both narrow-mindedly said we'd never live in Auckland: as a tourist you just see a HUGE city with a high population (4 million in the whole of NZ but a third of these live in Auckland) and a manic rush hour. But having been based here for just a week we've been off exploring the unspoilt beauty of it - from lion rock & Piha, to vineyards, to Karekare beach, Half Moon Bay, Cockle Bay and so many more. It's stunning and I retract my statement made in haste 18 months ago - we're falling in love with the place and it feels like home.
Karekare Beach
View from the rocks, Karekare
Waves crashing against the rocks at Karekare Beach
You might wonder where we're currently living and once again it's thanks to the beautiful generosity of Merv and Pete who asked us to stay on with them until we got settled and found our own home. Not only have they fully embraced us into their family and circle of friends but they've made us feel at home. They've provided us with such sound advice on places to live, they've answered all of our (often duplicated) questions without an ounce of frustration, they have given all that they can give and more. Generosity on this scale really changes your perspective - in the UK we wouldn't dream of welcoming relative strangers into our home and leaving them up while we go to bed, encouraging them to 'help yourselves' and 'make yourselves at home'. They are a real inspiration and we will never be able to thank them enough. So thank you Merv & Pete, and your gorgeous family and fantastic friends for taking us in and just being you. You are wonderful.
