Wow what a two weeks in the UK it has been, we are certainly leaving in a very jovial state although still battling from too many beers and late nights out! Anyway last time you tuned in we had managed to board our plane and eventually take to the air bound for London. Being far too excited for sleep we arrived Friday morning before the the big quarter final (only finding out on the plane France were our opponents) but still with a fair bit of travel in front of us. A quick reunion with Nick’s brother Tom at the bus station before the three of us set off to Cardiff.
After a quick photo at the now famous rugby ball in the Cardiff Castle wall it was on a train bound for a small village where a good friend of Toms (they had met once on a camel ride in Morocco) lived. After a feed of kiwi staples (pie and fish n chips) we settled into cold old Wales.
Rugby day consisted of firstly working out either a place to stay in downtown Cardiff or how we would get back to the little village an hour away… Luckily after a bit of networking we were offered a postman pat van right in the city center. With that sorted we did a quick whisk around an interesting open air museum full of old houses and gardens before trying to battle our way into a pub to watch the first quarter final.
Cardiff was heaving and we lined up for what seemed like ages before eventually squeezing into a rammed bar with only 2 screens… It is amazing how many people we knew and we were bumping into long lost friends all night. And what a night, we were confident in beating the French and redeeming the 2007 loss but then you also never quite knew what to expect. Let's just say our seats were epic, the atmosphere awesome and the night stretched into morning making watching the two Sunday quarter finals a battle.
Thanks to Gushy we now had a some extra clothing and a paraglider to cart around but we managed to lug it across country to our new 2 week home in London with Timmy! It was great to catch up and knock the top off a bottle of Cuban rum before we set about exploring London’s attractions. We had a lot to cram in but unfortunately Lucy picked up a tummy bug just after we had been skiting about not getting sick and having iron stomachs thus hampering our exploration. We did manage to get out and about and catch up with a number of old pals.
A vast number of these had tickets to the semi and although we tried we could not manage to secure any. Instead we kitted up in black and headed to Twickenham for some pre-match ales and a faint hope of scoring scalper tickets. This failed so we set up camp at the now relatively deserted pub with the Gush boys and a nice mix of other nationalities. I don't think we need to go into the game other than after such tension the elation of winning caused for celebration. Lucy still not feeling a hundy snuck away after the match while Nick and Tim managed to make it home thanks to the awesome pool bikes (which are everywhere) by sunrise.
Sunday was a beautiful day so we made the most of it by strolling through Hyde park and checking out the sights around there before hitting up the Trafalgar Square fan zone. We all know England didn't make the quarters and therefore didn't really care any more but we thought the guy at the fan zone entrance was having us on when at 3:50pm he said that the fan zone was closing in 10 min and not showing the game… He wasn't, so feeling very dumbfounded we stumbled around London before eventually finding a pub to watch it and settled in with a nice cold water.
The other big sporting news about town was the Chris Cairns trial so Nick and his brother went along to sit in the public gallery. They found it very interesting with lots of he said she said shared but very little hard evidence. The boys met up with a rejuvenated Lucy in the afternoon and strolled through the Tate Modern Museum and left feeling no more enlightened (confused) about modern art.
An old Otago friend of the ours (Nina) is studying in Oxford (where Nick used to live) so we went and paid a visit for a couple of nights. After a picnic in Christ Church Meadow and a walk through the spired city past Nick’s old house and a few of his hangouts we ended up at the Ashmolean Museum. Not only is the building fantastic the five floors are so full of artefacts you would need a whole week to explore it all. Nina is on the climbing club so the boys jumped at the chance to hit the indoor wall with her and test out their skills.
Taking advantage of Nina’s student card and local knowledge we got inside a couple of the colleges and checked out their impressive dining halls and chapels before having a sit down lunch at her college. The afternoon was spent in the very cool Natural History Museum. Before getting the bus back to London the next day we wandered through the covered market before letting Lucy loose again in the Ashmolean Museum again, what a mistake. Well she was only 40mins late for our rondevioux.
Feeling a little dusty after a Friday night fair well drinks and a Halloween party but fizzing with excitement for the game it was a big breakfast before a truck across town to the Richmond fan zone that we were promised was showing the game! England is famous for its foul grey weather but as a whole it had been pretty good throughout our stay and finals day was superb. The fan zone was in a huge paddock with outdoor screens and a huge one in a marquee. Unfortunately with all this space they still couldn't provide enough beer tents and the que was at least an hour long as they poured a beer one at a time and had a huge drinks menu. Luckily the rugby and atmosphere was much better so we won't dwell on it and with a crowd of two thirds kiwi it was a huge party. London is a big place and can be difficult to navigate especially in the wee hours of the morning when the fog has rolled in and you can't see the anything. We did make it home by sunrise though!
Sunday was a very slow day but as we recounted the night, celebrated the victory and absorbed the media response we could bask knowing we are world champs for four more years once again!
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