Bronze final

Today I decided to take another route on the hop/hopoff bus. The commentary on the buses is so good that you get new insights of London every time you sit on the bus. It was the last day of the school holidays yesterday so the queues outside places like Madam Tussaud, the Eye, the Tower etc went for blocks down the street so it was a good idea just to sit on the bus and enjoy the sights. The route I chose took almost three hours from beginning to end so by that time it was tine to get sorted for the Bronze Final. I was looking forward to the match as I remember in 2007 the Bronze Final between Argentina and France was the best match of the tournament. The game was at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Stadium a stadium built for the last Olympics. Great stadium in the middle of a major rebuild of an area of East London. The stadium seated 50,000 which was smaller than the other stadiums I have been in on this trip. The game was disappointment. It seems the South Africans weren't excited to be there and the Argentinians just ran out of ideas of how to win. I don't think it help Argentina when they made 7 changes to the team. This was an 8 pm match and it took until almost 1:45 am to get back to the hotel, The anticipation around the supporters group here is growing really fast from expectation to maybe we will win. Plenty of mind games being played out in the media which we hope the All Blacks are immune to. Go the All Blacks!

Opps NZ Herald photo

Seem to have prob with herald photo will try again.

From home...

I thought yesterdays NZ Herald said it well and certainly there is a touch of Black all around Auckland. I meant to also take some photos around Kawakawa Bay where the flags are flying but sorry forgot. Our fan zone has moved to Goldstine Place. Photos to follow . Enjoy Lois! 

Thursday in London

A bit of a boring day for my blog readers. Had a leisurely breakfast this morning and then set off to use my 'hop on/hop off' complimentary voucher. Decided to get off the bus close to the Tate Modern which is an interesting Art Gallery in what was an old power station on the river Thames. I was there some years ago interviewing Town Planners for one of my clients who was seeking to recruit Town Planners to New Zealand. It turned out the Tate Modern was the most convenient place to interview three different candidates so back then I sat in the coffee shop meeting with some interesting Town Planners keen to come to New Zealand. I am pleased to say that one of the people I saw back then was employed by my client in Auckland and she is now a Partner in the Town Planning firm. Because I was interviewing back then didn't have time to wander around the gallery so today was the chance to do that. Amazing spaces with high walls which once controlled a major power station for London. After that I set off towards Oxford Street but soon got tired of that as what I once knew as Oxford street is being completely rebuilt and on every corner there was a construction site making negotiating the sidewalk difficult. Finally headed back to the hotel mid/late afternoon and am planning soon to go out and find some dinner. Tomorrow is loser final (a terrible name for hoping to be third in the world) It could be an interesting match and I am backing Argentina as I think they play more interesting rugby. The match doesn't start until 8 pm which is the latest match time I will have been to. The match is at the Olympic Stadium which was built for the last Olympic Games. It will be nice to be at a different venue. Today Graham Henry signed my Rugby School football which I am sure will add more value to my Facebook competition. Lots of media here hedging their bets about who is going to win on Saturday. No doubt it will be a nervous time for us all but I will have my fingers and toes crossed as I am sure you will. No photos today as the Tate Modern was a no no for photographers.

Very serious business today

This morning I set out at 7.15 am on behalf of you to check that Twickenham was ready for the final and there was no sabotage! This morning was a trip to Twickenham to tour behind the scenes and of course check out for you all that the following were in place: 1.The correct jerseys were displayed alongside the great bronze outside Twickenham 2. The correct flags were flying inside the stadium 3. There was no glass on the pitch 4. The All Blacks had the correct Changing Room (England's of course being the most prestigious) 5. The changing room was appropriate for the mighty All Blacks 6. There was no food in the fridge in the changing rooms that might go off and poison the lads! It was a really interesting trip inside the stadium. Once you are on the edge of the grass you get a sense of what it must be like for players to see the stadium full. On the pitch there were lots of special light mounts (looked a bit like the sprinklers our farmers use to water their paddocks). These lights imitate sunlight and supposedly help the grass to grow. Three per cent of the grass is artificial as the artificial grass is used to bind the natural grass and make it stronger. We then went through the hallowed doors of the Changing Rooms and saw all those dedicated seats we often see on pre-match TV. I did check out the fridge to make sure there was no rotting food there that would poison our team. There was a good display of international rugby players who died in World War I and you will see in the pictures John Key on a TV. John Key would not always make my postings but he was speaking on the video on the contribution and commitment of NZ'ers in World War One and the fact that the events of World War One were a significant part of New Zealand become a Nation in its own right. Today was one of those days when you contemplated giving the tour a miss (many did and although 7 buses were ordered for TED Team only three were required). We left the hotel at 7:15 am in pouring rain and it rained almost non stop for the two hour journey to the stadium. However by the time we alighted from the bus the rain had stopped which was just perfect for the tour behind the scenes. I was glad I made the effort even if the alarm did go off at 6:15 am. We finally arrived back at the hotel after 1 pm so I grabbed a Banana and a coffee from the coffee shop in the hotel to get some sustenance and contemplate what I might do with the rest of the afternoon. Decided that I would visit the Imperial War Museum as they were promising a special World War I display. I arrived and joined what felt like thousands of others to view the display. There seemed to be lots of school groups which I suppose makes sense in that the English version of Anzac Day (Remembrance Day) is in early November and no doubt all the schools were visiting so the pupils could get a sense of what Remembrance Day is all about. I didn't think the display compared as well as the one we saw with John in Manchester earlier in the year but that could have been because of the crowds. Finally back at the hotel around 5 pm for a dose the The Chase and the news before I head out to find a meal in the vicinity of the hotel. Saw a local pup not too far away so thought I might try that tonight. Just realised that Saturday the day of the Final is Halloween so it could be an interesting night after the match. Glad to see you are back on line Irene - hope you enjoy following along.

A day at Canterbury

As planned I got myself organised and headed off to Charing Cross to catch the train to Canterbury. Canterbury is in Kent in the vicinity of Tunbridge Wells but further south. The train trip took about an hour and twenty minutes so it was after 11 am before I arrived in this medieval historic town. It was a pleasant walk from the Railway Station to the Cathedral. There were lots of narrow streets that went off to the left and right as I walked up the main street to the Cathedral. The Cathedral of course is ancient - founded as a Cathedral in 597 AD. The current cathedral is built over the site of the original cathedral and the current cathedral was built in 1377 AD. It was at Canterbury when the King finally broke England away from Rome but the battle for the hearts and minds of the population went on for years. The Kings closest advisor Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral by the Kings Knights and since that murder. Becket although a friend of the King held to the rights of the Church against the King and the Kings Knights took it into their own hands to get rid of this pesky priest. The architecture of the church inside is quite amazing. It never ceases to amaze me how the medieval builders were able to make these beautiful vaulted ceilings from stone. They ceiling is so high it must have been amazing to see how they continued to work (no doubt on shaky wooden scaffolding) to put the stonework in place. I used an audio guide to get around the Cathedral and the guided audio tour took almost three hours. I wandered back to the Railway Station and headed back to London finally arriving back in my hotel room around 5:45 pm. Altogether a lovely day. Warm and sunny with no wind. There us a supporters function tonight which I decided to miss. The last one was a bit of a bun fight with too many people in a small space. From what I have heard tonight's occasion is to be similar and the buses are not going to be back to the hotel until midnight. I am off at 7:15 in the morning for a guided tour of Twickenham so perhaps an early night is a better idea.

Day off in London

Today seems to have been the first day for a long time that there hasn't been something to go to. Must say I have enjoyed having a day off. Had a leisurely breakfast and then thought I would go out for some retail therapy - not that I had anything on my shopping list but thought it would be nice to see if there is anything different in this part of the world. Because of all the global brands it seems harder and harder to find something unique to a Country and today proved no different. However it was a nice day and the sun came out. I took the tube to Oxford Street and wandered in and out of the shops. Purchases were very boring like an indelible pen for Graham Henry to autograph my Rugby School Ball and a USB stick to copy a file for Clare. Returned to the hotel mid afternoon and plan to head out later to find an evening meal. Thought you would like to see what a Fan Zone in a hotel room looks like. Doesn't quite compete with the Facebook ones but the hotel staff seem to honour the layout by cleaning around it. No doubt it collapses when they are cleaning but they seem to keep it restored. The English press seem to think the All Blacks have had their day and wont conquer the Australians which seems par for the course here as it seems hard for the English Rugby writers to acknowledge the All Blacks - that's OK might be good to go into Saturday as underdogs. Tomorrow I am planning to take the train to Canerbury to explore the birthplace of Anglicanism. I have probably been there before but I cannot remember being there for a long time so looking forward to the trip. The trip in the train is just over an hour so plan to be on the train by 10 am.

Semi final TWO

Today dawned sunny and clear if a little chilly. There had been a frost overnight and the day took a bit longer to warm up. After breakfast I got myself organised for another day at Twickenham. Last night the UK shifted their clocks back so I did have an extra hour in bed which was nice. NZ is now 13 hours ahead of the UK which I assume makes it a little later for you to watch the final next weekend. Today we left an hour later for Twickenham which meant we did not arrive at the ground until around 1:30 which was much better. By the time I found myself a Cornish Pastie (surprisingly tasty for Stadium food) and a coffee the stadium itself was open and I could set off to find my seat. It is quite fun being in the ground for the warm up of the teams. It looks a bit like 'hide and seek' - we will train at the same time of you but we will not let you see any of our tricks'. Before long we were standing for the National Anthems. The Argentinian one has such a long introduction that you begin to think the choir has forgotten the script. However once you get to the singing part the Argentinians become very emotional and loud! The Argentinians did play well and never gave up but there did not seem to be a plan B when they could not break the Aussies with their constant going up the middle and bashing into the opposition. There was certainly a lot more blood than we have seen in any match so far so you are allowed to have a little hope that the Aussies are a bit bashed up with one less day to recover. It was surprising to me that there were not a lot of Australians in the crowd. There were blocks of yellow dotted around the stadium but not in the numbers I expected to see. After the game there did not seem to be a lot of celebrating Australians walking away. When I got back to the bus everyone commented on this so perhaps I was correct in my observations. At the end of the game it was a longer walk back to the bus in a clear frosty night. A brisk walk was the order of the evening. When you come out of the Stadium it is very dark and it feels like midnight even although it is around 6:45 pm. The trip back to the hotel takes almost two hours and the Thames looked quite stunning tonight with all the reflections on the water from the clear night atmosphere. I am sure I must have been in the UK during Autumn but I do not remember the stunning autumn colours in the trees. Right in the middle of London there are green spaces with trees just turning colour and it looks quite amazing. I took some photos from the bus but they weren't so successful as cars kept zooming into my lens.

The day after THE semi final

I have just come up from breakfast and will soon be repacking my bag to head out again to Twickenham. Yesterday was quite a day. We left the hotel at 10:15 am for a 4 pm match! It did take over two hours to get from Tower Hill to Twickers. Once at the ground it turned out that the ground itself didn't open until 1:30 pm so milled around the perimeter in weather that was already beginning to show signs of a wet day. The organisation around the event is on a par with Auckland 2011 with lots of volunteers on hand to ask the stupid question, send you in the right direction and even take your rubbish as I could not find a rubbish bin that was not a recycling one. The grounds finally opened but once in discovered that access to the stadium seats was not for another hour. There was some entertainment with a Maori cultural group and a South African group but it became clear after an hour that they had a repertoire which just got repeated. Light rain settled in so it was finding a spot under an overhang to keep dry and out of the wind. Once into the stadium got settled in with good seats and good company. Watched the warm up of both teams and soon we were standing for the National Anthems. The game seemed to go so fast with lots of tension and nervousness among us. I reckon the last 7 minutes took about 30 minutes as the All Blacks hung in to preserve their lead. Hard to understand all the penalties in the first half and a general consensus among the media here that the video ref is having too much say with penalties being reversed and restarting positions changed numerous times. I didn't buy myself a radio to listen to the game but I might do that today as the video ref is included in the commentary. Apparently (and most of you will no better than I) the video ref made 4 four decisions over ruling the on ground referees which sounds like shades of the opening match. However we won and have earned a place in the final which is all we can ask for. I am backing the Argentinians today although most of the experts think Australia will prevail. It doesn't really matter who the opponent will be it will be an epic game. I thought last night was shades of the final at Eden Park in 2011. I did not take my ordinary camera with me yesterday just relied on my mobile. Did take a few more pictures than you will see on the blog today but they seem to take an age to go from my mobile to my gmail so I can download them. Pehaps I will use the camera today! Nice to be going to a match where you dont have to invest emotionally! When people got back to the bus last night the driver was offering ECG's to test everyones heart. Right now it is sunny outside although just 6 degrees. The weather man is promising a fine day although cooler than yesterday. Once you are into the stand it doesn't matter as all the spectators are protected from any rain.

Eve of D Day for the semi final

First of all everyone - I decided that the font I had chosen for the blog although pretty wasn't that easy to read so I have reverted back to something easier to read. I didn't really notice the problem until I would look at the blog on my tablet over breakfast. I hope it is easier for you all to read. Today is the eve of the semi finals and for me it was a special catch up with some very good friends who i worked with when I was on the World Vision International Board. The couple are Humphrey and Florence Norrington. Humphrey and I served on the international board for 9 years. We really got on well and spent time together in some of the most difficult countries like the Gaza Strip, Rwanda, Mongolia etc. Humphrey is such good company a great wit and just a really nice person. Frances often traveled with Humphrey so I got to know her really well. They live in a village called Berkhamsted about 30 minutes by train from London. The live on the edge of the Ashridge Estate which is a National Trust estate and wood. As we drove from the station to the house there were deer in the fields on each side of the road and one Stag even made us stop as he decided it was his right to cross the road. I had a lovely long lunch at their home catching up on their journeys since I had last seen them in 2007 and of course we shared lot of memorable occasions we had in the World Vision journey. I finally arrived back at the hotel around 6:30 pm so now it is getting ready for the semis tomorrow. We leave the hotel around 10:30 for a 4 pm kick off. Sounds very early to me but they assure us it will take 2 hours to get to Twickenham. I went to the RWCup final in Twickenham in 1991 and just caught the tube and do not remember having to leave so early - however I am sure the tour manager thinks he is doing the right thing. I am sure we would all complain if we arrive even 5 minutes late. In this mornings paper one of the English Rugby writers has proposed a new coaching group for England. Here it is Ian Foster (Gatlan was suggested but it is though Wales have him off the market), Richie McCaw as Forwards Coach and Shaun Williams who is a New Zealander in the Wales Coaching group. Dream on! It would be too hard for the English Rugby Union to appoint a non English coach - you know they invented the game! No pictures today - sorry about that. The Autumn colours around Humphrey and Florence's area are quite stunning. Not quite Central Otago but close to.

Rugby - a town and school you must visit

In my last blog I told you I was heading off to Rugby yesterday. It didnt quite work out like that as instead of 4 buses turning up only three did. They called for volunteers to delay their trip until today and as it was pouring down I thought it would be worth a gambol that the next day would be fine. Today at 7:30 we set off for Rugby in weather promising some sunshine. It took just two and a half hours by coach to get to Rugby and by the time we got there the sun was shining. Not warm but the sun was shining. We were taking in hand by guide. The groups were small - just 18 but it soon became evident why the limit on numbers. Our first stop was at the School Shop where we were presented with a special All Black supporter goodie bag. Apparently the only team at the current RWCup to go to Rugby has been the All Blacks. They did a haka on the playing field and locals responded with their own haka. NZ is held in such high regard and the Rugby town folk think we are the country most committed to the traditions of the game. We then squeezed ourselves into the School Museum where there was all sorts of memorabilia. It was very cosy in the Museum and quite hard to get photos but I tried to get a view. We then walked to the school itself. On the way we saw topiary shaped as Rugby Balls. Specially cultivated in Italy and delivered in time for the World Cup. The school is fascinating. Built by private grant for the boys of Rugby and initially was free. The locals thought because it was free perhaps it was suspect and in the first few years there was only 5 - 20 boys. You do have to pass a local entry exam and our guide (who was a teacher at the local Grammar School) he didn't sit it as his parents didn't think he was bright enough to pass the entry exams. For those of who are teachers reading this eat your heart out - there are 800 students with a Teacher/pupil ratio of 1 - 8! The cost today for boys and girls who are non residents of Rugby the cost is Forty thousand pounds per year and the school is fully residential with some amazing houses (gracious English manors really) surrounding the school on every boundary. The new quad (built 300 years ago) was supporting the most amazing ivy in Autumn Colours and was quite spectacular. The school chapel is very intimate but does sit all the students. It was built just after the Church of England/Catholic disputes in Britain and the architect was asked to bring back into an English chapel some beauty. He has done this superbly and the stain glass windows are a sight to see. I then wandered around the town and the Webb Ellis Museum which was at the back of the Rugby Shop. It is a pale reflection of the Palmerston North Rugby Museum and the town is only now thinking about how they can rehouse the collection in more appropriate surroundings. Because it is England even the gardeners have entered into the spirit and there was quite a stunning garden rendition of the Webb Ellis trophy on a busy street intersection. After finding some lunch in the town we re-boarded the bus and headed back to London arriving around 5:30 pm. The trip exceeded my expectations as I did not expect to find such a grand old school with heaps of history the foundation of our game.

Catch up blog

Hi Everyone, It is two days since I posted a blog. Sorry about that. Could say I couldn't remember yesterday as I was still celebrating the A;; Blacks amazing win in Cardiff but that would not be true. Monday seemed like an anti climax. No TV coverage of the All Blacks, no radio Sport analysing, critising and praising the game it was like the All Blacks hadn't been in town. I wouldn't always say bring on Veitchy on Sport but a dose of him would have been good. Decided on Monday to take advantage of my complimentary hop on/hop off bus ticket so despite the cold - 6 degrees - headed to the nearest bus stop. Stayed on the bus for the whole route and it went something like this - Cardiff Castle closed on Mondays, Cardiff Museum closed on Mondays, Doctor Who closed on Mondays. Decided to get off at Cardiff Bay as it promised variety, a bit of retail therapy and a nice pedestrian environment. When I got off the bus it might still have been 6 degrees but it felt more like 3. I retreated into a coffee shop to get warm inside and out and ponder my next move. Decided to return to the hotel where they had arranged for the All Blacks/France to be replayed. Enjoyed seeing the match again with enthusiastic if not biased watchers! Today we left Cardiff in sunshine for our bus trip back to London. Today would have been the warmest day I have had so far and it was nice to stand outside in the sun with a cup of coffee in my hand. At 3 o'clock we were just 28 miles from London but those 28 miles took two and a half hours to make our hotel. The President of China is in town for a state visit and many of the roads were either closed or diverted so the trip along the Embankment was a right doddle. Tomorrow at 7:15 am I set off for Rugby for a day trip to the place where this crazy game started. Should be a great day and I will come back with lots of pictures to make up for the lack of pictures in the last two blogs.

Second quarter final in Cardiff

Today started leisurely with an afternoon match. I had a start time of 3 pm in my mind (didn't look at the ticket of course) so wandered down town and bought a sandwich and some fruit for lunch. I decided it might be better to go to the game watered and fed rather than rely on getting into one of the cafes. The town was very green with Ireland supporters some as Leprechauns and one even as the Pope wandering around in his green habit blessing the crowd. As I went back into my hotel room to have my lunch in leisure I turned on the TV to see a Rugby match in play and lo and behold it was the one I was supposed to be at! The game actually started at 1 pm. It was time to done the jacket and go hell for leather down to the Game. I arrived 15 (almost 20) minutes late and by then Clare was wisely setting up a SOS for me. However it was a great match. There was plenty of Argentinian supporters as well as seas of green all around the stadium and the match initially swung one way and then the other. Alas for Ireland Argentina took over the last 20 minutes of the game and put on the points. The score probably flattered Argentina but they are through to the Semi Final and play Australia next weekend. Walked with Clare to the Railway Station entrance and then she headed off for a train to Manchester. Made it back to the hotel in good time to watch the second quarter final between Australia and Scotland. I don't think anyone really gave Scotland a chance but didn't they give the Aussies a run for their money. The Aussies didn't look as all conquering in this match as they had in there earlier encounters so they could have quite a match up with Argentina next week. In the rush to get to the stadium I didn't take the camera so no photos today. I will try and do better tomorrow. One of the things that differentiates southern hemisphere Rugby from Europe is the crowd participation. We are such a reserved lot and it was interesting to look across the rows of seats and see the New Zealanders following the game but without singing or jumping up and down. We need to get better at this as it adds so much to the atmosphere. Not much else to add. Have a few exchanges of texts with Clare as she was listening to the Scotland match during her train trip home. Clare didn't expect a win but would be sad that Scotland got so close and gave away a penalty in the last minute. I hope New Zealand is still luxuriating in the All Blacks win.

From the Kawakawa Bay Fan Zone

Hi there Well I am sure it didn't have quite the atmosphere of Cardiff but we had our very own Fan Zone at Kawakawa Bay cheering the boys on. We could provide more than a hot dog though. Fantastic game. Unfortunately one of our supporters was not so enthusiastic. These early morning games interfere with her 'walk time'. Wendy, Annette and Katie The Kawakawa AB Supporters.

D Day in Cardiff

Arose this morning feeling that it is going to be a good day. After breakfast wandered down to City Centre around Cardiff Castle and the Millennium Stadium. The whole inner city area only pedestrian so it was good to see all the people milling around taking in the atmosphere. You will have seen the Rugby Ball which is mounted on the wall of Cardiff Castle - certainly a photo stop for everyone. I saw on the news this morning the suggestion that they might leave the Rugby Ball up after the end of the World Cup. Clare is arriving today from Manchester. Her train is due in at 1 pm and the plan is then to walk down to the Fan Zone where there is a Kiwi Bar with big screens so we can watch the first match there. I assume after that we will look for something to eat before heading to the Millennium Stadium for our encounter with the French. There are lots of French supporters around many dressed up as Chickens - they certainly add colour and fun to the streets. Thought I would start this blog before the business end of the day begins and hopefully I will finish it when I arrive back at the hotel sometime tonight. Sorry about sending a text to Wendy and Annette last night but I thought you would have liked to know that I might make TV One news. Sounds from the comments that quite a few of you saw it. I hope I did you proud. Hugh I sent off an invitation to Alister. I did send him a Facebook invitation earlier but forgot to add him to the Blog. Just arrived home from the Game and what a game it was. Clare arrived at the hotel around 1:20 and it was our plan to go and get a bite of lunch then head off to the Fan Zone at Cardiff Arms Park. Eventually found a bite to eat and ended up in a cafe with a big screen. We thought it was tempting to just stay in the cafe and watch the South Africa/Wales game but decided we should get into the atmosphere of quarter final weekend so headed off the Fan Zone which was in Cardiff Arms Park. Before we even got there there were world cup volunteers announcing that the Fan Zone was fill and closed - 10000 people inside. Decided we should head back to the hotel and watch it on the TV in my room. I though the Welsh team just ran out of gas at the end as they did have the upper hand for most of the match. Set off at the end of that match to find some tea and then go off to the match. We had two hours to do that but we were at the stadium but still had not found any place we could get into. Most were booked out until 1 am! Plenty of places to stand on the street and drink beer which wasn't really our cup of tea. Decided to go into the stadium in the hope there would be some food inside. There was but nothing to write home about. I had a hot dog which was a warm saveloy inside a cold bun and clear had some sort of pastie which she described as non nondescript. When we did get to the stadium both teams were on the field going through their warm up routines. We had great seats and saw really well only had to revert to the TV screens when the ball was lost in one of the very few scrums of the game. The agility of the All Blacks was amazing and Clare says that 'forwards shouldnt be able to run as fast the AB forwards did'. By the time I got back to the hotel the post match analysis was over so I am hoping there might be something on the late news in about 20 minutes. Our match tomorrow is at 4 pm so Clare and I are just going to meet up in the stadium. She is staying with friends in Newport so she can have some time with them before she comes into the match. Head is catching a train back to Manchester after the match so I think it will be quite late by the time she hits Manchester.