CallumStone

Now the north island has never heard of the south island over here, so we were officially on our own. After gaining a replacement tyre, as well as further supplies (more beer) we headed for Nelson. This area is renowned for vineyards and beer, but having sampled many of these local beers I can safely report that this view is only taken by the Kiwis and no other nation! Day two in Nelson is match day. The big one… Italy vs Russia in all its glory. The day starts off well in the first pub, where we manage to be trapped in conversation with the local village alcoholic (who incidentally knows more about crap beer than the rest of NZ; so after a while I ordered a lager to keep him happy, or as they say ... read more

Auckland: The opening game caused few upsets as expected. However, two particular highlights were finding my first pint and the referee disallowing New Zealand a perfectly legitimate try. As well as rugby, the sights of a wine tour and several parks on Waiheke island come highly recommended. Other highlights included picking up the campervan and blasting the horn for about 30 seconds until the novelty wore off. Overall reflections: Kiwi’s moan a lot more than the English, especially when it comes to rugby. Tauranga: A day’s surf on the north east coast was abandoned, due to hangovers and terrible weather! (English are only fair weather surfers I’m afraid). Fortunately, we settled on a quiet night and watched England play in the evening in a quiet bar… The night ended with us drinking with the Samoan rugby ... read more

Hello and good evening. I have now calmed down enough to write this blog. It has taken me the best part of 45 minutes to work out how to "add a blog message" so i hope this works. So far I have subscribed to myself, sent myself a private message and down something else that has resulted in sweet fa. Anyway I digress. THE START: I departed with my partner in crime on 2 September 2011 as planned. Mum chose to take the scenic route to the airport, however all was well and we still made it to the airport on time. Having carried my bags to check-in I begin to realise that I may have overcooked the packing. (Anyway we can worry about that later) Check in was successful, as was my first beer in ... read more