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Published: April 23rd 2007
Hello to all blog readers. It's been a while. I hope you've all missed my deranged ramblings. I've certainly missed you guys.
Last time I wrote, I was sitting in a steaming hot internet cafe in the heart of Santiago. Shortly after that message, I made the brief 12 hour hop across to New Zealand or "Aotearoa" to use the proper Maori name. It means Land of the Long White Cloud. Thankfully for me, that name hasn't really been appropriate as the weather has been lovely. I've had the chance to top up the tan a little bit before winter kicks in down here. Thankfully, my unfeasibly blonde eyebrows are now returning to their natural colour. I read you've also been having great weather up there in England. So everybody's happy. Ain't that nice?
So, why have I been offline for so long? One of the main reasons for visiting New Zealand was to stay with my brother, Matthew, and his fiance, Becky. They are settled here now so I don't get chance to see them very often. Much as I have enjoyed travelling, it's been great to spend a few weeks without having to think about where to stay and to enjoy a few home comforts. I was made to feel extremely welcome with cooked breakfasts and one of Matthew's now famous shepherd's pies. I have to admit that my brother thoroughly defeated me in the Playstation Olympics. I will have to practise more when I return home.
Matthew and Becky live in Auckland, by far NZ's biggest city. Here are some facts for all you fact fans. As a whole, NZ has a slightly larger land mass than Great Britain. But that land mass is shared by only around 4 million people. Around 1 million of those people live in the Greater Auckland region. Auckland also has the largest concentration of Pacific Islanders anywhere in NZ. For the first couple of weeks, I stayed in my brother's house in Orakei, a rather posh suburb of Auckland. Orakei is close to the eastern bays of Auckland, a collection of 4 or 5 extremely pleasant bays complete with sandy beaches. There are several shops, cafes, bars and restaurants lining the streets. The first one I paid a visit to was the Fish Pot in Mission Bay. I hadn't sampled proper battered fish and chips since leaving Yorkshire. It took several napkins to wipe the drool from my face as I gorged on fish and chips in proper newspaper. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.................fish and chips.
You can't get very far in NZ without discussing rugby. It's more than just the national sport, it's more of an obsession. It's often said that being Prime Minister of NZ is the second most important job in the country, the first most important being coach of the legendary All Blacks. We were lucky enough to score free tickets to watch the Auckland Blues play the New South Wales Waratahs. It was my first trip to Eden Park, home of rugby union in Auckland. It's a traditional rugby ground and doesn't suffer from the stale atmosphere that blights many modern stadiums that are all built to the same dome or bowl type shapes. Eden Park has a bit of character. The Blues had good cheerleaders too - an essential of any great rugby ground. And the Blues crushed the Waratahs. Watching an team of Aussies getting bashed about - you have to take the chance to smile at that sort of thing when you can because it doesn't happen too often.
Matthew and Becky are becoming very sporty types. Matthew plays in goal for his works 6-a-side team and has just made a return to the 11-a-side game by joining Eastern Suburbs FC. He gave a fine performance in a 1-0 defeat we went to watch. He qualifies to play for the New Zealand national team now so keep your eyes peeled for future squad announcements. Matthew also plays in Becky's works 6-a-side team. I was twiddling my thumbs at their house one day watching another old episode of Emmerdale (can you believe poor old Alan Turner is still held prisoner by evil Lorraine Chase down here?) when the call came through. The team may be short of the mandatory 6 players for the evening's match. Did I have any shorts? And trainers? My brow became fevered with sweat, my heart was pumping - I was coming out of my football retirement.
With great pride, I donned the black kit of the BP mixed 6-a-side football team. My own shorts were black coloured. I was an All Black! Word must have reached the opposition that an overseas player had been drafted in because they failed to show. Another team volunteered to step into the breach and we were off. The indoor pitch had a countdown clock, an electric scoreboard - it was the real deal. After much puffing and panting for 12 minutes each way, we were victorious by 3 goals to 2. And the scorer of the winning goal? Need you ask? Surely you know the blog by now? I was put in the clear and launched home a screamer from 20 yards out with seconds spare. Or it could have been a tap in from 5 yards? My memory is clouded by the euphoria of the victory. Whilst I was on top of game, I retired from football once more. Sorry, Steve McLaren, you'll have to find your saviour from elsewhere.
The following week, I played again but the game was cut short when Becky copped a rough tackle. A visit to casualty confirmed a very badly bruised ankle and a spell on crutches followed. Thankfully, she seems to be making a full recovery.
Over the next couple of weeks, I helped my brother move house to the Onehunga district of Auckland. It really was great to hang out with the two of them for an extended time. I'll be heading back to Auckland at the end of my tour of New Zealand.
Which seems a good place to leave things for now. My good friend, Nick, has arrived safely from England and it's time for us to head off travelling this marvellous country. I'm sure there'll be one or two noteworthy adventures to tell you about as we travel around.
Coming up next time - the fun and frolics start with Black Don's Plums, we go proper caving (with wetsuits, helmets, lamps and everything) and sample the thermal pools of Rotorua. Maybe I can persuade Nick to do some guest blogging?
Hope all is well back home and do keep in touch. Stay tuned.
Joff
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Trinder
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Morning/Evening
Morning/Evening Joff Not much to report from up here. Weather has indeed been very good. Forecast set for another scorcher this weekend. DC was had on Friday at the Goose - bit difficult as Camden was in the middle of its 100 gigs festival so there were a lot of smelly grungers around taking all the seats so DC went on tour down to Soho - a big mistake ending in a messy exit (people getting lost etc.) at around 3.30am. Anyway, sampled a delicious curry at Lama's a couple of weeks ago - I think we should push for more curry when you get back. Glad to hear the eyebrows are coming on nicely and you have broken in to a run for a potential 24 minutes for the first time in 12 years - very impressive. Must crack on now with the daily grind - don't hurry back - you will regret it. Enjoy NZ. Remember real nature can be just as good as the pixelled variety! Bye for now/Good night Trinder