For those of you who don't know, (you must have been on Pluto or something - the ex-planet not the dog), I am being made redundant and get a bit of a pay-off. Instead of being sensible and getting the mortgage down and paying off a few bills, I'm blowing a significant amount of it on a 8 week trip to New Zealand and Fiji for the Rugby World Cup. This, I thought, was an unattainable dream, but a chance comment at a rugby match with my sister, (who can tell that rugby players are sportsmen, by the way that the hairs have rubbed off on their legs) who volunteered the family savings to let me go. (Goodness knows how much sex she had to have to persuade her husband it was a good idea). So two days later, I booked. And then the earthquake hit Christchurch - timing as always still impeccable. This really does put everything into context. One of the world's beautiful cities in rubble, lives lost, so my troubles are nothing. So I get on a flight to Auckland (Air New Zealand - more details for the plane spotters probably in another blog) on 6th September, to return to the UK on 30th October. My habitual abode during most of that time is a two berth camper van.
For those of you who enjoy sport, in particular rugby, I am going to at least 12, probably 14 World Cup games. During that time, I will watch for my sister's other pearl of wisdom. Physio's always wear shorts to look sporting, have all the hairs on their legs and hitch their shorts up too high, (regardless of sport). With their rubber gloves, they look even more dubious.
I hope to master posting photos, so that you can get a feel of some of the places I visit, so I may practice with other adventures I have before then, and if I get busy and really into it, some from the past as well. My first attempt failed as gifs jifs pdfs and goodness knows what has already confused me. (Hmmm - this might take some work!!!)
At the moment I'm planning my route and things to do, which I'll let you all have, so that you can see where I am, if things go quiet. I will probably be up a mountain somewhere. The blog was the idea of some of my friends (they had had alcohol) in the Rugby Club. They have also asked me to reflect the thoughts of the day in a song title. Pressure's on to deliver something that people keep following and want to read about. However, I am sure that I will stray into rants about players, games, emptying the waste from the van etc.
Remember when you were a child, and in the run up to Christmas, you counted off sleeps, and often didn't sleep? Well that's how I was for a week after I booked, it's just an unbelievable adventure, I'm going to have.
For those of you who are counting, its 146 nights (not counting the Sunday afternoon naps).
The song in the Title is the ITV theme music (to the tune of I vow to thee my Country) to the last few World Cups.
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