The Real Jess

Some after pictures, from the Wellington Fan zone, with fellow Canadians.  … you know, just to prove we didnt die. Actually, we rallied hard and had a fantastic rest of the day. Michelle and I wound up going to the bar where the two teams were having their post game hang out or whatever, and while they were actually upstairs the whole time, we did see Zac Guildford and Dan Carter… I creeped on them and actually touched them each on the shoulder. Got some weird looks for that. Michelle also saw ‘that really big Canadian player’ who we still haven’t identified. She actually had a bit of an interaction with Dan Carter too, but I wasn’t there at the time. My pal Hannah also got upstairs by lying and saying she was married to one of the canadian players and that she would ‘be right back down with him to prove it’… Good job Hannah. 

And then we went back to the hostel and drank some more. Probably a poor decision, as I felt like ass the next day. But it was worth it!

Canada Vs New Zealand, Rugby World Cup 2011

So we may or may not have been thumped in this game… BUT we were winning for a short period of time, so that’s something, right? 

It was a wee bit disappointing that neither Dan Carter nor Richie McCaw were in the game, but it’s all good. It is more disappointing that I drank wayyyy to much and don’t have as clear memories of the game as I would have liked. I somehow managed to forget to buy a program, when it was the only game we went to that I really wanted the program for in the first place. Also the fact that I didnt have my camera, so all the pictures we took were with Marks cell phone. LAME. 

Anyway, it was still a fantastic day, which I will remember (most of) forever. 

October 2, the day we had been waiting for! 

We were super excited this day as it was FINALLY the Canada vs New Zealand game. We met up with my pal Hannah, (not pictured here….) and had too many drinks before the game even started, and got all painted up for the game. It was my idea to have like a maple leaf on one side and a silver fern on the other, but when it came time to get painted I actually didnt really want the silver fern anymore. Michelle was unimpressed. I did get one, just on one side of my face, while the Canadian flag took over my entire face. We also had red clothing and flags and good times! 

On October 1st we flew (way too early in the morning) from Nelson to Wellington. We went to pick up our tickets for the game the next day and were told that there was a fan event with a few All Blacks. Unfortunately, somehow I managed to forget our camera in Nelson (boo!) though we werent actually supposed to be taking pictures at this event anyway. Mark managed to get a few (crappy) pictures with his iphone though. Anyway, you might not be able to tell but it was Brad Thorn(4), Colin Slade (10) and Andrew Hore(2). We got them to sign our tickets. (Michelle, I still have yours… not sure which one was yours though?) 

September 27 2011, Italy 27 vs USA 10

We went to the Italy vs USA game in Nelson supporting the Italians, mostly because, as Canadians, we support two teams: Canada, and anyone playing against the US. It seems we were mostly seated among American supporters, though few of them actually appear to have come from the US. In fact, many of the groups of fans were supporting opposing teams. It was a very lively crowd though, and a better game than the score makes it out to be (though we were fairly certain ahead of time who would be the victors of this match). There was a very impressive round of ‘the Mexican Wave,’ as I’ve learned that it’s called.

After the game, we met up with Michelle’s (and now our) friend Jo, and walked with her back to Michelle’s place where we hung out and had some drinks. Good times. 

On September 18 we watched England play against Georgia at the brand new Otago Stadium in Dunedin. The stadium itself is really cool as its roof is made of a polymer that weighs 1% of what a similar glass roof would weigh, and allows the natural light in without degrading the uv. This makes it possible to grow real grass, and it is the only covered stadium with real grass in the world! It was actually quite nice in the stadium, and several degrees warmer than outside. We were in the sun until it went down despite being indoors.

The game was good, though not surprisingly England came out on top 41 - 10. I dont think that the score reflects how well Georgia played.

We were sitting next to a nice woman from Christchurch. I think this was one of the games that was meant to be played there before the earthquake. We didn’t even get the womans name, but she gave us her husbands business card in case we need somewhere to stay when we are in Christchurch. It’s crazy how friendly everyone is here, and everyone obviously wants us to love their country as much as they do.

On our otherside, there was a rambunctious Londoner. He was short, and full of energy. He kept jumping up and down, screaming about anything and everything. He only stayed in our area for half the game as he got told off for being in the way, but he definitely had friends in another section of the stadium so I assume he went there. Funny guy though.

It was actually kind of hard to tell the fans appart because the Georgian flag looks just like the England flag only with 4 red crosses in each of the corners.

After the game, we went to a pub down the street from the stadium to watch the Canada vs France game. Apparently it’s the oldest pub in Dunedin, though I really have no idea what it was called or anything. They had erected a huge tent around what i’m guessing would have been a patio otherwise, and had a big projection of the game on the side of the building (as well as many inside the actual pub too). Was a sad ending to that game, though a good game anyway.

We watched Argentina vs Romania play in Invercargill’s Rugby Park. Our tickets were general admission, which made up 3 sides of the field, and we stood near Romania’s 1st half end zone. The game was awesome! Argentina dominated, as was expected, and came out on top with a score of 43-8.  The atmosphere at a World Cup rugby game is amazing! The fans were obnoxious (as is to be expected) and loud and happy, regardless of whether they were cheering for the winning team or not.

Mark and I were both somewhat annoyed with the children hanging out near us. The grass we were standing on was more like a mud pit by the end of the game. A boy to Marks left was stomping in the mud, covering everyone around in mud. To my right, there was a group of children sitting on the edge of the fence we were leaning on, and the got on and off the fence every few minutes. This was fine for the most part, but one boy didn’t seem to be able to do this without rubbing his muddy boots all over my arm… cool. Good thing mud washes off!