Day 22 – Last match for Canada

This morning we had breakfast and then started to get ready for the game.  I applied face paint to Tegan’s face, a giant red maple leaf with a black background.  She wore the same clothes and wig from the last game and we boarded the shuttle for Wellington at about 12:30 for our 3 o'clock game.  The atmosphere was great at the game.  There were tons of Canadian supporters and even more All Black supporters.  It was really neat sitting inside the “Cake Tin” watching an All Blacks game.   Sure wish it was more than a once in a lifetime event.   

The haka was fantastic to see live and a little Kiwi boy was imitating the haka moves next to us, as the real haka happened on the pitch. 

The Canadian boys managed the best they could against “The Mighty” and it was reflected in the final score.  After the game we cheered on the boys as they rounded the field, then Tegan and I bolted to other side of the stadium so she could try to get some autographs from the circling players.  I think we got into position for the last three quarters of the team that was left circling the pitch and Tegan probably got about 15 Canadian players and about 4 of The All Blacks.

We probably p’d off a few of our companions on the shuttle as they had just sent out a search party when we arrived at the bus.  When we got back to the campsite, I made supper for us and then it was off to bed.  We had to get an early start to the next day with our ferry ride to the South Island.

Day 4 - Tonga vs Canada

Tegan and I had a good sleep outside the clubhouse and we were just starting to stir when a knock came to the back window of the campervan and it was Tegan’s new friend Devon.  She warned us that she would come knocking prior to school so she could see Tegan one last time.  Tegan and Devon had a little run on the pitch playing a couple of games and then we walked her to school which was conveniently located across the road.

We had access to the showers and got cleaned up before heading off to breakfast at the club predident Paul’s place.  Eggs, bacon and toast do the body good after a 8-10 pints the night before.  We then arranged our meet up with “Sweet Pea” to feed some chickens, pick oranges and grapefruit and then off to let Tegan bottle feed the lambs.  She sure did enjoy the hospitality.  “Sweat Pea” then escorted us to our campervan park then he took us to get a view of the city from a lookout high up on the hill.  Whangarei is a great little city; supposedly the deepest port in New Zealand.

We settled into our campervan park, I tried got the photos off of our cameras and worked on getting some online.  Tegan played at the park and then it was time to get ready.  Thankfully she was able to get her face done by a fellow Canadian from Nunavit who was heading to the game as well.  I think they did a great job with Tegan’s face.    

We hitched a ride with a fellow heading downtown, he was attempting to get us to the stadium, but he obviously had no idea which way to go.  Eventually it was too much and he just let us off on the corner downtown.  Guess we looked good in our game gear because we were immediately asked for a photo.  Cool with us!

We learned there was going to be a flash mob haka performed at 4pm and rather than heading to the stadium to fetch our tickets we stayed to watch the performance.  Unfortunately the crowd was too large that seeing the haka would be better left until the 6pm news hour.   We had some meat pies and then headed to the grounds to get our RWC tickets.  The crowd was huge, tickets were sold out and luckily not much of a line-up for will call tickets.   We managed to find our seats and get some bevies prior to the pre-game ceremonies and national anthems. 

The game was a great game.  Canada played a well-rounded game that eventually won them the game.  We also got Tegan a play date in Wellington with the daughter of the guy who sat next to us at the game.  Very cool vibe in New Zealand.

 Instead of celebrating Tegan and I walked back to the campervan to call it a night.

Canada won!

Sleep is good.