Sept. 11th - At noon we eagerly caught the bus from outside the campsite into Wellington and were seated in front of the big screen tv in Molly Malone’s pub 2 hours before Australia v Italy kick-off.
5 Senses of the Day
Taste: Beef & Guinness stew with a healthy portion of mash at Molly Malones.
Smell: After Australia squeezed past Italy we took a cab to “The Inn” (a pub just outside Wellington stadium to watch USA v Ireland. We lucked into a nice seat in front of the telly in what would become a very crowded and bar and had a constant stream of aromas of The Inns meals waft around us as meals were served to other patrons.
Sound: The first of a glorious series of national anthems was a spontaneous singing of the Welsh national anthem in “The Inn” followed by a good chorus of the Irish and weaker chorus (mainly just Tom and the tv) of the U.S. anthems and then rousing versions of “The World in Union”, South African, and Welsh anthems in the stadium. We have made a vow to learn at least one national anthem a week.
Feel: The low of watching the Springboks first try followed by the high of Wales taking control of the match, and the last 4 minutes of tension as Wales struggled unsuccessfully to overcome the 1 point deficit and be only the 2nd team in Welsh history to beat the Springboks.
Sight: A range of sights from the confusion of not seeing any sign of our prearranged shuttle bus service back to the campsite to the final sight of a tremendously kind Kiwi lady who chatted with us on the train and then gave us a ride back to the campsite from the train station.
Today we leave for New Plymouth and the "Cold War" match - USA v Russia.
