We pushed on through blustery winds to arrive in New Plymouth on Tuesday, Sept. 13th, on the way looking for the mythical Mount Taranaki – or Mount Egmont as the older locals like to call it. The old timers don’t take much store in the liberal attempts to revert to Maori names. The first night here we went for a little stroll along the beach and got soaked before we could get back. The wind supposedly hit gale force during the night and the camper van was rocking.
Yesterday started out nice and bright. We walked the 4 kilometers into town along the coastal pathway occasionally avoiding sea spray that crashed over the walkway. New Plymouth town centre was alive with Rugby World Cup enthusiasm. Locals were very helpful and if you had the slightest look of confusion on your face someone was soon to stop and ask if they could help. Carolyn & John (rugby pal of Tom’s who is traveling with us for the USA vs Russia match) got tickets to the game. Tom will see the game from the press box! We then went out to Taranaki Stadium for Tom’s first official use of his press credentials to get into the USA & Russian press conferences. See article on the press conferences in the middle column of the home page for www.deepsouthrugby.net .
Carolyn walked back to the camp ground from the stadium and after the press conferences. Tom & John picked up some fish and chips, called a cab, and arrived back in time for Scotland’s 15 – 6 win over Georgia and the nightly deluge.
