Sept. 19th – We’re sitting in the campsite in Napier waiting for the laundry to dry and enjoying a little sunshine and space as the French caravans have pulled out after their 46-19 win over a valiant Canadian side.
Sensory Experiences of Last 4 Days:
Feel: The freezing cold of the Taranaki Stadium as Carolyn watched from the stands the USA gather what will be its only world cup win over Russia (13-6) in a mediocre game and Tom enjoyed his first press credentialed pass to a world cup match complete with press room buffet.
(See www.deepsouthrugby.net for match reports and life of the novice sports journalist stories)
The cozy warmth of the tv rooms at the Wellington and Napier campsites as we enjoyed Ireland’s upset of Australia and Wales triumph over Sa’moa.
Taste: Carolyn has a deliciously comforting jacket potato and Tom a spicy lamb madras at restaurants in downtown Wanganui as we stop on our way back to Wellington from New Plymouth. We searched in vain for a magnet to add to our fridge magnet collection that lines the metal border above the”bed” in our camper van. (Tom continues his research into the great pies of New Zealand with a disappointing ham,cheese, & spaghetti pie from a TipTop shop in Greytown.)
Smell: The cold weather has wiped out Tom’s sense of smell of anything except his nightly Lemsip, but Carolyn enjoyed the aroma of a much anticipated fish n chips at a shop outside the train station in Wellington after a lovely afternoon visiting the 2nd floor of the Te Papa museum and strolling along a (finally) sunny and warm Wellington waterfront before watching Argentina beat Romania 43-8 in the train station bar.
Sound: The crashing of bowling balls as we settled to watch the All Blacks dismantle Japan 83-7 in a bowling alley close to our campsite in Paraparaumu after checking out a too crowded pub in the town.
The chants and yells of the Fiji fans that drowned out the Springbok supporters at the Wellington stadium as the Fijians fell to the Boks 49-3.
The drunken Springbok fan wandering the campsite and yelling ‘F****N something or another’ at 12:30 at night.
Sight: Snow covered mountains and mist on the hills below them as we left Wellington early and wound along windy narrow roads on our way to Napier.
