Sydney to Christchurch

For the record following our Auckland trip we had three home matches
1. We beat the Chiefs 30 to 23
2. The Cheetahs 61 to 15 and then
3. A surprising loss to the Hurricanes 13 to 23

We then travelled to our closest away game in Sydney to see the NSW Waratahs. A crowd of some 30,000+ meant that the match was held at ANZ stadium (the main 2000 Olympic and 2003 rugby world cup finals stadium). We were joined by family Waratah supporter Geoff Lucas and a couple of his friends. The match was a hard affair which unfortunately went the wrong way in large part due to some very ordinary refereeing. (I appreciate having some bias but I suspect even the Waratahs supporters would agree the refereeing was particularly poor – even the Foxtel commentators were a little taken aback). But all that is history, we went down 19 to 12.

Helen at least found smiling easier that Alan although none of us were in what could be called high spirits as this put making the finals in serious jeopardy.

The following week we went to a “State of the Union” lunch and met a number of Brumbies. After the number crunching everyone was acutely aware that all the final three matches had to be won to secure a Semi Finals place.

With that in mind they stepped up at the weekend and had a good win over the Queensland Reds 32 – 12 and followed this a week later with a win over the Highlanders 31 to 3. This just left a win over the Crusaders in Christchurch to secure a home semi. Easier said than done given the Crusaders are a very strong team particularly when they play at home.

So off we went to Christchurch. It is a beautiful city and we hit perfect Autumnal weather, cool, sunny with wonderful colours particularly near the river that meanders through the centre (the trees weren't bad either).

In addition to some shopping we also went on an expedition to see what we could arrange by way of accommodation for the Rugby World Cup to be held in NZ in September/October 2011. For the benefit of fellow tragics who will be joining us next year, below are a couple of pictures of the type of Campervan we have arranged to hire from Kea (this is a 4 berth).
Planning trips is fun!

Even at night the City lights up and is very attractive.

And during the day there were many activities. We took a tram ride around the town – wonderful old vehicles (but the only track now in use is a small circular one for tourism rather than real public transport).

After a very enjoyable day we were looking forward to the must win match with the Crusaders (for both teams). The before match build up was excellent with a helicopter bringing in the weeks young supporter (what a buzz for him and his Mum – he was a bit too small for my camera and distance though!)

This was followed by a half dozen Crusaders on horse back doing laps of the field. Really helped to hype up the crowd.

The large crowd (30,000+) and new stadium were impressive but intimidating. The famous Christchurch fog also played its part half way through when it rolled in and the already cool temperature dropped a further 9ºC in 15 minutes. The Brumbies were not as hot as the Crusaders in this environment and did not play as well as the previous two weeks going down 40 to 22. The only upside to not winning is that we did not have to travel to South Africa again!

We did get to have a good chat with some of the team back at their hotel before they took off to play up on the town seeing as this was the end of the season for all but those involved in the Wallabies (starting against Ireland on June 5).

The following day we took the Gondola ride up the local mountain. We were not allowed in this one which was a shame ….

And Kate in particular was pleased to be in a closed version…

The views from the top were magnificent particularly looking South over Lyttelton Township with the sun behind us and where the air was clear.

This was in stark contrast to looking North over Christchurch where the fog had started to roll in during the late afternoon.

We finalised our Brumbies venture with some fine dining at Tiffanys – the last supper?

The whole Brumbies venture has been a wonderful experience with a diverse range of memories from the Captains run and meeting the whole team to the SA safari parks and a wide range of dining experiences. These will last a life time.

Now for the 2011 Rugby World Cup!