(Barely) Working Title: How to retire in your twenties
We finally made it! Well, almost. We woke up in a field in Feilding (yes, that's the correct spelling), and headed back to Palmerston North to check out the National Rugby Museum. The showcase focused mainly around the social and political journey that Rugby has embarked on in New Zealand. Origins in football in the UK were discussed, the controversial rivalry with the Springboks during the Apartheid Regime, right through to the modern day game. Well worth a stop.
Māori were barred from competing in the All Blacks’ first tour of South Africa and faced many restrictions and barriers in subsequent tours and when hosting their opposition. This was met with the often violent protest of many Kiwis who believed in equal rights for all New Zealanders. The same support was not offered to the development of Women’s Rugby which was described by one influential Editor as (sigh) “unladylike” and “presumably financially inviable”. I
Lewis George
81 chapters
16 Apr 2020
Mission Accomplished: Come on you Nix!
April 21, 2019
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Palmerston North, WestPac Stadium, Wellington
We finally made it! Well, almost. We woke up in a field in Feilding (yes, that's the correct spelling), and headed back to Palmerston North to check out the National Rugby Museum. The showcase focused mainly around the social and political journey that Rugby has embarked on in New Zealand. Origins in football in the UK were discussed, the controversial rivalry with the Springboks during the Apartheid Regime, right through to the modern day game. Well worth a stop.
Māori were barred from competing in the All Blacks’ first tour of South Africa and faced many restrictions and barriers in subsequent tours and when hosting their opposition. This was met with the often violent protest of many Kiwis who believed in equal rights for all New Zealanders. The same support was not offered to the development of Women’s Rugby which was described by one influential Editor as (sigh) “unladylike” and “presumably financially inviable”. I
mean, who would want to watch WOMEN play?
Ironically, the Black Ferns are the most successful Rugby team in the world with an 88% winning record, and have won the World Cup 5 out of 6 times including 4 back to back victories since its inception in 1998. The All Blacks on the other hand have secured only a meagre 3 Webb-Ellis Cups.
Next we headed down to Wellington and sat in gridlock on the motorway. To think that we'd been travelling for 3 weeks on this 7 hour drive and we were nearly late is maddening. We checked in at a motor lodge (literally a carpark for $50) and went straight to the ground.
There it is! The stadium is fantastic, the crowd is minimal (around 8000 fans, but noisy!) and Wellington Phoenix did not disappoint! A 3-2 thriller against Melbourne City (AKA Sunderland 2.0), with a last minute goal completing the hat-trick for Roy Krishna. We celebrated with the "yellow army" and headed back to our trashy motel carpark . Mission accomplished! What now?
1.
The first trip: Miranda to Thames
2.
Land of the Long, White Cloud
3.
Backyard Exploring
4.
Hit the Road, Jack
5.
Under the Weather
6.
The Road of Death?
7.
An Eel called "Eel"
8.
Descent into the Black Abyss...
9.
Everybody's Going Surfing...
10.
Living in a van: is this the real life?
11.
Out with the Old and in with the New (Plymouth)
12.
Walk this Way
13.
The Great Taranaki
14.
The "Forgotten" Highway
15.
Chronicle + Art = Article
16.
Derby Day
17.
Mission Accomplished: Come on you Nix!
18.
The post-Phoenix hangover
19.
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing
20.
Whanganui 2 - This Time it’s Personal
21.
Tui-many puns and Hastings
22.
The Giant Among Us & Bell Rock
23.
Acoustics, Art & A Bloody Cold Sea
24.
Napier Calling
25.
Bridget Jones' Diary - Cheese, Chocolate, Wine
26.
Land and Sea
27.
Mahia-hee, Mahia-hu...
28.
The Gisborne Identity
29.
East Cape Escape
30.
The Long and Winding Road
31.
More or Less Pork.
32.
The Land of the Rising Sun
33.
Hikurangi: Reaching New Heights
34.
Stingray, Stingray!
35.
Bay of Plenty (of Surprises)
36.
Future Reflections
37.
Birthday Part 1 - Going Off Pissed
38.
Birthday Part 2 - Going En Piste
39.
Mid-Winter Christmas
40.
I Get Knocked Down (But I Get Up Again)
41.
Job Hunting: I Need a Dollar, Dollar
42.
Busy Earnin'
43.
Hoppy Daze
44.
Making a House a Home
45.
What to expect when you’re expecting
46.
Bright Lights, Big City
47.
Feeling Each and Every Mile
48.
What to export when you're exporting
49.
Waipapa Marae: An Unexpected Welcome
50.
Tane of the Sky Father
51.
The Boy Most Likely To
52.
Go Rooster!
53.
Friday 13th
54.
Mild Orange, Heavy Chest
55.
Champions of the World
56.
Wild, Wild West (Auckland)
57.
Team Zlatan Heineken
58.
Great Expectations
59.
Un petit rendezvous
60.
Duck Island (sans canards)
61.
It’s Coming Home?
62.
Culture, init?
63.
Sue’s Turtle Garden
64.
New Caledonia - It’s a Rollercoaster (metaphorically)
65.
It’s gone abroad...
66.
Future Me Hates Me
67.
“You can’t beat Wellington on a sunny day”
68.
Te Papa Tongarewa: New Zealand’s Treasure Chest
69.
Island in the Sun
70.
Wine on Waiheke
71.
I'm Dreaming of a Really Sunny and Warm as Hell Christmas
72.
A Visitor!
73.
New Year, New Zealand
74.
Worm-tomo
75.
A Vicious Cycle
76.
Tongario 2.0: This time it's actually visible
77.
Wow Nature, you furry
78.
Whakarewarewa: Living Māori Vilage
79.
Ain't No Mountain...
80.
Hot Rodders & Hotter Weather
81.
North Shore, Not Sure
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