So long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

The end of the line arrived far too soon for Josie and Martha as they took down the 'Where's Nelly' flag for one last time and fondly surveyed the emptying Otago Stadium after a convincing England win against Romania. Thanks for a brilliant two weeks girls and good luck with Uni and work back in England. It certainly was a quiet drive away from Dunedin without you.
Its quite hard to know where to start this week with an embarrassment of riches on the activity front. As you walk around Queenstown you see so many people on crutches that I'm sure there must be a business opportunity there somewhere. 'Crutches Incorporated' perhaps. Thankfully nobody from the 'Nelly Tour' needed them after the following memorable activities.-

• Greg donned the Biggles goggles and mask as he soared into the sky in a Tiger Moth plane and was one loop the loop away from having to pick his lunch off the dashboard of the plane.
• Martha skydived from 15,000 ft above the lakes and mountains of Queenstown with a 65sec free fall   and parachute accompanied by whoops and squeels that you could hear on the ground from thousands of feet away. Brilliant to share her excitement at the bottom
• Josie and Martha are dropped in tandem on the Nevis canyon swing  into the biggest canyon drop in the world.
• Greg and Paula are whisked onto the top of a mountain in a breathtaking helicopter ride.
• The Skippers canyon Jet Boat adventure is halted when the Jet Boat breaks down and the driver has to jump from the boat into the fast flowing river and lasoo it to a rock and then watch in embarrassment when to crys of 'Allez Bleu' we tow the boat ashore with the french fans revelling in the change of schedule. Just Brilliant. 

Once again the Dunedin Pirates Rugby Club hosted the England fans with open arms along with a surprise guest after the Romania game when  former Pirates player and now England second row Simon Shaw joined the after match celebrations. He was very chilled and happy to talk to anyone including Josie and Martha who were thrilled to get their photo taken with him. He jokingly asked that we didn't post it on facebook or You Tube.
On the plane from Dunedin Josie and Martha sat with the partner of  England Lock forward Louis Deacon  who then gave them a lift to the International Airport in Auckland. A great way for them to end the tour.
Owzthat Cricket update- The West Indies at lunch on the second day are 190-3 with Gordon Greenidge making a quick 79.
Prediction game- Martha now leads by 10.
We are now in kaikoura hoping that the Whales will come a bit closer to shore so that the boat can track them in the morning. Apparently they are 30 miles off shore so the only Whales we are likely to see will be against  against Fiji in Hamilton next week.
So a sad farewell to the south island with the Otago Times summing it up when it describes the England fans as Fun, great ambassadors for the country and the game of rugby and asking us to come back soon. We will I'm sure

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: Breathalysers and Evictions

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: Breathalysers and Evictions: The tour has now reached Queenstown for the week in between the two England games in Dunedin. They describe this town as the 'Adventure Capi...

Breathalysers and Evictions

The tour has now reached Queenstown for the week in between the two England games in Dunedin. They describe this town as the 'Adventure Capital' of the world with every other  shop inviting you to throw yourself out of a plane, off a cliff, swing off a scarily high bridge or Jet Boat down a narrow canyon. Martha is hoping to Skydive and I will let you know in the next blog what other mad things we signed up for. The highlight of the past week was probably being on the packed terraces of the Pirates Rugby Club Bar in Dunedin cheering on a brilliant Ireland against Australia. I wonder how many of the people in that bar had ever shouted "Ireland Ireland" before.

The two live games this week were in Invercargill for Argentina v Romania and Dunedin for England v Georgia. The 4500 Argentinian fans are having a ball and create a brilliant party atmosphere wherever they go. Before the England game Greg put us through our paces on the beach in Dunedin with passing moves that Martin Johnson would have been proud of. Well maybe not ......

The brilliant Otago stadium was again host to English Knights, RAF Pilots, Roses, Cockney Gents and
Vikings all hoping for a big improvement against Georgia. I thought there was some light at the end of the tunnel but Greg was less than convinced. The lowlight of the tour so far saw the four locals sat next to us ejected for disorderly behaviour. Hats off to the Stewards and the Police for sorting them out and  we didn't wind them up honest. Its obviously not just football then.

Greg and Paula have been enjoying Arrowtown nearby as they eagerly await their Scenic Helicopter ride into the mountains. The rest of us have spent the past two days enjoying the fantastic snow and weather in the Cardrona ski fields. Great skiing in a very friendly resort. Knackered now.

Other highlights this week included Annie being breathalysed in Dunedin on our way home from the Rugby club where she was asked to breath and count to ten into a mouthpiece. Thankfully mineral water doesn't register. Owzthat Cricket update- England were eventually bowled out in their first innings for 356 with Alan Knott making a brilliant 109. Martha now leads the score prediction table on 114 with Greg second on 109.

With every other house and garage seemingly bedecked in 'All Black' colours I will leave you with this question- Does Rugby mean more to NZ than Football does to Brazil.?

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: A Grotto but no Santa

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: A Grotto but no Santa: Nelly is now exploring the amazing Fjordland of the South West tip of NZ. On our way to Invercargill for the Scotland v Georgia game we were...

A Grotto but no Santa

Nelly is now exploring the amazing Fjordland of the South West tip of NZ. On our way to Invercargill for the Scotland v Georgia game we were entertained at Waipapo by a huge Sea Lion getting out of the sea and finding its baby on the shore. It was huge, almost bear like. Its farming country down here and we have seen several sheep painted in the flags of participating teams. A rainy Invercargill was cheered up by the kilts and bagpipes of hundreds of Scotland fans. Scotland were described in the press here as 'Stodgy' and it didn't get much better than that in an attritional affair against Georgia. I have often laughed at fans on Match of the Day waving in the window behind the pundits. We didn't wave but sang 'Sweet Chariot' behind the Sky match interviewer and were told to shush. We keep meeting people from the South West and yet again in the Glow Worm Grotto of Te Anau we were joined by two Exeter fans. The caves were fantastic but I was a little disappointed that Santa was not in his Grotto and wondered if the Glow worms were in fact LED lights. Paula is having those lights in her new bathroom. Doubtful Sound today was stunning and so remote that the only way in was by bus to a lake, boat over the lake, bus over a snowy pass that was another 'certain death highway' and then onto the boat into the Sound. Off to the Argentina v Romania game tomorrow and then back up to Dunedin for the England game on sunday. Loving it so far. Photos don't seem to upload so putting some on Facebook.

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: Nude not Crude

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: Nude not Crude: We are now in Curio Bay in the far south in an old school house cafe. A beautiful spot on the coast where we have been spotting the rare Hoi...

Nude not Crude

We are now in Curio Bay in the far south in an old school house cafe. A beautiful spot on the coast where we have been spotting the rare Hoiho penguins and the nearest mobile coverage is 40km. Nude not Crude was the strap line for the nude rugby game in Dunedin between local students and a spanish womens team. Every time the women scored they had to take off an item of clothing. This is an annual event in Dunedin and took place before the England game. I will leave you to make your own mind up which was likely to be the more interesting. The local Dunedin Pirates Rugby club have erected a stand in the bar area to view all the games of the RWC and was a brilliant place to watch the Wales v S africa game. Josephine drove over one of the passes here to a round of applause as we named the roads with sheer drops, certain death, probable death and possible death depending on their severity. Having nearly got blown off the cliff at the most southerly point in NZ and 4530 Km to the south pole we retired to the vans for the second session of Owzthat. On the first day at tea England are 183 for 7 with Gooch making a credible  62, Botham and Boycott both out first ball and at one point we actually did have "The bowlers Holding the batsmans Willie" Hooray. In the prediction game Greg and Martha are early leaders on 53 points with Greg correctly predicting 32-6 to Australia against Italy and Martha predicting 22-10 in the Ireland v USA game. We are off to Invercargill tonight for Scotland v Georgia expecting a muddy encounter and a possible upset. We are then off to the Fjords of Doubtful Sound and back for Argentina v Romania on saturday. Photos wont upload here in the wilds so will load some later.

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: 'Ugly' wins are still wins

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: 'Ugly' wins are still wins: We will come to last nights very dodgy win later. Nelly and all his followers are now in Dunedin in our vans and huts preparing to go furthe...

'Ugly' wins are still wins

We will come to last nights very dodgy win later. Nelly and all his followers are now in Dunedin in our vans and huts preparing to go further south to Invercargill which Im told is the most southerly town in the world. Martha and Josie who have already been Zorbing, Luging, Kayaking, Surfing, Stingray feeding, dolphin watching and bone carving have joined us following an exciting evening on friday watching the opening ceremony and NZ v Tonga game. Auckland harbour was wild with thousands of locals and visitors crammed into the harbour to watch the biggest firework display and celebrations ever in NZ. If ever you wondered if they would embrace this Rugby World Cup you only had to be here on friday to realise that they are mad for it in a laid back kiwi way. In Christchurch the fan zone was packed with dancing Tongans and it was a relief to the organisers that the people of this area had put their feelings of being left out to one side and joined the party.
Having met Josie and Martha at the airport on saturday morning we then travelled the 360 km south to Dunedin in time to witness the Argentinian fans take over the brand new Otago stadium and witness... well im sure you saw it. All I will say is that in 2007 we were hammered in the first game and still made the final. Half of the Dunedin student population seemed to have dressed up in Argentinian colours and after last nights display will not be changing any day soon into the black ??? of England. C Minus at best for me.

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: Nelly opens Restaurant in Singapore

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: Nelly opens Restaurant in Singapore: It took Nelly less than 36 hours to open his own Restaurant that is already causing a stir amongst the Singapore fine diners. It took Paula ...

Nelly opens Restaurant in Singapore

It took Nelly less than 36 hours to open his own Restaurant that is already causing a stir amongst the Singapore fine diners. It took Paula less than 36 seconds to order a Singapore Sling in Raffles and about the same time to drink it.

It was agreed that stopping off in a very hot and sticky Singapore was well worth it and although the 'Long Bar' seemed to me to be no more than a theme pub these days, Raffles itself was an enjoyable experience invoking memories of a bygone age.

Coats at the ready we set off for NZ where our first taste of Rugby World Cup fever was at Brisbane Airport where we saw a very relaxed looking Scotland squad on their way to Auckland and 8 frenchmen dressed in berets with dreadlocks and rugby ball shaped corks on the end. Stylish as ever.

Christchurch is clearly still hurting after such awful events earlier in the year with so much visible destruction evident around every corner and a story to be told at every opportunity. Linda the school teacher who lost her gymnasium and now teaches in a makeshift marque and who witnessed with her students parts of the school crumbling around them. A construction worker who huddled with his family in a bedroom and feared the worst until it finally stopped. Rugby is undoubtably part of the fabric of this city but even that has had to be put into perspective following such tragic events. As a local shop keeper said "We have taken the punches and now we are trying to move on"

In trying to move on they are desperate for the All Blacks to finally fulfil their potential and win the Rugby World Cup in the modern era. For some you get the sense that they are already preparing for the worst yet again. Who is your money on by the way?

Exciting news- Future Blogs will report on our van prediction league where you predict the score of every game and score 5 for a correct winning team, 3 for being only 3 or less out in the margin of victory, 7 for predicting the exact score and 7 for predicting a draw. Go on start your own and let us know how you are getting on.
Even more exciting is the van 'Owzthat' game that Greg has introduced. The  game and still in its original tin was found in a market in Totnes. We will be playing all 5 tests from the 1980 England v West Indies series with Greg and Paula representing England and Annie and John representing the West Indies. Look out for updates on the great Geoffrey Boycott, Ian Botham, Joel Garner and Viv Richards and  hope  that the weather plays less havoc on this tour than it did in 1980.

Oh and finally we nearly needed to take the patio doors off our apartment as the Snowbike that arrived earlier in the day fell against them after we locked up and prevented them sliding open to get back in. Its a long story but.......................

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: Singapore here we come

Where's Nelly Rugby World Cup Tour: Singapore here we come: With Josie and Martha now enjoying the hot springs of Rotorua and Nelly still dreaming of Dolphins in the Bay of Islands, the rest of the '...

Singapore here we come

With Josie and Martha now enjoying the hot springs of Rotorua and Nelly still dreaming of Dolphins in the Bay of Islands, the rest of the 'Where's Nelly Tour' leave for Singapore on sunday and are due to arrive in Christchurch on wednesday. England will  be in Christchurch on wednesday visiting the city following the devastating earthquake last year. We hope to catch up with them in the fan park that evening and will post any photos here. Not sure what to expect in Singapore but really looking forward to arriving in NZ and picking up the campervans. Apparently every van in NZ has been hired and they have had to get more from Australia to cope with the demand. So with the first England game only a week away do we leave home with hope or expectation?