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