The Rose in the Lily Pond

All Blacks flags still fly high with pride, and the little tatty flags at some restaurants are still up. It’s probably time to reel them on in, it’s a bit like having your Christmas decorations up well into February, but we are rugby mad, and so damn proud! WE DID IT! AND WE DIDN’T CHOKE like everyone said we would! So time to reflect and celebrate on my top ten moments of the Rugby World Cup, 2011.   1.        The Semi-Final - New Zealand V Australia: You may ask, why not the final? Well even though the media hyped it up as an “epic” game – it wasn’t epic at all. We won by one point, and it was a struggle. There was no enjoyment watching that game, and I am pretty sure New Zealanders aged a good five years during those 80 minutes. The better game was New Zealand v Australia in the semis. My flatmate, Shai and I got all dressed up in our All Blacks gear, and that weekend we were on a boat full of Australians. They were cocky and confident that they had it in the bag and joked with u

The ticking red blocks in Britomart finally read 00. The countdown up on the downtown mall, and also in New Zealanders hearts, was all over. It was opening night of the Rugby World Cup, 2011. An event  I am happy to say that I was a part of. I remember watching the little red numbers tick down above the Westfield mall on Customs Street thinking  “I wonder where I will be, and what it’ll be like when this reads zero”. Where I was: Queen’s Ferry then Eden Park. What it was like: Just like every other sod in hospitality I had to work. It started off slow, quieter than a normal Friday lunch, but around 4 (and I was due to leave at 5) it got insane.  I have never seen Queen’s Ferry so packed, it was hard to move. Mostly everyone was in good spirits, but some were frustrated with how long they had to wait to get a drink. Queen’s Ferry is only a small bar, we only have one till, and if we have more than three people behind the bar we just end up smashing into each other. Auckland was

Keeping up with the Kardash.... Damn you, and your brainwashing Kim! What I meant to say is keeping up with the snowboarding theme of last week. I had a mini adventure and it was amazing. I set off for a blissful two days snowboarding in Turoa, Mt Ruapehu with my lovely pals from the Queen’s Ferry Hotel. Road trips are never complete without an endless supply of lollies, and singing that will put you in the category of the worst karaoke bars in Auckland. Lou had a great idea that there would be a girl's car and a boy's car – because girls are much prettier than smelly boys, and as my dear friend Beyonce says, they run the world! Our road trip down consisted of blasting Wet, Wet, Wet “Love is all Around”, and Patience, from Ireland, got addicted to Pineapple lumps. Her verdict was that they sort of tasted like toffee. We ooohed and ahhhed at all the new born animals, reminding us that winter is almost over, and we can look forward to some warm spring riding down the mountain.