Congrats to Tony Stewart, the 2011 Sprint Cup Champion!!

Do anyone out there have natural remedies i could try? Mum mixes honey, lemon together.

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Norrie

Because we are going to be in two groups today we have decided there will be no word of the day today.
Queenstown is being seen in all its glory as we arrive glorious sunshine. The snow capped mountains being potraid on a background of clear blue skies and the lake shimmering azzure blue with the suns rays bouncing off it.
Our apartments, the Scenic Suites in Stanley Street, are located in an elevated position overlooking this gorgeous scenery, there is even a pleasure steamer operating on the lake which resembles the Waverley on the Clyde. The rooms themselves are simply superb adorned with a fully fitted out kitchen and dining areas plus the bedrooms have balconies that look down onto this wonderful town and backdrop, brilliant.
It is early afternoon so after a quick unpack the decision is taken to go to the top of one of the mountains that dominate and overlook the town and we can see the gondolas that will take us there. Alan has been told that there is a `luge` at the summit so the decision is taken to discard the kilts for shorts along to be worn with assorted rugby tops.
We make our way to the gondolas and on the way up Sandy and Alan are concerned because their gondola seems to be swaying rather more than others this is of course because Norrie and Paul are treating them to a wee bit extra excitement by moving about causing the gondola to swings all ways. The `fearties` eventually get their way with the rest of the ascent continued in a very sedate way.
Once everyone reaches the top we head immediately to the Luge run, of which there are two. We all have six shots and the first shot has to be taken on the `scenic route` to enable you to get used to the luge itself. Scenic route completed the competition begins with a race on the advanced route planned. On this our second run we are drawing much attention to ourselves as the noise and competive nature between us especially as we are overtaking each other with gusto then our second shot over we take a break and head to the cafe.
Over coffee everyone agrees we should have a competition so lots are drawn for us to compete in twos. Alan then announces that it was 4.20pm and that the Luge closed at 5pm. Well you can imagine as there was one mad rush with coffee, tea and buns getting slugged down frantically with pieces of cake flying everywhere, during this mayhem there remained two who did not really care as Norrie and Paul watched the others rush about like headless chickens but they continued to enjoy their drinks as the others were now darting back up the hill unknown to them that it did not actually close until 6.30 and Alan was simply winding them up. Anyway once everyone was re assembled the competition began and the elimination process continued until there was a final showdown between Craig and Nick, Craig was the eventual winner and everyone congratulated him. We all still had one shot left and not surpsingly during the elimination process some rivalries had been made so we paired off with whoever we wanted for this our final run.
This is where it began to go all wrong Sandy and Norrie were the first out and they were neck and neck with Sandy overtaking Norrie on a midway bend. As Sandy was showing Norrie his back wheels Norrie increased his speed, saw his chance at the end of a double chicane and went for it. He drew up on Sandy`s inside and they were now careering rapidly towards the last. As Norrie was inching ahead their cars collided throwing them both in the air Norrie had manged to stay in his car all be it at times on its side but Sandy was now fully out of his and trying frantically to get it back on track.
Paul then came round the corner saw Norrie and Sandy had crashed and was laughing loudly as he swept past them and on down towards the finish. Next round the corner was Andy who narrowly missed the two of them but while passing decided to give them both a shove which in turn moved them both into the middle of the track. It was now that things took a turn for the worse as Alan came screaming round the corner and was heading straight towards Sandy who at this time was still trying to get back into his sledge. Alan pulled violently on his steering to avoid hitting Sandy he then slammed on his, brakes but nothing happened which in turn meant that he wa now aiming directly at the rear of Norrie sledge with Norrie totally unaware of his presence CRASH Alan had collided dead on with the rear of Norrie who had with the force of contact was thrown backward into a horizontal position, Sandy on seeing this had grabbed his sledge and was now taking refuge on the trackside. Amazingly Alan had stayed on board and the collision had actually thrown him into the middle of the track so he was now back on his was and also laughing as he passed Norrie whom he though he might have killed. Following close behind Alan and again amazingly managed to avoid contact was Gary, Nick and Craig who all found the carnage they were now witnessing hilarious.
Norrie had somehow managed to get fully back into his sledge and was just ahead of Sandy as they continued the race to the finish being met by some seriously worried guys at the finishing line.
Norrie and Sandy emerged with their shorts torn their arses scuffed and Norrie with a couple of other skin burns on his legs, thankfully all were superficial and once this was established the laughter was raucous and not just by us because our racing had attracted the attention of many other Luge users not least the people working on it themselves as one of the workers called us forward to the photo booth, it had all been caught on camera and we now had the photos of this unbelievable accident, brilliant. So crash hats off, well except Sandy, we begin to make our way back to the gondola not until we were back awaiting the gondola to take us back down did Sandy realise he was still wearing his, he was obviously slagged off for it but what a numpty he felt.
At the bottom we are still hyper regarding the carnage we had experienced at the top so we headed for a drink where Craig was presented with a wee trophy to mark his success, but the hilarity was not over as the other six now decided that Norrie`s and Sandy`s shorts were not ripped enough so seizing the opportunity they co ordinated their attack to conincide together so the shorts were torn leaving Norrie and Sandy to walk back through the town with their shorts literally in tatters and the locals enjoying the spectacle.
Back at the apartments some basic first aid is applied the the cuts and grazes before we change back into the kilts and are again heading in to town. Our first stop is the Ballarat Trading Company a nice pub with great music but awful expensive. When we make it know that the prices seem a wee bit steep the bar maid tells us we would be better off going further into town to Harry`s bar where the drinks are decididly cheaper. We finish off thank her and all head to Harry`s bar, oh no once again are spiralling down because the drinks are cheaper especially the wine which we are all now drinking. Several bottles later, in fact they had to send out twice for some more bottles, we are deep in the night, eating pizzas at the bar and having a ball. Sandy, Norrie, Andy and Nick decide it is time for the off so at 3am we are away. The others stay for at least another hour before also making their way back. Another great day and night had experiences you just cannot buy.
We rise late next day and again the sun is shining. The previous day is discussed over breakfast and our plans for this one hatched. Nick, Gary and Alan are hiring bikes while the rest of us have decided to hire a car. The bikers head off and we have arranged to meet up in the small histirc town of Arrowhead some 20 kilometres from Queestown and know for its gold prospecting past.
We all meet up about 2pm and enjoy an open air lunch with the warm sun on our backs. Some of us are suffering from the previous nights activities and we are still enthusing about our Luge run. After Arrowtown the car heads out to see some bungy jumping at the Kauwarau bridge which was where it all began, the other three will see it tomorrow.
We are now looking forward to our second night in Queenstown

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Norrie

The word for the day was Ireland but the added gesture of pointing also carried a fine.  We are back in Auckland and now implanted in the suites we will occupy each weekend till the final game.  They are about a ten minute walk further out than the Chifley Suites but as compensation they are bigger and better.

Pic – View from the Apartments Showing the Sky Tower – Tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere 

We are in our foursomes with Norrie, Sandy, Andy and Nick together in one of the two bedroom apartments and Alan, Craig, Gary and Paul in the other.  Its a good combination and seems to be working great as the rooms, which have two bathrooms each, are next to each other allowing easy access between the two.  Nick’s previous life as a sub mariner is certainly a bonus for the old guys, as he is constantly cleaning up, washing and tidying the place -Norrie, Sandy and Andy think big John Gillies must have briefed him before leaving Scotland.

Its the morning of the Saturday quarter finals, Wales play Ireland in Wellington, with England taking on France here in Auckland – so the prospects are for a good day. We seem to be sharing everything, so nobody notices Paul wandering into the bathroom of Alan and Craig to clean his teeth - he had run out of toothpaste. A quick rummage in one of the toilet bags and he comes out with a tube, duly spreads some on his brush and scrubs away. A few moments later he is feeling his teeth sticking together…….. the tube he picked up was Alan’s polygrip denture fixative cream.  On realising his mistake he vigorously swills his mouth, but it is starting to take effect and he suffers for most of the day with trying to prise his teeth apart due to his mishap.

Norrie prepared a cooked breakfast, with Nick on his shoulder clearing away as he goes, so much so that Norrie could not put down any of his cooking utensils -because if he did Nick just swept them up to wash!!!!  Breakfast is enjoyed in the apartments and consisted of the eggs and bacon that we had been supplied with by Alan’s relatives, brilliant. After breakfast the Mystery Machine is returned to its berth in some magic kingdom somewhere near the airport by Norrie.  A sad farewell to the bus which we had become so attached to - so much so that Alan commented (during one of the long journeys) that this bus is the way we should have sought to travel, instead of being allocated it, as apparently it fitted with the ambiance of the occasion (the rest of us would have liked to have stretched our legs).  

About 1pm, once Norrie had made his way back to the apartments we are all kitted up and ready for the quarter finals day. The fines bag is swelling nicely as most of us are falling foul of the forbidden word and gesture. In additon our other sweep is also under way for the accumalated scores of the games so these dollars are also placed into a seperate pot.

We then make our way down town towards the harbour area via the main drag of Queen Street, again we find ourselves constantly the centre of attention in our kilts and Scotland strips.  The walk should take about 15 minutes, but this time takes us some two hours as we are constantly stopped for photographs, incredible for eight ugly b******s. Craig has come up with a great business plan to charge for the photos, could be quite lucrative, but unfortunately some of the guys are enjoying it so much it just would not work - so we continue to smile get roped in for the snaps and enjoy the experience while it lasts.  One of the most notable ones is with a group of transvestites who upon seeing us simply lost the plot by grabbing us and posing so of course Sandy’s camera was on hand to capture it too.  Again, Norrie was strangely drawn to these individuals and engaged them in conversation just a bit tooooo long for most of the guys (remember the Cook Islands ….. is this a pattern!)

The city of Auckland is jumping and, just like the rest of this country, it has totally embraced this World Cup. Now that we are at the ‘business’ end of the tournament we all have great anticipation of some great games ahead so who knows what upsets may hang in the air.  Virtually all New Zealanders seem to think they already have their hands on the cup but lets wait and see eh!!!!

The Harbour and the fan zone is heaving as we prepare for the first game from Wellington, Ireland v Wales, most Kiwis seem to be supporting Ireland, but we are not, as our connections with Wales (through Llew, Andy, the Glais club not to mention Norrie) is too strong.  So as Wales begin their demolition job we let our pleasure be known vocally. Good craic, although some of the Irish did take a little exception to our vociferous support of the Welsh.

The St Georges flags are also very prevalent as the English supporters prepare to go to Eden park for their game against France. Not surprisingly anyone who is not English is supporting France, we are in the company of a crowd from Toulouse who are also very vocal so a good time is being had.
Again you know the result but in fairness to the English support they are gracious in defeat, ok they had no option, but all the same we accept their suffering and they party, to some extent, with the rest of us.

The kick off for the English game was 8.30pm, not surprisingly we are now well ‘oiled’ which can only mean one thing…The Occidental Bar, which plays live rock music.  The group, who have a young lead guitarist, are brilliant as they play constantly for about 3 hours, rattling out the oldies from Jimi Hendrix, The Stones, Black Sabbath, The Doors and many, many more.

While in the bar a middle aged Kiwi guy seems to take a fancy for Norrie (was it always going to happen) this of course causes much hilarity amongst the guys watching Norrie bluntly telling him to go away, while at the same time trying not to offend.  Ultimately there is only one thing for it as he is told in no uncertain terms to ‘go away’. During this time Norrie is constantly changing seats to enable the guys to get between him and the guy. Eventually he gets the message and disappears. 

One conversation that needs mentioning was between Gary and a stranger in the bar.  Gary was talking to this guy who apologises to him that he has to go and get the last ferry home, Gary enquires what would happen if he missed it only to be informed that he would have to get a taxi.  A bizarre conversation as apparently there is a bridge……why a ferry at all?  So a few more ’sherberts’ are consumed before we head back to our apartments for our much needed beauty sleep.

Several new words have come into our vocabulary including the NickNav (he always thinks he knows where to go, including outlying areas of NZ), the NickMaid (he is always cleaning up in whatever environment he finds himself in), the NickChef  (he knows how and when to cook correctly and points out the others errors) and the NickGuide (wherever you think you are of need guidance or information or even when you don’t want any advice, guidance or information, Nick produces the goods) -thus ensuring we are all educated in these facets of life!!!

The second round of quarter finals beckons with South Africa taking on Australia in Wellington and the All Blacks v Argentina here in Auckland which is the game we will be going to.  Game total score kitty is at $120 while the fines kitty is over $200 in a mere 7 days or so.

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Norrie

The words for the day were Auckland and bus or any refernece to.

Following a very late night we awake once again to a glorious sunny day and everyone makes their weary way down to the spa pool where we lay back and let the soothing sulphur waters ease our aching bones and heads. Some Canadians we met the night before are also here to also enjoy the healing qualites of the spa.

Once dressed we all have breakfast at a nearby cafe then the Mystery Machine is packed and we are ready to go but, no, Alan`s relatives have returned to take us on a tour of the area. One of his relatives was worse for wear so stayed the night. They are going to take us on a tour of the area however Norrie, Sandy and Andy decided that they would rather have a wander around the town, then visit the Moari village so arrangements were made to get together later. The Mystery Machine heads off for the hills while the three old guys wander into town.

As the Mystery Machine was winding around the Rotarua roads taking in some beuatiful lakes, volcanoes and red wood forests, Norrie, Sandy and Andy had visited at a local bar before heading off to the Whaka Moari village which lay just on the edge of town.

After taking in some culture, in which Sandy and Andy participated in a Moari hoki coki at which Andy excelled. At about 2pm we were all once again reunited and ready to head off to Auckland. Alan makes a tearful farewell but no (again) his newly found family have arranged a further excursion for us to visit their farm so we are once again all aboard the Mystery Machine heading into the Rotorua countryside.

A guided tour of the farm is taken cows, sheep chickens and goats *see the photo of the chicken run*. We are supplied with eggs and bacon from the farm and once again Alan makes a tearful goodbye but yes maybe you have guessed it Alan`s family now want us to go and milk some cows at a different farm so we are back aboard the Mystery Machine and heading who knows where!!

Andy – The Cock of the North with his Following Brood 

It is now approximately 4pm and having driven around probably all the dirt roads of Rotorua we eventually arrive at another farm. The sun is belting down and we are picking lemons and Tangellos (oranges to you and me). Another uncle of Alan`s meets us and there is no doubt by his dress code he definitely does not have an account with Slaters!! The quad bike is brought out and Craig is like a boy with a wee toy as he dissapears over the hill before returning to pick Norrie and Sandy who are now hanging on alongside him.

Sandy & Norrie being driven by Craig – on the Farm 

Craig takes off with Norrie encouraging him to go faster and Sandy is pleading with him to slow down. They return no worse for wear before Alan`s uncle invites them to milk some cows, Norrie and Sandy do not fancy that so the others head off all standing on the back of a pick up truck, dissapearing over the horizon.

The Working Dogs on Back of the Pick Up 

They are not long away when they realise they have left two of the worse offenders for practical jokes alone with the Mystery Machine and their cases, but they think all is safe as they have locked all the doors. Back at the Mystery Machine Norrie and Sandy are plotting but when they find the doors locked they think all is lost untill Sandy finds one of the windows open and Norrie appears with a long handed shovel. Between the two they manage to open the windows until they get to the one that can open the side door.

The cases are removed and everyones luggage is swapped before all being replaced on the Mystery Machine.
While this is happening the rest are milking cows and drinking milk direct from the udder, and believe me some of them were enjoying it immensely. Once done they are back on the back of the pick up heading back to the farm house. Their worse fears are realised when they see all the Mystery Machine doors open with Norrie and Sandy sunbathing and both smiling broadly.

They are assured that nothing is amiss and on checking nothing is out of place so they are amazingly believed. Alan again makes a tearful goodbye to his newly found relatives and thank f::: we are now able to get away. But seriously we all thank them for their wonderful hospitality which we have once again experienced and this time we are definitely away.

Gary takes the wheel and we are now driving north to Auckland in glorious sunshine arriving in Auckland at about 8pm. Our apartments, The Chatham Suites are bigger and better than the previous ones in Auckland the only down side is they are about 10 minutes more walk out of town but they will be our HQ over the next three week ends.

The Mystery Machine is emptied with six of the eggs missing , foul play is suspected but we will have to wait to see what!! We get ourselves showered and fresheded up. A reservation is made at a down town restaurant, the Lord Nelson reputed to be the best steak house in Auckland, and we head there to enjoy the first proper meal we have had together. Up till now it has been chips and beer this time it is good steak, more beer, definitely wine and song is enjoyed. A great evening of banter, jokes and laughter is enjoyed as we recall some of the past weeks hilarity and before we realise it, it is midnight so now we head back to the apartments in order to get a relatively early night so we charge our batteries for the week end festivities that are beckoning.

Gary, the Chairman, has asked us to mention that before he came out he, and others, wondered as to the veracity of the events in the Blog. He now wants to emphasise that ALL is true and it is a living dream.

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Sandy

Before going to bed we decide that we have to get up early in order to make the 6 hour journey north to Rotarua the next morning and 9am has been chosen as the leaving time.

We awake early to another windy, wet, cold Wellington morning, the words of the day are `Rotorua` and `Uncle`.  Breakfast, consisting of copious amounts of toast, is consumed and we are amazingly all down at reception for 9.15.  Nick has already been to pick up the ‘Mystery Machine’ which is now parked outside the front door and attracting the attention of the traffic warden but Nick does some soft talk to him and we are allowed to get packed up on the double lines.

The Mystery Machine in all its Respendant Glory 

With the ‘Mystery Machine’ now fully loaded we head out of the city travelling North, destination Rotorua.  You may recall Sandy and Norrie had visited Jo and Lloyd Morgan on their farm in New Plymouth and Jo had again asked for us to bring all the boys back to meet them and stay the night there with them.  However a decision was made, due to the travel time etc that we would head straight to Rotorua.  Jo and Lloyd are contacted and though disappointed understand.  Once again it displays the marvellous hospitality and friendship we have encountered here and just for Jo and Lloyd we all send our love.

The further we travel the better the weather is becoming and only one hour on the road  the sky is becoming blue and the sun is belting down on us.  Although this is the same route we travelled down three days ago in the pouring rain it is a totally different vista.  The high hills of Wellington give way to cattle pastures before we turn inland, heading towards Taupo, through the national park with its mountainous snowy peaks.  We have chosen Taupo as our stopping point for lunch.  There are only two stops made; one in a small town for a comfort break then a photo had to be taken at a building advertising `Barrons`.  The guys who have travelled to Swansea in the past will recognise this as that famous watering hole there (Pic to follow).

The Guys Dream of Swansea and Barons 

We reach Taupo at about 2pm so we have made good time and we decide to have lunch in the same café we ate at on the way down, Incredibly the staff in the cafe are really pleased to see us again. 

I now ask you to picture this scene – you will recall the wind up when Sandy had left his phone in the hotel a few days ago, well another ploy had been plotted and this was the time for it to be played out.  Craig had changed Sandy`s contact for him with the telephone number of the telephone supplier `2 degrees`.  Craig then sends Sandy a message informing him that there is a problem with his phone and the only way to restore it is to remove the battery and the sim card, wipe the battery contacts and clean the sim card, then leave them loose for five minutes before putting it all back together again.

In silence while everyone, or so Sandy thinks, is just getting on with drinking their tea or coffee he proceeds to dismantle his phone.  Of course everyone is watching intently.  Sandy leaves it for five minutes and re assembles his phone.  He now receives another message telling him that there is still a problem and he need to go out side and do the same thing there; of course these instructions are carried out to the letter.  With his phone taken apart then once again assembled he receives another message this time to thank him for topping up his phone with $500 credit.  Of course this now gives Sandy major cause for concern and he is frantically trying to call 2 degrees to find out what is happening.  He is seated outside the café in the afternoon, sunshine bouncing off his napper, when he again receives a text telling him in graphic detail to get leave his position outside the café in the sun as it could give him sunstroke.  Yes the penny now drops and as he turns to look inside the café everyone, and not just the rest of us, are laughing and applauding, ‘donkey ears’ once again applied.

Lunch and hilarity over we are off again for the short hop to Rotorua and it is now late afternoon.  Anyone who has been here will know that there is a constant smell of sulphur.  This suits Alan down to the ground as he can now let rip without anyone complaining.  Our motel is the Ambassador Thermal.  Once checked in we have towels in hand making our way to the hot sulphur spa, the hot jacuzzi and the hot out door pool, marvelous and the rooms are very good too.

Alan has contacted some of his relatives that live near here, they have never met, so when his uncle (the brother of Alan`s father) and his cousin, Jennifer, arrive there is an emotional greetings taking place which results in us all in tears.  The guys were surprised that his relatives wanted to meet him.  It was just as well that the meeting took place in Rotorua as it hid the natural smell that emanates from Alan.

Alan with Uncle John and Cousin Jennifer – First Ever Meeting 

Also staying at our Motel are a couple of Canadians, Kelly and Kirsten both avid rugby fans in fact Kelly tells us she was on the verge of national honours so no doubt she was a pretty good player.   

Emotional reunion over we make the short walk into town to Henneseys bar.  We move on to The Pig and Whistle, located in a building that used to be a police office and is just a few yards away for a couple before returning to Henneseys.  This time though there are a crowd of French supporters, Canadian supporters and of course All Blacks.  Kelly and Kirsten have also now joined us along with a girl from Leicestershire, Emma who is someone that cares for the environment passionately and has been involved in many animal right protests and demonstrations.  She admits to be a tree hugging naturalist and she is enjoying this different form of entertainment.  As in any other Irish bar in the world singing is encouraged and as the French guys blast their routines followed by the Canadians we of course also have to participate.  Gary and Alan belt out a couple (which is the first time on any tour that these two have done so – good on them!!!) as does Sandy so the bar is now rocking, once again we are delving deep into the night with everyone having a ball.  The French as always are quite boisterous and are lterally throwing the Canadian girls around the room being caught by others they are also being thrown high in the air luckily they too are enjoying the experience.  But as always and as we are continually finding on this trip all good things must come to an end end so we all eventually make our way back to the Motel and retire for the night with the nice prospect off jumping once again into the hot tubs in the morning high on our minds this ensures everyone is up and in them prior to check out at 10am.  

Onward to Auckland for the quarters and seeing the All Blacks live for the first time this trip!!!

Another aside is that Norrie and Sandy were contacted by another old friend from South Africa, Jan (pronounced Yan) Swartz, who is the Manager of the Blue Bulls in South Africa.  He had been watching SA TV when he saw our faces up on the screen being interviewed – this stemmed from one of the interviews previously given on the harbour in Auckland to an SA production team.   That now makes a trio of Southern hemisphere countries where we know we have been featured viz< NZ, Argentina & SA.

Our daily words again proved lucrative and the kitty is building nicely.  Main  folk falling foul are those who tend to engage in conversation which immediately rules out Andy.

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Sandy

The day started slowly with the younger guys emerging from the accommodation and going to a local gym …… meantime the old bas****s slept on and on waking considered the gym while munching into eggs on toast and other such, non real cooking delicacies; they decided against the gym.

The intrepid 7 assemble at the corner of the street at the allotted time and decided on the words for the day and actions which incurred fines.  Sandy was absent due to searching for missing items and on his return was not made aware of the ‘fine’ words which resulted in some 5 dollars of outlay before he defined what they were.  They were the action of ‘pointing’ and saying the word ‘pointed’.  You would not believe the amount of times we point during our daily lives, but all of the intrepid travellers can vouch for the cost.  Also with the idea of not allowing the word pointed to be used one had to be creative in identifying what one had seen to incur the fine.  A veritable fortune has been raised!!

The group considered the several options available to them for the day for about two hours and eventually left the accommodation (which I should add is very, very plush).  We had been invited to the South African ‘Home from Home’, as a group, and thought we might make an appearance in the hotel for a bite to eat.  We duly arrived and were met by a multitude of the assembled audience and pictures were taken with us.  So much so that by the end of the pictures very little of the food was left ……… but thankfully there was enough to top up the stomachs of us all.

Unsolicited, we got speaking to a couple of guides (they are volunteer helpers who are everywhere in NZ – good folk who are doing it out of their love for rugby – male and female) who are drivers for the SA team in the hotel and they mentioned that one of the coaching staff was extolling the virtues of the night he had previously with a group of Scots guys.  The SA players were apparently intrigued as to the circumstances ….. turns out the informer was Nils Lieben who had spent the previously evening in our company!!!

No sooner after that then Nils came into the lounge to again say hello.  After eating the bits left over and scraping the dishes we got ready to depart when Nils indicated that a few of the SA guys were leaving to do a bit of training.  We didn’t really pay much attention until we saw the group of players who were off for the additional training.  Amongst them was Bryan Habana who, in a bizarre conversation, apologised to Sandy for not contacting him since their previous meet and that he would try and meet up.  Sandy, having by this time tumbled to the floor in awe (New Zealanders thought there was another earthquake happening and there is a not a lot of people he voluntarily fall over for),  he eventually arose to again shake his hand and say he would await the call.  Bryan Habana then took the time to talk and shake hands with Andy and Nick.  A genuinely nice and genuine guy!!!!

Anyway, Andy then had the 8 intrepid followers go to a bar (in the middle of the place beyond nowhere) in Lower Hutt, Wellington, where we were again to meet with Gene (Sua) and more of his extended family. Drink was poured and songs were sung and the now usual pattern of an evening followed – only this time with a different audience, who think that Gene is the best person to ever live in Lower Hutt, partly because he knows us and we can, apparently, provide entertainment. A brilliant night ensued. Each was provided with a skip cap by Gene from ‘Petone’ Rugby Club, which has nurtured many future All Blacks including Umanga.

Guys at the bar – their usual stance!! 

The group were by this time very hungry and the Thompson ‘Twins’ indicated they know a very good Italian to go to ……… it was shut.  Not to be outdone or go hungry we made our way to the ‘Humming Bird’ again where more copious amounts of drink were consumed and food, reluctantly scoffed.

While in the bar we were approached by a large chap (honest, we just can’t avoid it) who said his name was Francis Donald McKechnie Stephenson who was half Scots (his father was in the British Army, Seaforth Highlanders) and half Maori.  He insisted in buying us a superb bottle of wine (although by this time nobody would have noticed otherwise).  It turns out that ‘Frankie Stephens’ was a 7 times winner of Opportunity Knocks (he replaced Bobby Crush and was in turn replaced by a group, Pickettywitch) and is a big time performer in NZ, where he is the NZ ‘Tom Jones’ and is a major figure of the entertainment circuit.  He spent most of the 70′s in London performing at the ‘Top of the Town’ and elsewhere.  An absolute gentleman whose heritage is from the Skelmorlie area – he was a proud Scot but devoted Maori.  Anyone that knows Sandy will know he likes his music so when the old tunes are playing over the speakers of the pub most peolple are singing along so when Ruby Tuesday starts blasting out Norrie turns to Sandy and says he remembers this Stones number many years ago.  Sandy replies that its not the Stines but the kinks! He is so sure that he bets Norrie $5.  Norrie cannot believe this and incredible sandy ups the bet to $10.  At this point Alan is in ear shot and he says to sandy that he will take his bet too.  Sandy thinks he is on a winner and accepts.  Both Norrie and Alan cannot believe this and as sandy ventures over to the bar to ask and be told The Rolling Stones he sidles back sheepishly with two $10 dollar bills for the smiling pair. 

NOrrie and Alan celebrating Fleecing Sandy of $20 each – re Rugby Tuesday by the Rolling Stones 

The Guys with Frankie Stevens and his pal, David, in Wellington 

He noticed Craig and at first though Craig was of Moari decent so we now have a native New Zealander in our party.  Amazingly, he then took time to sit and sing Glasgow songs that his father had taught him and introduced us to the owner of the Bar (good person to know) and disturbed a certain individual who was sitting at another table with friends – he said he would have no trouble meeting ‘us’.  Turns out it was ‘Jamie Joseph’, former All Black and current Coach of the Maori Team and Otago.  Jamie was, as all NZ’s have been, more than willing to leave his table and talk to us and then pose for pictures. We all really become schoolboys again in the company of rugby icons.

The Guys with Jamie Joseph in Wellington 

We have made it back to our digs but I’m the only one still awake as we are heading, at 8am, for the cultural heartland of NZ, Rotarua. What a day!!!!!