Day 10.The Islander crossing was smooth and I felt no sign of mal de mer. This was further aided by vigourous conversation wih South African, Scottish and English rugby followers of my vintage. Much debate about which players? and teams achieved what? in what year? and where?-good, harmless, cordial banter.
The drive along the narrow northern coastal highway in the rush hour was a bit hair-raising as speeding homeward bound local commuters dueled with campervan drivers from many nations with very varied driving styles. Hung out for a camp spot at least past Palmerston North and at about 8pm found another "informal" gem of a $15 site which had fixed vans, shacks and the odd overnight freight truck. Toilets and showers were clean and worked and it matters not what the ambience is like when you have your own mobile house.
The traffic reflected national team loyalties-Irish vans streaming south and English heading north-outside remote farms The Scottish Saltire fluttered in the wind above a sign asserting Scotland the Brave! another said Go Wales-no sign of English nor australian support. Kiwis are somewhat ambivalent about Aussies-they recognise the Anzac mateship but rather resent their "little brother status" and have very little love for the English. So I have been getting jibes and jokes on both counts.
An early start saw me re-crossing the high desert road in bright sunshine-no snow this time, except on the crest of the still active volcano-Mount Ruapehu. In Taupo I was able to collect remaining tickets for further matches and motor on to Cambridge-a beautiful small town which is a racehorse breeding centre.Typical of such towns parking is easy-no meters. The campsite would rival most sports grounds in size and lushness of grassed area.
No rugby tonight but for those fans starved of action the airwaves are saturated with speculative sports analysis. Will The Warriors win the NRL final in Sydney for the first time in 14 yrs? Will Scotland upset the Auld enemy by defeating England? Could Italy possibly end the Irish's dream run? What sort of Australian team will be fielded against Russia(some of the injured stars returning and challengers for top places will come out of the shadows)?
At least it drowns out the regular news-How can dairy farmers be persuaded to stop polluting water ways? Student protests about the end of compulsory student unionism. Should police get retrospective rights to use video surveillance since a high court judge ruled their use illegal, frustrating current serious crime investigations.? Should the SAS come back early from Afghanistan(fourth NZ soldier killed this week)? What to do about a large number of churches destroyed by the earthquake now that insuruers are withdrawing future cover anywhere in NZ and should different denominations share rebuilt churches to minimise costs? There is a general election in a week's time.
Despite the rugby withdrawal for one night. I enjoyed good beer and a traditional pork roast dinner in a smart hostelry and got on with drafting a blog posting when a large cheerful local spoke to me and started a very interesting conversation (see next post!!)
Bright sunny morning-about 18c in Auckland where I am now heading to return to the trotting track car park(temporary overspill rugby campervan parking-only portaloos, no water nor showers-better load on the deoderant before I leave.) Then to Eden park to see the clash of physical giants-Samoa v South Africa.
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