I have to say that sometimes I am the luckiest guy alive. The rugby I watched last night was the best match I have ever seen, decided by a penalty in the last minute and won by a single point - 26-25. It's a shame I am talking about the Brisbane Bronco's Vs St.George NRL game we caught in the pub after the Wellington - North Harbour game which was monumentally awful. OK, so the conditions were poor but it was still a depressing display of how not to play rugby by the country that loves it more than any other. (North Harbour won 15-3 btw, scoring a try in our corner of the stadium in the last minute - the only highlight for us...) The only other moment of interest was a streaker, buoyed by former all-black Mark Ellis' dare on live TV a couple of days ago, trying to get on the pitch, via a parked van (the pitch is some 5 feet or so below the bottom of the grandstand, thus the van roof proved a useful allie). Ellis' dare included evading the arms of at least one steward for the reward of $1,000 NZ (and an additional $1,000 for each steward you evaded afterwards). Incidentally with the maximum fine of $1,000 in force for streaking in theory you cannot lose...however 'ginger', as he will surely be forever known after last night's escapades, did lose. He somehow contrived to slip off the van's roof, and thus into the waiting arms of a steward. He was then held on the ground for at least 10 minutes (he must have been stupidly cold) before being hand-cuffed and led away by the boys in blue. So cold, wet, $1,000 lighter and ginger, not a good night really.

Having watched 80 minutes of poor kicks, dropped balls, and farcical streaks myself, Richard, and Shane (a schoolfriend of Richard) retired to a pub where we watched the most sublime display of rugby I have possibly ever witnessed, won by the kicking and 2 tries of the tubbiest least-likely looking player on the pitch...in the last minute...in Brisbane...with GORDON TALLIS playing for the Broncos - MAGIC!

We arrived back shortly after 11.30 to find Jen and Sally and a couple of empty wine bottles. They had been putting the world to rights by all accounts and we joined in for an hour or so before heading to bed.

Richard and Sally have been wonderfully accomodating, and we're looking forward to a day out and about in Wellington. Sally and Jen decided last night the itinery for today so we're going with the flow.