NZ Day 1 - Wellington

So here we are at my second overseas trip this year - NZ. Wow. I'm exhausted already and it's only day 2. But I love this place. It's clean and green and artistic and vibrant, but most of all cold (actually, I don't love that last one so much).

I'm not sure how long I'm staying yet, but probably about 4 weeks. I plan to squeeze a lot in - 2 tramps & a cycling tour on the south island, plus Wellington, Raglan, Napier, Auckland & hopefully Gentle World vegan sanctuary on the North Island.

It all started yesterday when my brother M & I flew into Wellington. Our friend B very kindly picked us up from the airport and then it was a quick bite to eat, a quick drive around town & home for a short rest. Then we headed out to my first ever football game - Central Coast Mariners v Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium.

We got away supporters tickets - there weren't many of us in that stand - just these 3 guys and one other guy - a total of 7 versus hundreds (maybe thousands - it wasn't very full) of Phoenix fans.

Despite the bitterly cold wind that was blowing all night I quite enjoyed myself, especially after the first Mariners goal.

And even more after the second.

We won 2-1 - go team! The guys got a bit excited, pulling their shirts off & waving them around. Considering how cold it was I was impressed by their level of dedication to the team (though I'm sure the amount of beer they had clearly been drinking that day went some way to warming them up).

Of course, in similar fashion to my first AFL game all those years ago when the Pies devastated the Tigers, I'm now a totally converted die-hard fan - go Mariners!

After the game we headed into town to celebrate with beer & pool. Perfect.