Well, this is part 2 of my year in review which is the best of 2016 as the 2016 Super Rugby season got underway in style as the Tana Umaga coached & Jerome Kaino (He was the original captain before James Parsons took over for the remainder of the season) led Blues took on the 2015 champions, the Highlanders coached by Jamie Joseph & led by Shane Christie & Ben Smith in the opener & the Blues comprehensively won over the defending champions at the time the Highlanders 33 to 31 before the Brumbies opened their campaign over the Chris Boyd coached & Dane Coles led (Although TJ Perenara captained the side because Dane Coles was injured) eventual champions the Hurricanes 52 - 10 before the Super Rugby newcomers from Argentina the Jaguares defeated the Cheetahs in a thrilling contest then a day later, all eyes were in Tokyo as fellow newcomers the Sunwolves of Japan played their 1st Super Rugby game against the eventual runners up the Lions (Coached by Johann Ackermann & led by Warren Whiteley) but the Lions sealed a 26 - 13 four-try victory but they made heavy weather of seeing off the Sunwolves in Tokyo on Saturday moments before the Chiefs headed to Christchurch to play the Crusaders as the Chiefs outscored the Crusaders 4 tries to 2 to claim a deserved 27 - 21 victory in Christchurch on Saturday then the Waratahs dispatched the Reds for an opening win in 2016 in Super Rugby without ever hitting top gear, winning 30 - 10 moments before the Rebels started their Super Rugby campaign on a winning note with a 25 - 19 victory over the Force in Perth on Saturday followed by the match in Port Elizabeth as the Sharks got off to a winning start against the Kings 43 - 8 moments before the Stormers outscored the Bulls three tries to none to win 33 - 9 in their opening Super Rugby clash at Newlands on Saturday.
And it was on the 18th of March when Pops took me to Palmerston North to watch my beloved Hurricanes side taking on the Western Force as we went through Kaitoke, Whangaehu, Turakina, Bulls (Pops went to the toilet/wharepaku there), Sanson, Awahuri and Newbury, we have finally reached Palmy but 1st Poppa needed to buy both tickets for the game and he did before going to the mall to have a look so Pops bought a portable vacuum cleaner as well as his pants but I was thinking that we could go to the sports bar for dinner but Pops told me that he was looking for a restaurant such as Asian (Like Chinese or Indian), but we ended up going to Cobb and Co and I had a burger there while Poppa had roast.
And after that, we went to the Central Energy Trust Arena and we found a car park just in time but we had to wait until 6 o'clock for the gates to open and we found a seat to sit in and I saw injured Hurricanes player Nehe Milner-Skudder as well as ex Black Fern Melodie Robinson, former All Black Christian Cullen and Scotty 'Sumo' Stevenson as well as the fans, Hurricanes and Force team personnel and the cameramen.
And that's it! We are done as we head off home to end a beautiful night at Palmerston North but what an rugby experience that was.
And well, I did enjoy that experience over there in Palmy so it was really beautiful by the way because it's a heck of a place to travel.
And finally to April that I totally agreed to travel with Pops on a road trip straight to Wellington from our home in Whanganui but we went through towns such as such as Kaitoke, Whangaehu, Turakina, Bulls, Sanson, Himatangi, Foxton, Poroutawhao, Levin, Ohau, Manakau, Otaki, Te Horo, Waikanae, Paraparaumu, Mackay, Paekakariki, Pukerua Bay, Plimmerton, Mana, Paremata, Porirua and Johnsonville and after 3 years we have finally reached Welly (Well Pops hasn't been to Wellington since last year).
So 1st up we went John & Lim's to stay for the night (Well I saw a relay for life event that they ran for 24 hours as well as seeing the movie set for that upcoming Scarlett Johansson movie but no it is a remake of the 1981 film Goodbye Pork Pie as the whole city was in lockdown at the moment) but 1st we went to the St James Theatre for lunch where I had a Salmon with bread before we went back to their apartment to watch the Crusaders play the Western Force and the Crusaders almost lost the game with their 20 points to 19 and after that we went for a walk to see both the Thai festival and the relay for life that I mentioned before but an Argentinian rugby fan saw my Lionel Messi Argentina football/soccer jersey saying vamos Argentina or vamos Jaguares, well I laughed about it. Then me, Pops, John and Lim had a look at the giant orc then I had a quick look at EB Games then it was dinner time because we had a feed at Little Penang (Well I had the mee goring because I really like noodles). And then back to John and Lim's apartment to prepare our formalities such as putting the FC Barcelona scarf round my neck as well as getting my new All Black jacket on then Lim drove us to the railway station all the way to the game (Although we made buns with mustard so John had to get the ham) and we were at Westpac Stadium (My 3rd visit to that venue and 1st since 2013 during the Better Home and Living was held where I had lunch there) already but John has got 3 e tickets that required to be scanned and so here we are by finding our seats on halfway to watch my 2nd super rugby match, this time it's the Hurricanes taking on the Jaguares in the 2016 Super Rugby competition.
And it was half time (During the 1st half I had some ham with buns with mustard) so I had to go to the toilet and guess who I saw, Nehe Milner-Skudder because his right arm was injured during a game against the Blues as he was walking with a broken arm and after I went to the loo, the 2nd half was about to start.
And after that, we walked all the way to the apartment to spend our night there, then the next morning we headed to Drexel's for breakfast (Well I had to visit the film set once more) where I had pancakes with bacon, scrambled eggs and hash brown before we headed back to the apartment and said goodbye to both of them and then we headed off to Murray Gray's in Johnsonville to see him and his Filipino partner Viluz and we had a chat there just before we headed back home (We filled some petrol there in Bulls while I bought a diet coke because I was getting thirsty) and we headed to 15A Kells Avenue (AKA Poppa's place) where we had noodles for lunch before I went back home to end a beautiful trip it was & Some Great news: Pops told me that we are coming back to Wellington to see the world champion All Blacks (They are the best in the rugby world) play against 2015 Rugby World Cup quarter finalists Wales (Who lost to South Africa then they lost to the AB's) coached by New Zealander Warren Gatland (And man, these tickets are totally expensive than the Hurricanes one but this should by my 1st All Black game that I'm going to and for Pops, it's his 1st in 2 years where he and the late Nan went in Argentina to see them play against Argentina) and what about the lunch & dessert that I had as well as winning last card by getting a massive clean sweep for the very 1st time in the series it was.
That is my 36th (XXXVIth) blog of the year 2016 (MMXVI).
P.S. My 2nd cousin Gemma (Rosalie's mum because Rosalie is my 2nd cousin) has sent me an email because I never emailed her before so here's her message in it's entirety (And that's the 1st time I emailed her as a result):
Hi Whetu
Thanks for your nice long email. It was very pleasant to read. I'm good, thank you. I hope you are well too.
I'm sorry to hear about your Dad, Poppa and Jansen being ill after the funeral. We were exhausted after the funeral, there was a lot of cleaning to do and it ended up being me, cousin Waimaria and my mum, Kathryn, cleaning with Maikara (she was the maori lady with the large bone carving and the moko on her chin and the guitar and beautiful singing voice) and my Dad and our family friend Bill. But we got it all done by about 7:30pm and then we went home and had some leftovers too and fell asleep quite soon after that.
I'm not a workaholic but I am kept quite busy being Rosalie's mum and looking after Nana Minnie's house and garden and dog. I love to do it though. I'm missing Nana Minnie quite a lot since she passed away, but I find it comforting in her house, surrounded by all her things.
In answer to your questions, Kathryn, Huia and Ben are all good. Kathryn is starting a yoga class today to improve her fitness. She isn't sure what she is going to do now. I think she will start to look for a job. Huia and Ben are back in Auckland. I haven't seen much of them. Ben wanted to go and work on Raoul Island again - it's up in the Kermadecs - but he didn't get it so I'm not sure what his plans are now. Huia is working at her new job at Fashion Tv and she spends a lot of time with her new boyfriend.
I better go, I've got a job interview to get ready for.
Take Care
Gemma
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