Last weekend, Iain and I indulged in the Wonderful World of Sport, made all the sweeter as we had managed to scam free tickets to every event, plus corporate hospitality passes for one! First up on Saturday was our innagural Netball match where we watched the Mystics v the Magic in the Trans-Tasman league. It was brilliant - there was a capacity crowd with a great atmosphere and it was amazing to see so many girls and women (and even men!) of all ages taking the opportunity to watch and support professional women's sport. The netball here is huge and competitions like the ANZ Championships provide an important platform for the promotion of women's sport giving young girls positive role models and aspirations. (Unlike their counterparts in the UK such as Colleen Rooney who is talentless and only famous for marrying a footballer. AARGH!) Anyway, here's some shots from the game to give you an idea of how big it is...
Next up on the Saturday was
The Blues v The Bulls in the Super 14 Rugby Competition at Eden Park. This was always going to be a tough match for The Blues as The Bulls (from South Africa) were sitting top of the table and are reigning champions. The Blues boys clearly didn't believe the hype, pulling off an amazing win, finishing the game 32-17!
In all the excitement, and free booze, I didn't managed to take any shots of the Bulls game, but this one is from the Brumbies game at the start of the season. Gives you an idea of the size of the crowds going to the game (normally about 22,000) and the other shot is from the Neighbourhood bar in Kingsland after the match where all the management and players headed to enjoy the free bar. Score! From L-R, Jamie, Blues kit man; Sandra, Jamie's wife; Lewis, who Iain worked with at Harbour and who'd gone with us to the netball earlier in the day; me.
We were a bit bleary eyed on the Sunday morning but with corporate hospitality passes for the Vodafone Warriors (Rugby League) match, it was only right that we pushed on through. We were guests of my friend's (Heather Young) husband, Alan, who is a big wig with the Bank of NZ. Heather is also a Scottish PE Teacher and like me, is out here on a career break. She originally worked with Jo Fuchs at St. Ninian's in the Southside and it's been great catching up with her from time to time in order to compare notes on our travels.
Neither Iain or I are that up-to-speed with League but it was good to go along to the game and watch the different code. Unfortunately it was a loss for the Warriors. At least the Blues won though, eh?
After watching a shed load of sport over the weekend we were inspired to get involved in some physical activity of our own later that week. We took a drive up to Warkworth (about 40mins north of Takapuna) where we'd heard there were some baseball batting cages. Iain, as ever, had the skills from the start. I, however, didn't start particularly well, but it was a sharp learning curve! Here's a vid of the big show...
..and here's some other shots from the day...there are cricket batting cages too!
Lorna.
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