The things I lost and gained
BY CHARLES ANDERSONThings I lost in the greater Wellington region over the weekend:
One hat, new, worn only once.
One watch, sentimental, quite expensive.
A fully functional cell phone, permanently emits audible radio waves, quite disconcerting, might buy a foil helmet.
One memory of the most glorious stadium experience ever in the history of New Zealand sport.
One soul, left on the vineyards of Martinborough while body returned home (somewhat) to Nelson.
One faint recollection of a 7am Monday morning flight out of Wellington airport after consuming the equivalent gross domestic product of Eritrea in whitebait and pinot noir.
Things I was lucky enough to remember seeing on Saturday night:
A great little piece of New Zealand sporting history.
35,000 excited, pasty, intoxicated Kiwis acting and looking disturbingly like Brits.
High fives, and hugs after the goal.
Was not lucky enough to remember the next few hours.
Two Bahraini players shuttling off into a taxi at 2am to forget to night's events. They were humble, polite and dressed a little like pimps.
A grown man falling asleep in his third Burger King whopper of the night for a full half hour. He then woke up and proceeded to fall down a flight of stairs and into the street. He got up and walked away unscathed.
Things I was lucky enough to see the next day at Toast Martinborough.
People buying Scrumpy Cider at 9am in the morning.
People buying tasting classes of Chardonnay at 10am in the morning.
People dancing the Irish jig at 11am in the morning.
People eating crème brulee at 12pm in the afternoon.
People repeating the process with considerable veracity throughout until it was time to get on a bus to go home.
People tripping over as they tried to get on to buses to go home.
People making that whole process look good.
Things that made me frown on the plane ride back to Nelson.
The turbulence.
My bank balance.
My intestinal tract dealing with the deadly combination of Irish jig and crème brulee.
Things that made me smile on the plane ride back to Nelson.
The thought of Josh sitting at home crying to himself that he wasn’t there to experience any of it. Classic.
The thought of doing the same thing all over again next year.
Thing that made me smile on Monday morning at work
Getting an email that a friend had picked up my hat. "You lost it somewhere." Indeed. Amongst many things.
- © Fairfax NZ News
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Just a reminder---am is "morning" and pm is "afternoon" so you do not have to waste words like morning and afternoon when you use "am" and "pm"---get it?
Lost: $20 in a bet with an aussie mate at half time - I was sure they'd bottle it and the penalty miss was bitter-sweet.
Gained: A new girlfriend after striking up a conversation with a Jafa after the final whistle.
On balance, a great night!
thanks for the heads up ben. i didn't get it for many years. but now i do, thanks to you. banky- well done my son!
So good to meet you. Love the blog. Keep it up.
I heard a rumour there was quite a bit of counterfeit franc flying round on Sunday. Did anyone else hear that one??
All I remember is Charlie telling me to "go long at ten" and "dump it at three"...
Good on the Kiwi's - heard NOTHING about it this side of the Tassie - nothing unusual in THAT mate !!!
its about time that your young hemingway good looks made the header for the Mail website. Much better than that sports guy who somewhat resembles a squid....
Well done New Zealand you gave our reserves a close run game. I hope you can compete against our first team in 2011. Howver I suspect england will once again make the final as per the last two world cups with the All Blacks making their excuses!
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Creme brulee and pinot combines well, too. Nice read.