Australia v New Zealand: Cricket World Cup edition

So you may have figured it out by now, but in case you haven't I'll let you in on a little secret; Australia and New Zealand have a bit of a rivalry going across the Tasman Sea. Naturally, this extends into the sporting world. That's why we picked the Australia v New Zealand cricket match as our first live cricket match. With the ICC Cricket World Cup coming to New Zealand, we had to see a game, and we figured the atmosphere at the game of these rivals would be a good one.We picked a good game- it was a full house and not only was the atmosphere good, but so was the game itself. 

Wicket

Now, I know absolutely nothing about cricket, except that it's long. Some say it's even 'more boring than baseball'. That statement can be interpreted differently depending on your view of baseball. What I did know, was that the world cup matches are one-day matches, meaning shorter. At least I wouldn't have to sit through a whole week of a game I don't understand!

In preparation for match day, I did some Wikipedia research on cricket and tried to learn the basics so I'd know what was going on. I did pretty well, and was not only able to follow the match, but really thoroughly enjoyed it. The only rule I wished I'd learned about but didn't was the power play. Otherwise, it was great fun!

It probably helped that the match was 2 hours shorter than normal, and that it was a NZ home game with a lively crowd. The boy sitting next to us was so excited to be there and stayed engaged in the game the whole way through. It was nice to see kids getting into something other than their iPad (the kids behind us were on their iPads the whole game).

Brendon McCullum at bat for New Zealand

Australia was at bat first, and they got out (10 wickets) in less innings than anticipated. A great start for New Zealand! All we had to do, was score more runs than Australia, without getting out. 

The Black Caps captain and star player Brendon McCullum was at bat first. He was quickly hit by the pitcher with a stray ball. What an outrage! There wasn't even really a penalty for it. Brendon was a true champ and went on to play for 50 runs. Unfortunately he got out shortly after that, and New Zealand ended up needing 6 runs with only one wicket (out) left! Everyone in the stadium was on the edge of their seats, myself included.Williamson bats it out of bounds for 6 points to win the game for New Zealand.


What an exciting game! On a side note, I was glad we didn't bring an excess of fresh fruit into the match (we did pack a picnic dinner- well prepared for a lengthy cricket match). The fruit fly epidemic is still in high swing and no fruit is allowed to be taken out of 'the zone', in which the cricket stadium Eden Park is located. Hopefully they find all the fruit flies soon.

MR2 at last

It's official. We're now a three car family. P took his new toy out for a spin on the Hampton Downs race track this weekend. It was fun to watch him on the track, he even improved his lap times considerably throughout the day! Not that I stayed to see the end of the day- it was a long day so I just caught him go out for two 15-minute sessions in his car, and one as a passenger in another car to get some lessons.

The Kiwi Accent

Happy New Year

As the year comes to a close, and we say our goodbyes to people at work 'until next year', I realise that we have been in one place for over one year. This is a new experience for me, as for the five Decembers prior to this one I'd been living in a new house/location. I had grown to expect goodbyes, but in the sense that I was moving on to something new. This December, I find myself in the same home and the same job as last year at this time. As a result of staying put for over a year, I'm also learning another new experience - outlasting people and things. Since we've moved into this neighbourhood, I've seen a Burger King turn into a Mexicali Fresh, an old apartment building torn down and replaced by a modern, taller block. I've adapted to the kiwi way of spelling words such as neighbour and colour and programme, and have to go back to delete the extra letters if I'm writing a blog post or a letter back home. I've said goodbye to 6 close coworkers who have moved on to other jobs and/or cities.

This New Year's Eve we stayed put in our little city of Auckland and headed down the street a few kilometres to see the fireworks shot from the Sky Tower. A great way to end a full year in Auckland, and to kick start the next one. It was nice to be home and not have to say any more 'goodbyes' for the year. Here's hoping that 2015 will be the best year yet, and without too many goodbyes (or at least if there are any, it's because I chose to move one, I don't think I can take yet another coworker leaving!).