The first ball of the first over. NZ versus West Indies 2019

 With test cricket not being shown on TV there were some complaints from the family sportsman. Duncan likes to see  the teams warm up, the toss and the first ball of the first over thrills him!! So we set off on the early flight on Friday the 11th to Wellington. We got the shuttle to our hotel, dropped off our luggage and walked back to the Basin Reserve. While the R A Vance stand keeps out most of the wind, it also keeps out the sun and so began 3 days of coldness - but enjoyment!

That night we really had to hunt for a place to eat that had spare seats - there were plenty of takeaway bars too. Finally found a Thai place where I managed to slop dark sweet soy sauce down one of my 2 jerseys, but we had a good meal there.

Next morning we were delivering my painting to Rebecca. We meet at a very good little tea shop. I order Lapsang souchong which is our usual. The young oriental man says "good choice" and when it arrives the little card says .The Weight Loss tea. Well that hasn't worked!

Duncan was anxious not to miss the first ball of the second day - and sure enough we made it in time. Kylie Jamieson was facing (great nephew of Margaret Bartram)

Already things were looking very positive for the blackcaps. We sat next to an elderly man who kept a scorebook which added a bit of interest: important etiquette point - don't talk until he has entered the bowler score, the batsman score and the total score for each ball. Again it was a cold day, but we were seated by the aisle where all the celeb broadcasters went up to the commentary box, and also saw lots of elderly blackcap players spinning yarns about "in their day". We took the precaution of booking for dinner, but when we arrived it was more like a bar with fries, so happened to spy a restaurant across the road and headed there. Goldmine had not only suffered COVID, but had a sewer pipe burst outside their premises. Once this was fixed they were able to clean and revamp - but on a very tight budget. The food was very interesting, and there was an array of French wine by the glass.

Next morning it was off down to TePapa to see the WOW exhibition. It was quite small, but then I did find the show swamped me a bit with ideas. The great value was that you could get up close and see some of the handiwork. Some of it had taken years. Here are some of my favourites:

A Moth

Made out of wool (Axminister carpet!!)

Painted Leather

Moulded plastic

Yes there is a place for the hands to come out, and for the eyes to see through. Made out of felted wool.

Hanging Leather canvases

Rather gladiatorial.

You can see that you could go right up close - but no touching!!

And yes, we were there for the first ball of the third day too. The sun didn't even bother to shine today, but the cold wind continued to gust across the ground. We were in the front row of the stand this time so had a little more room to move our feet which stopped them turning into blocks of ice. The West Indians had to follow on, and it was great to see the NZ bowlers do so well, and the beauty of being at the ground is that you see the fielders move to cut off or back up or ready to stop the overthrows. By afternoon tea time we were very cold and I suggested that I would like to go back to the hotel, and was surprised that Duncan agreed to come back too.

We had booked at a "Turkish" place for dinner, but it turned out that this meant they had kebabs - and no wine licence. Duncan went on a bit of a scouting expedition and found we could get a table at Dockside, provided we could come early - so it was very fortuitous that we left the cricket early.

I had the feta ravioli, which was even more delicious than the dessert, and Duncan had the duck. Lovely meal in good surroundings.

We organised the shuttle for the next morning as there does not appear to be an Airport Bus anymore. We had been cooking our own breakfasts in the apartment, so had to pack up some eggs.

Good on yer Air New Zealand - they arrived back in Gizzy whole!

Note to self: Pack more warm clothes when going to Wellington.