Wednesday 5th April – 13:59pm – Its’ been a long and extremely eventful month!

Since the last entry I have been working flat out, played the pre season friendly, nearly got fired from work, had acupuncture for the first time, signed up and paid to go back to camp and have still managed to save next to no money…

The pre-season friendly against Kurow actually went really well. I started at 10, and played there for the first 20 minutes, before moving to 12, then moving to 13 20 minutes later. As with pre season games they want to see everyone in as many positions as possible, so I was just happy to be on the pitch. I was agonisingly close to scoring in the last play of the game, in what was an average/good all round performance. I have high standards, but I just wish I had of stayed at 10 for longer, and scored the try at the end. After the game we headed straight for the pub, and stayed there until the early hours of the next day.

I cant remember getting home, but when I woke up my phone was smashed and my bank account was miserable. I was scheduled to work the next day at 3pm, and the rugby team had organised a van to head back early for the guys who needed to get back. It quickly became apparent however that no van was going back, as everyone wanted to stay. I rang work and told them what had happened, and explained I would get back as soon as possible. The situation became dire when everyone went to the golf course, and I realised I wasn’t going to get back until very late. To ease my pain (haha) I started drinking. I still to this day have no idea why, I just wanted to be involved. As you can imagine 4 hours, 1 round of golf and a couple dozen beers later could barely stand. I was carried out of the pub that we stopped off at on the way home, and taken back to Wanaka in the van. I had been offered a place to stay at one of the lads’ house, but in my drunk state I woke, and set off at a pace towards Cardrona (its 25kms away…). I ended up laying down on the side of the road for a nap, where I was politely woken from my slumber by a young traveller offering to take me home. I accepted and was back at work before 8pm… however was in no condition to work. I tried to help out, but was told to go home 20 minutes into the shift. It was embarrassing and I still feel really bad for Aline, and the other staff who had to cover and work it out. Obviously the next day I was spoken to by Cade, the owner, who was not pleased in the slightest. Fast forward another week and I am fully recovered, but starting to not enjoy my time here as much – the working side anyway.

A couple of weeks back I was picked in the squad for the first game of the season, but took a knock to my leg in a contact session at training. It hurt at first, but then I felt fine. I carried on training, and smoked a couple of guys in a 60 metre break that felt good. However as soon as the session finished my leg went complete dead and felt hard. I tried to walk it off over the next few days but it just got worse. I visited the physio in Wanaka a few days later, and was given a massage, some acupuncture to relieve the pressure, and did some stretches. The lady said i had a haematoma in my leg, and it needed working on. I saw the physio again a week later, but the pain meant I was out for a few weeks. It was disheartening to know I could have made my debut, but I went down to watch the game anyway and wrote a match report for the local paper. The Rams won, and my report was published on the front page of the paper, so all clouds have a silver lining and all that. After the game I was also able to go out for drinks, as one of the guys offered to drive me home after he had watched the 3 super rugby games, which finished at nearly midnight. It was a great night and I had loads of fun, despite losing $50 at pool.

Due to my leg injury I wasn’t too bothered about being put on the rota to work the following Saturday. There was a wedding on, and they needed cover. My leg still wasn’t good, and the physio recommended I sit the game out anyway so I worked all weekend and tried my best to recover. I also signed up and paid for camp. I think I’ve realised I need to keep moving, or I’ll grow bored and restless. In what turned out to be a really constructive weekend, I signed up and paid for my visa, booked my visa consulate meeting in Auckland, booked my flight home from Auckland, and provisionally looked at relocating a van for the week prior to my booking. I will drive a camper van from Queenstown or Christchurch to Auckland for next to nothing, as there are always loads of vans left down here from tourists who fly to Auckland, drive down, then fly home from here.

Last week I trained fully on Tuesday and Thursday, and was selected in the squad for the weekend game against the Maniototo Maggots. We drove down in the bus, and I felt fresh in the warm up. Despite the game being close, and our backs being distinctly average, I sat on the bench for the entire game. It was disheartening, and I still don’t understand why. I decided to volunteer to drive the bus back after the game, as I was drinking in the club house. Naturally the rest of the guys got smashed, and kept downing drinks to say thank you to me for driving. When we got back to Wanaka we went out in Lake Bar, and ended up in Post Office lane. I then stayed at Pete’s house as he offered me the spare room, not before falling asleep in one of the other guys’ living room when we turned up at the end of the night.

I ended up having a great night out, but I’m still disappointed I didn’t get a game. Maybe next week…