Monday, April 03, 2006
The ghost of weekend past
Hmm, I just remembered what I did last weekend. Not that I have any photos to prove it. Whether or not it's worth describing it now, after I've put that doubt in your mind remins to be seen but...
I went up to Oamaru with Total Bads and Wanessaaa to Graham's boss' 40th! Together with a bunch of randoms, we split into two teams and played a 20/20 cricket game. For some reason I ended up on the side of the hick locals (that was just a first impression flavoured with sour grapes because I thought I'd gotten myself stuck in a team full of people who believed the cricket bats were for hitting each other!) but they actually turned out to be quite the competitors, especially Rodney himself (Graham's boss) who cannot stand to lose! Fortunately it was one of those rare occasions I stepped up and bowled some Steve with my straight slow non-turning legspin! Kudos! That wasn't quite enough for poor old (40 years old! Steve!) Rodney who hadn't made his desired 30 runs in our run chase of 133, and he was left pacing and muttering about how we were destined for failure! This didn't translate into wise decisions, and he bumped someone up above me in the batting order. OK, as a cricketer I was a player who blew hot and cold, but against any ordinary bowling, the ball would end up over the fence. Finally I got out there and made 9 off 6, the final 4 coming off my bat with 3 balls to spare. Man, I was Rodney's best mate after that (which earned me amnesty from a beating from him after he thought I was insulting him later in the night.)
It was a learning experience, including learning that Pimms cannot be consumed without lemonade, no matter how much Total Bads stresses otherwise. I can still taste the ickiness.
Great buffet tea, great band! Vanessa even had a great experience with some random female who was determined to force her backside into Vanessa's face. Sure, it was kinda uncomfortable for her, but just sooo funny to watch!
The band was 'Black Velvet', an outfit from Christchurch who sang some of their own songs, but predominantly Irish music. Both were brilliant! I never knew I was so well versed on Pogues lyrics! Fortunately the band were a whole lot more attractive than the said Pogues. And they had a pirate who played the mandolin, among other things. Singing in an Irish accent sounds cheesy, but they pulled it off very well.
We stayed the night in the coach house which was pleasant, but Vanessa froze regardless. The home help stayed in the room next door and they were pretty doahh, I must say. Shame on them, but they got friendlier as the night went on, and smelt more sweetly of alcohol :)
Me, Graeheme and Vanessa and two others went for a bike ride the next morn... Of course Graheme's brother and 'the help' got shafted, and given kiddie bikes to ride. Fortunately we rubbed this in, and Graeheme swapped with me halfway... So much better! We rode about 20km, visited another classy homestead, and took absolutely no pictures! Argh! Oh, no, I think Graeheme might have, so I'll see about uploading a few.
The ride home involved the Elephant Rocks and a Jon tour guide of an imaginary movie set. So imagine you were there, and you've just received a similar experience to my woefully inept guided tour! Ah well, at least we found the location :)
What else happened? Oh yeah, we went back to Dunedin. You don't have to imagine what that was like...
I went up to Oamaru with Total Bads and Wanessaaa to Graham's boss' 40th! Together with a bunch of randoms, we split into two teams and played a 20/20 cricket game. For some reason I ended up on the side of the hick locals (that was just a first impression flavoured with sour grapes because I thought I'd gotten myself stuck in a team full of people who believed the cricket bats were for hitting each other!) but they actually turned out to be quite the competitors, especially Rodney himself (Graham's boss) who cannot stand to lose! Fortunately it was one of those rare occasions I stepped up and bowled some Steve with my straight slow non-turning legspin! Kudos! That wasn't quite enough for poor old (40 years old! Steve!) Rodney who hadn't made his desired 30 runs in our run chase of 133, and he was left pacing and muttering about how we were destined for failure! This didn't translate into wise decisions, and he bumped someone up above me in the batting order. OK, as a cricketer I was a player who blew hot and cold, but against any ordinary bowling, the ball would end up over the fence. Finally I got out there and made 9 off 6, the final 4 coming off my bat with 3 balls to spare. Man, I was Rodney's best mate after that (which earned me amnesty from a beating from him after he thought I was insulting him later in the night.)
It was a learning experience, including learning that Pimms cannot be consumed without lemonade, no matter how much Total Bads stresses otherwise. I can still taste the ickiness.
Great buffet tea, great band! Vanessa even had a great experience with some random female who was determined to force her backside into Vanessa's face. Sure, it was kinda uncomfortable for her, but just sooo funny to watch!
The band was 'Black Velvet', an outfit from Christchurch who sang some of their own songs, but predominantly Irish music. Both were brilliant! I never knew I was so well versed on Pogues lyrics! Fortunately the band were a whole lot more attractive than the said Pogues. And they had a pirate who played the mandolin, among other things. Singing in an Irish accent sounds cheesy, but they pulled it off very well.
We stayed the night in the coach house which was pleasant, but Vanessa froze regardless. The home help stayed in the room next door and they were pretty doahh, I must say. Shame on them, but they got friendlier as the night went on, and smelt more sweetly of alcohol :)
Me, Graeheme and Vanessa and two others went for a bike ride the next morn... Of course Graheme's brother and 'the help' got shafted, and given kiddie bikes to ride. Fortunately we rubbed this in, and Graeheme swapped with me halfway... So much better! We rode about 20km, visited another classy homestead, and took absolutely no pictures! Argh! Oh, no, I think Graeheme might have, so I'll see about uploading a few.
The ride home involved the Elephant Rocks and a Jon tour guide of an imaginary movie set. So imagine you were there, and you've just received a similar experience to my woefully inept guided tour! Ah well, at least we found the location :)
What else happened? Oh yeah, we went back to Dunedin. You don't have to imagine what that was like...
