TV and phone number

I think there's an interview with me on Australian TV, taken before the Slovakia game:

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,27276695-5019291,00.html

the internet connection is too slow here for me to check it; also it may be country-locked to only show to Australians.
Cheers to Rebecca for spotting it.

Also, I have a South African phone number
+27 76 598 1665
if anyone wants to text me.

This photo is after the Italy game with a South African fan.

Wow ...

Yesterday's result against Italy was unbelievable.

It's amazing to think that beforehand I was wondering to myself ... "yes, we're going to lose; the only question is by how much?"

I had some Aussies next to me in the crowd, who were saying the Italians were cheating just as they did in 2006.

It was so amazing that the team held on so well.

I met NZ Prime Minister John Key after the game, and asked him to protest to Italy about the penalty.

Finally I have a day off, just relaxing and watching soccer.
I went round the local mall for a bit, my NZ shirt was getting a few appreciative comments.

I'm supposed to be going to Sun City tomorrow. However, people have said it's boring, so I might skip it - gambling certainly doesn't appeal.

Here's a cheetah photo from the safari park.

African House Party

The game yesterday was fun. I thought Australia could have won it, but never mind ...

Some Ghanaian fans were below me, they set somebody's hat on fire!

After the game we had a drink at the dodgy pub opposite the stadium.
The house next door had a speaker system and was banging out some techno. We popped over and joined in the dancing, it was ace! It was a multinational party ...

People here are really friendly.

Now we're off to see NZ vs Italy. It's a long drive again. I don't know whether we'll find another party.
I haven't met any Italian fans on this trip but am sure to meet a few today ...

Running with the big cats ...

I've just had two days up at the Kruger National Park.

It was great, I saw leopard, rhino, giraffe, zebra, impala, hippo, cheetah and elephant.
I'd really recommend it.

Our hotel backed on to the park. A fence kept out the bigger animals, but we had a few monkeys running around the grounds.

Hopefully I can get some photos up soon ...

The park has roads, some are even sealed. Anyone can drive their car around which seems a bit dangerous ...
The animals just do their own thing; sometimes they are close to the road. Other times you spend 20 minutes driving around and see nothing - but then, oh, an Impala... the small deer is very common. It's the McDonald's for predators - fast food!

After all this time sitting on buses and planes I was keen for some exercise. We joined some South African kids at the hotel for a game of soccer which was a lot of fun. I let the little girl's shot go through our goal, and she was happy to celebrate!

Tomorrow I'm going to see Ghana play Australia.
I'm not sure who to support - as a kiwi am I supposed to want the Aussies to lose?
- but my Dad's Australian ...
- but then Vince Grella made that nasty tackle in the friendly in Melbourne that nearly ended Leo Bertos' world cup ...
- but now Grella is injured and won't play (ah, karma!)

I'm also not that enthusiastic cos it's a six hour round trip to the same stadium I already saw NZ play in ...

I'll talk about my impressions of South Africa as a place in a forthcoming entry.

I've never celebrated a draw so hard!

So today we played against Slovakia.
It was a 3 hour drive; I got to play some tunes on the bus radio which went down well (no, really!)

The main news is that we drew the game. This is pretty good as they are ranked about 40 places higher than NZ. I thought we played really well and could have even won if we'd cut out a couple of mistakes.

Still, at least we have more points than the Aussies!

Oh yeah, I might have got on Australian TV (Fox sports). I was also interviewed by South African TV.

I wear this polar bear hat to the games which tends to attract the attention of the media ...

After the game I met some Slovaks. They were friendly, but disappointed at having drawn a game they'd expected to win.

We met some locals and went inside their house.
I held the bus up (briefly) while waiting for them to finish cooking a sausage for me.

Oh yeah, the sausages are pretty good here...

Off to the Kruger National Park tomorrow for 2 days.

Arrival In South Africa

We arrived OK in SA on Monday 14th.
Hong Kong went well. Had some nice food and went to a few shops.
It was warm and muggy - I liked it.

Our flight arrived in Jo'burg OK, and our accomodation is nice.
We went to the main shopping mall in Sandton; met fans from Argentina, Netherlands, Brazil, South Africa and Slovakia.

NZ is not that good at football, so it wouldn't be surprising for us to lose all three games.
If we score a goal or draw a game, I will be happy with our efforts.
The best chance of that will be against Slovakia in Rustenburg. More on that after the game!

I'm having trouble with photos; they may have to wait til I come back.

OK, next blog I will try not to write so late at night!

Getting ready

I'm about to leave for the world cup in South Africa.
This blog will talk about my experiences over there.

I'm hoping to cover wild animals, food, society and culture. I'm taking my digital camera so I should be able to put some photos up too.
Oh yeah, I'll probably also mention the football too.

I'm a bit nervous about the trip, given what you hear about South Africa. But NZ haven't been at the world cup since 1982 - if I don't go this time then the next time could be when I'm in my sixties!
I'm going with a tour group of NZ football fans. I'll be seeing all the NZ games and hopefully one or two others. I'll publish the itinerary soon.

In the meantime, watch this video. It's a 6 minute I made with some friends for the 48 hour film competition in April.

A Name And A Number