DAY 1
TOWNSVILLE (Australia)
Thursday September 8th, 2011
TODAYS MILEAGE – 0 miles or 0 kilometres
TRIP MILEAGE – 0 miles or 0 kilometres
Greeting & Salutations Culture Vultures,
I think it was back in April, when I was on the phone with a good mate of mine, Ross Sowerby, about heading over to Japan, with the Alice Springs Dingoes, for the 19th Annual World Golden Oldies Rugby Festival in Fukuoka.
As conversations go, Roscoe asked what I was doing later in the year, around September, in particular.
"No a lot" I answered.
Roscoe reckons that he and a few mates had hired motorhomes and had also scored tickets to 3 matches at the Rugby World Cup. Unfortunately two people had pulled out due to work commitments and would I be interested in going with them?
As one who firmly believes in "get in, get out, stop fuckin' about", I must have though about for an entire nono-second and signed up there and then. I hung up the phone and then thought it'd be a good time toask my boss if I could go. With tongue firmly in cheek, he says "What if I say no?" I said "will you miss me as I'm off to the shaky isles".
Other than Ross and his bride Marie, whom I've travelled with before, I really didn't have much indiction as to who was all going, but I figure that if they're travelling with Ross & Marie, then they're sure to be great people. At the end of the day, the 9 of us travelled 5898 miles (9492 kilometres) and I had one of the most memorable trips I've ever experienced.
Please join me in sharing in what all reality, turned out to be a trip of a lifetime, for a whole heap of different reasons. Aside from it being the Rugby World Cup in "Indian territory", the home of the 2nd best team in the world - the All Blacks. 