Day 5 23/6/2010 Exodus

Australia vs Serbia
June 23rd 2010
Nelspruit, Mpumalanga
South Africa

So it comes to this. Twenty years wanting to go to a World Cup, three years of planning and saving, and due to good luck, work and fortune, we are seeing Australia play at a World Cup. Yes, I may have had a tear or two during the Australian national anthem. On the way to the stadium, the bus was filled with Australians singing the following songs: Waltzing Matilda, Let's Go Fucking Crazy, You're The Voice, Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, Downunder, Here We Go and of course, Neighbours, and Home and Away. The stadium is filled with green and gold. Very emotional experience, and to come away with a win is unbelievable. Roy likens the experience to a Tequila slammer (he is terrible at similes, analogies and metaphors). The goals by Cahill and Holman are classics, and even if we don't progress to the next round, to see Australia win at a World Cup, live, is one of the top ten experiences of my life.

Most of my top ten experiences are from this trip! (Most, darling wife!)

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Day 4 22/6/2010 All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues

• The birds wake early in Africa. Tweeting and chattering away, they wake us up. Coffees for all.
• Johannes and Lenard are our guides. They pick us up in their 4WD with 458 guns, loading bullets. As we climb out of the valley, we see the most amazing scene. Silhouette of giraffe on road with full African sun behind it. Giraffe meanders off.
• Down in the valley that is the African savannah, Lenard instructs up to keep a single file, nice quiet voices, follow all instructions. We tiptoe through the brush, stopping ever now and then, to watch zebra and impala, monkeys climbing the rocks and cliffs. Climb up ridge ourselves, can see all the way past Limpopo River to Zimbabwe.
• Later we drive to the Confluence, where the Limpopo River and Shashe River divide Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Amazing panorama.
• Drive back to Polokwane to our accommodation where we are greeted by the gorgeous, and I do mean gorgeous, Therese and daughter Natasha, who drive us to the Argentina vs Greece game. Thousands of Bafana Bafana fans are streaming out of the Fan Fest after South Africa beat France 2-1. Even though not enough to progress to the next round, at least they finished on a high and beat the bloody French!
• Outside the stadium, we are let into an Argentinan enclosure courtesy of Teresa's husband Kobus a press photographer. Our Argentinian jerseys and scarves would have got us in anyway. The Argentinans are crazy, banging their drums, singing, jumping up and down in this massive circle, waves of blue and white everywhere. Go Les Albicelestes!!! I storm in and sing along too, although the words are in Spanish and I have no idea what they mean anyway! Natasha jumps up on a Argentines shoulders and starts waving a flag. Then she hops down and gets a big kiss. Kobus rushes over and pushes the guy away, and all of a sudden 100 Argentines are pushing and surrounding Kobus, ready to kill him. Everthing works out okay!
• Peter Mokaba stadium in Polokwane is open aired and our seats are right at the top of level 3. It is freezing. Diego Armando Maradona comes out and the crowd goes nuts. Argentina fans are the craziest, most devoted fans around. He walks with a limp, but he kisses and hugs the Greek coach and his players.
  
• The Argentinan national anthem starts slowly, almost regally, but then tempo quickens into this joyful noise which sounds mostly like "Oh! Oh! Oh!"Lionel Messi is the greatest player in the world and it shows; he seems to have all the time and patience in the world; dribbling here, shooting there. The biggest cheers are for him and the bearded, now suited Diego. Very casual. Greece has its chances but can't convert. 0-0 at half-time but in the second half the two Martins (DeMechelis and Palermo) score great goals, and Argentina wins 2-0. The crowd is fantastic; if the world Cup was judged by fans, Argentina would win hands down. The most passionate, devoted around. They stand up and cheer - when the game is slow they start singing and chanting, waving those blue flags around. Blue and white banners hang down from everywhere, Most Argentine domestic teams and silhouettes of Maradona.
  
• After the game, we catch up with Kobus who drives us home. Sit back, have a few beers, go to sleep.
  

Day 3 21/6/2010 Cabin Fever

• Off to to the northernest, most isolated part of South Africa; Mapungabwe National Park. To get there it takes about 8-9 hours. The road is potholed and dangerous.
• We pass Kwena Dam, which has fog and mist coming off it. I call it the Cloud Lake.
• Drive thru Burgersfort. This is real poverty. Shantytown that seems to go on forever and ever. Each time we stop for fifteen minutes at a time as the highway is being worked, people and children come up tp the car selling fruit, vegetables, trinkets, papers, sweets. The houses are dusty - no grass, women are sweeping the dirt from their front yards. Kids are playing soccer or on swings or just walking around. The houses are just one or two bedroom shacks with outhouses, but the African people seem to be very proud of their houses, growing vegetables. Cattle and goats cross the road. Outside a school in the distance a man blows on his vuvuzela so Roy engages in a vuvuzela off with the bloke! Early on it looks like Roy is matched, but finally the bloke gives up! Victory for Australia!
• Stop off in Polokwane for lunch before driving up to Mapungabwe. On the radio we listen to the Portugal v Cote d'Ivoire game. Unfortunately it is in some African language and we have no idea what is happening! All we here is blah blah blah Portugal one blah blah blah Cote d'Ivoire nil! Portugal end up winning 7-0.
• A few hours later we drive to MNP. After seeing baboons, monkeys, ostriches we see our first African animal - giraffes. They are munching away just by the side of the road. We get to MNP around 4:30. As the sun is slipping away we need to get to our accommodation quickly - not allowed to drive after 6 in the dark. So off we go on a road that really requires a four wheel drive into the most beautiful terrain and lanscapre you will ever see. Every five minutes we stop and analyse footprints and poo for clues where animals are! Nothing. We are too scared to put our hands out of the car, but Roy and I decide to swap driving, so Roy and I jump out and sprint around to our various seats! Fastest I ever see Roy run! (Why do I bring this up? Patience!)
• The most beautiful sunset as the sun sinks lower and lower over the horizon. We get to our camp - Vhembe Wilderness Cabins. Thought it would be protected by fence, guards from nature etc. Nothing. There are four cabins in the middle of nowhere - we take one each! Each has two beds, toilet, shower, deck looking over the valley! Stunning. There is a communal kitchen in the middle but to get there you have to walk through the dark. All manner of beasties and nasties could walk through the camp (and do!). As I walk out to meet the others, Roy jumps out from behind and scares me! I jump about two metres in the air! We were so worried getting out of the car to swap seats, and here we are walking around in the dark with possible lions and leopards.
  
• Meet at Roy's cabin (gee that sounds funny) and make a toast to our good fortune, drinking red wine, eating chips and cheese, watching the stars over the now dark landscape, just us, no lights, the cold, annoying bugs, satellites, space stations and galaxies overhead, in the middle of nowhere, the middle of Africa.
  

Day Two 20/6/2010 Men of Science, Men of Faith

• Breakfast at News Cafe.
• Drive thru Mpumalanga - White River, Hazyview, Sabie - Drankensburg Escarpment & Eastern Lowveld.
• Off to first game. Meet up with Kiwis at hostel - Paul from Canadia, Ikram from Palestine.
• Minibus to game; real festival atmosphere; everyone is cheering, happy, shaking hands, dancing, vuvuzelas everywhere!
• Our first World Cup Game Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Heaps of Italians. Not so many Kiwis! Go New Zealand!
• Beautiful stadium - giraffes holding roof up, zebra pattern seating.
• 21 rows back in right corner of bench side. Incredible seats.
• Teams walk out; stadium explodes in noise. National anthems.
• 7th minute miracle! Kiwis score; Gold Coast's own Shane Smeltz! Explosion! Italians in crowd shocked; everyone else jumping and dancing.
• New Zealand punching above their weight against defending champions. Suspect penalty in box - Italy was a diver and she went down. 1-1. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
• Rest of the game is all Italy - Mark Paston (NZ goalie) brilliant. Very tense but when New Zealand hang on for draw, biggest upset in years! Italians trudge off but Kiwis stay on for party with rest of crowd and NZ fans! Shake Ricki Herbert's (NZ Coach) hand on sideline!
• Wait in cold for buses for ages that take us to wrong destinations. African time and space. Buses zip past narrowly avoiding cars and spectators. Fans get lifts on pick up trucks, on trailers pulled by tractors!
• Jock n Java is packed pub with three bars, packed to rafters; awful table service. Waitress shrugs, "This is Africa". Paul, Ikram and new Kiwi friends Johnathan, Trish and Pat join us at our table of craziness. Drink beer, eat platter, watch Brazil vs Cote d'Ivoire on big screen. Road below, thousands of Kiwis are in big sweaty throng dancing to DJs!

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Day One 19/6/2010 Tabula Rasa

G'day! Sorry about the lateness of these blogs, but internet access here is a little toight. Plus, after all the writing I have done on Chris's computer, this stupid blog won't accept my copied word document! So, I will do my best until I work it out. In the meantime, I will quickly do an annotation of each day!

• Sunrise over Johannesburg as we fly in. Brilliant radiance of red bursts across the horizon. African sun at last!
• 2 degrees in Johannesburg. Airport. Tickets for games next to firearm checkins.
• Blue Honda Jazz - nicknamed Blue steel by David, Jellybean by Chris. Later referred by all of us as Winsdscreen Crack Prediction and Please No Hills or 4WD Roads.
• Like driving through Toowoomba or Darling Downs. Very flat with fog and smoke everywhere. Poluution. Africans every few miles crossing the roads, dodging cars,
• asking for lifts, walking along the highway with bags on heads and babies on back. Sometimes people give them lift. I suggest we pick up woman with big breasts. No response from others (Common theme this trip!)
• Mbombela Stadium and Nelspruit. Nelspruit reveals herself through jungle and cliffs. No massive skyscrapers, taffic lights galore, no road rules, but a certain quaitness. Our base for the next two weeks.
• Score goals through spotting animals first. Roy sees Zebras (GOAL!!!)
• Warning signs for Hippos!!!
• Watch Australia Ghana game at Fifa Fan Fest. About 30 whites and a few thousand black supporters in stadium field. Buy beers R15 and sit down on dusty field. At half time I play football with other people. I think I play superbly. Chris and Roy with cameras and videocameras shake their heads. Footage to come!!!
• 1-1 draw. After game party starts. We line up for vuvuzelas and take part in bizarre photos and dancing. Everyone is dancing and jumping up and down, vuvuzelas blaring away. We walk home in the cold African night.
  

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Come Play Footballs for Africa!!!

G'day!

Cheers to everyone who came yeterday to our bowls afternoon. All had a top time, and thanks to donations we were able to buy 5 Come Play footballs to send to children in Africa. Hooray! A fantastic finish to an afternoon of beer, bowls, sausages, and little kids running around picking up our bowls! Check out the store at the Come Play website below for more info. Let's do it again sometime!

http://www.australia2018-2022.com.au/

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Penalty Shootout Psychology

A fascinating article about the psychology of penalty shootouts. Cheers to the New York Times!


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/sports/soccer/31penaltykicks.html?pagewanted=1&ref=soccer

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