Last Night in New Zealand - Night 116

My last day in New Zealand and a gorgeous

one at that; mid 80s and not a cloud in the sky. I walked down to Hagley Park, a massive collection of soccer fields, botanical gardens, tennis courts, a golf course and numerous other playfields. Quite luckily I stumbled upon the World Croquet Championships. I’ve always wondered if these strange sports like this actually have competitive events, and the answer appears to be yes, yes they do. I cringe a bit at labeling this a sport…old men in white shorts, high socks and stupid blazers whacking around colored balls hardly qualifies as athletics in my book. But there were spectators, all eight of them and the average age was 75. Today was the second of nine days of competition. Nine days of watching croquet, simply unbelievable. I tried to make it nine minutes…I lasted about ninety seconds. Nonetheless, while all of you schmucks in America were getting ready for the Super Bowl, I was at the World Croquet Championships. Eat your hearts out.

The Avon River

After the excitement of croquet, I decided to take it easy in the afternoon. Laundry and minimizing my domestic situation (throwing stuff away) occupied most of the rest of the day. As I had to wake up at 4am for my airport shuttle, my night lasted until about 8:30, when I gladly lay down in my quiet, single room and slept like a log.

What I Learned Today: After 114 days of shared accommodation, a small 80 square foot room to myself felt as large and comfortable as the Palace of Versailles.

written by

exumenius on February 3, 2008 from Christchurch, New Zealand

from the travel blog: Kiwis and Kangaroos

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