The big New Zealand holiday blog.. Cricket and reunions

We dumped our bags at the chintz graveyard and headed into Hamilton centre in search of food. Hamilton is a nice city but, landlocked. It is the only city in New Zealand which isn't on the coast. However, it is situated on the Waikato River which has a lovely footpath on which to walk and appreciate the peace and quiet in the middle of the city.

We walked through streets filled with bars and restaurants and had a mosey round the shopping area. We finally decided to get a drink in one of the bars. The bar was busy, cricket fans had descended on Hamilton and everywhere was buzzing. The bar had a decent looking menu so we decided to order food. Looking round the busy bar for somewhere to sit, we saw some familiar faces....

It was the retired couple and their friend who we had met at our hotel in London when we were stranded by BA. They waved us over and we went to sit with them. They had just finished their meal and regailed us with the story of their trip, including a suitcase that BA lost, they got it back 2 weeks into their trip!!!! We had a good chat and a bottle of wine and before we knew it, it was nearly midnight!!! We headed back to the motel for a sleep, we had a full day at the cricket the day after. It was nice to see them again and to know that they had finally reached New Zealand (bagless but safe).

The following morning we headed to Seddon Park to watch the first day of the Test Match. Seddon Park was a lovely relaxed ground with minimal seating. We were lucky enough to have seats but they were in the shade and it was rather cool in the shade. We gave up our seats and went to doss on one of the grass verges.

It was lovely and warm, we spread our jackets on the grass, got a couple of drinks and watched the game inbetween chatting to the locals. It's a brilliant atmosphere at some of these small grounds. Very friendly, people talk to you and always appear interested in where you've come from. It has the atmosphere of a school playing field. During the lunch break, they opened the pitch and the spectators could wander onto it and inspect it. An entirely different sporting experience to big, characterless stadiums. I hope that these small sports grounds don't succumb to the fad of moving to big stadiums because that would be everybody's loss.

After the game, we went for a meal and had a little walk by the river. It was difficult to believe that we were in the middle of a city, so peaceful and serene. I wish that we could have had longer in Hamilton and had a good look round but, once again, we were moving on in the morning.

Here are a couple of pics of Seddon Park, spectators inspecting the pitch and monging out on the grass. Sparks by the Waikato River as the light started to fade.

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