It's Business...It's Business Time!

Howzit Bro's

And yes, telling by all the New Zealand lingo in the title and greeting you can tell that we have finally arrived in New Zealand! After leaving South Africa on Wednesday night, we finally landed in Auckland on Friday lunchtime, with much anticipation and excitement in the air.  The New Zealand community has been unreal, in that they have been so welcoming, and so warm to us South Africans!  I now know how people felt during the Soccer World Cup last year, where South Africa really went up in people's books - and all I can say is that the feeling is reciprocal to the people of Kiwi-Land.

The World might be here to play, but so are the Wolf Pack from SA!

But as all these posts start, we need to back track to Wednesday - the day we left. After screaming around Durban getting the final touches of work, and the last minute buying of Springbok supporter gear for the trip, it was off to airport for the 1st leg of our trip. Streaks almost didn't make it past the check-in counter, after a more than restless passenger behind him kept trying to check over and above us while we were getting served. It really crossed the line when he picked up Streaks laptop, and that's when he was told nicely to wait his f*%$ng turn!  I think Streaks was more under pressure from the fact that Sassy, Mrs. Sassy and himself had only got to the airport at 16h30, while Danger had been there since 14h00, and was way ahead in the beers count!  Luckily once we were through, we were good to go, and ready to start the 1st leg of our journey to Dubai.

It's Business... It's Business Time!!!

But wait that's not all! After seeing the massive queue at our boarding gates, we decided to just sit away from the crowd and throw around a tennis ball. Suddenly we here over the intercom - "Dim dim dinggggggg......Calling passengers Heffer, McLean, McLean and Campbell...please proceed to the boarding gates immediately...Calling....". Now with the immediate thought being "crisis we're missing our flight", we hurried over to the gates to make sure our journey didn't end before it began. Luckily, that was not the case. They had called the Wolf Pack to inform us that the flight had been overbooked, and unfortunately they had to bump us up to Business Class! Boo-yah! After an epic session of high-fiving and hell-yeahzing, we boarded the flight to start our journey in a lap of luxury.

The flight was comfortable az (there's the Kiwi again), bar the scary midget Chinese baby who kept stalking me from the economy class section! Unfortunately for me, I didn't get to sit next to the rest of the Wolf Pack, but I did shack up at the back next to Oscar Chalupsky (the former world surf-ski champion and Durban sporting legend). Crazy who you get to meet in the Business class section!

Danger, Sassy and Mrs Sassy loving the Business Class!
That's how you travel on your honey moon!

Corgi and four Dave's..Common!

We arrived at 5.30 am Dubai time, and it was straight to the pub at 6am. Danger started his Casanova ways by showing an old lady her way to the Milan gate - was this the sign of things to come? Only time would tell I suppose :)  But anyways, we found ourselves in the pub - 4am South African time, sipping on a few draughts to get us through the 4 hour wait! In this time Danger and Sassy were aptly given new nicknames.  After numerous complaints about how the 13 hour journey ahead would be in cattle class, and the poor quality of the normally enjoyed airplane food, Sassy was renamed Corgi due to his constant impersonating of a moaning Crusaders cricket club mate. But not to be outdone, Sassy jumped onto the name game, and renamed Danger to 'Commoner.' Mainly by the fact that when Sassy shouted Dave in the pub, about 11 people turned around thinking that Sassy was calling them! Mrs. Sassy and Streaks are still intact, but watch this space for any changes.

Sassy did have an interesting trip to the bathroom in Dubai, that involved a basin shaped like toilet, that involved a hand rail, a sprayer, and some intense squatting - but this is a story for him to tell you when he feels its right! Anyways, a duzi of a trip to Brisbane was ahead, and it was to the back of the airbus for us. Danger warned me about his plane antics, and during the night he went missing for about 90 minutes. After him remerging, we discovered he was chatting up some German 19 year olds in the back of the plane. Once again, was this a sign for things to come!? Corgi wasn't enjoying his flight as expected, and after getting calls of helllllllloooooooooo from the Commoner while he was trying to sleep - this trip wasn't getting any easier. Mind you it was quite entertaining watching Danger trying to sleep, while the music in his earphones changed from his childhood 80's classics, to Japanese House Retro. Sassy says payback's a bitch!

Exhausted Danger

We made it to Brisbane safe and sound on Friday morning, and a short wait-over gave Streaks enough time to purchase his new JVC video camera. A new addition to his three cameras and iphone which he already brought on the trip - but what a purchase! A passed out red-faced Danger lay down on the waiting couches, looking like he had somehow lost his blood pressure pills. He claims he was resting his eyes, but maybe it was a sign of things to come?

We finally arrived in Auckland at 1pm, and the warmness of the New Zealand people was immediately recognizable. Granted that could have been influenced by the free ice cold Coke we received as we left the building, but it really showed when we got to the park and ride to get to the rental car place.  The company who we hired the car from was called "New Zealand Car Hire" and Sassy made it his job to get us there. The cab that we climbed into was from the "About New Zealand Car Hire", thinking that it was the same company. First fine of the trip for Sassy came we arrived at the car rental only to find it was the wrong company. Luckily a quick call was made, and we were picked up and taken to the right place to meet the newest member of our wolf pack - Cheap and Cheerful!

The Cheap and Cheerful! What a Bokke Supporter!

A white Toyota Sunny sedan greeted us, having just the right amount of boot space to fit all of Mrs. Sassy's vanity bags, and Streaks' hair products. We kitted C&C out with his South African gear, and after 20 minutes of trying to enter our Auckland address into the GPS, we finally managed to get our 90 minute trip across Auckland town underway. The place was pumping as the opening ceremony and opening game was only hours away. The World Cup vibe was here, and we were loving it.  However after 15 minutes into the trip the GPS died, and after Danger almost ripped the entire car charger out the socket in trying to get it going again, we were in trouble. Thankfully Streaks pulled out his MacGuyver moves with his array of electronics, cables and chargers and we were shortly back up and running.

We finally arrived at the beautiful home of Sassy's brother-in-law's sister Debbie (remember her from the last blog) and her awesome husband Tom. Thanks so much to them for hosting us in their beautiful home! The first New Zealand beer was cracked open, the shoes were kicked off, and the chilling began. Mind you, the first beer was followed by a couple more, and a trip to the bottle store ensued. The one thing you notice in Auckland is that there are South African shops everywhere! The shop next to the bottle store provided us with some awesome Droe-wors, so much so that Sassy claimed it was better than what we get back home (big call!).

The beautiful Auckland view. Sassy had big talks of applying for NZ Residence!

Auckland went all out in their fireworks display. Spectacular!

The opening ceremony was a really good show, and we could see the fireworks from our veranda. Even though the rugby that followed was a a bit scrappy, the haka's that preceded that game was incredible. The look on Richie McCaw's face just showed how much winning this World Cup means to him and New Zealand. Streaks wasn't feeling great during the game, and after looking very pale he made his way to bed. Danger would later find out that Streaks had a 4.30am visit to the bathroom that sounded awfully like someone calling for Ralph! A much better looking Streaks later confirmed that every overseas trip he went on started out with a chunder, and this was a good sign for things to come!

The Wolf Pack with Debbie and Tom! Awesome hosts!

The next morning would see the Wolf Pack move to Wellington, and a 9 hour trip in the Cheap and Cheerful lay ahead of them. This trip will be covered in the next entry which is likely to come tomorrow, due to the pure craziness that has already occurred in Wellington! Were the earlier signs mentioned that of what lay ahead? All I can say is wait and find out - you don't want to miss it :)

Streaks...Out!

Awake in Anticipation

Howzit Team

Dreams can come true...let's make it a 3rd Bokke!

It's amazing that no matter how big an event is - whether it's saying a speech before a crowd, or facing up to the first ball of a cricket match, the night before you becomes sleepless, and all you can think about is what lies ahead. This time around, this is no cricket match, and it's definitely not a gala dinner. This is the World Cup baby! This is something people dream about doing. This is something people dream about seeing. This is something that makes people dream so much they can't even sleep.  And that's exactly what has happened to me! The anticipation is getting me so psyched up, and even though we have two days of travelling ahead of us, I don't think there's anything else in the world I'd rather be doing or seeing.

I've been lacking inspiration of late, just mainly because I've been working so hard in getting everything up to date at work, and of course the drinking that comes in between. But I've kept the old trusty camera by my side, so after three weeks since my last video, I am going to be a compiling a 3 week montage into a 5 minute vid, that will hopefully cover the full build up to this epic journey. The video will feature soon!

I'm really looking forward to our first stop in Dubai, as that is where the purchase of my first video camera is gonna be made, and the rest of the trip will be done in HD baby! Currently I've been using an old digital camera that I got for my 21st birthday, and which I managed to fix with a vacuum cleaner (believe it...because it's true!). So the quality might not be as good, but it's enough to cover the just of what we've been getting up to.

Sassy - Don't Stop Believin' 

The one person we haven't divulged into any shenanigans of has been Sassy, who asked me why we haven't brought up any stories regarding him! I have managed to take any photos of him passed out around a toilet, or getting his hair died, but after Saturday night's perfomance of him and Bugsy at Gazza's house, and some epic renditions of Journey's - Don't Stop Believin',  I suspect that we'll get more than we bargained for when we eventually get across to the land of the long white cloud. Watch this space!

Well for those of you that can't stand a youtube video chowing all your bandwith, let me cover the last 3 weeks events into this blog entry.  We left you off last after an epic cricket weekend with the boys, that saw me passed out next to a toilet.  I reminded everyone that this put Danger into a good mood. Such a good mood that he followed up my exploits by passing out in his car at the club, and woke up the next morning in a dusty parking lot. And just a reminder, Mrs. Sassy was still at the club...awake...and drinking! Yeah buddy! One free night of drinking is heading my way in Wellington!

You've been warned Bobo

That was followed up by watching the semi-finals of the Murray Cup at Crusaders - the annual knockout club rugby competition that is held every year. I headed down there with Danger, Knighty (remember him from the video - you can put your house on the Bokke to beat the Wallabies - champion!), Wardo, "Morne Steyn" (dead ringer), Ash, and the rest of the team. Our mate Sandro was playing in the semi-final, and even though he showed a great perfomance against his opposite number (Gcobani Bobo - yes the former Springbok), it wasn't enough to get them through to the final.

I did however manage to catch up with him and the rugby boys after the game to capture a few of their views as the RWC tournament edges ever closer. As usual after a few beers - team lineups, play selections, and whether Butch "No Arms" James or Morne "Kaaren't Miss" Steyn should be SA's starting flyhalf - the end of the day assumption was that the Bokke are strong enough to pull off yet another RWC crown, and show the world how we can really step up to the plate.

Our George sponsored hoodies! Yes please!

Other than that we have just been doing the basic prep in getting ourselves ready for the trip. Big thanks must go to SportsFusion who we organised all our Springbok supporters kit. Big massive weather protective bomber jackets were definitely the buy of the season, and thanks again to the George for organizing us sponsored hoodies. I believe that Danger is going to get more than what he bargained for when we hit the pubs in New Zealand, because there's nothing like having "Danger" written just above your backside (yes - the names were placed at the bottom of the jersey - obviously it's there to warn all those Maori birds!).

Streaks is back baby!!!

Also thanks to Wildri, who revived Streaks back to his golden ways, with one epic hair appointment. A whole lot of sunshine, and epic awesomeness got blasted in to the man's locks, and he is now ready for his kiwi adventure!

Just want to say thanks for all the support that I have been getting from everyone with regards to the blog and the Youtube video! There's nothing like getting nagged by your friends, family, extended family, and complete strangers, on how they can't wait for the next entry! A big shout out must go to Mr Sassy's brother-in-law's sister, who will be welcoming us in Auckland (yes I'm still trying to work that one out) - as well as to Big Wes (a veteran of three Rugby World Cups) who has been telling us stories through many a serving of Jagerbombs and Captain Morgan, how the RWC is an experience like no other. It's not surprising that one of his stories included the Boks win over France in the 1995 RWC Semi-final, which he attended! Really hoping this trip lives up to all the glory of RWC's past, as I really feel this will be a trip of a lifetime.

Streaks, Danger, Bugsy and Big Wes - Yes...epic!

Anyways the next time you hear from me, I am likely to be in sitting in the airport in the Middle East, playing with my new camera toy, as we wait 5 hours for our 14 hour connecting flight to New Zealand via Australia.  Looking forward to having you guys on this journey with us, and make sure you keep a look out for us in the crowd! I will be keeping everyone updated on Twitter - so make sure you follow me @DevinH21 today.

Cheers
Streaks

Let the Documenting Begin!

Hello RWC Team

My name is Devin "Streaks" Heffer and this is my blog on our road to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.   We are travelling halfway across the world to support the defending champions, the Springboks, in their pursuit of a record 3rd Rugby World Cup. We leave for our journey from South Africa on the 7th of September, the 1st RWC 2011 game kicks off on the 9th, and our first match is that against Wales on the 11th (September 11th treat us well!).  The match tickets are booked, the airfares are paid, and the rental car (an old station wagon with GPS...yes please!) has been booked for our epic journey.

The World Cup winning Springboks from France 2007

 The best part of this trip is that I'm not going at it alone. It will be the awesome foursome from Durban, South Africa, of Jared aka "Sassy", his new wife and my sister Shelley "aka Mrs. Sassy", and the oldest but craziest member of our group "Danger" Dave!  Sassy and Mrs. Sassy are newly weds, and this trip makes up part of their honeymoon.  Unfortunately Danger and myself have invited ourselves over for the ride!  Expect much debate, much debacle, and much debauchery from this bunch.  Danger already knows he doesn't stand a chance against Streaksy (the bets between us are something quite remarkable, and will be noted here!).

Sassy and Mrs. Sassy - the newly weds!

Streaks and Danger - Wellington watch out!

This trip has been said it is not for the faint hearted, and a 37 hour trip from Durban to Wellington lies ahead of us. 37 hours!? Yip that's right.  Unfortunately we were a bit slow on the booking of flights, and instead of going via Perth to Auckland, we are now going Durban -> Dubai -> Brisbane -> Auckland and then a 9 and half hour drive from Auckland to Wellington!  Yet it's all part of the adventure, and gives us more time to document all the happenings and events of this epic trip.  I've already been warned that flying with Danger is like flying with a real life drunken circus.  28 hours of flying means that Danger could endure 3 hangovers before we've even landed in Auckland.  I wonder if they sell booze in Dubai!?

Anyways, if you are going to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, or if you are going to be supporting your favorite team from home, then follow this blog to keep up to date with all the preparation, the anticipation, and the enjoyment of this year's rugby spectacular.

This is our road to RWC 2011!

P.S. From the time of this post, there are 24 days to the start of RWC 2011!