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| England cricket
tour to New Zealand, Kiwi Spirit Tour
-February 2008 |
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I was fortunate enough
to escort a small group of clients from
the UK on a tour of New Zealand, covering
all 5 of the ODI matches. After a lengthy
flight we arrived in Wellington and
without exception we all relaxed in
our rooms before heading to the hotel
bar for our welcome cocktail party.
Once we had polished off the canapés
and complimentary drinks we headed into
town to the Sports Café to watch
the final Twenty20 match between New
Zealand and England taking place in
Christchurch.
Thankfully it was an exciting game which
meant we all remained upright in our
seats instead of taking a snooze, there
were a couple of close calls! Unfortunately
the success from the Twenty20 was not
to continue and England fans were disappointed
with the loss of the first One Day International.
We did not let this dampen our spirits
as we headed away from Wellington and
onto the amazing scenery of the Tongariro
National Park, marred only slightly
by the bad weather! |
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En
route to Hamilton we visited the fascinating
Waitomo Caves, the boat ride through
the Glowworm Grotto was a fabulous
sight. The second match proved even
worse than the first, we kept ourselves
entertained with sweep stakes and
regular visits to the bar. Hamilton
is a little town on New Zealand's
largest river just an hour and a half
south of Auckland, our next destination.
We were eagerly anticipating the Auckland
match, pivotal in England's plans
to retain a grip on the series and
we were looking forward to making
the most of our hospitality package
- seats on the boundary, with a private
BBQ and free flowing drinks for the
duration of the match! |
We were not disappointed and finally we witnessed
an England win much to the delight of us all!
From Auckland we travelled to Taupo and spent
2 nights in this fabulous lakeside holiday
destination. We chartered a boat on the lake
and took a guided tour of the Maori Carvings
and later that afternoon one daring client
even joined me for a skydive! We could have
easily spent a couple of extra days in Taupo
soaking up the sunshine and exploring the
local area but we had to move on to Napier
in time for the 4th One Day International.
Napier is located on the east coast of the
North Island and is one of New Zealand's premier
wine growing regions.
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Famous for its Art Deco centre, we took a
morning to explore the town before heading
to Mission Estate Winery - the oldest vineyard
in the region. We joined the Pacific Boundary
group for the 4th ODI, who had arrived from
the UK just a few days previously. Everyone
decided to upgrade their match tickets for
the 4th One Day International, we had seats
in the shade, an abundance of drinks vouchers
and for lunch we joined over 400 other avid
cricket fans for a fantastic lunch with wine
and beer. The
'Ladies who Lunch' certainly made the most
of it!
The match was a complete nail biter, without
a doubt one of the most exciting matches I
have seen in a long time. The England team
put together a sound performance, New Zealand
required 2 runs from the final ball to win
the match, England kept them down to just
one run and forced a draw. With all to play
for, both the Kiwi Spirit and Pacific Boundary
groups headed to Christchurch for the final
showdown, England could no longer win the
series, but could we force a draw?
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Christchurch, the finally
destination on our whirlwind tour of New Zealand,
is a fabulous city, with so much to see and
do - the Kiwi Spirit tour looked forward to
a few days of relaxed exploration. A group
of clients headed out to Kaikoura to see the
whales and were lucky enough to see not one
but three sperm whales, a truly awe-inspiring
sight. On the 23rd February we all set off
for the AMI Stadium to watch the final One
Day match between New Zealand
and England. We once again had great seats
but just as it looked like England could be
in with a chance to redeem themselves, the
heavens opened, and play was finished early.
England's chances were
dashed and New Zealand were crowned winners
of the One Day Series.
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Whilst we were unable to celebrate success
on the field, we concluded the tour
with cocktails and canapés aboard
the Christchurch tram before heading
to the Belgian Beer Café for
a three course meal and plenty of champagne!
I would personally like to thank the
Kiwi Spirit clients who were a fabulous
group to escort, I hope they enjoyed
their time in New Zealand as much as
I did.
Amy Villeneuve
Spectator Tour Manager |
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