Today we drove back to New Plymouth on the forgotten world highway for the USA v Russia game. Great game, shame about the weather!! Don't think I've ever been that wet at a rugby game before even while watching Sale! Still, it was a good excuse for us all to go to the nearest Irish pub (thanks to Steve and Nat!) and put the world to rights before grabbing a kebab-classic!

The day of our first game and the only Irish game we will see. I'm so excited it's unbelievable!! We headed up to a bar near the grounds for a few drinks and to watch the Australia v Italy game. After that we were off to the grounds to see the game. Not a bad one by all accounts as we managed a win but not good enough if we want to go all the way! We finished off the evening with a few more drinks (probably weren't required but still!). RWC is here!!

We made our way from Sandspit to New Plymouth today, we pretty much stopped once for fuel and once for packed lunch! Towards New Plymouth the road suddenly seemed to be full of camper vans which became a huge convoy mostly displaying the colours of the Irish flag. When we got to New Plymouth we managed to secure a brilliant spot right on the water front beside the 'wind wand' (a completely ridiculous looking piece of modern art) near the centre of town. We met ou...