Up at 7am today and getting dropped off in Auckland so that I can catch the bus to Hamilton and Chris, Michelle and Darren heading off to the airport to fly to Dunedin for the England game.

I turned up at the bus stop in town which the Naked Bus company (like Mega Bus) and told me to go to only to find it completely deserted. Perplexed I stared at the road signs for a bit before a small man walked up to me and said, "Naked Bus?" I said yes tentatively and he just shouted, "This way" and started to walk off round the corner onto Queen Street, I quickly followed him and saw that the buses were leaving from a street parallel to the one advertised and confirmed that all buses would be going from this street before waiting for my 8am one to arrive.

The guy that had asked me in the first place kept walking back to the other street to try and claim his 7.30am bus goers but when the 8am bus turned up that driver didn't bother going round…. it got to 7.55am and with only 6 people on the coach I was starting to think it was a little odd that he wasn't walking around considering there was probably a huge queue of people waiting on the other street with no sign or anything telling them of the changes to the service. It was then that one guy came round and ask if this was the bus to Hamilton, the driver said yes and the guy ran back round the corner to grab his bag, coming back with another 20-30 people in tow, not looking all that happy it has to be said!

On the bus I was sat next to a woman from Australia called Josephine who was telling me all about the sites on the way and we had a good conversation about the rugby and general chit-chat for the duration which was very nice. As we got to Hamilton I said goodbye and got off ready to explore…

…hmm, first impression of Hamilton, not all that great - it just looked like a giant industrial estate!! Impressions not helped any further as the man in the bus shelter was stupid and seemed intent on being thoroughly unhelpful. Information I needed gathered from one of the very helpful RWC volunteers dotted all over the city I headed off to the main bar/restaurant/shopping area in search of a place that I could buy a thermal top and waterproof trousers from (the weather is extremely changeable!)

Another helpful direction from another RWC volunteer and I came across a shop called Trek and Travel, where the owner happened to be Welsh - I stayed in there for a bit talking to him and also successfully buying my trousers and top! After a while talking to him I left to find some food and it was then that he gave me a free gift - he said he normally gives them out to people that spend over $200 but that it had been a pleasure talking to me and to take one. It was all wrapped up and had 'Thank you' written on it so I just put it in my bag thinking I'd open it later on.

Feeling very happy about how the day was going I went off to a sports bar to settle down and watch the Australia v Ireland game on the telly (even better second time around) and get some food.

Around 1.30pm I decided it was about time I tried to sell the spare ticket I had for the game and headed off in search of bars full of Welsh fans (everywhere!!) at first unsuccessful, I decided just to get on one of the shuttle buses to the stadium but got off a stop early when I saw one of the bars on the corner near the stadium was absolutely heaving with people, so went in there to explore!

I asked at the bar and the guy sad he didn't know of anyone wanting a spare ticket to the game… (boo)Turning to leave, I got squashed up against a man sat down as it was so busy and after a moment he turned round and asked if I was leaving anytime soon, to which I quickly apologised and he said 'No don't apologise you can stay there all day if you like!... a little confused I suddenly realised that as we were all packed in so tightly my boobs were basically squashed against his back (couldn't be helped I'm afraid!) and he was making a joke. (pervert!...)

A few laughs later and some general fun poking I asked him if he was going to the game (he was with about 8 welsh guys) and he said yes, I asked him if he needed tickets and he said no, but If I needed one selling, "he was my man" pointing to one of his friends. Quickly explaining my predicament to his friend, the friend asked me for the ticket, asked how much I wanted for it and said "Right, give me 5 minutes" …. He then stuck his arm in the air and continued laughing and drinking holding the ticket in the air… I asked the guy next to me if that actually worked and he just said, "You just wait a minute"… Enjoying the banter with the guys (the value of my ticket was dropping apparently as the guys arm was getting tired…J…) about 2 minutes went by before the ticket was sold after a rather comical exchange. I stayed and had a drink with the guys who asked me to come back after the game a have a few more drinks but I politely declined as I had a bus back to Auckland to catch. We exchanged good byes and good lucks and I walked off up to the Stadium feeling very excited about the game and very pleased with how the day had turned out so far. Welsh fans are the best!! J

Finding my seat I was pleased to discover it was front row right behind the posts but a little perturbed at just how small the seats were - two small children were sat in some comfortable but adults were squashed together all over the place! There were some pretty big Samoan guys behind me commenting on the seats and how they were all going to fit in - it was pretty funny with every introducing themselves and getting 'comfortable'! The match started and I realised that there was still no one sat next to me…strange but never mind! A couple of minutes later a guy turned up and sat down and then about 5 mins after that left again. Okay….

He didn't reappear again until after half time but when he did he had a small child with him (!?) stayed for about 10 mins then left and that was the last we saw of him. Very odd.

After the game I went back to the bus stop to return back to Auckland, on the way out getting stuck in the only traffic I had really encountered so far in NZ and didn't get home until about 9.30, deciding on getting a taxi straight from the city rather than mess about with buses on a Sunday evening as I was too tired. The taxi home was quite funny actually, I asked one how much it would be to get home and he asked me a load of questions about where it was and was it before the shops and was it in between the supermarket etc etc, questions that you would think maybe only a local would know, but I answered just fine, and then he said $40 (!!??) I replied, "$40!? It cost me $25 the other day from the same company" He paused, then said, "Ok $25"

What. The. Hell - talk about trying to rip you off - you think he would only have tried that if I HADN'T been able to answer all his specific questions, not when I obviously knew where I was headed.

Time for Ham and Cheese on toast and bed I think (what a day!) - Early morning Airport run tomorrow.

(Oh yeah, nearly forgot, that Thank you gift from the guy at Trek n Travel? I opened it on the bus on the way home, it was a lovely square dish, brightly coloured, reds and yellows with the Fern and New Zealand painted in the middle - lovely!)