With friends like these.......

There has been quite a hiatus between me sharing the genius that I call 'me' here in my very personal and private diary blog, not only because I had problems getting inspiration on what to write about (that didn't relate to rugby) but also because I recently headed back to New Zealand with the kids and the chick, which is directly related to this weeks word jumble.

Traveling halfway across this flat planet (no, no it's not flat but there is a Flat Planet Convention in Raleigh soon and I don't have any tinfoil to make hats with nor enough alcohol to deal with their stupidity so I will pretend to cater to their lunacy - yes the earth is flat, the moon landings never happened and the current president of the US is........nothing, got nothing) is quite a trip (the idea of using parentheses is to insert a new idea/comment into the sentence without breaking up the sentence thread seems odd when the bit in the parentheses (brackets) is longer the actual sentence itself and even odder when you add more ()'s into the parenthesized comment) to undertake with 2 kids and the chick, but made much easier when you have friends like these:

Wayne and Michelle, 3 kids, 2 turtles, a cat or 2 and a place close to LAX and the water

Wayne, who is a very confused person, not just because he actually invited us to stay with him, but also as he was born in South Africa, raised (partially) in the Prison Colony and finished his education in Aotearoa. Luckily he is an All Black supporter so all is good. There is possibly not a nicer family anywhere than Wayne, Michelle and their children. They already had a couple of kicky round ball kids staying with them from Mexico when they said we could crash, so we turned up to 5 kids sleeping on air mattresses downstairs in the partially renovated basement and we got their rooms. A few beers were consumed that evening outside in the California night and stories were told and friendships were cemented. The morning was spent watching the Super Rugby Final after Uncle Jonno turned up with the gorgeous and wonderful Lenny and Percy (they are both each by the way), then down to the marina for some paddle boarding, kayaking, seal watching (there is a colony just outside the marina, is it called a colony of seals or Seal Team Real?) then dinner which included NZ green lip Mussels and more friends. Heading to the airport involved a standard uber arriving vs the Uber XL that I ordered (probably my fault) and Michelle breaking away from her friends to take us to LAX for the 12 hour flight to NZ. Wayne and Michelle also took us in on the way back from NZ, I rented a car this time, we got the air mattresses as there was someone else there also, and as he was competing in a Jujitsu Masters event that week it was only fair that he have the real beds - also I could drink beer and he couldn't :) The next day after breakfast it was off to LAX for the flight to RDU with promises that we would be back again (they might, apparently, be moving soon but said they would be "sure" to get me their new address). With friends like Wayne and Michelle, well, you are damn lucky, as they are friends that not only welcome you to their home but also make you feel at home.

Bert's Dad, if Bert is behaving 

Admittedly Bert's Dad didn't have a huge amount of choice as he has a thing for someone who would top the list of friends, if she wasn't my sister and doesn't have a choice (she does have a choice and she chooses to be amazing)  :) That being said it is not easy to have the chaos that is the NC Roberts's and the chick turn up at your house for essentially 2 weeks with a trip north and a trip south breaking up the stay. Not only did he let us take over the downstairs part of the house but was also a wonderful host who genuinely enjoyed having us there and I believe is looking forward to having us back - love you buddy. Oh, yeah and Bert, well Bert is a dog. Bert's Dad is not his birth father just for clarification :)

Matt and Family and of course the Spotty One

These are 2 of my oldest friends back home, one's career was inspired by The Little Shop of Horrors so he regularly gasses himself and drills people and the other is probably in the Illuminati. Don't need to say much about this lot apart from thanks for being out Friday night, and for all the Friday nights going back 35 years or so. With friends like these I don't need to worry about memory loss from repeated occlusions to the brain (that is impacts to the head for all you non-occlusion knowers) as they will continuously remind me of all the times I have messed up anyway.

The ones with the same last name as mine

As much as the Land of the Long White Cloud is beautiful and an amazing place to visit (2nd best in the world apparently) the main reason for the visit (apart from some quick Hobbit Hunting) was to see those friends that have been with me as long as they (or I) have been alive. Sure sometimes I have possibly annoyed them just a little bit and they might possibly have questioned my sanity and they probably have researched and sought legal advice on whether or not that can actually renounce a family member, but with friends like my family, well who needs anything else :)

The ones I should have caught up with

Unfortunately I couldn't see everyone I wanted to on the trip, but don't worry, we'll be back. Bert's Dad said we could come back and stay again :)


As per usual this nonsensical and, at some times, hard to follow blog was bought to you by the letters B, E, E and R and the numbers 7 and 6. In all honesty this weeks blog is really my pretty crappy way of saying thank you to the friends and family that made our trip to NZ so awesome, there is no real way I can ever repay you except for letting y'all know I love you and my house, well it is and will always be open. That goes for all my friends, if you need me, just call, text, message me via a sheep-a-gram or just pop over and knock on the door, you know where I am.


Work hard, play hard and earn your inspiration

Happy Poets Day