Day 7 - Springfield

Posted by Jamie on 7 January 2010 | 2 Comments | Tags: ,

What an amazing day!  We rose at 540am â?? milking started at 6.  The cows had good instincts, and defacated on Mike several times.  Classic.  Our amazing hosts then treated us to a veritable feast of a breakfast â?? bacon, eggs, fried tomatoes, and all the trimmings.  Not a bad start.  The herd was then pregnancy tested; Mike & I were hovering around the edges trying to ask insightful questions.  It was plain to the vet and his assistant however that we are townies - and as such ignorant to the finer points of bovine biology.  Nevertheless.  The hostpitality continued, and Helen rustled us up some lunch to line the stomachs before our drive to Rotorua.  All in all, a magical 24 hours on our mateâ??s farm â?? hospitality second to none.  If youâ??re reading this Helen/Pete, thanks again.

And so to Rotorua.  For our international readers, Rotorua is the geothermal hub of New Zealand.  Mud pools, sulphur, etc.  itâ??s also a hotspot for Maori cultural activities â?? some of which Goldy and I are going to take in tomorrow after our game.  We arrived at Springfield GC mid-avo, and were warmly greeted by Dennis, the General Manager.  Turns out Danny Lee (the Kiwi prodigy) plays at Springfield â?? and now that he is earning some serious coin has put up $10k for the Springfield Open this weekend.  What a nice chap.  After speaking to Dennis we had a quick yarn with a lovely reporter from the local rag and her cameraman.  So all things going well we should be in the paper tomorrow making fools of ourselves yet again.  

Eventually we actually got to the golf.  Springfield is a pleasant wee track: pretty up and down but some good holes for sure.  Greens were well kept too â?? although Mike couldnâ??t sink a putt to save himself.  Shame, because if he could he would have shot under par.  As it turned out he didnâ??t, and he lost to boot.  1 up JP.  So he still canâ??t shave!  (His beard is getting increasingly orange).  On the bright side, we both played half decent golf, and shot 74/75.  An improvement from the 90/95 at The Lakes a couple of days ago... On the back 9 we ran into a few local lads that we got talking to, and they invited us round for a BBQ after the game.  Much meat and several beers later, weâ??re sitting on the deck with them having a blast of an evening.  One of them just told us about how he made the NZ Maori hockey team notwithstanding the fact that heâ??s Samoan, not Maori.  Brilliant.  Weâ??ve been putting the world to rest for a couple of hours â?? they are a few years our senior â?? and the Speights question game is in full swing.  Might be a bit dusty tomorrow morning.

We are staying with a friend of my fatherâ??s â?? a nice chap from Norâ??n Ireland.  Called him at the eleventh hour this evening after golf, and he is kindly putting us up.  Right now heâ??s on a date an hour down the road in Taupo, but weâ??ll be meeting him soon (havenâ??t seen him for 10 years or so).  Better lay off the Speights then.  Until tomorrow â?? take care all.  JP


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Comments

  • You tube love it!!! Haha Goldie, gona have to step up the game!

    Posted by Scottie, 08/01/2010 5:05am (2 years ago)

  • Hope the round went well this morning lads.. It was great hosting you guys, best of luck for the rest of the year!

    Posted by Matt Dalton, 07/01/2010 9:13pm (2 years ago)

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