Dunedin- the home of the Highlanders

After our Mt. Cook venture, our plan was to drive down to Dunedin for an overnight stay before taking off on the Southern Scenic Route. Dunedin is the second largest city on the South Island and is on the east coast of the island. When this was originally planned, we didn't have big plans for Dunedin other than to walk around the city and maybe get some dinner. However, Matt Barnes sparked the idea in my head that Lindsey and I should try to go to a rugby game while we here. On my flight to Queenstown, I discussed rugby with one of the kiwis I was sitting next to on the flight, and on the Milford Track, I talked with some other Kiwis about it even more. What I learned is that there is a league called the Super 15 composed of 5 teams from NZ, Australia, and South Africa who compete at this time of the year, and they usually play on Saturdays. Dunedin has a team. When we got off Milford, we did some research and sure enough, Dunedin had a home game on the day that we were in town.

So, knowing nothing about rugby other than the fact that it's a game that I don't understand, we bought tickets to sit in the student section.

It was awesome. What I learned about the rules of rugby is that you have to toss the ball backwards but you can punt it forwards, if you fall down you get to hand the ball off to a teammate, getting into the end zone gets you 5 points, sometimes scrums happen, and sometimes people get thrown up in the air on inbounds passes. Other than that, I've still got nothing... but that didn't stop us from cheering when everyone else cheered, booing when everyone else booed, and very much enjoying seeing the University of Otago students dressed up in animal costumes, giving rise to the name "The Zoo" for their student section. There were bagpippers, people in blue spandex, songs asking why the Highlanders suck, and at least one player who looked like a troll. We had so much fun, and we were clearly good luck - the Highlanders triumphed over the Durban Sharks 25-22. Thrilling victory, thrilling experience. Go Highlanders. Go rugby.

Daniel