Last weekend we went to Auckland, New Zealand, where the Rugby World Cup is being held. We arrived on Saturday night and soon realised we had booked our accommodation in the middle of the main fanzone. The atmosphere was really exciting, as the streets were packed full of people from all over the world.
Rob and I are huge All Blacks (New Zealand) fans. What can I say, I’m a traitor to my country! While his mum was here on holiday, we thought we’d take the opportunity to take a trip away, conveniently while the World Cup was going on.
How can you not go for the All Blacks when they have Dan Carter on their team?!
On Sunday there was two quarter final games scheduled: Australia versus South Africa, followed by New Zealand versus Argentina. We moped around the city as various scalpers offered tickets for $300-500 each. We went back to the hotel to change into our jerseys and headed out to find a bar to watch the first game.
When we were in the hotel elevator, a lovely angel woman got on and gave us two free tickets! She worked in the media and her colleague could no longer make it to the game, so she was just going to give the tickets to the first person that wanted them. Um, that would be me!
Rob’s mum kindly volunteered to sit the game out, and left us die-hard rugby fans to go. I was only wearing a t-shirt and it was freezing, but it was so worth it! We got to see the Haka live, and saw NZ smash Argentina of course. If you haven’t seen the Haka before, watch this video and then go on Youtube to find others where you can see their sexy faces up close!
Our view of the Haka
If only...
Pre-game - very excited!!
I loved being in New Zealand. Everywhere you looked there was a poster or billboard of Richie McCaw or Dan Carter (or as Rob refers to them, Boyfriend A and Boyfriend B, respectively). We even saw the Dan Carter underwear ad taking up the entire length of a building!
Richie!
The next day, unfortunately, was cloudy and rainy. But at least we had nice weather for game day!
You may remember that this trip was primarily the reason I postponed my cut, as I knew I wouldn’t be able to cook all my meals as normal without having access to a proper kitchen. Although one of the first things Rob and I did when we arrived was find out where the nearest gym was, our diet was far from typical over those four days. We ate our breakfasts and before-bed protein dough as normal, but everything else was on the fly.
I swear if I ate like “normal” people did every day, I wouldn’t survive. From the moment we landed I felt like I had indigestion. Do some people just feel this way all the time?!
Tuesday’s leg workout with Rob was in the top three worst sessions of mine of all time – we were racing to check out so I had my pre-workout shake only 15 minutes before we went to work out (obviously not enough time to digest it so it just sat in my stomach), I hadn’t drunk enough water over the past few days so was rather dehydrated, and I was just feeling gross and bloated in general from the food we’d eaten. There were several times where I had to sit down because I thought I was going to throw up or faint, and I couldn’t go past my warm up weight during squats! Needless to say, we ended up leaving early, nursing our poor tummies for the rest of the day.
Even my All Blacks jersey can't hide my bloated tummy!
We didn’t eat anything particularly bad, but my stomach just isn’t used to so much processed food. I like eating lean proteins, vegetables and wholegrains. I’m not on a diet and no one is forcing me! Here are some of my meals, with a couple of sandwiches and a game burger on the side:
Meatballs and potatoes with parmesan
Chicken fettucine
The grossest pie ever...
I think the chocolate syrup provided enough sugar in my coffee!
I even "loosened up" and had a few drinks
It’s good to be home, and eating and exercising as normal. The two workouts I’ve done so far have been awesome, and I’ve even broken a couple of PRs – it must have been all that carb loading! Now we just have the New Zealand/Australia semi final game this weekend to look forward to!
Sweat like a Pig 
rob
October 13, 2011 at 9:19 pm
Bring on the Wallabies sunday!!!!!!!! All Blacks all day baby. Oh and our trip was sweet. Also when I eat to much “normal” food I get sick as hell.
Tara
October 14, 2011 at 9:27 am
Woot! I’m nervous 🙂
Liz@LastChanceTraining
October 13, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Love New Zealand – sounds like an awesome time. A few days of normal eating and you’ll be back to normal!
Tara
October 14, 2011 at 9:27 am
That’s what I’m hoping!
Mike McCollom
October 13, 2011 at 10:02 pm
sounds like this YANK is missing out on an exciting game..great blog Tara..”eat like normal people” how funny
Tara
October 14, 2011 at 9:32 am
I’m not a sport fan at all, but I make an exception for rugby. It’s kind of like American football, only tougher because they don’t use any pads. It’s a real man’s sport and fun to watch 🙂
Sable@SquatLikeALady
October 13, 2011 at 11:19 pm
I hear ya!! I cannot eat restaurant food anymore — waaaaaaaaayyy too much sodium and preservatives and things my body just isn’t used to.
Tara
October 14, 2011 at 9:29 am
Usually I’m okay with one meal, but not every single meal. Ugh.
Crystal
October 14, 2011 at 12:22 am
Too cute! Just started following you mostly because we share the “pig” thing and for love of everything fitness. Enjoy your trip.
Crystal @
http://www.dreamingofarnold.blogspot.com
Tara
October 14, 2011 at 1:32 pm
I had a look on your blog but I don’t see any pigs?? Haha 🙂
Erika
October 14, 2011 at 1:15 am
looks like a blast! what a good-looking couple 🙂
isn’t it scary that people eat like that everyday?? although those meatballs and potatoes look mighty tasty haha.
Tara
October 14, 2011 at 9:29 am
They were my favourite! I love white potatoes 🙂 Thank you!
rob
October 14, 2011 at 10:22 am
Those meatballs were the bomb!!!!
saraheclement
October 14, 2011 at 12:50 pm
I completely feel you on the traveling and indigestion/bloating! I just got back from 4 days in Tasmania, and I was doing a lot of field work. I brought a bunch of protein muffins and high protein granola (I am a vegetarian, so I knew protein would be a big problem for me), but I found that getting enough fresh vegetables was tough. I am not big on eating a lot of fruit, which is much more portable in the field. So I really felt dehydrated and bloated the whole time, even though my diet wasn’t that bad. To make matters worse, I had to limit my fluid intake because we had very few bathroom breaks! Anyway, it was irritating, but I am trying to view it from the perspective that it helps me appreciate that my usual diet is simply the diet I want to eat. It’s not restrictive, even though it’s not the norm, because it’s the way I like to eat and the way I feel my best! I am very happy to be back to my fridge and back to my workouts 🙂
Tara
October 14, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Yeah, I was definitely lacking in vegetables too. Because we were out all day, I was trying to limit my water intake too because of the same reason! You’re 100% right, though, it does make you appreciate your regular foods so much more. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to have chicken and green beans as I was on Wednesday!
malderton
October 14, 2011 at 8:35 pm
I went to England and France in July – I couldn’t wait to get home to “normal” eating and VEGETABLES!
Tara
October 15, 2011 at 10:28 am
I went to London and Paris for three weeks last year and I actually got sick from all the unpasteurised cheese! I couldn’t eat for a week, so I have quite negative memories of those countries 🙂
Kerryne
October 14, 2011 at 11:38 pm
Jealous. I would love to visit New Zealand. I hear you on the whole processed foods making you feel like a bloated mess. Its amazing. You just feel so run down and tired. I love the way a clean diet makes you feel INSIDE and out 🙂
Tara
October 15, 2011 at 10:42 am
NZ is great, but I still haven’t been to see the mountains there which I would love to do. I forgot to mention how tired I felt! When you do nothing but eating and sleeping, you just want to rest all the time. It’s good to be home 🙂
Sable
October 15, 2011 at 12:50 pm
HI hi! I replied to your comment on my post. AND I am over here trying to figure out why the EFF blogger won’t let me put you on my blogroll. I thought you had been up there for like weeks but for some reason every time I add you, you disappear. So foncused
Tara
October 15, 2011 at 3:29 pm
It seems to be fixed now. Weird – your blog doesn’t like me!