Update from Cathie - BEFORE the curling started

Cathie sent an email last night about their last few days of sightseeing before heading back to Dunedin for the World Championships.

I last wrote from Balcutha. We were on our way up to Nazby so that we could practice before coming back to Dunedin. We got in sort of late, but ended up staying at the Royal Hotel which is over 200 years old! the next day we had two practice sessions on the ice. We ate lunch in the restaurant owned by the NZ skip. Oh, before all that, we were still in the Caitlands and went on 3 hikes. Two were up to waterfalls and the 3rd was to Nugget Point Light House. Nugget Point was gorgeous. Absolutely spectacular vistas. There we saw seals and penquins and shags (birds).

It felt like home getting back to Dunedin. the rooms here at this hotel are really nice. they are quite European looking. Murphy took Aija back out fishing (the way we had come in), but she did not catch anything. She was after the elusive brown trout. Joan, Emily, Sharon & I went to the farmer's market. The vegetables were all huge! Everything is organic too. We ate food there and some treats. Later, Joan and I went to the Cadbury factory and had a tour and bought some chocolate. Yesterday was a holiday here: Anzac Day. It's like Memorial Day in USA. Every town here has a memorial to WWI & WWII. Most everything was closed until 1:oo p.m.

I've been trying to get to the library because there is free internet there, but it's been closed both times I've gone. I finally had to bite the bullet and buy time at the
hotel. It's really not bad. $8 NZ for an hour. it's convenient.

We had our practice session today at the arena. there are five sheets of ice. the circles are black and silver! Those are NZ colours. We did great. Murphy is so proud of us. He says we look like winners! I sure hope so. We were all very steady today. tomorrow is the opening ceremony at 10:00 and our first game is against NZ on center ice. We have a second game tomorrow too, but I can't remember who it is against. Tuesday we have 1 game and the other days are all 2 games until the round robin is finished. I must say our uniforms look very smart. Tonight is the meet & greet party. This after noon I signed my first autograph for the Japanese, who were running around collecting them!

It sounds like they had a fabulous time touring around and "training" for the competition. I hope they bring back some treats from the Cadbury factory! Now it is down to business, and they are off to a great start with their first win today! Keep on rocking ladies!!!

USA 8 - New Zealand 4

With a steal of 1 in the last end USA won their first game of the Senior Women's World Championships versus the home team. Great job ladies, we are all proud of you!

They play again tonight at 7:00pm NZ time (Midnight Seattle) against Sweden. Sweden punished Italy in the first draw today, 15 - 0 after 6 ends! Let's hope our ladies can turn the tables on Sweden tonight. I know I will be dreaming of well played shots for them, since I won't be staying up to watch the scoring (especially since it took 50 minutes for them to update the end of this game!).

I have an update from Cathie regarding their "training" period. I will post it later tonight once I am free of children.

GREAT JOB TODAY LADIES!!!!

Your guess is as good as mine...

The USA vs NZ game is the only game that has not been updated on the website, and more than enough time has passed for them to finish the game and update the site. I am starting to think that they forgot to post the final score... So your guess is as good as mine on what happened in the 8th end. I will keep checking and update the blog as soon as something new is posted. Here is the link again if you would like to check for updates:

http://2009nzwscc.co.nz/home/results/1-monday-april-27/

Team USA scores 2 in 7th end...

Of course right after I posted they updated the score.

USA = 7
New Zealand = 4

Playing the 8th end....

Game On!!!!

I have an update from Cathie that I will post later tonight, but I just realized that the games have started!! Silly time difference... Anyhow here is the link to see the scoring:
http://2009nzwscc.co.nz/home/results/1-monday-april-27/

As of right now, they are playing the 7th (of 8) end against Team New Zealand. We have the hammer and the score is 5 - 4 USA leads. Looks like a nail biter...

GO TEAM USA!!!!!

"Athletes in training"

It sounds like the old broads have been having a wonderful time. Cathie's latest updates:

We went to milford sound and went for a cruise, we saw seals &
dolphins. We stayed out in the boat for the night. It was really
really great.

Then we went down to Land's End in Bluff. It is the furthest point
on the southern island. We stayed in a B&B there and it was most
excellent! The food here has been unbelievable. Everyone is so
happy with that portion of it!

From there we headed east to the Caitlands which is also down on the
southern end of the island. We have just been following our noses.
Going to beaches, hiking to waterfalls, etc. We have not traveled very
far, but just going places and seeing things and having a great time. We
are taking a lot of pictures, but have not had time to download them and send
them on. We will hopefully be able to do that when we get back to
Dunedin.

As you can imagine we are laughing alot and having a grand old time.
Atheletes in training as we like to say!

That is my kind of training program! Keep on having fun ladies, can't wait to see the pictures!

No jet lag? And HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHIE!!

Cathie sent an email update yesterday. I am thrilled to hear they all slept on the plane and there is no jet lag. We had many discussions at the curling club regarding the best way to sleep on the plane, what "sleep aid" would work best, and should you take Ambien for the first time on an airplane. Here is what Cathie had to say:

The flight was not bad at all. I don't even think we had jet lag. We all slept on the plane and stayed up the whole next day and were right on schedule after that.

We stayed the first night at the Southern Cross in NZ. We were met at the
airport by a curling rep and the shuttle bus. The hotel was super nice. We
explored the city that day. The hotel is right down town so we are right in the
midst of all the shops and eateries.

The next day we headed for Queenstown. It was about a 5 or so hour drive through very beautiful countryside. Lots & lots of white sheep dotting the hillsides. The weather has been GREAT. Yesterday was warm and sunny. We took the gondola to the top of the hill and could look out over the entire beautiful bay.

We went to a small town called Arrowtown which was having their fall festival. It's an old gold-mining town. From there we went on to Te An au. This is where we celebrated my birthday. We went out for the most fabulous meal. Everyone had lamb. It was so good! The girls even arranged for a cake.

Today we are driving to Milford Sound where we are catching the boat for the overnight cruise. After that we're heading south towards Invercargill.

We have met the icemakers who are also at the southern cross hotel. I don't think I need to tell you that we are having a wonderful time and the people are absolutely wonderful and the country itself is so clean and beautiful.

Sounds like they are having a great time! I can't wait to hear more...