Day 6 - Rugby World Cup (and Bath)!

The students bid their Seaford College host families good bye and we were off for the trip to Bath. We had a very quick check into our accommodation before we embarked on a walk through the surrounding area of shops, cafes, beautiful architecture and, of course, the Roman Baths. As our purpose in Bath was mainly as a portal to Cardiff, we unfortunately did not have time to visit inside the baths, however the external area was lovely. Refuelled and stretched, we were back with Brian on the bus for the trip to Wales.

There are no words that can describe the experience of a group of 40 Aussies at a World Cup. We threw ourselves into the crowds of the closed streets of Cardiff and you could instantly feel the buzz of excitement amongst the community of tens of thousands of people.

Now, you know you're making a spectacle of yourself when your group becomes a tourism attraction itself. Our Wallaby and Aussie clad group followed our self-appointed leader, Wade (complete with Australian flag fastened to a selfie stick), through the masses dancing and singing (screaming) Waltzing Mathilda with people lining the streets to video tape and photograph us.

The real main attraction of the evening - Australia v Fiji - was unbelievable. Millennium Stadium closed the roof due to the threat of rain, which meant that every whistle blow, every chant from the crowd and every gasp from the other 68 000 people during the game reverberated and could be clearly heard. The stadium is a rather steep incline from the field, which means that no matter where you sit, you have an excellent view of the players and field. Australia thankfully won, which led to more celebrating in the streets after.

Once again, we attracted huge amounts of attention as we moved through the partying streets of Cardiff; many Aussies coming over to dance and sing with us, many Fijians and English coming over in what can only be described as a nose to nose screaming anthem battle.

Chippie Lane

We followed the advice of our Seaford friends and found Chippie Lane ... An alley full of fish and chip stalls - a favourite of the group being thick chips with English gravy and melted cheese on top.

It was very sadly time to depart the electric atmosphere of Cardiff for the return trip to Bath. A massive thank you to Mr Derrett who went to great pains to ensure he was able to secure us tickets to a World Cup game - it was one of the most incredible experiences any of us has ever had; staff and students alike can be guaranteed that this night will be one that we will never forget.

 

Posted by K Kybus