American's turning New Zealand "Upside Right"

July 1996

The New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby Federation invited the USQRA to send two teams to their country this past summer to play rugby. One team toured New Zealand to play against club teams and participate in clinics from July 12-22 at stops of Christchurch, Canterbury, Wellington and Auckland. They also competed against the New Zealand and Australian National teams at the end of the trip. The second US team participated in the final tournament July 19-21 in Auckland.

Allen Seals from the Oregon Trail QR Club was among the lucky ones to participate in this adventure. He hooked up with some buds down under and forwarded briefs via e-mail. As the messages arrived from down under they were post here so you could share in their adventure.

The Final Post by Allen Seals

Travel Log - July 11, 1996

Dear USA,

We are here!!! Got here this morning and have been checking things out. Just a short note for now to see if this gets to you. Reply back soon as I will only be here 2 days. The e-mail address for me is: t.johnson@student.canterbury.ac.nz
Hear from you soon, ......Allen

Travel Log - July 13, 1996

Dear USA,

Well by the time you get this it will be tomorrow here. As I send this you will receive it yesterday. Hope you enjoy yesterday, as it was a great day for us.

It's been a great trip so far. The people that we are staying with are great. Went on a jet boat ride and scared the shit out of us. 50mph inches from jagged rocks. Went to a hot springs but we were all freezing from the jet boat ride. Did have a chance to go bungy jumping but we were all too scared. They took us out to a great dinner last night. Was a seafood buffet. All you can eat. I think they lost money on Dave Bynm. He ate at least $50 of food by him self. We all crashed early because of jet lag, but we are going out to dinner tonight and hope to see some night life while you guys are just getting up.

Did have a little scare at the airport as one of the police dogs really liked Reggie. Thus they did an extensive search of his bags. But, he was clean and they allowed him to dress and return to our group. Tomorrow we will have a clinic in Christ- church in the morning and have to afternoon off to sight-see before we head to the game against Christchurch.

I hope to e-mail again tomorrow night with a report and then on Monday our time which will be Sunday your time we will head out to Wellington to meet our next Billeters. If I can get to a PC I will continue to update you on NZ Tour.
Best regards, - Al

Travel Log - July 14, 1996

Well gang another note from Allen that I will pass on. McKenna and I leave (Al's wife & daughter) Monday afternoon. I hope we will get to send on more e-mail victories. This note was written by Tim, the guy Allen stayed with in canterbury.

They Cheated!!!!!!
No not really, the score was 51-32. Allen blew another tube, that's three in 3 days, can you bring six more over. (No leave them behind so he can't play, Yeah!!!) Also, take tires off practice wheels and bring over as well please as he has punctured a tire. Wendy said not to worry about being picked up at Auckland, there will be someone there. He will probably be with an AB and wont get out but they should find you as you will be the only one looking lost with a four month old baby.

This may be the last message as they leave tomorrow for Wellington (to
have the shit kicked out of them, Al is sooooooo cocky. He didn't
hardly even try today, NOT!!! ) and might not be able to find a PC to use, otherwise he will see you in Auckland on Thursday.

I hope the flight is good for you and I will see you on Friday, can't
wait to meet you and McKenna.

Bye till then - Tim
(PS Allen says he loves you and misses you both, XOXO.)

Travel Log - July 16, 1996

From Tim Johnson of New Zealand

USA They Played Wellington last night.

The score was 49-37 in the first game but in a twelve minute half game the score was 27-14.You Americans are quite good.

Tomorrow they play Hamilton and Auckland, hope we do better against you Yanks!!!.
I downloaded a phone thingee that John Bishop suggested was good but haven't set it up yet. When I do I'll want to see how it goes.

Bye for now, Tim.

Travel Log - July 18, 1996

From Tim Johnson of New Zealand

Hi, how are ya?

Just a short note; The score against Waikato was about 37-17, and 27-11. But you're not that good ,Auckland beat you (YEAH!!!!!!) The score was 47-42.

I fly up there in two hours so will write back on my return.

Tim.

Travel Log - July 24, 1996

From:gsharman@ihug.co.nz (G.W.Sharman from New Zealand)

Dear USA,

Allen Seals gave me your E-mail address and asked me to send you some info on the tournament. The 13 U.S. players were divided into two teams:

USA Stripes                   USA Stars

Terry Luxemberger            David Bynum
Gary Kanazawa                Dave Terrecillas
Alen Seals                   Dan Shaw
Jeff Powell                  Chad Farrington
Sheenan Verner               Bob Martinson
Ralph Shadowens              Joby Folk
Rick Marshall

The teams were fairly even although USA Stars had an advantage and were able to defeat the Stripes team coached by Brad Mikkelsen. The tournament was a double round robin with 1st & 4th and 2nd & 3rd playing off for a spot in the finals. The first group of Americans had come up the country undefeated until their first loss in Hamilton at the hands of the champion NZ regional team, the Auckland "Framebenders". This win gave the New
Zealanders confidence for the tournament as the Wheel Blacks were made up of 5 players from the Auckland team.

Things went pretty much to plan during the tournament with the Wheel Blacks winning all their pool games quite convincingly and progressing to the final against USA Stars. The two US teams finished 2nd and 3rd and played off for a place in the final but the standard of their play had increased a lot and the game was closely fought with USA Stars overcoming a 5 goal deficit to emerge the winners. The NZ starting line up was changed with the regarding
of two pointer Curtis Palmer to a 2.5. This seemed to put the Kiwi's off and for the first game in the tournament they did not score first and were never in control of the game.

Although scores were level at 12 all at the end of the first period they dropped 6 goals by half time and were never able to recover losing 37-43. Nothing can be taken away from USA Stars who played a great game and kept the pressure on.

As captain of the Wheel Blacks a loss is always hard to take but in terms of our Paralympic build up it was a great loss to have as we learnt a lot and have got time to work on certain areas of our game. I'll leave Allen to give you more details.

John, I'm new to the Internet and would like info on the wheelchair rugby web page. Also would you add my name and address as a contact for New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby as I am the national secretary. My address is :'Grant Sharman, Whitecliffs Dr, R.D.4., Pukekohe, NEW ZEALAND' ph/fax 64-9-232-0007.

Look forward to hearing from you, regards
Grant Sharman
Wheel Black Captain

Final Travel Log - July 27, 1996
From Allen, Angie & McKenna Seals

Dear USA Friends

Special thanks to Terry V., Wendy W., Reggie R., Theresa S., Angie S., Judy P. and Brad M. for making our trip to New Zealand a success. Also, thank you John B. for forwarding our e-mail and thanks for Tim Johnson and his computer so that we could keep everyone updated from down under. I'm sure that the rest of the team would also like to thank those of you that made this trip possible. This was a great experience for all of us and we will not soon forget the friends that we have made.
Thank you all!!!

Now for the last letter. As you all know we finished 1st and 3rd
in the Tournament in Auckland. I am assuming that the results were sent from our KIWI friends in Auckland. Both teams had lost earlier in the tournament which set up a playoff between both Stars and Stripes. The Stars won (31-30) it was the best game of the tourney. So The stripes played New Zealand for 3rd and they won. Then the Stars played New Zealand's A team and won 43-36.

After 14 games of rugby in 10 days covering most of New Zealand we decided that it was time to see something more than a rugby gym. Some people stayed to rest in Auckland but some of us decided to see more of New Zealand. We rented two station wagons and a van and headed south (the van took a small detour stuck in a ditch for a wee bit) to Rotorua for some celebration and some hottubing, Dave and Han had a 5 man hot tub in their room of course us Americans are always up for a challenge and managed to fit 9 in, Brad and Chad minus their swimming trunks. What a party!

We first checked out rainbow springs which was kind of a zoo with wild animals and giant trout,(Allen and Dave were trying to figure out how they could smuggle some lures in). Also, got to see a farm show where they showed us how their farm dogs worked the sheep. We learned how to milk cows (you should see Wendy milk a cow, it was entertaining to say the least), sheer sheep and other farm chores. After the farm show we checked Joby in to the hospital. He is OK now, he was treated for pneumonia with IV antibiotics for 3 days and now Dr. Wendy (after undergoing family training) is taking good care of Joby although Brad made the comment they act just like married folk the way they fight. Then Brad and Allen took back the Americas Cup. Its true, we have
pictures with the cup to prove it.

After a rough night celebrating we then went for a luge ride. Rick
"just tape my hands to the steering wheel" Marshall, Dave "get outta my way" Bynum. Han "If you don't like the way I drive get off the sidewalk", Chad "I think I can do the expert run" Farrington., Reggie "Mario Andrette" Reictner,Wendy" Lets hurry up and get to the next attraction" Wolfe,Teresa "Mother of Chad" Skinner,Brad "when do we get to sleep in?" Mikkelsen, Allen "I had a nice view cam" Seals, and Angie "I cant go over 100 km" Seals all took a turn riding down a steep winding sheep trail on a go cart casualties abound, Chad's new team jacket and a piece of his elbow, Allen's view cam and at least 2 rolls of tape. The Kiwi's didn't know quite what to think and pretty much let us have the run of the place.

From there it was a race to see the thermal mud pools before Teresa, Reggie, Chad and Rick had to head for the airport to catch their flight home. The thermal pools were much like Yellowstone set with in a natural setting (gravel and mud trails) The staff there pointed out on the map the "accessible portion" which translates to one AB pushing quads over hill and dale. Han needed two hands to push Dave and set down her umbrella needless to say Mud pool 1 Umbrella 0. We then rushed back with a quick stop in for beer as we went 2 nights without as bottle shops close by 9:00. We showered and a bus arrived to take us to dinner at an authentic Maori Village. Wendy is a major stud as she lifted quad after quad onto the bus. We "four wheeled" around this village and listened to chants and songs of the Maori tribe. They did a special Hauka (a traditional war challenge) for the US team.

We then headed north to the Bay of Islands an 8 hour trek, followed by a late dinner and off to bed. In the am a small group headed out for a sailing trip on a 45' catamaran we had the boat all to ourselves. We sailed out to an island for a bar b que and while the lunch was cooking Wendy and Han went snorkeling (remember its the middle of winter here) needless to say the ocean water was a little cold. The group reassembled for dinner and all were adventuresome the quisine was lamb, buffalo, venision and prawns with heads intact. A band was playing next door and the partying continued (ask Brad how he made it up to the hot tub). The next am Wendy was scheduled for a sea Kayake experience, Jeff, Joby and Brad were going out on a cruise to the hole in the rock Han and Dave were off on a fishing charter. Allen, Angie and McKenna
departed for Auckland to catch a plane to Christchurch.

Upon arrival in Christchurch We slept for 3 hours as we all have colds and needed some rest. Allen then went out on the town with his Billeter Tim and arrived home at 4:30 am he swears it was just after midnight. The next day we went shopping down town and watched our first rugby game the All Blacks (nz team) won in the last seconds winning the Bledsoe Cup (similar to our superbowl). And here we are catching you all up on our week long adventure in NZ. We head home tomorrow and will arrive before we leave.

Our top ten list of the things we have learned here:

10. Its cold and rainy in July in New Zealand
9. Its a good thing to be pissed
8. Driving on the left side of the road is scary
7. Round abouts are a concept we Americans should adopt
6. Never bunge a view cam onto the front of a luge cart
5. Always buy your beer by noon
4. Toilets flush counter clockwise here
3. American rugby players reach too much
2. Beer taste better down under and the number 1 thing that we learned was
1. You'll NEVER meet nicer people than the Kiwi's

P.S Hope you enjoyed the updates. Allen & Angie

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