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TravelMole Blog: Going to the dogs
Our journey to the Rugby World Cup finals begins not in New Zealand but in the Sorrento Hotel on Victoria’s wind and wave-swept Mornington Peninsula.
In the hotel’s packed back bar on Saturday night, there are two television screens, one showing South Africa versus Samoa and the other greyhound racing.
Most of the young men in the bar are watching and placing bets on the dogs. We are watching the Springboks having a tough time – and almost going to the dogs – against the fiery Samoans.
The Sorrento pub is a good place to begin the build up to the bragging- and-bonhomie culture of Rugby World Cup (RWC). Four years ago we were in Marseille watching games live and televised games in the hugely atmospheric bars of southwest France.
The RWC is much more than just a world championship held every four years (the next one to be held in England and Wales in 2015). It’s a gathering of the rugby clans in a combative but cheerful and trouble-free celebration of the game.
Emerging rugby nations who have played with distinction in the 2011 tournament include Romania, Namibia, Georgia, Russia, USA and Tonga, who produced the upset of the tournament so far by defeating France.
Heading to New Zealand, we spend the night in the ParkRoyal hotel at Melbourne Airport, recently reflagged from a Hilton.
New airport hotels have come a long way in what they offer the transit traveller. Sadly the ParkRoyal isn’t one of them. The property is tired, and in need of refurbishment.
I checked comments left on TripAdvisor and found other guests were unimpressed by the condition of the hotel. Stained carpets and marked walls are not a good look.
Front desk staff are spot-on, though, and when you have an early morning flight, the short stroll from hotel lobby to check-in counter is a reason to choose this property.
We are heading to Queenstown in New Zealand’s South Island – more about that in a subsequent post.
Ian Jarrett
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