No free shuttle to Rio
TweetNOT sure what anyone else thinks of when they hear "Wellington" but for me if it's not Waterloo - the battle, not the Abba song - it's Puss in Boots.
He wore Wellington boots didn't he?
This is my first trip into the birthplace of so many of history's finest people and my initial sensation in the airport - after disembarking off the flight from Tauranga and being met with the Middle Earth signage - was that distinct odour of Subway's baked bread.
You either love it or you hate it. At 8am local time (or still 5.30am at home in Adelaide), it was familiar but hardly enticing.
WELLINGTON: Just another lovely city waking up.
Walking out for a taxi was reminiscent of the transport services area at Honolulu Airport, comforting but let's get moving.
That will be the prevailing mood for the Boomers tonight too.
The 12-point buffer from Game 1 of FIBA's Oceania Championship is comforting, but let's get moving.
WARMING UP: But Wellington will be rocking tonight.
As Brendan Joyce's Opals found last night against the Tall Ferns, the Kiwis "grow an extra arm and a leg" when playing in front of their home faithful.
While it takes only 4,000 to fill Wellington's TSB Arena, full it will be.
And loud.
And proud.
The haka will be performed with even more intensity and vigour.
The challenge will be immense.
For the Tall Blacks, it will be to win by 13.
For the Boomers, it will be to get past the emotion, shut out the possibilities and clinically execute.
This one has the promise to go to the wire and for it to be a pretty feisty journey.
No-one ever said the trip to Rio would be a free ride.