"Welcome... to New Zealand" is the dramatic announcement from the captain on Qantas flight 45 as we touch down in Christchurch.
It's a city about half the size of Cork, with the Pacific to the east, the Alps to the west, and the dramatic vision of Mt Cavendish to the south. There suely could be no more picturesque place on earth.
Despite the sunshine, it's also winter here, so it's cold, very cold.
"You'd better bring some heavy clothes when you come down here," warned the owner of my first port of call a few weeks ago, and by the time I reach the Windsor Hotel, I know he's not exaggerating.
The name of the establishment suggests what sort of a place Christchurch is. It's got tons of Olde Worlde charm, and like some parts of Canada, the buildings, layout and street names would almost fool you into thinking you were somewhere in Middle England.
There's some Irish influence too though. I'm staying on Armagh Street, and the Town Hall which houses this evening's Lions team press conference is situated on Kilmore Street. Other streetnames of note are Cashel St, Tuam St, Durham St, Manchester St, Colombo St, Antiqua St and Montreal St.
As the city's streets are in a grid pattern, just like in North America, the best way of describing where to find somewhere is to mention an intersection, so I'm staying on the corner of Armagh and Montreal. Something tells me I'll never be saying that again after I leave this picturesque Pacific city.
In the meantime, the Lions side to play in the opening Test on Saturday is named - eight Englishmen start, despite their poor season in both the Six Nations and Europe.
Josh Lewsey is bumped to the wing to facilitate Jason Robinson at full-back, Jonny Wilkinson will somehow partner Brian O'Driscoll in the middle and has kicking duties ahead of Stephen Jones, while 36-year-old Neil Back will feature in the half-back line. Gavin Henson doesn't feature at all.
A quick reccie beforehand reveals that there are no facilities whatsoever at the Town Hall to file reports and interviews in "quality" - i.e. send them back to Ireland on a clear line - so I duck next door to the Crowne Plaza Hotel to check their facilities.
And there in the lobby are the entire Lions squad, coach Clive Woodward, PR boss Alastair Campbell and players-turned-pundits Jeremy Guscott, Jason Leonard and Gareth Chilcott.
This is obviously the place to be, and even better, they have WiFi, the form of wireless internet that will allow me file my material back to Ireland in quality.
And more familiar faces are to be seen at the Lions team announcement, none more so than Andrew Titheridge, who has been covering rugby for UK independent radio for 25 years, and who congratulated me for missing the Lions reserves beating Southland 30-19 in Invercargill. "It was like bloody Chernobyl down there mate!" quips Tithers that's the less obscene version of his nickname by the way...
The press conference is a dream, and though only Sky Sports, BBC Radio and TalkSport are allowed interview Clive Woodward on a one-to-one basis - as they're UK rights-holders - the next thing I'm about to say should be written in huge capital letters and sent to every GAA manager and county board in the country.
Each of the 22 squad members involved in Saturday's First Test are available for interview for one hour.
Now, you may say to that "so what?", but in an age where some GAA players are being wrapped up in cotton wool and kept away from the media, and others are just too arrogant to get off their high-horses and actually treat those of us in the press as ordinay human beings, perhaps the most important 22 people in Northern Hemisphere sport this week are only delighted to answer any question the world wants answered.
Of the people I manage to corner, Shane Byrne's delighted to be selected for the starting fifteen, demoting Mrs Thompson's son to the bench, Shane Horgan's disappointed not to be starting though he's still thanking his lucky stars he didn't end up like the immensely-talented Gavin Henson, and skipper Brian O'Driscoll's reminding the players that didn't make it this time that there are still two big games to go after this one.
After asking Jason Robinson about the criticism the Lions performances are getting, he tells me they're rather pleased about it, as it's making them more determined to prove everyone wrong, and it's helping the squad knit together.
Paul O'Connell's waiting for some proper scrums to develop, Josh Lewsey can't wait for his biggest match since the World Cup Final, and Richard Hill's breath has been taken away by the talent he'll be lining out alongside on Saturday.
And you know what, surely a more down-to-earth bunch of lads you couldn't expect to meet.
Bring on Saturday!
Posted by akilduff
at 12:01 AM EDT
