Nicole and Ryan Cameron will be watching the rugby world cup final.
Nicole and Ryan Cameron are Japan-bound for windfall holiday they initially thought was a scam.
The Cambridge couple left New Zealand on Wednesday for five days and nights of World Cup magic in Japan – complements of a nationwide ANZ Bank competition they didn’t know they had entered.
Not long after returning to New Zealand after their August 24 wedding in the UK city of Portsmouth, Ryan received a call from Cambridge ANZ bank manager Jane Rush to say he and Nicole had won the ANZ Bank’s Rugby World Cup 2019 Cash Passport Competition.
Ahead of their departure this week, the canny Englishman admitted to being a little suspicious at the news, particularly given that neither of them remembered entering any competitions.
“We were at a contract for work when Ryan told me,” said Nicole. “We googled it and couldn’t find anything… we both thought it was a scam. It was only after we went into the local ANZ branch the next day that we realised it was true.”
It seems that the couple had gone into the nationwide draw when they had loaded money on to their cash passport to cover their wedding trip to the UK. That move had netted them a much-coveted prize that has now segued into a very welcome honeymoon.
The prize comprises two economy flights, five nights of five-star luxury accommodation, all transfers, a double pass with Category A tickets to the Rugby World Cup final in Yokohama, pre-match hospitality and $2000 equivalent in Japanese yen loaded onto their cash passport.
“It is just so exciting … we can’t wait,” said Nicole, who is the granddaughter of Cambridge Grey Power president Val Massey.
The couple started their new commercial and residential cleaning business – 5 Stars Solutions – in January and have barely taken a day off since then.
“It’s been very full-on,” said Ryan. “We managed to organise time off for the wedding, but there was never a chance we would be able to extend that and fit a honeymoon in immediately afterwards. Realistically, that was going to have to go on hold for a while.”
The couple met in the UK when Nicole – who had completed a degree in music and German – was working in London, and Ryan was living and working in Germany. Once they realised a long-term future together was in their stars, they decided to settle in Nicole’s hometown of Cambridge.
This has been a magic year for the Camerons. They started a business, got married, are now buying a house and going on a prize-winning trip they couldn’t have dreamed of … and it turns out they’re expecting a baby, to bootee.
“I can’t see us having another year like this one,” Nicole laughed.
“It will be quite hard to top,” agreed Ryan.
