Rugby Madness

For the past week all of New Zealand has been in party mode for the Rugby World Cup.  This event is by far the largest sporting event ever held in the country.  Trust me, its a big event, even though no one in America has heard of this or knows what rugby union is.  Auckland was not prepared for the opening ceremony the friday before last.  I had the chance to jump on a friend's boat to view the fireworks, but it was a major mission just to get to the marina because of infrastructure gridlock.  The city's main rail and bus lines completely collapsed. The Vodafone cell network also crashed for a few hours.  The opening ceremony downtown was expected to attract around 100,000 people.  Quay street was blocked off, but it was not enough room as an estimated 200,000 patrons descended the festivities.  I arrived around 3 pm, taking in the scene, before ducking into the Countdown grocery store for an hour just to relax.  It's ominous sign when all of the shelves of beer were empty at 3pm.  We fought our way through crowds to the ferry building to catch the boat across the harbor to my friend's boat.  We waited at least an hour for the arrival.  We were lucky not to get crushed by the mass of people waiting to get out of the city.  The ferry's had become incredibly overloaded and only so many of us could get off the wharf.  Once we made it to my friend's boat we had to wait for others stuck in traffic.  By the time we made it out to a good viewing point at least 5,000 other boats full of idiots were in our way.  Many vessels did not have lights and I now know why the supermarket shelves were bare. The fireworks were quite a intense surprise.  The most impressive show I have ever seen.  Many buildings including the Sky Tower had jets of flames erupting vertically to the heavens.  Four additional coastal stations shot satanic skeet skyward, creating the illusion of volcanic vertigo. The best view was from the port side of High Times, our yacht, and not the crowded streets of the city.


This past weekend featured a game pitting Ireland verses the Australians in Auckland's Eden Park. The Wallabies were heavy favorites, but fell to the Irish 15-6 in what I have been told an epic upset.  I slept through this game after fighting a cold all week long, but got the chance to meet some of the supporters first thing the next morning.  I was working for Riveria yachts all week preparing the vessels for the annual boat show.  I was starting at 6 am Sunday but I did have the chance to meet several Ireland fans on my way to work,  One gentleman was attempting to hoist a young lady onto his shoulders.  What I term a mini skirt was one of the apparent obstructions this scholar decided was in his way.  I should have called the police as I witnessed the mini skirt become a loin cloth.  I could have reported that a hooligan in a green rugby shirt was attempting a scrum with a local girl, except that there were about 500 other blokes with green rugby shirts that fit the same description.  All this is happening at 5:30 am, the game ended 7 hours earlier!  I worked until about 10 am, but the party was still going on all around us.  Just as soon as my work cleaning the super-yachts was finished a downpour arrived washing away my polish, and many of the rugby supporters as well.  The rain cleaned the streets of Irish beer mud and the tears of the the Australians, hoping for another easy conquest of New Zealand.