RWC Opening Ceremony and NZ v Tonga.
I remember watching the little red numbers tick down above the Westfield mall on Customs Street thinking “I wonder where I will be, and what it’ll be like when this reads zero”. Where I was: Queen’s Ferry then Eden Park. What it was like:
Just like every other sod in hospitality I had to work. It started off slow, quieter than a normal Friday lunch, but around 4 (and I was due to leave at 5) it got insane. I have never seen Queen’s Ferry so packed, it was hard to move. Mostly everyone was in good spirits, but some were frustrated with how long they had to wait to get a drink. Queen’s Ferry is only a small bar, we only have one till, and if we have more than three people behind the bar we just end up smashing into each other.
Auckland was expecting 50,000 people down by the waterfront, but instead they got 200,000 and the overspill seemed to head up Vulcan Lane. We were expecting it to be less busy than St Patrick’s Day. We thought everyone would be at Queen’s Wharf and Downtown. Instead we ended up making record numbers. By 3am the pub was still packed, our eftpos was down, we had run out of a few beers, vodka, Gin and Tequila yet people were still queuing to get their hands on what ever liquor they could.
Luckily at 5.30 I had the best excuse to leave, because just like Charlie, I sang and clicked my heels, “I’ve got a golden ticket!” Yes, that’s right, I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the opening ceremony, and the opening match ,the All Blacks against Tonga. I met my friend Shai, chucked on some deodorant, and a All Blacks shirt, had a sneaky shot to get over the stress of the day, and headed off.
We decided the “fan trail” was the way to go. We had a quick look at the free buses from the civic, and decided to flag that, because it was already 6.15, and we didn’t want to get stuck. I do feel sorry for those people that missed out because of problems with the trains. It was mayhem, and exciting walking up Queens Street. The pedestrians had taken control for the most part, and buses and cars struggled to navigate between enthusiastic Tongan and All Blacks fans. It seems that All Blacks have adopted fans from all around the globe as French, English, and Argentineans all dressed up in Black, and yelled, “Go All Blacks” down the streets.
Sport has the power to separate people, shown by the Vancouver Riots after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup earlier this year, but it has the power to unite people as well. And the atmosphere as we were walking up Queen’s Street was electric with Tongan fans and New Zealand Fans excited to be there.
Along the way, we popped into a few quiet looking places to get a shot, and I managed to piss a few people from Christchurch off by asking if they were Australian.
We got there in plenty of time. I meet Lou from Queen’s Ferry, and we had time before the opening ceremony to get some drinks. I thought Eden Park did a fabulous job at getting our drinks quick, and charging reasonable prices, because they could have charged what ever they wanted to!
I could feel the chills as I sat down. Such a significant event that I got to be a part of. Lou joked that it would be something we could tell our grandparents about. The opening ceremony blew away my expectations. I forgot that I was in New Zealand, with a population of 4million and limited resources, as it competed with opening ceremonies internationally. Yet, how could I forget, as it told the story through dance to how New Zealand came to exist. The highlight was a brave little boy being spun about 50m into the air to touch a
The game was alright. Lou and I were more concerned with where our “boyfriends” were - Richie Mccaw and Dan Cater than the actual score. The All Blacks dominated the first half, yet in the second it seemed that they were conserving their energy for games to come. Tonga even managed to get a try. I must say, I was rooting for Tonga to get that try. What an amazing moment for Tonga, not only to score a try in the opening game, but against the All Blacks. The guy sitting next to felt the same.
The only damper of the evening, was the temporary dump that Queen’s Street had turned into when I headed back to town. Had we forgotten that here in New Zealand we care about our planet, and the environment we live in? Especially outside McDonalds the path was marked by big mac containers, and at 9am the next day (of course, most of us were still curled up in bed) the cleaners were still going full bore.
The experience of being a part of it, even though I’m not a rugby head, was probably one of the top 10 experiences of my life. New Zealand doen’t often gets to be involved with anything of this magnitude, and it was great to be there. Reports about passengers not being able to get to the game on time due to our archaic train system, and over crowding in the viaduct surfaced the next day. I am glad I walked, I am glad I went to the game, I am glad I had a fabulous time!
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