Last night were the opening ceremonies, and Auckland went CRAZY. The opening match (NZ vs. Tonga) was played at Auckland's Eden Park arena in the evening, but the festivities began early in the afternoon downtown at the Viaduct Basin and all along the waterfront. There were band performances and demonstrations of the haka, followed by live screenings of the opening ceremonies and the match.
Officials said the waterfront had a 150,000 person capacity. Reports are now stating that 200,000 fans showed up. Needless to say, it was utter chaos walking down Queen Street. Imagine squeezing the New Years crowd at Times Square into a smaller city, but then adding cars and crazy, drunken, patriotic fans into the mix.
To give you an idea of the scene, here are some pictures I took:
Looking up from the end of Queen Street. A sea of people!
Crazy awesome fan
A giant inflated rugby ball on Queens Wharf
Dave Dobbyn, a big-name New Zealand artist, on screen
The opening ceremonies on screen later at nightAnd a couple videos I found on Youtube to show the insanity on Queens Street:
Luckily, once we arrived at the large screens down by the waterfront, things were calmer, as people were eager to watch the opening ceremonies and the game. If you have the time, watch at least the first segment of the opening ceremonies, which were spectacular, and gave a nice taste of New Zealand and Pacific culture.
The ceremonies were followed by an impressive fireworks display, which all of you pyrotechnic-lovers can get a taste of here.
Things got a little crazy after that, so we ended up departing early. I still caught most of the game at my flat, though. Like in the previous rugby game I watched a few weeks back, the All Blacks completely wrecked, beating Tonga 41-10.
All in all, it was a pretty wild night. I can only imagine the party scene afterward, which must have been completely insane. Still, the World Cup is on until October 23rd, so I'm sure there will be many more games and parties to come!
