Tales from New Zealand: February 2011

Last weekend I was stung by the green hornet. This weekend I was stung by the man himself. On Friday after work, we piled into Sally's "red rooster" and made our way over the Rimutakas toward Napier for the annual Mission Estates concert.

This year's musical guest was none other than Sting on his latest tour, Symphonicity. In Napier, at the Mission Estates winery, he performed to a sold out crowd with the support of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. It was absolutely incredible. We arrived at around 4 pm and parked ourselves close up and to stage left. There were no clouds in the sky and the moon was sitting high setting the perfect setting as the sun was slowly floating below the skyline. By the time Sting stepped on the stage, the sun had set and the stars were starting to appear. I will never forget the moment he started into one of my favourite tunes - Roxanne - while a star shot across the night sky. I had died and gone to sting heaven. He closed the night with an accoustic version of Message in a Bottle - a perfect fit for me and my Ocean:Views campaign :)

Sipping on Mission Estates sauvignon blanc at the Mission Estates shindig

Some folks really got in the Sting-y spirit

People gather

More 'n' more people gather...

Sally 'n I enjoying the afternoon sun and waiting for the man himself to do what he does best!

Cheers!

Panorama crowd

Dancing the night away

My favourite Police tune performed at a stunning outdoor concert with a 50 piece orchestral band. It blew me away!

Wine glasses by night

The next day we took our time making our way back to Welly-town, stopping at farmers' markets, outlets, and Sally's fantastic mum's on the way. the sun was shining, the windows were down, and the red rooster was blazing its way across the beautiful hills and mountains carrying us home after a fantastic weekend in wine country!

Farmers' market

Yummy mushrooms from the mushroom farm

Buggy-mobile

Pit stop at the Tui brewery

Great ad campaign!

This one is for you, Chris!

The brewery

The house where beer lives (until it moves to our fridge!)

Ode to a field of kegs...

I have heard many words used to describe the rugby sevens tournament in Wellington: fun, debauchery, costumes, parties... Funnily enough, no one ever commented on the rugby! And so when a friend offered us tickets to the two day shindig, we jumped at the chance to see for ourselves what all the commotion was about. Turned out that an old and dear friend was coming to town that weekend and so we snatched a ticket for her to join us. This is how we found ourselves outfitted in green hornet and kato outfits with 16 other people cruising the streets of Wellington (and enjoying a game or two of rugby).

On Thursday, part of our team had their pic taken for the paper (Pete was quoted!). It was quite hilarious since we had only just decided to go that morning. Funny how quickly plans can change sometimes :D

Green hornets and katos in the Dominion Post

The tournament started on Friday but the day before, the town hosted a parade of the nations through its city streets. Each country was rolled through the streets throwing out candy and high fives to the cheering crowd. Everyone stepped out of their office buildings to cheer on their teams and get a glimpse of the sevens trophy.

The parade begins

Team Canada!

The Argentinian cheerleading squad

Tonga's cheerleading squad - the Tongan Ninjas

The town comes out to show their support

The giant Air NZ rugby ball (with candy tossing flight attendants)

By midday Friday, we were all gathered at a local pub, geared up for the walk over to the stadium. There we were clustered together amongst chickens, trolls, teenage mutant ninja turtles, and a bunch of really jolly santa clauses! The walk was more like a parade as the rest of the town came down to point, laugh, and cheer us on. En route to the stadium was a giant screen television next to a village of bars and we stopped to quench our thirst and catch the Canada – South Africa game. Canada got smoked. Ah well. It’s not like we lost a hockey game. Onward and upward!

The green hornets and their trusty sidekicks

Hats off to the Wellington police for putting up with all the craziness!

Crayons

National leapfrog champions (mid tumble)

The Jagermeister tent

Giant screen en route to the stadium where we stopped to have a drink and catch the Canada - South Africa game

The (not so) Jamaican bobsled team

The dude from the Hangover (baby in tow)

Pre game bevvie

Road trip to the sevens

Enjoying the festivities from their pirate ship

Galloping to the games

Natives on cell phones

Our walk took us past another series of bars where people were gathering and trying to get others to jump off the wharf and into the water. Poor Amanda got nabbed and everyone was cheering for her to jump. Luckily, she managed to free herself and escape. I wanted to help her out but feared that I too would be forced to take the plunge.

The crowd gathers at the Foxglove (a bar downtown). This is where they tried to convince Amanda that jumping in the water was a great idea! Fortunately for Amanda, they got tired of trying to convince her!

The crowd just kept growing

Costume First Aid station

Enjoying the view from their boat

Approaching the stadium

Oompa Loompas!!

When we arrived at the stadium, it was still pretty quiet (ie. most people had yet to arrive) so I actually got to sit and enjoy a couple of matches. The sevens are like a different sport altogether. With fewer players on the field, the ball moves much more quickly and the players along with it. They are only 7 minute halves and so the games are like speed rounds. Canada played in Pool D and played three other teams, losing two but beating France (which was amazing!)

Can't remember who was playing here

Half time show

Canada vs. France (Canada wins!)

Team Canada cheering zone

Canada supporters

More Canadian fans

Team Canada exits the stadium post final loss. Good on ya for representing, guys!

The end of day 1.

The Friday evening was a relatively calm one for us. We left the stadium before the end of the games and headed to a yummy Mexican resto to grab some food and chat. Having not seen Mandy in over 5 years, we were due for a good ol’ catch up. This also meant that our Saturday morning wasn’t spent nursing our bodies back to health. We were raring to go once again!

On Saturday afternoon, we joined the group again for a big group photo and another parade to the stadium. This time, the crowd was a bigger as it was officially the weekend and everyone was off work. On Saturday, we stayed until the very end to watch New Zealand take the cup! It was pretty amazing standing in the stadium while the crowd belted out “We Are the Champions” at the top of their lungs. At that moment I felt like a very proud kiwi!

Railroad crossing (flashing lights included)

Slash

Saturday Night Beaver

Camel jockey racers

The most revealing costume without revealing a single thing. Brilliant!

Dunno.

Trolls.

The crowd


Amanda and I in the thick of it.


Erinn having fun.

Mandy having fun!

Big Bird

The girls

Cheering on NZ!

Some katos posing for a pic (and forgetting that there's a rugby match going on!)

Enjoying the final match: New Zealand vs. England

The kiwi team receiving the cup!

The crowd sings "We Are the Champions" as the NZ team is handed the winning trophy!

Raising the cup to a cheering crowd!

The final haka of the evening

Post tournament, we headed back downtown where we explored the Wellington street party and danced the night away. What a weekend of fun, debauchery, costumes, parties... And the rugby was great too!