Rugby Victory

Well, it has been a while since we have made any additions to the Land of the Long White Cloud blog. You might ask the questions of why there hasn't been recent installments of truly intriguing and enlightening descriptions and photos of the paradise they call New Zealand. The answer to that question lies in the fact that there may be no such place as paradise. Just ask my pale white, untanned, cold backside. Weather has a tendency to put a damper on plans and moods to carry out those plans. And the weather here has been pretty drab lately. But the troopers that we are, Denise and I are making the best of it.

Over the weekend, we went to an international rugby game between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies. The rivalry between the two teams compares to an Ohio State vs Michigan type grudge match but on epic proportions. The crowd was rowdy, and the stadium was rock'n.



I was only able to snap a few pictures, because we were in the midst of a torrential thunderstorm. And despite the rain, thunder, and my fear of being struck by 1.21 Jigiwatts of electricity, the game went on. We were properly soaked, but the game was good fun.



The All Blacks pulled out a win in the end, and that meant life in New Zealand could go on. I can only imagine what would happen if they had not been victorious.
We took a Sunday a couple of weeks ago to walk around down by the Auckland wharfs, had some lunch and some beers.



The picture above is of one of the older building still holding it's ground in the hustle and bustle of the downtown grid. It's bright colors make it landmark seen from the bay. We also caught this cruising vessel coming into port from a sailing tour.



At the end of the day, we took a moment to catch the sunset over the harbor. Finally, a dry but brisk day that we spend outside in the city. I can't wait for our spring to start.