This weekend Wellington hosted an important event, The International
Sevens Rugby tournament. Start off knowing that I know nothing about rugby. Those are in themselves, fighting words (OK, its New Zealand, perhaps words that would risk a mildly reproving look) in this country that apparently values its sports so highly. And Rugby appears to be the sport among sports.
The sevens somehow involves several days of very brief matches between international rugby teams. It started with a parade on Thursday then games Friday and Saturday, but as far as Wellington is concerned, the games appear to be an afterthought. The real thrill is the opportunity to dress up in outlandish costumes to go to the games. In and around town we saw everything from superheroes, cricket teams, ballet dancers in fat suits, any number of cavemen, including Fred and Barney, fairies, spiderman, nurses and the list goes on and on. A disproportionate number seem to involve groups of men dressing up like women.
It all seems very good natured and, I understand, at the stadium involves a lot of liquid refreshment. The street behind out house was closed for a street party. There were large screens set up to watch the game and a bandstand. It was amazingly quiet and controlled, though. The alcohol was limited to certain restaurants and people could not wander the streets beer in hand. Everyone was very well-controlled while we were there. We didn't stay long though. We popped into a bookstore when a game started, came out a short time later to watch the winning score. It couldn't have been more than fifteen minutes! The kiwis were very happy, though, since NZ won the tournament.
I suspect things got a little more rowdy after we left, as evidenced by the number of empty beer bottles and odd chalk drawings around town the next day, but all in all it was amusing and harmless.
Tomorrow is Waitangi Day, which is a national holiday and the girls start school on Thursday after a very long post-Christmas break. More on that later.
