RWC2011 Opening Evening

Eyeport

New Zealand is crazy about rugby. So we bought the world cup to us, and now are hosting the largest ever sports event in the nation's history. By memory the only rugby game I watched properly was about eight years ago, the night before sitting my final exam? It was England vs Australia at RWC Final. I can't even remember who took the trophy in the end. But regardless whether you watch, like, play rugby at all, the wide spread of excitement has certainly infiltrated every person in the country. And when it finally arrives. Boom! It lid up the whole Auckland City!! Streets, bars, the viaduct, downtown Auckland were so congested that it was impossible to move. It felt like any push from people would have broken the equilibrium of safety and literally cause people to fall. It was over crowding! But that's why I was there - to soak in this RWC atmosphere. You know how we say NZ has more sheep than people right? This feels like the once in a life time turn around. ; )

I was fortunate enough to have a friend who lives nearby the CBD and offered for me to park at his carpark. This really saved the hassle of waiting for buses when retreating from the city.  I've heard people stood hours before getting into a bus or a train. That would be a nightmare. NZ's transport system was never really prepared to handle this amount of people, and this is based on common knowledge. But I am sure same thing would have happened to most other countries too.

The fireworks were a little disappointing. They were coming from all angles but most of the time it felt like lack of boosts. As I was viewing it from viaduct it seemed scattered and a bit weak. I was expecting more to be honest. By comparison the laser lights really added much more dynamic to the show. I was standing too far from the screen so I missed the opening ceremony at Eden Park. So I watched the Youtube video when I got home. It was amazing!! Go All Blacks! Go NZ! Make the kiwi nation proud!





Some short-lived peaceful moments before hyper-excitement begins...







Auckland was extra vibrant in this evening of celebration.







Here comes the All Black fans...




Then more tried to jump into the photo...




As I set up my tripod trying to take some shots, people on the street always want to come in your way.




The Tonga fan club is here!




It's pretty intense playing against NZ All Blacks. ^^








Look at their expressions...haha!




Try!!

yellowS15

very nice captures felix!!
the atmosphere looks awesome

and yeah the opening ceremony at eden park looks fantastic and surprised me to be honest

飘一季心情

看着都很激动啊。。。。。。。。。

Shutong

喜庆的瞬间抓拍得好到位！

第二张的天际线也好漂亮！

morningside

扫街照的样品哦！ 神情和场景拍得很有意思和内容。

恋恋纽西兰

无声的激动

Eyeport

每场有all blacks都应该很high吧，哈哈

yorky-little

拍的好漂亮哦

dadawa

second photo brings incredible colors....