My first NZI Sevens experience! (7th February 2009)
The day has finally arrived!! I'm SO excited - this was my first 7s event that I'm actually taking part i.e. going to the stadium AND wearing a costume! Yay!
Was up at 9am and got showered and ready for the long day ahead. Texted Claus around 11am to see what time he was planning to head to the stadium and he asked me to head over to his place to help him dye his hair. Dye your hair???? According to our Superman here, he needed to dye his hair black to look the character. His argument was that Clark Kent has black hair. Whatever - I say he's just a vain, vain man :P Went to the nearby pharmacy to buy his hair dye and back to his place to dye his brown hair black. I didn't really end up helping him much except taking photos of the whole dying process in a laughing fit!
Gee, you sure are taking your own sweet time, Claus...It didn't bother me as I was having fun teasing him :) Scott and Alicia were heading to the stadium as well and Scott was trying to organise a time to meet up and head over together. We had planned to head out around midday but Claus still wasn't ready at that time (plus we still haven't eaten lunch) so we decided to just meet up later in the stadium. Scott and Alicia were going as Eyptians and when I told Claus that they were telling us to hurry up, Claus said to also mention that we Superheroes don't talk to dead people. I cracked up laughing at the smart comeback and I did actually text it to Scott, who laughed as well. Haha! Photos taken at Claus': http://www.flickr.com/photos/8070917@N05/sets/72157616211413242/detail/
Around 2pm (after Claus made us both lunch), we headed into town in our costumes. It felt so odd walking in these 3-inch high chunky red boots that felt as if weighing me down. Slow down, Claus, I can't run after you! Claus was running around the streets in his silly antics, 'flying' through the blocks, teasing random people and even ran across the street to help a lady carry her groceries! I had one hand covering my mouth and the other holding my tummy, laughing till my tummy hurts. Oh dear, this is going to be one crazy day...and I have to put up with him the whole time!
Courtenay Place was filled with crowds in different themed costumes. It was as if Wellington had becomed one big Halloween or Mardi Gras party - you look more normal in a costume today than not in one! I wondered what tourists who arrived for the first time in Wellington would think of life here if they turned up this weekend. They must think this town is party, party, party - haha! A group of people outside Sweet Mother's Kitchen hummed the Superman theme song as we walked past! Hilarious!!
We decided to skip the initial plan of walking to Westpac Stadium (even though it was a gorgeous day) because those boots were causing blisters to my ankles - ouch! Claus saw the stadium route bus pull up at the Courtenay Place bus stop and before I knew it, he had picked me up and ran carrying me towards the bus! The bus driver was sniggering as he took our $3 fare having witnessed the whole thing. Eeks, embarrassing! Did I also mention that the bus was filled with happy, crazy and semi-drunk people in costumes? Oh yeah...
At 3pm, we arrived at the stadium. Streams of people were queuing up to go in. Such an amazing sight to see the creative costumes! Superman's first task here was to find the first aid office so I could get some plasters for my blisters :( I couldn't believe I actually had to fill in a form just to get a plaster! Weird...
Our uncovered seats had a view smack in the middle of the field and lucky for us, not out in the baking hot sun. AWESOME! The afternoon was spent watching the rugby teams fight it out on the field, laughing and chatting over beers and just soaking up the atmosphere of the event. Around 4.30pm, Scott finally found us and one by one the others came by to join us: Alicia, Jessica, Greg and his Top Gun boys, and Flo. All of us had such great costumes - photos, photos, photos! Alicia really looked the part of Cleopatra and Jessica was a sexy bunny while boys Flo and Scott were Eyptians in their own ways ;)
Did I mention that Claus had all his personal belongings like money and phone hidden inside his red underpants? You should take a look at the photo I took...the bulge did caught a few stares...hehe, and I purposely rang his phone just to startle him... :P
The venue was packing up as the games went on. Surprisingly, time seemed to pass by very quickly and we left the stadium around 9.30pm, heading back into town on the Stadium Shuttle bus. That was some 6 hours spent at the stadium - wow! There were performances such as dances, a parade, spot prize games and a singing competition in between games as well. All in all, an interesting experience for me and a totally different vibe to the normal rugby games held here. I don't really think most people here were for the rugby ;) England won over team NZ in the finals and I have to admit, that did put a damper on the crowd but oh well, better luck next round.
The queues to the buses heading into town were so long! I had to sit on Claus' lap during the bus ride and he was being mischevious, telling me to ring his mobile so I could feel the vibration coming from his underpants. Wait, wait, wait...hahahaha! I can SO feel the vibrations and couldn't help but laugh :P Photos taken today: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8070917@N05/sets/72157613582199667/detail/
Several friends of mine who didn't participate in this year's 7s were out in town having drinks so I had Claus come along to join the gang at Lagerfield on Blair St (plus to show off our crazy costumes!). Bumped into several other common friends of ours as we roam the streets. Haha, it was so cute to have little kids coming up to Claus for a photo - they really do think he's Superman. Cute! I got a text from Helbert saying I looked nice in my costume. Where ARE you??? I looked around the crowd but couldn't see him! "I can see you...," he replied when I asked him where he was. Argh! Finally found him sniggering underneath the tree with a beer in hand outside The Establishment with his flatmates and other friends of ours. You rascal! Caught up with friends for a bit and taking lots of photos as the night went on.
Superman being Superman, Claus kept disappearing on me throughout the night. He was probably 'flying' around saving damsles in distress. Oh well, I'll just hang out with my mates then. James found me in the crowd and we went over to join the rest of the bunch outside The Tasting Room for a few beers. Oh my god, there was a table of girls dressed up as Amy Winehouse - is THAT even a costume genre? They were behaving much like the singer, lolling their heads half-drunk and throwing ice cubes at random patrons!
James and I decided to go check out the rest of the street party in town. Most of the Courtenay Place area was blocked out to vehicles with makeshift stages set up for live bands and DJs, and people were just dancing on the streets. We had so much fun hopping from one stage to another, dancing in the crowd to the music played. Strangely, the rest of our gang decided to take off home one by one and we were the only 2 left still prancing around town and clubs (my legs were so sore from all the walking and jumping up and down to the music in these boots) till 2am. Perhaps because some of us had a big night out last night so were just feeling tired. Plus the fact that I took part in the event and most of them didn't, it was probably just another Friday or Saturday night out for them, whereas for me, I was all hyped up for my 1st 7s weekend. Honestly, this year's street party wasn't as packed and happening compared to last year's despite this year being the 7s 10th anniversary. Still, I had great fun and now I can put another tick on my checklist - been there and done that. Tick! Photos taken out and about town tonight: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8070917@N05/sets/72157613579999889/detail/
Was up at 9am and got showered and ready for the long day ahead. Texted Claus around 11am to see what time he was planning to head to the stadium and he asked me to head over to his place to help him dye his hair. Dye your hair???? According to our Superman here, he needed to dye his hair black to look the character. His argument was that Clark Kent has black hair. Whatever - I say he's just a vain, vain man :P Went to the nearby pharmacy to buy his hair dye and back to his place to dye his brown hair black. I didn't really end up helping him much except taking photos of the whole dying process in a laughing fit!
Gee, you sure are taking your own sweet time, Claus...It didn't bother me as I was having fun teasing him :) Scott and Alicia were heading to the stadium as well and Scott was trying to organise a time to meet up and head over together. We had planned to head out around midday but Claus still wasn't ready at that time (plus we still haven't eaten lunch) so we decided to just meet up later in the stadium. Scott and Alicia were going as Eyptians and when I told Claus that they were telling us to hurry up, Claus said to also mention that we Superheroes don't talk to dead people. I cracked up laughing at the smart comeback and I did actually text it to Scott, who laughed as well. Haha! Photos taken at Claus': http://www.flickr.com/photos/8070917@N05/sets/72157616211413242/detail/
Around 2pm (after Claus made us both lunch), we headed into town in our costumes. It felt so odd walking in these 3-inch high chunky red boots that felt as if weighing me down. Slow down, Claus, I can't run after you! Claus was running around the streets in his silly antics, 'flying' through the blocks, teasing random people and even ran across the street to help a lady carry her groceries! I had one hand covering my mouth and the other holding my tummy, laughing till my tummy hurts. Oh dear, this is going to be one crazy day...and I have to put up with him the whole time!
Courtenay Place was filled with crowds in different themed costumes. It was as if Wellington had becomed one big Halloween or Mardi Gras party - you look more normal in a costume today than not in one! I wondered what tourists who arrived for the first time in Wellington would think of life here if they turned up this weekend. They must think this town is party, party, party - haha! A group of people outside Sweet Mother's Kitchen hummed the Superman theme song as we walked past! Hilarious!!
We decided to skip the initial plan of walking to Westpac Stadium (even though it was a gorgeous day) because those boots were causing blisters to my ankles - ouch! Claus saw the stadium route bus pull up at the Courtenay Place bus stop and before I knew it, he had picked me up and ran carrying me towards the bus! The bus driver was sniggering as he took our $3 fare having witnessed the whole thing. Eeks, embarrassing! Did I also mention that the bus was filled with happy, crazy and semi-drunk people in costumes? Oh yeah...
At 3pm, we arrived at the stadium. Streams of people were queuing up to go in. Such an amazing sight to see the creative costumes! Superman's first task here was to find the first aid office so I could get some plasters for my blisters :( I couldn't believe I actually had to fill in a form just to get a plaster! Weird...
Our uncovered seats had a view smack in the middle of the field and lucky for us, not out in the baking hot sun. AWESOME! The afternoon was spent watching the rugby teams fight it out on the field, laughing and chatting over beers and just soaking up the atmosphere of the event. Around 4.30pm, Scott finally found us and one by one the others came by to join us: Alicia, Jessica, Greg and his Top Gun boys, and Flo. All of us had such great costumes - photos, photos, photos! Alicia really looked the part of Cleopatra and Jessica was a sexy bunny while boys Flo and Scott were Eyptians in their own ways ;)
Did I mention that Claus had all his personal belongings like money and phone hidden inside his red underpants? You should take a look at the photo I took...the bulge did caught a few stares...hehe, and I purposely rang his phone just to startle him... :P
The venue was packing up as the games went on. Surprisingly, time seemed to pass by very quickly and we left the stadium around 9.30pm, heading back into town on the Stadium Shuttle bus. That was some 6 hours spent at the stadium - wow! There were performances such as dances, a parade, spot prize games and a singing competition in between games as well. All in all, an interesting experience for me and a totally different vibe to the normal rugby games held here. I don't really think most people here were for the rugby ;) England won over team NZ in the finals and I have to admit, that did put a damper on the crowd but oh well, better luck next round.
The queues to the buses heading into town were so long! I had to sit on Claus' lap during the bus ride and he was being mischevious, telling me to ring his mobile so I could feel the vibration coming from his underpants. Wait, wait, wait...hahahaha! I can SO feel the vibrations and couldn't help but laugh :P Photos taken today: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8070917@N05/sets/72157613582199667/detail/
Several friends of mine who didn't participate in this year's 7s were out in town having drinks so I had Claus come along to join the gang at Lagerfield on Blair St (plus to show off our crazy costumes!). Bumped into several other common friends of ours as we roam the streets. Haha, it was so cute to have little kids coming up to Claus for a photo - they really do think he's Superman. Cute! I got a text from Helbert saying I looked nice in my costume. Where ARE you??? I looked around the crowd but couldn't see him! "I can see you...," he replied when I asked him where he was. Argh! Finally found him sniggering underneath the tree with a beer in hand outside The Establishment with his flatmates and other friends of ours. You rascal! Caught up with friends for a bit and taking lots of photos as the night went on.
Superman being Superman, Claus kept disappearing on me throughout the night. He was probably 'flying' around saving damsles in distress. Oh well, I'll just hang out with my mates then. James found me in the crowd and we went over to join the rest of the bunch outside The Tasting Room for a few beers. Oh my god, there was a table of girls dressed up as Amy Winehouse - is THAT even a costume genre? They were behaving much like the singer, lolling their heads half-drunk and throwing ice cubes at random patrons!
James and I decided to go check out the rest of the street party in town. Most of the Courtenay Place area was blocked out to vehicles with makeshift stages set up for live bands and DJs, and people were just dancing on the streets. We had so much fun hopping from one stage to another, dancing in the crowd to the music played. Strangely, the rest of our gang decided to take off home one by one and we were the only 2 left still prancing around town and clubs (my legs were so sore from all the walking and jumping up and down to the music in these boots) till 2am. Perhaps because some of us had a big night out last night so were just feeling tired. Plus the fact that I took part in the event and most of them didn't, it was probably just another Friday or Saturday night out for them, whereas for me, I was all hyped up for my 1st 7s weekend. Honestly, this year's street party wasn't as packed and happening compared to last year's despite this year being the 7s 10th anniversary. Still, I had great fun and now I can put another tick on my checklist - been there and done that. Tick! Photos taken out and about town tonight: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8070917@N05/sets/72157613579999889/detail/
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