Rugby World Cup is in its Semi finals now with New Zealand, Australia, Wales and France battling it off for the winner of this year's cup. Auckland has invested a lot of time, effort and money into making the city looking festive for visitors all over the world. One of the most prominent structure was "The Cloud" by the ferry terminal. It was named because it looks like a long cloud... representing NZ as the Land of the long, white cloud. It is THE location where every weekend there will be giant screens showing the teams playing against each other. As with any good New Zealand events, there are always good beer and wine to go with it. There are lots of stalls selling finger food, pizzas, pies etc.
As we got out early from classes today, Hannah and I took the chance to wander about "The Cloud". Inside The Cloud, there are exhibitions of local "inventions" from merino wool, to high-tech, environmental friendly bikes and of course, vine yards. We wandered around a bit, settled down by the side, and just like any good kiwis, we have a beer, a pie and chips. Chips is equivalent to fries in US. I think sometimes it makes sense to call fries chips instead.. we always say fish and chips, not fish and fries! :P
One of the unique features of the event was the reuse of materials. Shipping containers were reused to display exhibitions, video screens etc. ATMS were even installed into some containers. TV screens were installed in huge gas containers to let the audience watched the live events. Concrete stabs were used to make playgrounds and structures.
The NZ rugby team is called the "All Blacks"... we are not a big supporter of rugby...we don't even know the rules!..Looks a bit like American football, except, they don't wear any protections, and they are violent!
That must have been fun :) Wish I stuck around to see a game or two just for the atmosphere and experience
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