We had a beautifully coloured sunrise this morning, with
shades of orange, yellow and red (the photo does not do it justice). I am
not normally up that early but today I have been to Auckland and back on a
visit to my youngest son. I haven’t seen
him since lock-down, although we have kept in regular phone contact. It was a good visit and nice to catch up on
everything.
Last night eldest son and I watched our local Waikato Chiefs rugby team play the Otago Highlanders in Dunedin. It was a good game and we lost by one single point (disappointment!).
The game kicked off this year’s rugby season, the
start of the modified Super Rugby competition, and touted as the first sports game
worldwide to be broadcast live with a full arena of spectators since the world
locked down with Covid-19.
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| The Chiefs playing the Highlanders at Dunedin |
This evening we are watching another game (it is live on Sky Sports, and being broadcast to around seventy countries). This time the game is between the Auckland Blues and the Wellington Hurricanes, playing at Mt Eden in Auckland. They are playing before a sell-out crowd of 43,000 – something that would have been unheard of just a couple of weeks ago.
Super Rugby usually includes teams from Australia, South Africa, Japan, and
Argentina, as well as New Zealand. Super
Rugby Aotearoa is five regional New Zealand teams that will play each other for
the next ten weeks.
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| The Blues playing the Hurricanes at Auckland |
And now I am going to go and watch the rest of the game!
Margaret J
Glad you got to visit your son and such good news NZ is virus free, long may it continue. I hope these crowds don't tempt fate!
ReplyDeleteNew Zealand really is getting back to normal.
ReplyDeleteIt must have been wonderful to catch up with your son IRL. Lock down was not easy, but a lot shorter here in NZ - some overseas bloggers have been in isolation for 13 - 15 weeks!
ReplyDeleteI don't care much for rugby, but I babysat while SIL went out to watch with friends as DD was also out. Bit of a downer that the Chiefs were beaten....
Stay safe
Blessings
Maxine
Hello, Love the sunrise, just beautiful. I am glad you could visit your son! I think it will be a while before we see full arenas here. Take care! Enjoy your day, have a happy new week ahead!
ReplyDeleteI have never been a sports enthusiast. I know many people enjoy watching a variety of sports. Hockey is big in Canada though neither my husband nor I watch.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the season Margaret.
Yeh, rugby is back again. Soccor matches are beign played here but with only a very small number of spectators.
ReplyDeleteKeeps the sports enthusiasts here happy. They all gather in the cafeterias to watch on a wide screen when their favourite team is playing.
Must have been terrific to see your son close up and personal once again!!!
Whoaaaa you guys are really back to the old normal. I;m so proud and inspired by your country, we are still lightyears away from that surely. I got outside the house for the first time in 92 days and it's anxiety building me so much! I just hope we will still be allowed to work from home in the coming months because it will be hard for my mental health to be outside the house.
ReplyDeleteHugs for the new week dear Margaret!
I am glad you get to enjoy rugby again! Enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteAt least your local team only lost by a point. You didn't get trounced.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you must have had a good visit with your youngest son. Talking on the phone is not nearly as good being together.
F is Highlanders colours all the way through (like a stick of Brighton Rock). Halfway between her old home in Dunedin and where her brother lives in Ashburton is a rural mailbox - driving north it is painted in Highlanders colours, driving south you see the side painted in Crusaders colours. They've clearly got a dollar each way in that household.
ReplyDeleteHaha, what a fantastic mailbox - talk about sitting on the fence!
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