Auckland put on a hell of a party for the opening night of the Rugby World Cup. The opening ceremony kicked off at Eden Park at 7:30pm, followed by the first game, NZ vs Tonga at 8:30pm. At the same time, there was a world cup opening party in the CBD, with waka arriving, a procession of 600 warriors through the city, a mass haka and free concerts by Dave Dobbyn & the Finn brothers on Queens Wharf. Our place has a great view of "party central", Queens Wharf. We can see the big screens from here, although they are too far away to really be able to see anything. The best view was on TV. We can hear pretty well, so could hear both of the concerts, though. Stephen took a video of the view so will link to it when I can.