The city has been taken over this week and weekend by the annual Rugby Sevens' touring party. Although there is a serious competitive side to the event, most people seem to treat it as a party, characterised by serious drinking, noise, and (often) outrageous costumes.
It starts with a parade through central Wellington the day before the gamnes begin, and then shifts to the Stadium. Along the way the streets become littered with fans, players and support staff alike.
I try to avoid the worst of the excesses, but I did watch the parade and couldn't avoid sights on the way home on Friday. Stuff also has a few photos.
The Teams | Fans | The Loopeys |
 |  Wellington's Batucada samba band lead the parade and set the pace and the mood   |  |
 |  |  A funny thing happened on the way to the stadium |
 |  The Cup they're all playing for |  Legging it to the Stadium |
 |  This turkey shows up every year, leading the England squad |  |
 |  Fiji's advance guard  Fijian fans |  Peter Pan and friends? |
 |  |  Holy cow! |
 |  |   First a drink, then, in a few minutes, back to the shopping |
 |  Not sure what these were/are, but they were hot in their costumes  And they enjoyed mugging for the cameras |  |
 |  Polynesian drummers with the Samoan team |  |
 |  The Scots' pipe band |  |
 |  Part of the South African contingent |  How did these fellas get out? |
 |  Referees are an integral part of the show, sometimes even dwarfing the Stadium itself!  |  Beautiful tails or wings? |
 |  The Colonel is obviously a fan of the Sevens! |  |
 |   Are they painted? They were. And she was holding the bowl very firmly! |  |
 |  Handing out goodies to the crowd |  |
 |  Rocking out |  I think he was trying to hitch a ride, although I'm not entirely sure! |
 |  Game day is here | |
 Not sure this woman was interested in talking to whoever this is | ||
 This group was Irish and discussing which characters they were | ||
 Spectators queueing for the toilets at the Railway Station | ||
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