What’s been happening in Wellington sky

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Since the memorable big chill snowmageddon event in mid August, there have been a few interesting sky related events around here. First there were two double rainbow sightings in a month. …

According to Metservice 'Rainbow is reflection of sun in a veil of falling water, it will be double if the veil is wide and consistent', and, '… spring is a showery season , and that helps allow sun + veil of falling rain to coexist'. In other workds any rainbows can be double rainbows if distance between the viewer and size of rain veil fall within certain parameters. A 'Myth busted!' moment?

Also there was the big short sharp hailstorm that came with marble size hailstones and recreated the "White Wellington Vista" of the snowmageddon.

Then there was the unexpected visit by the Royal New Zealand Air Force Red Checkers, which was a good test for my camera's autofocus and spot metering abilities.

Now the time has come to redirect my attention to what's happening on the ground. On the ground of rugby fields, more precisely. The Rugby World Cup 2011 finals will start this weekend in Wellington, with the "Battle of the Celts" match between the form teams Ireland and Wales. :yes:

:coffee:

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  2. Yes. "The Battle of the Celts" is going to be very interesting. Both are in a good form. The Irish have the momentum from their victory over Australia while the Welsh must be resolved to make up for the one point loss to the Springboks.

  3. Competition between any of the UK nations is usually quite fierce, should be a good game

  6. It's been a great fun, Deb. Great to see the teams from all corners of the Earth playing hard and enjoying Kiwi culture and hospitality. :yes: Did you know USA beat Russia 13-6 their pool? :cheers:

  7. Good you ya, mate! :yes:(You probably don't want to know Japan beat USA 20-14 in pre-World Cup friendly game. It's worth noting Japan had the home ground advantage, though.)

  9. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    Did you know USA beat Russia 13-6 their pool?

    No, I didn't. But now that I know…

  10. Deb, rugby is not about winning or losing. It's about passion, courage and excitement. It doesn't matter the team you're supporting is #1 or #20. Japan played France and lost 47-21, then played the mighty NZ All Blacks and lost 83-7. Still they played with a lot of passion and never gave up. And the kiwi rugby crowds cheered on Japan's "Brave Blossoms" because of that. :yes:

  11. "Rugby is a game for animals played by gentlemen and Football (soccer) is a game for gentlemen played by animals"

  13. πŸ˜† I guess the saying is too old to find the origin. I could only find this:

    Rugby never caught on with the lower class as Soccer did. Thus, the famous British saying, "Soccer is a gentleman’s game played by ruffians and Rugby is a ruffian’s game played by gentlemen."

    Although, there's also interesting and clearly Irish version:

    Rugby is a game for ruffians played by gentlemen, soccer is a game for gentlemen played by ruffians, Gaelic football is a game for ruffians played by ruffians but hurling is a game for gentlemen played by gentlemen.

  14. My favourite was whilst watching ice hockey, Russia V Canada (renowned for being bloody battles)The commentator said that he "went to a fight and a game of ice hockey broke out" or words to that effect πŸ˜†

  15. Thanks for the info, Sami. Never heard of hurling before. You learn something new every day. :D@DH πŸ˜†

  16. quote "The Rugby World Cup 2011 finals will start this weekend in Wellington, ……"I wish you much fun and better weather!

  17. The Battle of the Celts was won by the Welsh Dragons. It was a very good game of rugby. Intense, physical, courageous, uncompromising and often beautiful and magnificent. Exactly how rugby should be played. :yes:And this is my latest discovery, to be added to my "strapping young rugby players with cute smile" list. :p

  19. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    And don't you agree he is young and his look is rather pleasing?

    From a purely male point of view, I wouldn't know…

  20. @DHWhat? :rolleyes: Don't you think Mike Phillips had a good game? He's the man of the match, isn't he? And don't you agree he is young and his look is rather pleasing? πŸ˜€ Now the Battle across the Channel starts shortly. From the way France has played in the pool, my money is on England.

  21. Originally posted by 7Wellis:

    I wish you much fun and better weather!

    Hi, Angelika. Thank for your well-wish. I'm having great fun watching rugby on TV. Two big matches tonight. Weather isn't good today and cold. But no problem with rugby viewing. :DThank you for popping in, Angelika. Have a good weekend. πŸ™‚

  24. Originally posted by darkesthour:

    Its a girl thing

    Thank you very, very much! :happy:

  25. Originally posted by darkesthour:

    Its a girl thing then, i would not know about such things

    πŸ˜† You must admit he's an impressive player, though. Very tall for a half back, and powerful. He'll make up for my disappointment of losing FranΓ§ois Steyn to injury. :pOriginally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    my money is on England.

    Looks like I have to eat my words. The French has done it again! :yikes:

  26. I think I mentioned somewhere else that the French are playing a very tactical game.. It seems to be working too

  27. Yeah. They know how to score a win in the knock out stage. Kudos for them. I've just been to the waterfront for a quick walk to soak up the atmosphere. Wellington is putting another "nobody beats Wellington on a good day", sunny, calm and so beautiful. Will put the pictures up and write a post about it in due course. :DNow we'll have another mouthwatering double header today. The crash of the southern titans followed by the ABs vs ARG. πŸ˜€

  28. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    Now we'll have another mouthwatering double header today.

    πŸ˜€ Have fun!

  30. It was a heart breaking loss for the Spring Boks. The very tough game was played by the Aussies and their "Bieber" won the match for them with that super penalty goal. :up:As to the ABs game, I'm so happy the way my little hero Piri Weepu saved the day with his man of the match play. I have been his admirer since NZ Māori's win against the British Lions in 2005. I knew he was going to be big then :yes:

  32. They would obviously officiate the Australian games with true impartiality :rolleyes:

  33. Oh, yes. Will be massive. :yes: Hopefully we get better officiating than we saw yesterday to truly let the best team win. ;)IMHO the South African referees are the best, and, since the Spring Boks is now out, there's no reason why they can't officiate the rest of the matches. πŸ˜€

  34. Originally posted by darkesthour:

    They would obviously officiate the Australian games with true impartiality

    πŸ˜† I still think they will do a better job than Barns, Owens or B Lawrence. But you have a point about impartiality. Then I'd probably go for Rolland for ABs vs Wallabies, and Joubert for France vs Wales.

  35. It is really worrying. There'll, of course, be a huge impact on marine environment and wildlife, as well as on fishery stock. I don't want to see fish becoming any more expensive than it is now. πŸ˜₯

  36. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    Then I'd probably go for Rolland for ABs vs Wallabies, and Joubert for France vs Wales.

    πŸ˜† I was very close. It's Joubert for ABs vs AUS and Rolland for FR vs WAL. Meanwhile Year 2011 continues to be a year of disasters and terrors. Now a horror environmental disaster is striking the Bay of Plenty in the north. πŸ™

  39. We'll all have to go vegans eventually if food prices go up at this rate. :rolleyes:

  40. Hi MM, the new title here should be: "What happens in the sea around New Zealand?" I've heard in the news that a week after the accident to "Rena" at a reef of New Zealand in the fight against the oil spill the situation is alarming and dramatically. The remaining 1,300 tons of heavy oil from its tanks could flow into the sea, triggering the worst environmental disaster to date in the history of your country. Keeping my fingers crossed that a miracle happens! My thoughts are with you all!I had been at the Bay of Plenty and it was so beautiful.

  41. It is already the worst environmental maritime disaster at the current scale. It looks very bad. The ship is almost split in half. Another paradise lost, this time to a totally avoidable man-made disaster escalated badly because of delayed responses. It is very depressing. I do not want to write another post about a disaster. πŸ˜₯

  42. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    I do not want to write another post about a disaster

    I can totally understand you. It's incredible how much NZ and its people have been living through this year. I think of you / you.

  44. Originally posted by debplatt:

    Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:Did you know USA beat Russia 13-6 their pool? No, I didn't. But now that I know…

    USA Rugby receives International Rugby Board 2011 Development Award for their Rookie Rugby Programme. Well done! :yes: :cheers:

  45. Without your posts I'd know nothing about US Rugby, but then I don't follow the sports here that are widely popular. Nonetheless, good for the US Rugby team. :yes:

  46. Originally posted by debplatt:

    Nonetheless, good for the US Rugby team.

    The USA Eagles was one of the popular teams here at the pool stage. Young and passionate. :yes:

  48. I saw him but couldn't get close. I was standing by the street but he was on the other side of the truck. (Players were standing on open back of trucks during parade) I managed to cross the street and follow the truck. But crowds were so thick on the other side I couldn't approach. I took a couple of his pictures. Although I couldn't get close to Piri, I got see many core players up close. I even had a very quick handshake (hand slap) with Cory Jane! :yes:

  49. Originally posted by mimi_s_mum:

    quick handshake (hand slap) with Cory Jane!

    Have you washed your hands after that? πŸ˜‰

  50. I'm afraid the answer is yes. :oI've written a short post about the parade and uploaded a bunch of photos, Anglelika. I'm busy right now but when I have time, I intend to add descriptions to each photos and more content to the main post. So stay tuned there. πŸ˜‰

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