Merepeka Raukawa-Tait: NZ deserves to party

New Zealand deserves to party. This past year has been an annus horribilis. Pike River and the Christchurch earthquakes rocked our country to the core.

We are all one family when disasters on this scale happen and we had to step up big time. We feel for the families affected and continue to do and give what we can.

It's been a hard year all round. A large number of New Zealand families are just trying to get through the daily grind of survival. Business confidence is still low and consumer spending way down. Businesses are not investing for expansion and growth, just taking a wait-and-see approach. Families are not spending, making do and conserving what savings they may have.

So partying hard - we won't do subdued with the world of rugby joining us - will go a long way to lifting our spirits, even if only for a short time.

And the opening ceremony for Rugby World Cup 2011 at Eden Park was "simply the best". It was a stunning display using modern technology, and hundreds of willing volunteers, to join forces and create the magical backdrop for weaving our stories. New Zealand will never have the unlimited millions of dollars that bigger countries have available to stage grand scale openings.

But we take what we're good at, telling our stories, and showcase them in the best way possible. Living at the bottom of the world, we have always had to think smart and use our resources and imagination to get the best results.

The hundreds of thousands of people from around the world who saw the opening would not have guessed we had 12 months of sadness behind us. We covered that up well. But if the crowds that descended on Auckland for the opening ceremony and first game in the series are indicative of how people are feeling right now, and of what's to happen around the country over the next six weeks, we're in for a fantastic time.

The provinces are ready and waiting their turn to be the hostess with the mostest!

But it didn't all go to plan on Friday. The Auckland public transport system, or more specifically the rail system, let the side down badly. You can't encourage Aucklanders to use public transport and not expect a foul-up. Aucklanders are different.

They don't do public transport, never have, and for thousands probably Friday being their first experience, never will again. Aucklanders prefer to sit for up to three hours a day in their cars, on their own, rather than use public transport. True, the game organisers and transport officials didn't realise how successful their encouraging message "use public transport" would be. They didn't know how many people were going to respond.

They expected around 30,000 but apparently it was double that number who turned up for a ride into the city.

For months, Transport Auckland had been mapping out the best transport routes. A special website provided information on where to conveniently park and ride, when taking either the train or bus. So for the first time thousands of Aucklanders decided this might be the way to go. Wrong. The system couldn't cope.

The thousands of people from Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Northland also added to the transport woes. They wanted to be part of the celebrations as well and were told of the convenient "park and ride" system.

Any minor delays would be offset by the hassle-free arrival at the stadium. But the delays were not minor and between 2000 and 3000 people never got to their seats to see the opening ceremony.

Still, thousands of fans enjoyed themselves at the wharf and at the stadium, and kicked the Rugby World Cup off to a great start. But there's something to be said for parking up in front of the TV with some mates, beers and pizza on hand, knowing you can crash in your own bed when you've had enough partying.