The Rugby World Cup hogged headlines around the North Island from summer right up until the lead-up to the opening ceremony – and not all were positive. Restaurant operators and retailers grizzled about special conditions and fees imposed on them to operate during the Cup, greedy accommodation providers were accused of gouging amid general moaning about match ticket prices, and naysayers niggled about Auckland’s preparedness for transporting armies of fans to venues. Come opening night they were proved right in the worst way possible. Swamped trains ran out of puff and were abandoned mid-track by furious stranded fans, big screens at ‘party central’ in downtown Auckland went blank, and streets lining the wharfs were gridlocked as 200,000-plus people attempted to elbow into a zone designed for a fraction of that number.

The much larger number of people than expected in the fan zone was effectively an own-goal by organisers who all week had encouraged Aucklanders to get down to the free opening night RWC party. Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully quickly seized the opportunity to duck responsibility, make himself out to be a White Knight charging in to rescue Auckland from incompetents and make Left-leaning Supercity mayor Len Brown look like a chump. McCully announced he would personally take charge of future crowd and transport planning so there would be no more stuff-ups. Of course, everyone by then had conceded the fiasco was a one-off; people had learned their lesson and crowds would not be as big next time – win-win for McCully.

The Tongan fans quickly turned around this tide of I-told-you-so negativity and hand wringing when thousands turned out to cheer on their team on and off the field. Residents were delightedly dumbfounded – who knew so many Tongans lived in Auckland? The RWC really brought home just how big a cultural melting pot New Zealand’s largest city has become. Stadiums teemed with homegrown Samoan, South African, Tongan, Fijian, English, Scots, Welsh and Irish supporters with sprinklings of Aussie, French, Argentines and even Russian residents.

Just a month earlier New Zealand celebrated (skiers, and kids whose schools had to shut) and suffered (everyone else) its heaviest snow in decades. Wellington and Auckland shivered through ‘once-in-a-lifetime blizzards’ that closed roads, shut off power and grounded flights. The Antarctic blast dumped snow into these major North Island cities for the first time in decades.


The RWC proved a hard act to follow: Middle-aged guys in suits kissing babies and glad-handing through shopping malls couldn’t hope to match the gladiatorial deeds of rugby’s superpowers and minnows. Our General Election proved to be a bit of a fizzer – record low turnout with the result already in the bag.


Although there was one big surprise: New Zealand First helmed by Winston Peters roared back to life, claiming eight Parliament seats. Peters’ traditional, mainly elderly fan base – which deserted him in 2008 – delivered NZ First 7% of the party vote. Provincial New Zealand once again came through for Peters with his party mopping up almost 13% of votes in Tauranga-Bay of Plenty, and around 9.6% each in Whangarei (where Peters has family ties) and Wanganui.

There was a slick showing in Tauranga of a very different kind prior to the election when container vessel Rena ran aground on Astrolabe Reef on October 5. Rough weather and strong swells around the Astrolabe Reef caused oil previously trapped under Rena to leak. Sticky blobs soon washed onto the region’s favourite beaches at Papamoa and Mount Maunganui.

Across the way in Hamilton, the whiff of high octane and scorched rubber was disappearing from the Waikato. Hamilton has had to surrender its much-vaunted leg of the V8Supercar series. Next year's V8 races will be the last in the city after councillors agreed to let race organisers back out of the event following huge losses at this year’s race. V8 Supercars Australia is hunting for an alternative venue but warns it might have to pull out of New Zealand after next year.

On the education front, the continuing wrangle over National Standards continued. Despite hundreds of protests, the return of a National-led Government made league tables for primary schools inevitable. National leader John Key spelled it out during the election campaign: National's ‘next steps’ on the controversial National Standards scheme would include using performance information to ‘strengthen the accountability of schools’.

Education spokeswoman Anne Tolley said primary schools would, from next year, be required to publish their results against the National Standards:

"We want the system to be far more accountable to parents and communities," she commented.

In what looks like a looming new dust-up, principals are seething about government plans to trial charter schools in South Auckland. Associate education minister John Banks is promoting charter schools as a new way to approach education system failings. Under National's support deal with the Act Party, trials of a model will allow community, religious or ethnic groups and private companies to operate state-funded schools.

Bullying inside and outside of schools also continued to make headlines. After a spate of horrifyingly brutal bashings, the Human Rights Commission called for the fight against bullying to become a priority for New Zealand.

As the year closes some North Island centres have experienced a small dose of what Christchurch’s beleaguered citizens have been subjected to all year – earthquakes. The North Island was rocked by a 4.8 magnitude quake centred 150km east of Te Araroa at a depth of 33km. Earthquakes have most recently being felt in Taupo, Hawke's Bay and twice – so far - in Wellington.

Holiday homeowners along the North Island’s most prestigious coastal belt also received an unwelcome shake-up with confirmation their property values have tanked. They are having to digest news that most of them haven’t made a penny in capital growth for eight years. Values have slipped back to 2003 levels at most places – from the Far North, Bay of Islands, north of Auckland down to the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty. Biggest losers are Paihia (down almost 26% from the Feb 08 peak), Ruakaka (dipped 19.5% from April 07) and Matarangi (dived 17.6% since March 08). The only spot holding its own is Waiheke Island, a 35-minute ferry ride from Auckland – laid-back playground of the city’s rich-listers, corporate honchos and expat money traders.

Still, there’s always a chance, however slim, that the Black Caps can come good and give us something to cheer about over the summer break. 

Postscript: Maddeningly unpredictable, the Black Caps have defied their doubters (i.e. me) and mugged The Convicts in the second test at Hobart, winning by seven runs. Their first win against Australia in 18 years. A great turnaround after the lame display Brisbane.