I had a night in Auckland before meeting up with Mum and Dad again for our journey back to Sydney. I’d been a little laid back in booking my accommodation and all the places that I wanted to stay were all fully booked. I hadn’t realised what a busy weekend in Auckland it was as the boats from the Volvo Ocean Race were due in and New Zealand were playing Australia in the Cricket World Cup! The only place that had any availability was a backpackers just off Queen Street in the city. The place had some pretty terrible reviews on all the hostel sites and I set my expectations extremely low! I was greeted in the room by a sign that actually acknowledged that the rooms were unhygienic! The room was stinkingly hot and noisy. The sports bar next door was already full of loud, pissed and pissed off Australians who had just lost the cricket to the NZ Black Caps! There were beer bottles and empty pizza boxes in the hallway and the carpets were slightly sticky. I changed quickly, stashed my stuff and got out of there.

I made my way down to the Viaduct and found a really lovely restaurant on the quieter side of the Viaduct. After dinner I walked over to the Volo Ocean Race village to watch the boats come in. I’d missed the first boat to arrive, the Spanish boat MAPFE, but stayed for a good couple of hours and saw the second, third and fourth boats arrive. There was a great atmosphere in the race village and it was a really well produced event with interviews with the crew and their families and lots of loud music and cheering to welcome the boats when they arrived.

Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing arrives at the Viaduct in 2nd place.

The Dongfeng Race team arrives at the Viaduct in 3rd place

Auckland skyline from the Viaduct.

The Dongfeng Race Team are greeted at the Viaduct in third place.

Team Alvimedica are greeted at the Viaduct after coming in 4th place.

With some trepidation I headed to the backpackers sometime after midnight. I was on the top bunk, which is always a nightmare especially if you want to go for a pee in the middle of the night. I still haven’t found an elegant and quiet way of getting down from the top bunk and those little ladders never seem to be that practical. This bunk was also unbelievably unstable, even the tiniest of movements resulted in the whole thing wobbling and squeaking. Obviously I didn’t get a great night’s sleep even with earplugs, but I did get some sleep, which considering everything was pretty good!

The next morning I made my way back down to the Viaduct to see the remaining boats that came in overnight and headed to the Art Gallery to see a cool interactive instillation. Finally I jumped on the bus and headed out to meet Mum and Dad and to get our flight to Sydney.

The Volo Ocean Race boats the next morning.

Digital exhibition at the Auckland Art Gallery.