{"id":11325,"date":"2012-11-09T12:05:51","date_gmt":"2012-11-09T12:05:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=11325"},"modified":"2012-11-09T12:05:51","modified_gmt":"2012-11-09T12:05:51","slug":"itu-triathlon-world-champs-opening-ceremony-new-zealand-day-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2012\/11\/itu-triathlon-world-champs-opening-ceremony-new-zealand-day-3\/","title":{"rendered":"ITU Triathlon World Champs Opening Ceremony – New Zealand Day 3"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hotel<\/a>

Hotel Room View<\/p><\/div>\n

Finally after 2 full days of travelling we touched down in\u00a0Auckland at around 1pm and now it was time to get through passport control, customs and biosecurity. Being an island that has been separated from elsewhere for the past 100 million years or so, the flora and fauna of New Zealand has a high percentage of unique, endemic species and they’d like to keep it that way. Any seeds or biological material that are accidentally imported into the country can pose a threat to these species and many of their plants and animals are threatened by invasive species. They are therefore understandably very strict about the\u00a0importation\u00a0either\u00a0purposely or by accident of such material.<\/p>\n

We thought it was best to be safe and declare anything that we thought might be a problem. They are\u00a0particularly keen to inspect walking boots, bike tyres and any fruit juices, honey or other biological products. We ended up having all of our bags checked, including my bike but all was OK. They were even happy with the way we had cleaned our walking boots. It took a while but we were through and into the country where we were met by travel agents from Nirvana, loaded into a minibus and driven the 35 minute transfer to our hotel in central Auckland. My parents were staying in a hotel just across the road – or at least they were supposed to be – but we were in the official TEAM GB Hotel, the\u00a0Rydges in downtown Auckland. It was a 4\/5 star hotel, right at the centre of the action. We were on the 13th floor with a view (just) of the harbour and a really good view of the Sky Tower.<\/p>\n

\"Sky<\/a>

Sky Tower from out Hotel Room<\/p><\/div>\n

There was no time for soaking it all in though as the rush was now on to get registered for the race, collect my athletes pass, pick-up tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies and get ready. All of this took place on Queens Wharf on the dockside,\u00a0just a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel. We found it fairly easily and collected the tickets and passes from the Triathlon Information Desk in ‘The Cloud’ and then headed to the expo tent to register for the race itself. This was amazingly quick and well organised and within ten minutes I had registered, had various bands on my wrist and had my race pack which consisted of a number of pamphlets with\u00a0Athlete\u00a0Information, a black swimming hat, a T-Shirt, a timing chip, a free drinks bottle, a drop-bag, various flyers and leaflets, a free magazine, my race number and stickers for my bike, helmet, drop bag and such like. This was all beginning to feel a little too real and I was beginning to feel a little out of my depth.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My Race Number<\/p><\/div>\n

We then went back to the hotel to get changed into my team kit and head back down to the waterfront for the Parade of Nations and Opening Ceremony. It was at this point that we learnt that my parents had been moved to a hotel a little way off in another area of Auckland. It was a 20 minute walk away, not the 1 minute walk we had planned and this proved to be quite a nuisance during the holiday. No longer could we drop Morgan off with them for an hour or so if we wanted to and going back and forth to see them wasn’t going to be easy. They were given taxi passes to get to the action but it was pretty inconvenient, not to mention the fact that the area they were in was nowhere near as nice as the one we were in.<\/p>\n

We did all manage to meet up for the Opening Ceremony though, I headed off with Graham and Sharon to the Events Centre where all the athletes were to congregate whilst Anna and Morgan met my parents and found a strategic place to watch (and eventually join in). There was a fair bit of hanging around at the events centre in a chilly wind but it was great to see all of the athletes from over 40 different countries congregating in their team kit, waving flags, and generally having a good time. We eventually set off following a group of Moari’s doing their usual chanting and posticulating (made up word I think).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Best Triathletes – Up Close<\/p><\/div>\n

We walked en masse waving flags and having photos taken across the bridge, along the waterfront and into The Cloud where the opening ceremony took place.\u00a0The opening ceremony was good with the usual bits from officials and VIPs and a some more Moari Haka chanting, then it was time for the pasta party that we’d been looking forward to as we were now all very hungry.<\/p>\n\n\t\t