Issue 17
10 March 2012
Bonjour! It's FRANCE day at the Global Party in the Race Village and it looks
like Groupama might just make it to the party - the leaders of Leg 4 are
currently scheduled to arrive in Auckland late tonight.
Behind Groupama there's a battle royal for the podium places between Emirates
Team New Zealand's entry CAMPER, Puma and Telefonica with all three boats set to
arrive in Auckland late Sunday afternoon.
Read the latest Race news here
Sunday is USA day at the Global Party. Check our website for full details of the
day's entertainment. See you there!
The 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race
The Race features nine Legs with Stopovers in Cape Town (South Africa), Abu
Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Sanya (China), Auckland (New Zealand), Itajai
(Brazil), Miami (USA), Lisbon (Portugal) and Lorient (France) with the finish in
Galway (Ireland) in July 2012.
Six teams have entered the Race, including CAMPER with Emirates Team New
Zealand.
News from CAMPER
Keep up to date with the latest news direct from Emirates Team New Zealand
entry CAMPER by reading the ETNZ blog. Read more [Sorry, this link had a problem]s" href="http://etnzblog.com/#%21news" target="_blank">here.
Follow the Race
The organisers of the 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race have made it easy to follow
the live action from the Race every minute of the day. There's live video
streaming, a Race Tracker, blogs, daily updates on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter
in addition to global media coverage. Find all the links here
The Auckland Stopover
The Volvo Ocean Race fleet is now scheduled to arrive in Auckland at the end
of Leg 4 from Sanya (China) on Saturday 10 March 2012 (subject to change). The
Pro-Am Race is on Friday 16 March and the In-Port Race on Saturday 17 March. The
Start of Leg 5 will take place on Sunday 18 March.
View the Race Village
Get a sneak preview of the the Auckland Stopover with our 3D flyover video
and see how Auckland's Viaduct Harbour is being transformed into the Race
Village. Watch it here
Website
Keep up to date with all the news from the Auckland Stopover on our website . We are on Facebook and Twitter
too. | |
The Welcome |
The Volvo Ocean Race fleet is in for a typically warm New Zealand
welcome on arrival in Auckland.
Two sailing waka (ceremonial canoes) will be patrolling just outside the
Viaduct Harbour entrance, waiting for their guests. As each yacht comes in, the
waka will take up position on each side of the boat to escort it into the
harbour and conches will be blown.
Then a karanga (cry of welcome) will be called from the Pohutukawa Tower at
the end of the harbour.
As the yacht comes further into the harbour, its team song will be played, as
it will be each time the boats leave or enter the harbour. These official songs
have greeted the boats at each stop on the long ocean race. The team songs all
have meaning and resonance for the yacht crews, although sometimes this is a
little obscure.
For example, while CAMPER with Emirates Team New Zealand’s song, I See Red,
is by iconic New Zealand band Split Enz, Abu Dhabie Ocean Racing’s theme tune is
She Sells Sanctuary by British rock band The Cult. France’s entry Groupama chose
Highway to Hell by Australian rockers AC/DC, PUMA has Praise You by Fatboy Slim,
and China’s Team Sanya has Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, after their Chinese
crew member “Tiger” Tendiang He. Spanish team Telefonica has, like New Zealand,
gone with a countryman, Jaime Anglada, and the song Cada Noche.
When the cheering and whistles accompanying the song subside, the crew will
greet their families and leave their boat to go back stage from the welcoming
pontoon.
Also on the pontoon will be the Pounamu kapa haka group performing a powhiri
or ritual greeting ceremony, and crew members will be invited to hongi, or press
noses.
Government regulations must be observed, and the crew will then go through
customs and immigration formalities behind the stage. Next on stage is the
official welcome from local and Volvo Ocean Race dignitaries.
Each crew member will receive a Kiwi welcome bag which includes a DriPhone
cover (a Kiwi invention that protects a phone from water, sand, dust etc) and
lots of Kiwi delicacies including pineapple lumps, Marmite, Anzac biscuits,
mallow puffs, L&P and much more!
Then it’s time for photos and more interviews before the crew is at last free
to get together with family and friends for the first time in 20-odd
days. | | |
Hungry? Lots of choice! |
Taking a walk round the Volvo Ocean Race village can work up quite an
appetite. In the interests of satisfying such hunger pangs, the intrepid
reporters of the Auckland Stopover media team went for a look at the food on
offer.
First stop was Banger Boys gourmet sausages. Billie Neilson and her business
partner Will Keely have been hawking their wares round the big sporting events
for three years. They offer their own brand of lamb, beef or pork sausages (all
gluten-free) in an artisan bread roll, garnished with caramelised onion, aioli
and handmade sauces. A new item on the menu is the Banger Boys burger, a 160g
pure Angus beef pattie with sauces, aioli and mayonnaise.
The sausages are meaty and delicious, but the standout is the beef pattie.
The meat has been ground very fine, resulting in a dense and moist pattie
without compromising on flavour. Recommended.
Sausage in roll - $7.50
Burger - $9.50
Next up was Piggy’s Pies. Again, this is a company that only sells its
products at events such as the Rugby World Cup and the World Rowing
Championships. Dave O’Hagan and his partner Dion Ashton have been in business
since 2010, and buy the pies from Luvapie in Otahuhu. The most popular flavours
are pepper steak, steak and cheese, vegetarian, mince and cheese, and steak.
Sausage rolls are also available.
Pies - $5
Sausage rolls - $4
Last stop on the lunchtime stroll was the Fired Wood Oven Pizza Company. Rob
Roughan’s mobile units have been serving pizzas for four years at corporate
events and, in the summer, when there is one, at music festivals around the
region.
Rob and his team sell five flavours of pizza – margherita, Italian sausage
with olives, ham and mushroom, smoked salmon and crème fraiche, and smoked
chicken and cranberry. They make their own dough and sauces, and when possible
age the dough for a day for better flavour. Rob also imports a range of
wood-fired pizza ovens from Italy for the domestic market.
The sausage and olive pizza we sampled was excellent – the base was thin and
crisp, the wood-fired flavour was pronounced, and the olives were split and
stoned – a nice touch.
10-inch pizza - $15-$18
After all that food, what better than a good coffee? And that’s just what
Nomad Espresso provides. They have a fleet of mobile vans, supplying sporting
events in Auckland. Their preferred brand of beans is Allpress.
Small coffee - $4
Large coffee -
$5 | | | |