After picking up our rental car in Barcelona, it was time to start our gradual drive towards the south of Spain. We had booked a 'medium' sized car (as 'small' rental cars are not allowed on the motorways in Spain) and our wheels for the next few days turned out to be a very racy black Alfa Romeo, Giulietta. The drive from Barcelona to Valencia takes about three and a half hours, opting for the quicker toll roads, as taking the non toll routes would have added almost two hours to the trip. This turned out to be an expensive experience with charges of almost €40. It did however end up being the only day with toll charges as all the other motorways we took on subsequent days had no tolls.

A trip to the aquarium, 'Oceanographic' in Valencia was on the agenda and wandering through the many themed areas there was a clear conservation based message portrayed. As well as many colourful fish, sharks, beluga whales, with their cheeky little dolphin like faces, seals and many other colourful sea creatures there was also a wetlands aviary with flamingos and other bird life. There is amazing modern architecture in the area near the aquarium with massive buildings and structures that could only be described as grand.

We found a tapas restaurant about 50 metres walk from our hotel. The staff were incredibly helpful and the food superb. They had glass cabinets with cold tapas to 'help yourself' to and every few minutes a 'ships bell' would ring and the waiting staff would bring hot tapas around the tables, this was accompanied by laughing and giggles. As in many tapa restaurants in Spain each thing you took to eat had a toothpick in it and you paid for what you had eaten by the number of toothpicks on your plate at the end.

Before leaving Valencia the following morning, we headed to the port. Having sat on the edge of my seat through many an 'Americas cup' yacht race in the past, I wanted to see where our kiwi boats had sailed from. We found the spot quite easily (the benefits of a GPS) and there in the midst of the marina was a yacht called 'Kia Ora'. We also saw the 'Team New Zealand' building, still painted 'kiwi black' from the 2009 cup races.