Have finally arrived in a hotel with decent internet access and can update you on what’s been happening over here. We arrived in Nagoya, Gifu quite fresh after the 11 hour flight from NZ, well some fresher than others. Mahe Drysdale, George Bridgewater and fellow ARC member Steve Cottle all took advantage of their free upgrades to business class earned through airpoints. I’m sure Mahe thought he was being nice coming back to check on the rest of us in Cattle Class I just really didn’t want to hear about the endless stream of food and service. At least they were gracious enough to get a few of us in the Koru Lounge at Auckland Airport.

First impressions of Japan were of endless suburban sprawl. There never seemed to be any countryside just more cityscape, though to be fair out near the course there are some quite impressive ranges and the occasional rice paddy.

The first week has been a bit of a debacle to be honest, the weather has been atrocious and the course has been nearly un-rowable for most of the week. We’ve been handling it pretty well, we got out on the water the first day, had to erg the second day. That was a whole heap of fun in 85% humidity and 35° degree temperatures (yeah right).

Since then we’ve been attempting to row no matter what the conditions with mixed success. Lots of short bursts, plenty of turning, not to mention trying to avoid all the debris in the water. I’ve taken to nail biting to negate the nerves geed up from near misses with various items, the strangest of which would have to be a Manikin head, let just say it was a pretty realistic manikin, must have done well in its day.

We finally got in a decent session this evening, the water was far from perfect, I’d rate it an average day on the Tamaki, but the difference in feel was huge. Came away from that feeling much more confident of what was in front of us. Unfortunately the calm is not going to last, there is a typhoon heading straight for this area, it’s due to arrive on Thursday. The organising committe seem to have plenty of plans in place to deal with it, including bringing in an extra 100 ergs (joy) and “typhoon proof” tents, I’ll reserve judgment on the “typhoon proof” bit until Thursday. They must have a massive overtime budget as they keep having to pull the course in and out, which they managed to do overnight on the first day.

The team in general seems to be in good spirits. We’ve got a massage therapist and a physio with us (both ex-rowers), so any aches and pains are sorted out quickly. Joh Howard from BOP has been super organised, and the coaches have pushed anything to crazy on us yet. All in all it’s been a very interesting experience so far, certainly shows that you have to be prepared for any eventuality.

That’s about all the goss for now, I will keep you all updated with the latest on the typhoon as it approaches, all bets are on it being well gone by the time racing is due to start but you never know.

Check out photos in gallery, some birthday dinner shots to come