I made it!

The 30 hour voyage came to its long awaited end when I met David Payne, the program coordinator, at the baggage claim in Dunedin. He's an awesome guy, we chatted a lot on the way from the airport to our lodging in the city center.

Dave gave a quick tour of the place, introduced me to a few of my team mates, helped me get my bike and then we were off to the boat shed. (NOT boathouse). Although the bike ride was relatively short, it gave a nice first impression. Lots of rain and wind made for an exciting warm up. We met Jackson, one of our rowers, at the boathouse.

The boat shed (though calling it a "shed" seems insulting) is absolutely amazing. Everything is clean, big boat bay, nice locker room, spacious core room, a kitchen, and an erg room filled with new Model Es, dynamics, RowPerfects and a tank. Its a real upgrade from the old warehouse we use back in Conshohocken The erg room is where I spent my first practice. I was instructed to do 2 x 20 minutes at no drag, just to get back in the swing of things. From my erg I could look out onto the very choppy water and see how the night got darker as my workout progressed. I felt amazing. Taking the last week off really had me itching to get moving again. Working out in such a great building was lots of fun. Dave even told us we could do extra practices whenever we want.

After the workout, Dave, Jackson and I braved the cold and rainy conditions in our quest to fill our stomachs. We quickly made it to the University of Otago dining hall, and began to stuff ourselves with low-quality high-quantity "standard college" food. I met a few more of my team mates and we got along well, discussing the recent SRAA National Championships.

Now its time for some much needed sleep before my first practice with the rest of the group tomorrow morning. Looking forward to it, although Dave says we might not be able to get onto the water.