Today was a fun day. The weather was cold and rainy, but that goes without saying at this point. From now on I'll only mention the weather if it's anything different. I've gotten used to it at this point.

Our morning workout was a 30 minute erg piece at 20 strokes per minute on dynamic ergs. Keeping the rate low was tricky, but in exchange we didn't have to do them at 0 resistance. I'm not very good at these types of workouts, because they don't play to any of my strengths, but I can feel that I am getting better at them.

We had the afternoon off, so we toured the Cadbury chocolate factory. We got to go behind the scenes and see the various stages of chocolate production. Free samples were dispensed quite liberally, which added another layer of fun to the tour.

After the tour, it was time to celebrate Zach's 17th birthday. We did so with a cake which appropriately had kiwis on it. From that feast we moved on to the potluck dinner being held at the boat shed. All the University guys were at the dinner and we had loads of fun. They are all very welcoming of us and always eager to talk. Many of them will be travelling to Australia next week to race their top Universities, and others are preparing for NZ Trials. Some of us watched the Uni guys 15 x 500m workout this morning. Quite impressive and inspiring. One guy pulled ~1:32 average split through the whole thing, and did his first and last pieces at a 1:22. We have now dubbed him "The Beast".

On the way home from the Boat shed, Charle's bike pedal broke off and he and I ended up walking home instead. We had a nice chat and reflected on the copious amounts of food we ate today. Not to worry, our workout tomorrow morning is a 14 km row (or a 40 minute erg if the conditions are too rough). Then it's back to bread and porridge.