Link to newspaper article Bay of Plenty Times CLICK HERE

Racing tommorow, 29 today and team visited a cool market where we tried on heaps leather jackets, just for fun . Then went to the Spa complex that Merano is renowned for. Check it out on google, pretty amazing with about 15 different pools.

Thursday afternoon in Merano and I have just found the internet cafe as the one at the YH is out of order.
Yesterday we left Augsberg after driving back from Munich for a paddle and collected Shauns C1 which did arrive overnight, much to the relief of all especially Shaun.
Set the GPS and headed down towards Innsbruck then to Merano via Brenner pass, some great road engineering. It was an awesome drive with gorgeous little villages , castles and churches. The kids played games spotting castles and churches which was a strategy to get them to notice what was outside. We even had to resort to some oldies music on my ipod as all other batteries were flat. All in all a great drive and better than expected-nearly 5 hours without a stop but we were on a mission to get to Merano Youth hostel before 7pm as that was the last check in before they gave our rooms away.
Merano is a gorgeous spa town, looks like some serious money is spent here. Old buildings, churches, castle turrets,terraced plantings, the smells of spring, lots of star jasmine, roses and it all is lush and green. A smattering of snow is still on the mountains that create an amazing backdrop to the palacial old homes that line the riverbank. There is a promenade on either side and this morning I couldnt sleep so was out enjoying it before 6 and getting the lay of the town. Lucky the shops were all closed as I spotted some nice things but think a nice price too. The river runs through the town and the course is quite close to the centre so there are always people walking along the tracks either side.
The team had a paddle last night about 8 and then final touches to boats before a late pizza dinner in a cute narrow little street. Talking of narrow streets, they are all narrow and old ,it is hard to drive here and even harder to find a park but we can walk to the course (15mins) .
Bcak to YH which is actually quite good, beds comfy and we each have a bathroom. Jane and I together and the four boys in the other.
Today the kids made a trip to a hardware store, armed with a dictionary, for lead weights. With new boats they will all need extra. The language was a problem but after much hard waving and trying to explain jane wrote Pb on some paper and voila, a 6 kg sheet of lead.
Our training session was 1pm and was supposed to be with Austria and Swiss teams but they didnt arrive today so our 4 boats had the river to themselves, not something that would happen often 2 days before a race. I videoed and they are watching and analysing back at the hostel.
Will post some photos later but probably not until Foix.
May meet up with Aussies for dinner tonight. Tommorrow our training slot is 7pm with the race starting 9am Saturday. Will do some sightseeing, visit the morning market and encourage some homework to fill in the day.

Safe and sound in Augsberg.

We arrived at 7.15am after an all night flight. Pretty good as most slept, although body clocks still out of kilter and at 3pm we all feel we should be asleep.
The time in Bangkok was fun, a bit of shopping and lunch and swims by the pool before a trip to MBK centre for more looking and dinner. We already have some classic stories, mostly around Callum who got pretty good at bargaining and was known to say “I only have 150 baht and once the deal is cemented he pulls out 1000 baht note. He also locked his padlock keys inside his suitcase so as well as any potential drug smugglers having no access, neither did he- Nothing a hacksaw blade this morning in Augsberg couldn’t fix.
Arrived at the course in Augsberg after collecting the van, some food and glue etc for boats.The first people we see were the Aussie juniors and some squealing and hugs allayed all fears that Jane would miss ‘girl’ company. Aussie seniors here as well, training and the juniors leave for Merano tomorrow also.
The normal boat dramas- took most of the day to track down the C2, in Peter M’s garage and then alas no C1. It is still in Bratislava so hope it can get a ride on a Slovak car to Merano. Vlada from Galasport has been fantastic and drove the boats down for Jane and Callum. Footpegs fitted, shared lunch with him and Daniel, his co worker , and now they are out there paddling. The C2 fit out taking awhile.
The plan for later is check into our hotel a much needed shower and then if we still have the stamina a trip into Munich for dinner. If we have boats sorted then Merano via Dachau in the morning.