Paris to Canada

Monday morning (French National Day) we were up early and on the water for a session before we packed up everything and headed for Paris. We arrived at the Comfort Hotel with out drama and enjoyed the experience of having a real bed and a good hot shower. Unfortunately the shower and bed didn't quite live up to what we had imagined, but never the less they were better than army stretchers! Liv, Tans and Jo headed out to the center of Paris to enjoy the French National Day celebrations, while everyone else went to bed. They saw some amazing fireworks with the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop. The Eiffel Tower even sparkled blue, which was fantastic.

Tuesday morning we were up at the crack of dawn and quickly loaded the boats and had some breaky before heading to the airport to drop the boats off at Air Canada Cargo. We unloaded everything at the airport, grabbed ourselves some trolleys and headed to the Air Canada check in while Tam and Gibbo took our trusty Peugeot vehicles back.

Becks and Ali were treated to luxury and upgraded to Executive First Class for the trip from Paris to Toronto, while the rest of us had some fun back in cattle class! Toni had an interesting meal, with it still being frozen when served to her, while Liv was given fish when she had specifically requested a special non fish meal! Other than those little events the plane ride was good and we arrived safely in Toronto to get our next flight to Edmonton. We all grabbed some dinner and boarded the plane for the four-hour trip to Edmonton. After a touch of rearranging with some kind Canadians we were all able to sit together. Arriving in Edmonton we were introduced to our awesome meaty big cars and headed to the University of Alberta to find our accommodation. After venturing to the top of the wrong building and trying to get in the wrong rooms, we finally found the correct building we were supposed to be in and unpacked and relaxed! Sleeping in real beds was a real treat and the showers were hot and powerful! We are staying in one of the many Uni hostels on the 9th floor. We have three wings, so the NZ Women's and Men's teams are all together and our supporters will fill the 3rd wing when they arrive.

Today we started with a sleep in, then went running in a thunder and lightening storm, which was very exciting. The storms are incredible here, lasting for a good two or so hours! We are all just chilling this afternoon enjoying a well-deserved rest. We are all just about to head out to visit the huge big Edmonton mall this afternoon. Apparently its so big there is a roller coaster in the middle of it! Rather exciting!

More news when it happens! :-)