Preparing to leave

I have less than a week before Aidan and I board the plane to New Zealand. I leave on Saturday and I am getting quite nervous but also very excited.

I have exactly 37 days to go before my tide opens up allowing me to have a chance at swimming the Cook Strait.

Before this Aidan and I are going to buy a camper van and drive around the south island making sure that we are near to good watering holes on my swimming days and then putting our hiking boots on during my non training days.

This blog will help you to follow me around New Zealand and see how I am getting on and how my training is going.

I am really looking forward to getting back into the open water and to swim some good long distances again as psychologically it will help me to relax, to know that I can swim 6 hours at ease will be a huge boost to my confidence.

I am not going to lie-i am nervous about the Sharks but i do tend to veer on the philosophical side of life and that is 'when your time is up, it is up, there is nothing you can do to change it so live life to the full and quit worrying about the tomorrow'.

I'm going to ensure my safety during training by having Aidan as my support, sometimes he will sit on the beach and give me my hourly feeds and other times he will be kayaking beside me. When i feel cold and frustrated I will remind myself that he is there to help and that I should bite my tongue if I feel any need to shout and throw a tantrum! maybe the fishes will hear it instead-I have been known to growl rather loudly into the water at times!

So I've ordered my money today, packing will probably happen Saturday morning if I stick to my usual reputation of being last minute.com but keep checking the blog and I will keep you posted!