New Zealand on a high for World Championships
Annabel wrote this from Karapiro, New Zealand, before the opening races of the 2010 World Championships. Her quadruple scull beat Germany in their heat on Monday to qualify for Friday's final, which you can watch live on the BBC.
Before arriving in New Zealand, I knew it for its rugby, as a destination for many British travellers seeking adventure tourism, and as somewhere my parents went a few years ago and described as being "a bit like Cornwall".
Being from a proudly Cornish family, I knew this was the biggest compliment they could pay any country. So before discussing the rowing, I'm going to first establish: is New Zealand like Cornwall?
There are many similarities. The first thing that struck me is that, like Cornwall, it's a long way from Henley-on-Thames.
To get to New Zealand I saw the sun rise over London, set over the Atlantic somewhere, rise again over the Pacific and finally set in Hamilton, a few hours south of Auckland, on the imaginatively named North Island.
Admittedly Cornwall is a bit closer, being four hours down the A303, but it's still a long way away, OK?
Hi, I'm Annabel Vernon, Olympic rowing silver medallist and proud Cornishwoman. I'll be writing about some of the ups and downs of life in the fast lane of Britain's most successful Olympic sport as I journey down the road to London 2012. 
