The atmosphere at the hotel is electric. We have taken two vans a short distance to the weigh-in venue, a hotel around the corner. All the teams are here and watch the NZ team walk in, we look stunning in black and white.

All the team are nervous, but excited. We are at the end of a very long line of teams waiting to get to the scales. The line stretches down the stairs and around the corner at the edge of the lobby and is filled with teams waiting their turn. We can’t even see the weigh-in area yet.

The Polish team are in front of us and they are huge, all in red with dyed blond hair, they look like clones, only not the Minime type. Friendly looking bunch though!

In front of them are the Americans dressed in red, white and blue of course, then the Canadians in their black tracksuits with silver stripes down the sleeves. They look good, but not as good as we do! The Argentineans appear to be at the front, but as I can’t see beyond them, I am not sure.

There is a lot of chatter in the room, all different languages, all talking at the same time. The only team not lined up are the locals, they are calmly sitting down in chairs. Perhaps they have been told to go last, or they have weighed in already?

I can also see team members from Puerto Rico dressed in dark blue with red and white stripes on the sleeves. I have only seen 1 Jamaican, and he is in green, black, and gold. This is a little like the Olympics, which is I guess what we are all here for. The Slovenians are in the corner, they are in light blue t-shirts and are sitting down as well, not bothering to line up. They look relaxed on the whole, although the two young team members with them look as nervous as our team.

The team are stripping off their jackets, it’s so hot in the hotel lobby, but they still look the best dressed team, all staying together, all polite. In fact we had a hotel guest come up to us this morning and complement us on our ( go away Doug, he’s trying to get a picture of me typing away!) and tell us we were by far the best behaved team he had seen. This puffed a few chests I can tell you. Ok, we are moving now. But only a few feet. Tanya come up to me ans askes if I think we can open the door at the bottom, to get some air flowing. I am dubious, but grab a large sign and pass it to Sam over the balcony. He opens the door and puts the sign in the middle of it. Suddenly a very cool breeze comes up the stairs and we all start to breath easy, including the other countries there. Well done Tanya!

All of a sudden Mike comes up from the bottom and announces that we are to go in soon, as a team. Apparently they are calling for teams, not how you are lined up. Yes, here we go, past the other teams and around the mythical corner to who knows where…ok, more waiting, rats!

It’s still crowded at the bottom, suddenly Mike calls out from the door and the girls head into a room. I can’t get in yet. They all come out very soon after, all smiles. Yes! The girls have all made their weights, relief for the team management. Then it’s the boys turn, this time Doug and I tag on to the tail and sneak into the room. Not sure if we are allowed here but no one seems to notice. Doug starts snapping away, some of the boys are stripping off. The Master, not sure who he was, on the scales complements us again on our organisation. Mike has lined the boys up in their divisions according to the masters list and they go through very quickly. Master Marano and Master Boss are in the corner, watching. Josh steps up to the scales, and weighs in at exactly 70kg, and not a gram more!

He is very happy and beaming from ear to ear, one more gram and he would have to re weigh tomorrow. He spent some time this morning in the sauna stressing as you can see. But not any more!

Both Gary’s pass, Shane steps up…he passes too. Then all of a sudden it is over. All pass! What a relief for the team. Suddenly they are all smiles, all laughing, all thanking each other for the support, and finally we leave the weigh-in room, or perhaps it should be the stress room. The team head back upstairs very much lighter than when they descended, all stress gone, at least for now. Only took one and a half hours from the time we left here.

Outside however, there was trouble waiting. Over the last few days our hotel drivers, who are independent contractors, have steadily increased the price of travel for us. They are just trying it on to see how much we will pay. Well enough is enough and a semi heated discussion takes place between Richard, Mike, myself, and the two drivers. We tell them they are charging too much, however they don’t speak English and Richard’s Spanish is the best out of the three of us, I think we got the message through, but they aren’t budging. Suddenly one of the other teams managers arrives, I think she is a local. She grabs us and points to this mini bus next to the two vans and starts pushing us towards it, saying the name of our hotel. We get the picture, she is offering us a free ride back. Ha! We leave the van drivers standing dumbfounded and all pile on the bus, which we had better fit while I think about it (burning bridges comes to mind). All is well and we make the short drive back to the hotel, complete with a very relieved management team.

This is the diet team members, or as they are known now, the pig out team members, well done guys and girls.

The team all head over to Burger King, which is over the road. Who can deny them the fast food fix that the dieting members crave! They are jubilant, happy, all smiles. What a great feeling it must be to have this first hurdle over with.

I will write more later tonight. Apparently there is a rumor going round that the seniors, that is to say the adults, are going to have a closed training session this afternoon!