After 1 day of training from near the WOC event centre Kay and I picked up the other half of the Aussie contingent from the airport and we headed north via the coast in our un-airconditioned van. Carolyn and Timmy also found the heat a bit of shock after coming straight from Melbourne winter. After a brief breakfast stop we dropped into a Hertz office to see if our airconditioning could be fixed. We also visited an interesting feature of the town - an elevator down to beach level from the top of the cliff.
Our accomodation for the next few days was inside a Kibbutz (just another name for a rural community). We had a real character for a chef who enlightened us each meal time with his pearls of wisdom. Four days of training and acclimatising to the rough rocky terrain and heat. Some areas remind me of Australia, with eucalyptus trees growing in pockets. The hills are tough, particularly when in the full sun, and are too steep to ride sometimes.
Kay and Carolyn visited Akko, a very ancient walled city which is still inhabited. Just today before driving back to the WOC centre we visited the ruins of a city which dates back to 10,000 BC; makes you feel pretty insignificant!
Back at Ben Shemen, WOC event centre and (airconditioned) home for the next week we had our first look at the rest of the competition. Tomorrow will be the model and it all kicks off Monday with the Long Qualification, followed by the Middle on Tuesday. I'll leave you with a few select pictures of our Israel adventure so far.
Ready to sweat it out on the first day 
Carolyn out training
Carolyn and Saki (Japan) at Akko
Packed and ready to leave in smaller but airconditioned van
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