I never thought I would say this but James is a bad influence on me! He has a way of getting me to do things that really are not necessary! This evening, he "persuaded" me that I should swim in the dock here at the RC Wolfsburg. On a warm, sunny day it would be a pleasure but on a dark, cold ... almost November day ... it is pure madness - especially as there is a perfectly fabulous and warm outdoor swimming pool to swim in.

Anyway - stupid me - I did jump in to the dock and I am still quite cold even though I have had a hot bath! Reminds me of an incident in Queenstown, New Zealand ... hmm ...

JAMES!

Today has been fun! First up we tottered up to Autostadt and I drove some kind of 4 x 4 around an assault course. My instructor Detlef Nowak spoke no English ... he just chucked as I scraped and scratched around the course.

Then we headed to the kitchen at Aqua - the THREE Michelin starred restaurant in the hotel.

The delightful chef Sven Everfeld showed me how to create three dishes ... including one that contained foie gras! Usually I am quite "ill" after eating this ingredient but I am OK ... and I think the cherry and chocolate and sherry helped enormously!

Tonight ... pizza! How the mighty have fallen!

In the dock ... cold ... pool in foreground ... warm!

One of the greatest chefs in the world ...

and certainly one of the nicest ...

Tim films ... while James plays with liquid nitrogen! Don't ask ...

A shiny car

Let me in!