SO this is it. After four years of waiting, we're now just three days away from our opening day of competition at the London Olympics. Even just saying that makes the hairs of the back of your neck stand on end.

We flew in from our final training camp in Italy on Monday and spent the following morning on a tour of the Olympic village. It was incredible.

Because the rowing is taking place in Eton, which is a fair way out of central London, we're not staying in the village until our competition is finished in the second week of the Games.

But I think everyone wanted us to feel part of the bigger team and so we were given the opportunity to come into the village and soak up the atmosphere.

It was like being in an adult version of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Everywhere you looked, there was something amazing to take in.

I stayed in the athletes' village in Beijing four years ago, but I'd forgotten what a surreal experience it is. There are people of all shapes and sizes just getting on with their thing.

In the space of five minutes, we saw some tiny Ethiopian runners on a training run, a group of giant basketballers strolling for their lunch and then out of nowhere Venus and Serena Williams came past having a chat. It's amazing the way everyone is together in one place.

We were transported to the village on a London double-decker bus, and Sir Clive Woodward gave us a talk that was really inspiring.

We've been out of the country for a while so some of the Olympic build-up has passed us by, but those few hours in the village left us in no doubt as to what all of this means. I just feel incredibly proud and privileged to be a part of it.

ONE of the nicest things about being in the village was that you could listen to the reaction of the other competitors to being in London. It seemed to be hugely positive and that's great.

The village itself is fantastic – the grass is so green, it doesn't even look real – and Team GB are staying in a great spot that overlooks the Olympic Stadium. I can't wait to get into my room!

The whole Olympic Park is sensational and I left feeling really proud that we're going to be putting on such a great Olympic Games.

WE'RE not spending the rest of the week soaking up the atmosphere though – we'll be doing two training sessions a day to make sure we're in the ideal shape for our opening race.

It won't be hard training – we don't want to be pushing ourselves to the limit and risking an injury – but it's important we keep ourselves sharp.

The rowing starts on Saturday morning, and we'll have be out on the water early before the opening races start. We'll probably hang around and watch a couple of the British crews before heading back to the hotel. The draw for our heat is on Saturday night, then we're on to the water on Sunday morning.

You can never take anything for granted, but I think we all feel as though we're ready. The last week in the training camp felt really strong, and now we can't wait to get going. Hopefully, when we catch up next week, things will have gone well.