The New Zealand squad member is on the water at 5.30 every morning, rowing for about two hours as she covers 20km.
A thick fog has covered the harbour this week but that has not stopped Parker (23) heading out.
Those days could soon be a thing of the past though.
With the end of her degree in sight, she can soon say goodbye to the early-morning starts and travel involved with being an elite rower at Otago University.
Having juggled her physiotherapy degree and time at the Otago University Rowing Club with training at Lake Karapiro, in Cambridge, it has been a hectic few years for Parker.
She has been in the Waikato RPC for the past three of those, and made the New Zealand team this year.
At the high performance centre at Lake Karapiro, rowing essentially acts as a 7am-4pm day job.
However, in Dunedin she has to fit sessions around university, which at present has her completing placement at the hospital.
While the majority of us would struggle to be up exercising at that time in the morning, it is something she does not mind.
``I've had early mornings since I was a kid, because I swam before I started rowing,'' she said.
``I probably feel worse if I don't get up in the morning. The mornings are pretty awesome as well.
``It's the kind of sport that you get to appreciate some fine weather when you're up early.
``I guess it's a bit peaceful. Sometimes it's a bit scary when you're the only person there and there's some massive ships coming along.
``But overall it's pretty epic. It's kind of what keeps a lot of people in the sport is how scenic it is in the end. You get to see the scenery from a different perspective.''
Originally from Whakatane, Parker is a fifth-year student, having split up her fourth-year papers across two years to work in with rowing.
She has represented the Otago University club, as well as having rowed for the New Zealand Universities team.
She rowed for the Waikato Rowing Club at the most recent national championships and netted three gold medals, as well as a bronze in the single sculls.
With her degree finishing, she is heading back to Cambridge where she has secured a job at a private physio practice.
She still hopes to find time to achieve her goal of making the New Zealand team for
the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.
