Why you should recce your get-off point...

Well, that's the first day over, and what a day it was!
We left from the Rose Revived to resounding cheers, seen off by the Mayor of Witney. After that the team quickly settled into a groove, cruising along at a steady pace.
At the first couple of locks we were greeted by Ricky and Judy, who were being our land crew for the morning. I must say, one feels quite special arriving to cheers, hoots and applause!
We travelled on into the afternoon, singing songs, chatting and occasionally stopping at locks to throw a frisbee around (while waiting for another boat to come through), and arrived only slightly late into Oxford, where a HUGE CROWD was there, and we were again met by cheers and applause. Andy McCulloch: you are a legend, sir.
We made good time down to Abingdon, where we were aiming to stop. Such good time, in fact that we canoed straight past the canoe club we were aiming to stop at (we weren't sure it was the right one) before Andy had arrived in the bus to meet us!
It was only about a mile further downstream that some helpful locals informed us of our error, at which point we agreed it was easier to carry on 'downhill' that turn around.
Well, everyone is packing up around me, so no time to post pics. However, there are some on Twitter (not the Wheel2Wheel ones!) and don't forget you can see where we are on our website.

And then there were 3...

3 days? Honestly, where does the time go?
This is what the world outside our office looks like today:

See all the canoes?

They're going to be canoeing down the Thames.

I'm going to be in one of them.
For 6 days.
My arms will be tired.
So will everyone else's.

What? You want to help?? Thanks! You can support the event here!
Or... you could come and see us on our way. You can find out where we are by looking at this map. We're where the little red badge is. You're welcome, by the way.
We'll also be putting up photos, and more blog-type-thingies as we're going down the river. Check the site for more info.

15 Days?!

If my Virgin Money Giving page is anything to go by, there are apparently only 15 days left until the start of Witney to Westminster! Where has all the time gone?
To be honest, I'm a little concerned that I haven't done much canoeing recently, but I'm sure it'll all come flooding back (see what I did there?) once we're underway. If you're reading this, and you haven't supported me yet, now's your chance! All the money raised is going towards helping Adventure Plus do what it does best: show children and young people how to enjoy the amazing world God has given us to play in... sorry, I mean: look after. But who says you can't do both?
On that note, I'm off climbing tomorrow, which is technically training for me, while most of the rest of the team are actually getting some canoeing practice in as part of a Level 2 course. But while it seems like it's all fun and games, in actual fact, the more training we do, the more fun we can give to the groups we work with. It's a win-win situation!

Witney to Westminster 2011 is on!

Today is a day of resurrecting dormant blogs, it seems!
Anyhow: Witney to Westminster 2011 is very much announced, and sign-ups are now available here. It's taking place from 9 to 14 April. I'm not yet sure how I'll be involved this year, but I'm hoping to manage one day of paddling at the very least.
Photos from the 2009 challenge are also on the site.

The last day begins

After a good night's sleep, we're just packing up for the final day. The schedule is as follows:
9:30 Get on the water at Kew Bridge and start downstream
11ish Stop for a snack at Battersea Park
12:30 Arrive at Westminster Bridge and carry on through, hopefully to much cheering and general hoo-ha. There will even be people waving from the House of Lords!
2:30 Our final destination, Shadwell Basin, where we will get all the canoes off the water for the final time.
3:00 Arrive at our reception, having showered and changed.

It's been a great trip for me, and everyone else (most of whom have done more than I) still appear to be happy and ready to go, if a little tired. We've met some great people along the way, seen some lovely sights (pics on the website) and had lots of fun messing around in boats while raising money and the profile of Adventure Plus. We've been really blessed by everyone who's been involved, both the support team and the paddlers.

Hopefully my next update will be the last for this trip. On to the finish!

Day 4: All is well

We're just coming to the end of the fourth day of Witney to Westminster, and all is going very well. We went today from Marlow to Wraysbury; a distance of approximately 18 miles. The weather was... OK (some rain, but mostly dry and cool; the sun had been somewhat burning my fellow paddlers at the beginning of the week) and with the wind at our backs, we made great time. It took me a couple of miles to get into the swing of it but by the end we were racing along nicely. I was in a boat with JP and Margaret, and we had a lovely time of it.
We stopped off in the shadow of Windsor castle for some lunch, and our support staff did a great job of convincing random passers-by to sponsor us, raising just over £100 today, which is enormously encouraging. We then raced along for the final 8 miles, and arrived an hour ahead of schedule, and before the support crew! The rest of the gang are chilling out, and I'm about to join them for a spot of food.
Anyhow, thanks for all your support. Also, there's still time to sponsor me! Any amount will help!
In short: all is well; will update again tomorrow (WiFi permitting).

And so we begin

...and by 'we', I probably mean 'they'.

The vans are packed, the kit lists are checked and rechecked, we all did a rather long day yesterday in order to get everything sorted out and... that's it until the actual canoeing starts. It's a bit weird to be doing nothing today, but a nice break, and I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking that.

In order to clarify what's happening, here is a brief run-down:

1. Tomorrow Jon, Josh and Kenna leave the office and paddle to St Mary's Cogges in Witney.
2. On Sunday, Jon, Josh, Kenna and Tom will leave Cogges and paddle the rest of the Windrush until it meets the Thames at the Rose Revived pub.
3. On Monday morning, many people will arrive, kit will be handed out, and the canoeists will be divided into three teams: Green, Blue and Red, led by Jon, Josh and Kenna respectively. I'm going to be in the Blue team. A crew from BBC Oxford will be there to interview a few participants.
   
4. The boats will then leave the Rose Revived and begin the main part of the Witney to Westminster challenge, aiming to paddle around 20 miles each day and being met by a support vehicle each evening containing dry clothes, bedding and other amenities (tea, coffee, squash, etc.) whereupon they will stay in a local church hall or other similar accommodation.
5. This continues for the whole week. On Wednesday evening, I will join them, taking Josh's place in Blue boat 1 for the remainder of the challenge.
6. Assuming everything goes to plan, we will then continue at a similar rate until we reach Westminster on Saturday afternoon, where a group will be waiting to meet us off the water.
7. We all go home and sleep for a few days!

I hope that clears things up for everyone. I'm currently enjoying the Easter weekend in Nottingham with Judy (my wife) and our families. Keep an eye on the website for more info. I'll also be twittering my progress from on the water and updating this blog whenever we stop long enough for me to find a WiFi connection.

Hope it all goes well. See you on the river!