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!
Saturday 18 April 2009
Thursday 16 April 2009
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).
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).
Friday 10 April 2009
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:
Hope it all goes well. See you on the river!
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:
- Tomorrow Jon, Josh and Kenna leave the office and paddle to St Mary's Cogges in Witney.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- We all go home and sleep for a few days!
Hope it all goes well. See you on the river!
Tuesday 31 March 2009
It's getting nearer...
...this whole paddling extravaganza. Doubly so, given how busy we are over the next couple of weeks.
The training days apparently went very well (I couldn't be there, but I'm fairly confident in my canoeing ability), and there are a good few people signed up: around 25-30 at the last count, I believe. It'll be quite fun to have so many people travelling down the river.
Oh, and some people have been sponsoring me! Thanks guys! For those who want to but haven't yet, head to help.co.uk where you can donate any amount. It even sorts out gift aid if you're a taxpayer, which is useful.
So most of the planning and preparation is done, but there's still one question outstanding: should I take a slackline for when we stop each evening? I'm leaning towards a firm 'Yes', but if I take it and don't get a chance to use it, that'd be really annoying. Hmm.
For more general updates about what I'm up to, visit my twitter page. Cheers!
The training days apparently went very well (I couldn't be there, but I'm fairly confident in my canoeing ability), and there are a good few people signed up: around 25-30 at the last count, I believe. It'll be quite fun to have so many people travelling down the river.
Oh, and some people have been sponsoring me! Thanks guys! For those who want to but haven't yet, head to help.co.uk where you can donate any amount. It even sorts out gift aid if you're a taxpayer, which is useful.
So most of the planning and preparation is done, but there's still one question outstanding: should I take a slackline for when we stop each evening? I'm leaning towards a firm 'Yes', but if I take it and don't get a chance to use it, that'd be really annoying. Hmm.
For more general updates about what I'm up to, visit my twitter page. Cheers!
Friday 27 February 2009
In which James signs up for a canoe trip to Westminster
Greetings all.
I hope to document here (fairly regularly) the progress of my trip down the Thames in April in support of Adventure Plus, the charity I am working for at the moment, along with the preparation and fundraising that will go along with it.
A little background? OK.
I first came across Adventure Plus when volunteering for another charity: Saltmine who run a Christian family holiday that include activities provided by Adventure Plus.
Their gap year sounded like a lot of fun, and a great way to gain experience working in outdoor pursuits. However at the time, I was a little preoccupied with my long-term plan: to marry my then-girlfriend Judy. Adventure Plus would have to wait.
Skip forward three years, and I'm married to a graduate from the University of Manchester, and embarking on all kinds of fun disguised as work. I am then informed that Adventure Plus is going to be doing a bit of fundraising, and asked if I would like to get involved. I eventually decide that I do, and sign up for three days of the Witney to Westminster Challenge: an oportunity to go for a bit of a paddle (125 miles, actually) from Witney where Adventure Plus is based to Westminster, where our founder Jonathan Cox is from (well, he's from London at any rate). It's happening from 13-18 April, and I'll be doing the last three days.
So that's me: a 25 year old child, looking for as many ways as possible to not grow up, attempting to raise money so we can continue helping young people across Great Britain get out an enjoy the world we live in.
Care to help? I'm trying to raise £650, which is a little daunting, but I remain hopeful.
Oh, I've also got some space in my boat at the moment, in anyone fancies a bit of a paddle...
I hope to document here (fairly regularly) the progress of my trip down the Thames in April in support of Adventure Plus, the charity I am working for at the moment, along with the preparation and fundraising that will go along with it.
A little background? OK.
I first came across Adventure Plus when volunteering for another charity: Saltmine who run a Christian family holiday that include activities provided by Adventure Plus.
Their gap year sounded like a lot of fun, and a great way to gain experience working in outdoor pursuits. However at the time, I was a little preoccupied with my long-term plan: to marry my then-girlfriend Judy. Adventure Plus would have to wait.
Skip forward three years, and I'm married to a graduate from the University of Manchester, and embarking on all kinds of fun disguised as work. I am then informed that Adventure Plus is going to be doing a bit of fundraising, and asked if I would like to get involved. I eventually decide that I do, and sign up for three days of the Witney to Westminster Challenge: an oportunity to go for a bit of a paddle (125 miles, actually) from Witney where Adventure Plus is based to Westminster, where our founder Jonathan Cox is from (well, he's from London at any rate). It's happening from 13-18 April, and I'll be doing the last three days.
So that's me: a 25 year old child, looking for as many ways as possible to not grow up, attempting to raise money so we can continue helping young people across Great Britain get out an enjoy the world we live in.
Care to help? I'm trying to raise £650, which is a little daunting, but I remain hopeful.
Oh, I've also got some space in my boat at the moment, in anyone fancies a bit of a paddle...
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