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.

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.

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...