Having total disregard for my own advice, I will now live summer in a semi-perma glaze of camouflaged patterned glory. Thats right folks, apply sunscreen EVERYWHERE! I guess I can be rest assured that should my feet somehow get lost in a Sunshine Bronze Pretty Polly Pantyhose haze, or the world becomes awash with Pantone Shade No 153, that I will be suitably disguised.
So last week I took my tiger feet to Oxford for a two day meander down the River Thames. Michelle and I met with 17 other like-minded, adventure seeking, tent pitching, pub swilling, paddle loving folks….. This kind of mix of course could only lead to a bubble of bombastic fun, with shared stories of fascinating endeavours had or to be had; moments of inspiration; excessive consumption of all things pub grub; collective gasps of horror at the plight of a flock of birds as they were being mowed through by some hardened canoeists in training (eeeeekkkk!); and new friends made and found. A huge thank you to Dave Cornthwaite (adventurer extraordinaire and one of our go to people for pearls of wisdom on paddleboarding) and Annie Ross (check out Annie’s website eXerK.com – 52 challenges in 52 weeks – join in!) for organising it all!
Michelle and I have spent most of our time paddling the tidal Thames, so the weekend in Oxford provided us with the four way opportunity to look at:
A – how to manage the locks
B – going the distance with no tide to help or hinder us
C – carrying gear on the boards considering the above
D – dealing with any adverse weather conditions
With all due respect to BBC, the weather forecast was slightly misplaced. My expectation of a pictorial of a sun with a teardrop eventuated into a torrential downpour. But none the less we persevered. More than grateful for the absence of headwinds and those strange and wonderful sidewinds that seem to grace us from time to time (not sure if there is a technical term for this, anyone?). The group as a whole either walked our boards and gear around the locks with a daisy chain of team effort or some kindly lock keepers would let us go through. As for the distance….. well we made it! Approximately 44km over the course of the weekend. Not bad innings and the ability to move all limbs in a co-ordinated and mostly pain free fashion after could only give us hope for the adventure ahead.
Not long to go before the big one! Thank you everyone for your support!
Paddle boarding and lying down – blissful combination!
Note: Being slightly technologically disadvantaged most of the photos I took seem to have a body part or two (all my own) obscuring most of the image. So all photos attached to this post are courtesy of the fabulous photographer that is Mr David Altabev (www.facebook.com/davidaltabev.photography).