The Last Day!

It's Tuesday and we have 14 miles to travel to reach Teddington.   We are all very tired this morning .... I fortunately get to sleep in the bottom of the boat!  The forcast is for 30 degrees later .... fortunately these is some cloud cover.  
The scenery at this end of the river is not very facinating ... the most interesting bit is the floating homes some of which look like 2/3 story luxury houses. One or two are very individual... the ark deco, one which looked like a submarine and one which could have come from a sci fi set.  So Ian and mum started to look for a suitable boat for Ian to buy (an idea he had yesterday!) ... one which was in the D-day landing seemed to be the favourite.

Lunch today also had a royal outlook ..... Hampton Court.   After a 20 min snooze in the shade we paddled off .... Teddington still seemed a long way off.     The phone rang about 4pm ... Ian's friend who was picking us up at teddington had broken down on the motorway .... so Ian's brother was called as backup.    Eventually Teddington Lock came into view .... no flags, no fanfair, not even a car to pick us up.... oh well we found a great pub garden, some beer and steak to pass the time.    The grand final of the backgammon championship was played (it was 4 games all at this point, mum having won the last 4 games).  It looked like Ian would wipe the board swiftly ... then mum hit back.... it was touch and go and all down to the last throw of the dice could have gone either way.... mum won ... a great final game.  just then Ian's brother turned up and we (well I supervised from the safety of inside the boot!) packed the car. 

We did it .... Thames head to Teddington complete and lots of money raised for Jessica's education.... A GREAT RESULT!

Thank you to all those that have supported us with kind words, donations and especially to those who put themselves out to get us to the start, visit us on route  and collect us at the end.  

Until the next adventure..... goodbye

Jovi  xx

ps mum says if you want to contact her email    damarie10@aol.com

The Longest Day!

Knowing we had about 19 miles to do today we were up at 5am and on the river just after 6am.  The first 3 hours were very peaceful ... no boats..... lots of ducks the odd kingfisher and some parakeets for company. 

Lunch was taken on the queens lawn at Windsor.. well in Windsor park.  Seemed a very grand thing to do!

After lunch I settled down to a long snooze, while mum tried sail power for a while. It was very hot so we stopped briefly for an icecream.   The last part of the day Ian and mum got very tired ... the wind was strong and in the wrong direction, the temperature near 30 degrees and lots of boats making going slow and choppy. With still a mile to go when we arrived at Penton Hook Lock Ian tried asking if we could camp there.... Lock keeper said we could and that there was a dog friendly pub nearby.... so here we stopped to the sound of a small flock of parakeets we set up camp. The pub locally called the wee and pee  (wheatsheaf and pidgeon) was a friendly corner street pub.  A relaxed end to a very long day mum says.

J

Sunday. Hambledon to Cookham

As we only had a very short section to do we all chilled on the island till 10am. Then slowly made our way to Marlow where we met up with Ian's sister and brother-in-law and his friend ... The friend bought us all a good picnic lunch.   The last leg of todays journey was a bit of a drag, there were lots of boats and I started to feel a bit sea sick with all the choppy water ... one boat went past so fast I got my nose splashed! the wind was strong and the wrong way but eventually we made it to Cookham and had an evening of backgammon in the local pub (mum started winning!)

Day 7: Three go to Magpie Island

 Today we didn't have too far to go so we could have a bit of fun. We stopped at a park in Henley and went for a coffee (well I didn't obviously!). Then Ian decided to buy another dog .... a stuffed thing with a fed up face ... why do we need another dog on board?     Had a great lunch in the park then we set off again .... we had a bit of fun racing the Henley Regatta race course ... with wind in wrong direction we managed a time of a little over 12 minutes (the rowers cover the 1 mile 550 yards in about 7 minutes so we didn't do badly at all!!)

After a couple more locks we scanned the banks for a place to camp .... found a great Island ... Magpie Island ... was fun to be on our own Island for the night.
J

Cleeve to Shiplake.. A long paddle

Hi All

Last night we camped on the lady's lawn we left the canoe at yesterday so we could make an early start... Ian woke me up at 5.30am (mum eventually woke up when her cup of tea was made!)
At just after 7am we set off .... quickly thro 2 locks (I like locks cos mum gets me out of the canoe and we watch Ian paddle!).  Best lock was Purley Lock where Ian and mum stopped for a bacon bap ... I managed to look starved enough to blag a bit!
A late lunch stop at Reading meant I got to play ball ... and we had very light rain shower. Then onwards to Shiplake.  In the midle of the river the phone rang ... Ian answered it .... turns out it was the Chippenham local paper who interviewed mum for a story (I did hear my name mentioned so maybe I will be famous?)

This eve we eventually arrived on someones front lawn in Shiplake ... after a little confusion it was decided we could stay the night.... very noisy spot right next to the main rail line and on Heathrow approach!

Hi All .... a quick update...

A couple of pictures taken on our adventures ... lots more to come along with the rest of the story .... so keep looking (mum says she will get some more on here tomorrow (has spent today washing!!)

Jov x

Wednesday ....

One last stretch to do before a day at home.
 We didnt have far to go so we had a very slow start and didn't put the canoe back in the water till nearly 11am.  Ian paddled off whilst mum and I walked round to an easier place to get in.... easier for me that is ... mum nearly fell in!!

The people in the locks are being very generous now .... and the canoe is quite a site .... having flowers on the front, a large flag and a dolphin towed along behind... so we get noticed quite a bit .... personally I've got used to this snoozing to the gentle rock of the canoe ... mum and Ian say they feel like they are rocking on dry land now... a very strange feeling apparently.   we stop for a coffee at Benson and talk to a few more very generous people and get a surprise when one of Ian's sister-in-law appears.

Onwards to wallingford where we are met by another sister-in-law who has popped over to support us. Here we are joined by another canoe ... a  friend of Ian's with his daughter are to join us for the afternoon stretch of water.    Quite pleasant paddling along with company for a while.
 Soon we arrive at our destination .... now for a well earned day off!.... mum and Ian are looking forward to a bath and soft bed (they better not think I'd like a bath too!!

catch you all next week with the second half of our adventures ..... Oh and someone please leave me a message.

woof for now
Jovi
x