Some facts and figures.

Now that we've been back a week and have had the oportunity to recover somewhat, I'd like to give you a bit of a brain dump of the highlights of the trip, they may not have been so at the time, but looking back on them, they're the things I won't forget in a hurry!

• Firstly, and most importantly, we've raised over £6,000 for charity, if you'd like to donate and haven't done so already or would like to increase your pledge, please drop me an email (colin.bycroft@affiniti.com), or call me (01442 883205), or leave a comment here.
• We only started canoeing in May, and so have done exceptionally well to complete such an undertaking.
• We walked 12.5 miles (including, in my case, an unplanned tour of Cricklade), kayaked 138 miles & cycled 92 miles (a similarly unplanned tour of Northfleet didn't help!)
• The managaress of Northfleet Sainsburys gave us a bottle of champagne to finish the challenge with - Thank you.
• People we met in pubs and locks donated £22 while we were en route.
• Gordon was attacked by a swan, it got on the back of his kayak and was hissing and flapping its wings while he was paddling like crazy to get away.
• A number of swans 'warned' us to stay away from their cygnets
• There are some absolutely amazing houses on the banks of the river........ but I suppose Windsor Castle has to take the biscuit.
• It was 31 - 32 degrees C for the first few days (there was a 'heat' warning announced on the radio on Monday.
• There was an electrical storm on Wednesday morning and the temperature fell to around 18C from then on.
• Only Tony didn't capsize, I went twice, Gary nearly got away with it........ but went in the end.
• Cycling through central London was interesting, I had a bout of road rage with a cab.
• We lost Gordon when he followed a pretty girl rather than the person in front.
• We had a real problem finding Warden Point, we even knocked on doors and were given conflicting information, in the end it was a fisherman who'd lived there man and boy that gave us the exact spot.
• We found some cray fish in crayfish pots.
• The longest day from getting on the water to finally getting off it was 15 hours.
• The earliest we were on the river was 07:15
• My fingers swelled to almost twice their usual size.
• My toes were red raw (see the earlier photos if you don't belive me)
  I had huge blisters on both feet and on all my fingers (again, if you're perverse, see the photos)
• My right hand lost most of its mobility, it was constantly gripping the paddle - even when there was no paddle required. It was great for carrying drinks from the bar (the few times we were back early enough to get there) as I just forced my fingers over the rim of the glass and it locked on, like the cranes you get in amusement arcades.
• Don't anybody ask how my 'holiday' went as I reserve the right to lump you one if you do.
• Did I mention we raised more than £6,000!
• Read further down this blog if you want more info or would like to see our photos.