HUGE THANKS

We would like to thank Jamie Tweddle for his help with the kayak transport and being a all round good egg.
The final steps are in process, getting Rob's car back to the UK from France and collecting all the donations to hit our target of 10,000 pounds.

Thank you

Phil, Rob and Sean.

Days gone by

Its all over.

It has been a long trip with many ups, downs and dramas but most of all good times with quality friends and all for a great cause.
The English Channel turned out to be a force to be reckoned with, a force six at that and the River Thames was not plain sailing but all is well when you have such great friends and family waiting to cheer you on at the end.

A huge thanks you to everyone who helped us along the way, the generous donations and the support of our families.

Keep checking the blog for more pictures.

We're coming to London

" where ", " London, you know, fish, chips cup o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary fuckin poppins, you know LONDON ".

We do paddle aswell..

Thank you

Thank you to Hans-jouy Herold in Strasbourg, France for looking after our boats and the lift into town.

Our friendly Z Germans, Achim, Kerstin, Andreas and Manu for the BBQ sausage, Croatian death juice and many stories of there travels.

BIG thanks to the ANTWERP CITY HARLEY BIKERS

Huge thank you to Tony the web disaster and all the Antwerp Harley guys for all your help, a fat steak, bed for the night, wicked t-shirts and being instant friends. We will see you again very soon, please keep in touch.

Men who stare at rivers

After a heavy slog into the wind the welcoming site of Willemstad marina came at the right time. On entering the harbour the harbour master informed us that we had just came to the official end of the guinness book of records Rhine Challenge, this news was a huge moral boost, knowing the Rhine section of the Expedition was over we could now get our teeth/paddles into the channel crossing. Now it was time to find our way to the coast and deal with the final push home.

Flash backs, Horn blowers, coffee break and the calm after the storm

This is why we are here.

BBC NEWS

Two British servicemen have been killed in separate explosions in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province.

A Royal Dragoon Guards soldier died in a blast in Nahr-e Saraj district on Saturday.

On Friday, a marine from 40 Commando Royal Marines had been killed while on foot patrol in Sangin district.

Both men's next of kin have been told. Six UK servicemen have been killed in Afghanistan this week, taking the death toll in the campaign since 2001 to 320.

Spokesman for Task Force Helmand, Lt Col James Carr-Smith said the marine had "died seeking to protect and reassure the local population in and around Sangin".

The Rhine Valley

No more dams to climb just the open road, I mean river. Now we have the endless line of barges and canal cruise ships to play chicken with as we enter the famous Rhine valley, 60 kms of rolling hills covered in wine vineyards and 40 plus castles protecting over them, What do castles bring, tourists and boat loads of them.

We have made our day off destination and yet another and last member of the Alps to Eye team has been struck down with some form of food poisoning. Rob is now enjoying his day off in Cologne with his head down a toilet practicing some yodeling of his own. No more German sausage for Rob, not what your thinking Beatrice boys..

Pognophobia

Like I said in a earlier post, this is what i had to look forward to. How long have we been on the river?

Paddling the Rhine River?

The traveling Help for Heroes bears

July 11th, Every body needs a good rub now and then.

Like a giant doing the hurdles at the olympic's, the 21 Dams that cover the first 580 km of the upper Rhine have become quite the challenge. Portaging around these massive hurdles in 100 plus heat is burning the calories quicker than any late night shopping channel diet you can find.
With a stop over in Basel we had chance to clean our stinking gear and catch a quick dose of food poisoning, that is always a winner before a hot sweaty paddle. Quickly adapting to the lay of the portages we became quite creative with moving our kayaks around obstacles, elevators into the water, sliding them down hills and towing them like Santas sledge, what ever works Royal. With the mosquitos knocking at our tent door and the sun making us into a old leather chucker boots we finally reached our next goal of Strasbourg, FRANCE, not Germany..
With a combined age of 121 the injuries are slowly raising there ugly head with a pulled muscle in his neck for Sean, tennis elbow for Phil ( he can't even play tennis ) and a few nose hairs for Rob. Age is moving quicker down the river than us.

We would like to take time to thank Lawerz and Julia at globe paddler in Basel for the amazing help with storing the gear, transport into town and the overall information they passed on.

A huge thank you to Lucy Culkin and family at the winking Prawn for there generous help. Please see the link on the blog page for the Winking Prawn.

Thank you everyone who who has generously donated on our justgiving site, business account and the endless stream of cash filling up our Help for Heroes collection pots at the Norton Arms, Runcorn and Jeykll and Hyde pub, Chamonix.
Big thanks to the lads on Beatrice Alpha for there kind donation and their healthy share tips? More time outside and less time in the tea shack and the shares might sore again? LOL

Rhine falls

Konstanz

Two days on the Lakes

June 30th- July 1st

This time local knowledge and a helping hand from Abegglen and his wife Linda is actually the winning ticket. Abegglen gave us some amazing river maps and tips for the next 20 km stretch. More wiers and more portages. Wier number four was something you see in the Deliverance movie, you go over that and you will be squeeling like a pig. This time its a in water portage around the edge of the raging river. More scrapes and bruises but we survive and its time to soak up the beauty of the Rhine River. The white water was more than we had expected but we have all our limbs and its time to head to Lake Constance.

Like a breath of fresh air the lake is tranquil and breath taking. The water is warm and clear and we soak up the jewel of Switzerland.

Leave no boat behind, June 28th/29th

The Jedi master Sean was indeed wrong!! At the moment feeling a little sheepish, being Welsh you'll have to excuse the pun! A rescue plan is in progress with Marcus and Thomas from Versam Canoe School. Meanwhile we reflect on taking on the Swiss Grand Canyon. We all sit down and make a plan, but first we need to rescue sean's kayak.

GOOD NEWS, 2 mile down river The Lowri Rose has been found by Marcus. Thomas gets out a two seater and single seater inflatable and off we set. Thomas jumps in with Rob and me and phil sets out in the single. with 20 years experience we're in safe hands, Ooohhh shit.... Over we go, Thomas,Rob and me are now floating down the river, right now this river is getting the better of us..Phil looks on in disbelief and amusement. Mounting back up we are reunited with the Lowri Rose.

We pick up the fastest boat of the three ( when your not in it ) and head back on the canyon train. Time to sort gear and get ready for round two. Marcus drops us off at the safe launch point near Chur and off we go with a half cocked smile. The river is running fast with white horses bobbing all over the place. We have three weir's to tackle which you would not dream of in the UK but we have been assured that they are small and can be run. Local knowledge is not always the winner. Wier one, ok, wier two, oh and the Yorkshire boofon is over. As Phil watched Rob disappear into the spin cicle, the pucker twitched. Sean watches side on waiting for his turn in the spin cicle but the river gods look after the welshman this time. With the lead man down its time to go into help mode.

Once again the 17 foot kayaks are beat and its time to portage the last 5 KM to Landquat. Pulling 200 + lb kayaks for 5 KM is not a Sunday walk in the park. Battered, bruised and sweating like a Mongolian donkey on heat its time to camp and get some shut eye.

The Black Hole

After a 4 hour drive through the winding Alps we reached the drop off point for the hike to the Rhine Source. Go left or be a sheep and follow the other people right? right is is, straight up from 2030 m to a lung busting 2800 m. The view takes the breath away as much a the hike, then its a steep knee jerker down the mountain to Lake Tuma, the source of the Rhine.
Its smiles a jokes as we pack our kayaks with the 1000 miles worth of gear. 17 foot kayaks in grade 3 white water, this should be fun. With a small push off the bank we are in the flow, bouncing through the small waves, enjoying the moment. The Black hole i thought was in outer space but it seems there are two of them because firstly The Lowri Rose Sean's kayak gets sucked into the roller coast ride of his life. With paddles flying and Blue kayak bobbing, the black hole was having its way with the welshman. Phil's HMS Charl-E was next to tackle the hole and like a big hit from Jona Lomo ( the All Blacks rugby ) the hole took him down. With Mango ( color of my boat ) flying every where and ginger beard soaking up the river they came out the other side different men.
With a swish of the paddle and a gliding kayak, Mr R Tweddle crusied the mercyless Black Hole and came out the other side on a river red carpet with his hair looking good and a perfect smile. Feeling used and abused the river had its way with two of the three White water experts, NOT.
It was a tough learning curl but we realized that 17 foot touring kayaks where not designed for white water paddling so 6 hours of portaging was the task that lay a head. It was long 18 day but nothing a good cup of tea would not cure.

We've (Rob and I) been on the road since Wednesday via ferry, Poole to Cherbourg. 16 hours drive and in to Phil's in Chamonix Thursday night and we've been sorting our kit out ever since! I have 75 litres less storage in my kayak than Rob and Phil, choosing to go for a faster boat??? Only time will tell if I have made a wise Jedi choice. Vanessa has been a great hostess fattening us up nicely before our trip. I would like to send my love to my wonderfully patient wife Melissa and my two cherob kids Rhys and Lowri. xxx

Pognophobia

Pognophobia, the fear of beards: symptoms can run from distrust of owner to overall feelings of dread. Mrs Thatcher is a Progophobe.

The razor blades are in storage and the trimmers in hiding as we run into the last 4 days of prep for the long journey ahead.

Please follow us as we paddle the mighty Rhine River.

YES its ginger and this is what i have to look forward to.

26 days until lift off

The dramatic peaks of the French and Swiss Alps range have nearly shed there white cloaks and the heavy rain is detoxing the winter trails. With only 26 days until the big push up to the Rhine River source, team sport 4 charity are ready to get wet.

The logistics of these Expeditions are always more painful and frustrating than the main event.