Da party de departe

First of all I'm going to tell you about packing. First we packed a canoe. Next we tucked in two paddles. Then we got a bag. No, two bags. We put in toothbrushes. Then we packed toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash and other interesting things.

To be honest. My mummy did it. (I hope we've got everything we need. If not she's getting a bollocking).

In other news: today we left, bound for Istanbul. The send off was simply unreal. When we got to Nantes city centre there was quite a frenzy. People everywhere, crowding the streets around the river banks as we struggled to push our way through to the waters edge to see what was going on.

What was going on, it seems, was us! The fans were out in force and when they realised who had barged their way to the water they went wild. And I mean wild. Roses being hurled left, right and centre, cameras flashing, girls screaming, guys screaming, dogs howling and babies crying. Like I said, quite a frenzy.

We boarded Dora and donned our life vests, prepared for the drama, turmoil and vino. Heads down, paddling hard, we left the screaming crowds behind us, heading into the distance at a rate of knots.

0.01knots to be precise.