Final Preparations

Day -3, Day -2, Day -1... The final preparations have been made: we have said our goodbyes, we have shopped and we have packed.

Although doing our best to remain stoic; leaving behind friends, leaving home and leaving parents was always going to be a tad emotional. But enough of that. We said our goodbyes and met in Folkestone. With Jimmy's parents driving, the journey was straight -forward and, 8 hours later, after only a couple of wrong turns, we arrived in Nantes at our base for the last couple of days. We are indebted to 'Jamie''s parents for their chauffeuring, their food and their company during this time.

We shopped on both sides of the Channel. Previously, we have picked up items from our sponsors Kent Canoes and the Countryside Store. Next, solar panels, water purification tablets and maps had been bought online. Finally in England we bought clothes and holiday essentials. Shopping in France has been a lot more fun. Dodgy French, the resulting sign language and the fact that everything's different made the trek around 'le grand supermarche' more fun than it should have been for two immature graduates.

Having bought our supplies, the last task was packing and preparing. Despite the various shopping errands, we have packed light and it is disconcerting how little we have and how much it weighs. Other tasks consisted of checking whether the boat needed registering and testing the stove. Both times, we managed epic fails before eventually resolving the situation.

And that's about it... Day 0, Mile 0 and I can't wait to get started.