London to Auckland

If you happened to be following us yesterday on the tracker you will have noticed that the tracker was playing up. It showed us launching at South End at 5.30am and then riding out a few km and then stopping for some 5-6 hours.

If you were astute and knew about the massive sand banks and mud flats off South end you would have said “aaaahh ha haaaa those silly buggers have run aground and are currently struggling, unsuccessfully to get their heavy machines into deeper water, and having tried everything they have given up and have walked into the local Coastguard center and drank coffee for 3 hours”.

And it is with a tinge of embarrassment that I have to inform you that you are right. When the tide goes out in South end, it is like someone pulling a plug. You can see it moving across the mud flats at about 2-3km per hour. In the words of Maxwell Smart, “We missed it by that much” 5 minutes made all the difference.

There were, however many positives about this. It was a good team building exercise and we got to meet some really nice people at the Coastguard. I have a souvenir Coastguard coffee mug to show for it too.

But once off the mud, we ended up having a great ride around to Ramsgate in the English Channel. With France just a short hop away we were sorely tempted but now, very wary of the tides at South end we headed back up the Firth of Thames.

We ended up having a great 5 hour ride and everything worked well.
Once we had pulled the Seadoos out of the water we headed down to the local Seadoo dealer, Thorpe Bay Marine for a photo shoot and interview with local press. Then it was back to our base at The Cherry Tree-Rochford pub for a debrief.

The Cherry Tree-Rochford pub. What can I say? Great pub, great food, lovely setting but most importantly, magnificent people. Our hosts, Colin and Tina, and their staff have been so patient, supportive and helpful. It has been a great experience.
Until tomorrow then.
P.S Look for us on TVNZs breakfast show at 8.15 Friday morning.