By 
It’s been a whirlwind of a week that I know not many can say, started with an invite to Buckingham Palace. Thanks to the D of E Awards who were celebrating their 60th Anniversary, they had kindly invited us as a team to be part of a select few that were presenters on the day. There were approximately 1,000 students who had successfully completed their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards and all presenters were assigned a group of about 50 students each.
We were fortunate enough to spend some time with the Duke himself who shared a joke or two with us and showed a good interest in the row, I think the conversation started with ‘Well you all look quite normal for a crazy bunch!’. He was intrigued to see Doris after Meg invited him over to meet her, which I’m sure didn’t help his timing schedule, but we were honoured to introduce him to her and to share a giggle or two along the way.
Whilst there we got to meet a few of the other presenters who were so friendly and supportive of the row, some of those being; Sally Gunnell (my childhood hero), above Charley Boorman who isn’t normally in a chair but has had a recent motorbike accident and has injured his leg, then below, the girls got to meet Paralympic and World Record holder Hannah Cockroft who is one of the athletes I work with and will be hopefully heading to Rio in the Summer.
It was a beautiful day but it was tainted by the fact that we weren’t there as a full team with Lizanne. We did however call Lizanne whilst we were all together and gave her a run down of the day, but it goes without saying that she was missed. That being said, we are SUPER excited to announce, that Lizanne will be making it over to the UK at the end of June!! We seriously can’t wait to be together as a full team for the first time EVER!! Even pre row we had to work remotely with Lizanne and had only met during team selection when there were other girls involved, so it’ll be sooooo great to have all of us together.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/coxless-crew-friends-family-and-supporters-event-tickets-25592933152?utm_term=eventurl_text
Here is the link to the ticket page where you can book to come and see us as a team and meet Doris for her solo visit to London on 26th June 2016. You’ll find there are 2 options, 1 for attending including a welcome drink and another option which includes a bite to eat. For those of you that have supported us throughout, we would love to see you and thank you in person for all the encouragement and motivation you gave us.
xx
WOW! Doris looks well. Did some nice sponsor pay for a paint job? HRH Prince Philip tends to tell it like it is and you were a crazy bunch. Can’t attend on 26 June (living in Hong Kong) but hoping to send a family member. I do trust that the “Little Ray of South African Sunshine” will be there on 26 June. The blog text implies but is slightly vague “Lizanne will be making it over to the UK at the end of June”. Not as specific as “Lizanne will be making it over for the friends, family and supporters’ event”. Why else would she come all that way?!!!!
Your little ray of South African sunshine will be there, if you do manage to get a family member to come along please make sure they make themselves known to the girls.
What a fantastic journey you are still on, it seems the Row was only the beginning. I am so looking forward to our little trip to Laandun taan (I believe I have used the correct local pronunciation). It will be an honour to be in the company of my heroes of 2015, especially on the occasion of you all being together. Not to mention, an opportunity to pay homage to the mother ship “Doris”. The highlight of my summer was to be, my trip to the Isle of Man TT next week, it has now become secondary to your social event! Can’t wait ? XX
Yayy! Sunshine comes to the Isle of Dogs. You can take the man out of Africa but you cannot take Africa out of the man and Capetown is the most beautiful city in the world. So looking forward to meeting you stunning people in the flesh and seeing that wonderful boat that bore you safely from start to finish. The designers must be hugging themselves with satisfaction. The whole expedition was an enterprise of excellence in all it’s parts. The magnitude of your achievement stops me in my tracks whenever I think about it which is quite often. Best wishes for your continuing endeavours
Yayy! Sunshine comes to the Isle of Dogs. You can take the man out of Africa but you cannot take Africa out of the man and Capetown is the most beautiful city in the world. So looking forward to meeting you stunning people in the flesh and seeing that wonderful boat that bore you all safely from start to finish without a single capsize!, The designers must be hugging themselves with satisfaction. The whole expedition is an enterprise of excellence in all it’s parts and the magnitude of your achievement stops me in my tracks whenever I think about it which is quite often at randomj moments. Best wishes for your continuing endeavours