Trip to Bournemouth/Portsmouth, September 1st-2nd

Heey everyone :)

This was a really good trip - 'interesting' in parts but good all the same.

We left Cornwall at 6pm and drove up to Bournemouth where we had the pleasure of staying in the Bonnington Beach Hotel - a hotel somewhat apprehensively booked by Len where we had a slightly strange but actually very funny night.

The next day, bright and early and following bacon sandwiches for all (we've had better), Len, Didge and Rose dropped us in the centre of Bournemouth for a spot of shopping while they dissapeared to look at a boat they were considering buying. After hitting the sales and exploring Bournemouth Pier (up to a point - they charged 50p to go on the actual pier) we hopped back in the bus and were off to Portsmouth. 1 and a half hours later we were at the Navy Dockyard which was SO EXCITING! There were loadssss of massive ships and sailors wandering around in their special caps and everything. We were guided to the HMS Trumpeter - see photos below - which was an awesome ship, just the right size and with a very lovely Captain (Richie Gray). We were shown round the boat by Richie and had lunch with him and the crew; following this was a little session of questions from both sides as we sorted out the particulars of the swim (ONE WEEK AWAY!).

We now know that we will probably be going up to Dover on the 9th or 10th and staying in a school in Kent while we wait for the best time to swim. Richie and the guys on the HMS Trumpeter are going to have a special ladder (!) made for us to easily get in and out - there's even a stretcher we can use if we need it! We also sorted all things dietary and any other little issues we'd been wondering about.

Following this it was back on the roads, heading home to Cornwall for school - we had our first day back today which is why we are writing this now (we = Luce and Em) in our first free period of the Upper Sixth Form! Studying hard already you see.

Will update over the next few days with any news. Also, just a quick thank you to all those people still donating - sponsorship seems to be flooding in at the moment which is amazingly helpful in the build-up to the swim - we are all sooooooooo excited!

Love
Luce and Em on behalf of L.E.N.S. Team xxx