It was so nearly Eddie I: the story of a......

Today is the day we fly away. Kate and I left Swansea on Thursday, waking up that morning with a terrible feeling that perhaps the most important member of the BoardFree team wasn't going to make it to Australia. Elsa, the transport, the only board to have travelled the length of Britain and the only board I had ever earmarked for the Australia journey, she wasn't with us. Sent to Poland after BFUK to get a new coat (the old one decidedly battered after 900 miles of Scotland and England) Elsa had been en route back to the UK for 3 weeks but had gotten lost in the black whole of the Polish State postal service.

And then, barely an hour before we stuffed the kitchen sink on top of everything else and drove east with Kate's brother, Elsa arrived. A smiling postman, well up-to-date on the BoardFree saga thanks to the local papers, handed over the box as another neighbour walked past saying, "I thought you'd gone, well....good luck!"
"We're flying on Sunday" I tell the postie.
"You might not be," he cringes, "you should go and switch on the news."

So we did. Kate and I side by side, Elsa downstairs safe in her box. And thousands of people across the UK stranded in airports as security shut-downs follow a foiled terrorism plot to blow up 9 aeroplanes over the Atlantic. That was Thursday, three days later flights are still being cancelled, we face a 22-hour double haul via Singapore with minimal entertainment due to a red card to all hand luggage.

Now, to an update on the shoe saga. The very same pair of shoes that I was very close to accepting as my skate companions nearly broke my ankle on Tuesday. A bad turn wasn't helped by the angled running trainer-like sole, and as the edge of said shoe caught and my ankle turned sideways I experienced a still-frame in time. Looking down from a standing position and being able to see the bottom of your shoe isn't recommended. Especially if you're 12 days away from beginning a long distance skate journey. I cranked my ankle back into an upright position breathing heavily. Minimal bruising. I'm a lucky boy. I called Kate who was sat at home calling potential sponsors. "We can't have these shoes babe, back to the drawing board."

The drawing board got drawn on very quickly. By the end of the day Project Skate from Bristol had joined forces with C1rca and 8 pairs of shoes were on the way. The next morning, the morning before we left, they arrived. Tried them on. Too small. Will we ever get shoes?

We will, Bristol rests halfway between Swansea and Basingstoke so we merely dropped by the Project Skate warehouse, swapping size 10s for size 11s, and drove away. New, amazing shoes which even have a little message on the side, "It's Time."

Friday: Kate and I meet up with Dan in a busy London and collect some of our team kit from Kangaroo Poo, they're sending the rest of the kit on to Perth next week.

Saturday: A day in front of the computer, revamping the website in preparation for Australia.

Sunday, now: It's quarter past 11 in the morning. Our flight is at 22:15 tonight, we have to be at the airport by 17:00. Must pack. Shall write from Perth.