Route Planning - Done.

Outdoors activities are much better represented online in Northern Ireland than the rest of the UK. the Countrywide Access and Activities Network (CAAN) is an umbrella organisation whose job is to make it easy to get involved in outdoor activities. I've met the director, Caro-lynne Ferris and some of the projects they've completed and are planning are ambitious enough to turn Northern Ireland into the place to go for Outdoor activities.

We truly do have it all within a very very small area. world class surfing, kite surfing, kite buggys on great beaches, sea kayaking as good as anywhere in the world, massive inland seas in Lough Neagh and Strangford with untapped potential. The mournes and Sperrins aren't very high, but they are proper mountains which are unbelievably accessible, allowing any of us to experience fell running, mountain boarding, hill walking, climbing, and mountain biking. We can develop world class road cycling, and horse riding, go caving in Fermanagh, we have some awesome cliffs, particularly at fair Head... CAAN's plans to develop Magheramorne quarry as a downhill mountain biking centre are very ambitious, and they have totally rejuvenated the previously disintegrating Ulster Way. What's even better is their venture Outdoors programme which makes outdoor activities accessible to those who would otherwise miss out.

CAAN's imagination is limited only by the fact that they're a charity, so alongside every project they take on they need to raise the funds to pay for it.
They've got a number of specialised websites under the outdoorsNI brand: walkni, cycleni, canoeni, which identify routes and promote activities. It's a great integrated system, and because it exists, Northern Ireland has a disproportionately large number of well documented canoe trails, including the Lower Bann Canoe Trail which we're going to travel this summer.

So there's less for Martin and me to do in the way of route planning this year than last - plus the fact that we're paddling down a big river, navigation won't be a major challenge.

skills are another matter, and equipment too.
I've done some paddling before. I took a canoe coaching course in 2009, but failed to graduate because I was out of the country on the assessment weekends. It was very useful though because it got me a lot of experience paddling diferent canoes and kayaks on flat water.

Martin's a bit of a paddling novice, but he's got plenty of time to find a couple of taster sessions.

Neither of us has any real knowledge of what to do beyond basic flatwater paddling so I've got to gain some experience of locks, weirs and a little bit of whitewater before we go.