A COUPLE have completed a marathon kayak trip to raise money to help Dawlish residents.

Mark Jones, leader of the ROC church and his wife Jo, have made it to the end of their 200 mile kayak ride along the Danube river.

They have raised almost half of their £2,000 target.

The couple, who are both in their 50s, have funded the trip themselves so all money raised will be going to the ROC charity which runs Dawlish Community Larder and works with local schools and provides family mentoring.

The nine day trip began west of Vienna and ended in Budapest.

At the finish, Jo said: ‘We made it, final destination Budapest with 0 capsizes, one amazing time, many lessons learned and a few hairy scary moments.

‘We are leaner, fitter, healthier and ready for some dry land days.’

Along the way, there were eventful and challenging days.

They encountered high winds and backwash from a high speed ferry which almost capsized them at one point near the Slovak border.

They had to navigate narrow passing places between the shore and ‘massive’ ship with them in the eddies in between.

In Hungary, days were ‘long and tough’ with big water but little flow.

Even a thunderstorm failed to stop their journey.

In Slovakia, they faced travelling through a very narrow shipping lane with huge, deep and heavy barges which produced a large wake.

And stone groynes in the middle of the river meant the pair were pushed into the shipping lane.

However Jo added: ‘Most of the way we were covered in beautiful tree blossom that feels and looks like soft cotton.’

The couple are now heading home to recover.

To donate go to https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/campaign/danube-kayak-expedition-for-roc-dawlish