How the world turns...

Well, things are GREAT!  How about you?  I've been able to get eight schools to agree to do a non-uniform day on my behalf  That'll probably bring in £1-1,500!  I'll be approaching another five in the autumn.  Also, a friend who plays in a blues band is about to set a date for a gig in aid of funds too!  All in all, things are looking up.

I must admit, I've been a bit slack on the training front.  I'll kick back in after the summer holidays though.  Even so, I feel a tad fitter even if I've only been doing a couple of hours of cardio work a week.

On the money front, I'm nearly at the £500 mark.  I don't think things'll pick up until the winter.  I'm sure a lot of folks just think it's too far 'til next June.  I keep telling them that I need their donations up front AND before April 2011.  But, you can't, and shouldn't, rush peoples' generosity.

Just a quickie this time.  Please donate if you haven't already.  Thanks, Bruce

A walk in the hills...and hello to Ciara!

Well, a couple of days ago I went for a walk in the Simonside Hills near Rothbury with my two sons, Dominic and Kris.  We walked for about two hours and got to the top of Tosson Hill, about 1,400 feet high.  The weather was great, hot for us at about 28 degrees C, as we tramped across farm land beside streams and through heather.  The bracken was very dry so we were careful when we set up a little portable barbeque for our burgers!

It was the first time I'd been in the hills in years, choosing our beautiful coastline in preference, or a walk alongside the River Coquet at Warkworth, of late.  I felt my legs aching as we pushed on up the last, steep bit of the hill, but it was worth it, as it always is, for the view out towards the higher points in the Cheviot range.  I think I'll count this as one of my two training sessions for this week.  I'll head for the gym at the weekend. 

On the fundraising front, things are coming along slowly, probably too slowly.  But, I have an invitation to speak at a Soroptomist meeting in exchange for them passing the hat round.  They are an organisation that promotes womens' welfare globally.  But, the BIG news this week is that I'm now not alone on the trek!  The trekking company, Charity Challenge, have a facility for people who have paid their deposit to be able, if folks are willing to share their details, for others to see who's paid up.  Up until now there has only been me and someone who doesn't want to share their contact stuff.  But, as of a couple of days ago, somebody else appeared, an Irish lass called Ciara (Kiera in English).  She says she thinks another eight of her mates are seriously considering doing the trek in aid of charity too.  That's great news as there needs to be a minimum of 12 for it all to go ahead (the maximum is 20, btw).

So, I'm feeling great and Ciara's arrival has given me a real boost!  Don't forget to donate via the Diabetes UK link if you're able.  Cheers, Bruce

My new best friend!

Well, for those not in the know, this is a cross trainer as found in gyms and health clubs.  Today I went for a bit of an orienteering session at Oasis Health Club in Ashington who are supporting me in my charity climb.  By that I mean that I went along with my wife, Rexie, and Kris to try out a few pieces of equipment.  I found the cycling machines quite easy on my legs, so too the static walkers.  But, the cross trainers were hard on my poor old, underused muscles.  My thighs aren't exactly killing me, but they felt the strain of a couple of decades of under use.  Even so,  it was worthwhile to get a feel for the place and I'll be looking to go there maybe about three times a week, mostly after work. 

Having had a wonderful trip abroad to visit family this past week, I've decided I must draw a line in the sand and really get down to some serious fundraising.  At work I'll be approaching my surgery to put up some posters in the waiting rooms as well as contacting the diabetes nurses at the local hospital in Durham.  Nearer home, the article I was interviewed for appeared in the press:

http://www.newspostleader.co.uk/latest/Nurse-to-climb-Kilimanjaro-for.6272662.jp

I like the photo as it shows off the Diabetes UK logo and I'm glad that Kevin, the health club owner, got in on the action.

So, you can rest assured that I'll be both burning up a few unwanted calories as well as toning up my muscles.  Don't forget to donate if you're able!

Photo famous!

Well, today was photoshoot day at the health club!  A local newspaper, the News Post Leader, sent a bloke to do some shots with myself and the owner of Oasis Health Club, Kevin, and my youngest, Kris, the one who has Type 1 diabetes. Well, you should've seen what contorted positions the photographer made us get into!  All three of us were grouped over one of the walking machines, me pretending to step out; Kevin looking as if he was marking my progress and Kris offering up some Lucozade drink, not that the machine was switched on! LOL!  Once the prints appear in the paper, I'll try to scan them in so you can give your opinions.

Apologies for not posting an update recently.  Work has been very busy of late.  As you can see from the donations website, money has dried up for now, mostly because I've not been devoting any time to the cause.  More fool me!  Well, my plan is to spend quite a bit of time now on writing letters etc, as well as following up some phone contacts I've made in the world of nursing and medicine.  This coming week I'm abroad in the Czech Republic at a family event where I'll, hopefully, be able to devote some time to mapping out some plans and creating letters and posters etc.

One thing that has inspired me recently is to hear about a pupil from one of my wife's old school's sister schools in Lagos who has set a new world record for climbing Kili as the youngest female, at age 10 years 26 days!  Here's the link to the story:

 http://www.coronaschools.org/News/Corona-Pupil-Sets-New-World-Record.aspx

So, here's looking forward to stepping off the plane from Eastern Europe and into the gym. Thirteen months and counting to get myself in shape!

Market talk

One thing I hope we have time for is to visit the local markets when I'm in Arusha, my base town in Tanzania.  Apart from the fruit and veg market, I'd like to see the one run by the Masai too!  I eat a lot of West African food at home like plantain, okra, yam, fufu, dodo etc and I'd like to see what the east has to offer.

Well, I've had a busy day contacting local newspapers etc and hope to hear back this week for a photo shoot.  Diabetes UK kindly sent me a free T-shirt for the shot - thanks, Hannah!  I also had a good chat with my son's diabetic team at the hospital.  They're super keen to help out!  I'll e-mail them with some ideas.

The WorldPay aspect of the donation site STILL isn't accepting overseas payments - grrr!  I have loads of overseas family and contacts.  That's a biggie for Hannah to sort out!  Why call yourself WorldPay if you really mean UK pay.  Aaaargh!

On the kit front, spotted some reduced price Merino gloves/mit liners in Alnwick.  I might get them at the weekend.

Off to bed to read a couple of old guidebooks I've found on Kili and Tanzania!  Don't forget to comment, or donate!  :o)

Kit coming in and walking buddies

Well, I've made my first purchase for the trek, some Icebreaker longjohns and a top.  These are pure New Zealand Merino wool and act as a base layer to keep me warm.  Bigger news than that, though, is getting a whole bunch of stuff on loan from my mate, Rob.  This includes a top of the range sleeping bag, and a vaiety of clothes from fleeces to gaiters. He's used this kit on high altitude walks in South America and Nepal in the past.  Thanks, Rob!

On another front, my wife, Rexie, and I went to visit another ol' buddy, Tim, in the Lake District this past weekend.  I've known Tim for nearly a quarter of a century.  He, like Rob, is another hiking fanatic having specifically moved to Kendal to have access to the hills when not teaching at a local high school.  His knowledge of the Lakeland fells is enormous, having done well over 100 of the famous Wainwright Walks.  We spent a few hours going over a few routes we might tackle over the coming few months as I begin my preparations.  Tim is particularly good at working out the lengths and difficulties of walks, knowing which ones might mimic, though not in height, some of the Kili sections.

Looking back at my last posting, I see the problem regarding using World Pay on the donation site.  Having corresponded with the charity, they suggest overseas sponsors use the UK post (zip) code NW1 7AA, the charity's own, when completing the form online.  Hopefully, things should then progress smoothly.

And finally, for now, I made a fortuitous purchase at a local secondhand bookstore today.  While hunting through the mountaineering section, I came across a Kili guidebook from 1971!  It was weird hearing that, back then, one might encounter the likes not only of elephants in the rainforest part of the climb, still just about possible, but also black rhino!  These days, you'd have to go 100km to find the nearest one!

At the back of the book, a fold out map shows a much more extensive glacier ring to the top of Kibo, the highest of the three volcanic points on Kili, than is there today.  Indeed, it shows something called the Retzel glacier which no longer exists but nowadays forms part of the scree run that I'll have to negotiate when I push for the summit.  Current thoughts are that the glaciers might be wholly gone in the next 20-30 years :o(

Well, off to contact a few newspapers to get some press for the gym.  I'm also going to try to get through to my local diabetes teams, both here in Northumberland and also where I work in County Durham.  Here's to next time.  Please feel free to donate or comment.  Cheers!  Oh, and btw, the picture is of a Colobus monkey of the sort I'm likely to see in the forest on the first couple of days on the mountain.

More offers, more followers!

First of all, welcome to my latest follower, McMurdo!  Glad to have you on board along with the other two, one in the UK, the other in Oz!!

Above is an image of the route I'm taking up Kili.  Like all the other images, it expands if you click on it!  There are half a dozen routes up, but this is by far the longest.  This is a good thing as it'll give me more time to acclimatise.

Well, overnight another offer of help came in.  An old friend, Rob, who has trekked in Peru and elsewhere around the globe, has offered to lend me whatever bits of kit he has that'll be of use.  One thing that'll save me a small fortune is his 4 season sleeping bag.  His is top of the range and beyond.  The nights get colder as you ascend so this is a real boost!

We had Rob over for supper yesterday evening and spent ages chatting on about Kili and how it compares to, or differs from, some of the climbs he's done.  Like the chap in the hiking shop a couple of days ago, he had a wealth of useful information, pretty much concurring with what the shop assistant said, which is reassuring.

You may have noticed I haven't really mentioned much about training so far...well, that's 'cos I ain't done any, apart from walking our toy poodle, Summer, up the field at the end of our street.  I will get going properly once I've sorted the publicity for the gym but, in the meantime, I'm just going to go for longer and harder walks.  Both Rob from last night and my mate, Tim, in Kendal in the Lake District have suggested I go out with them when I can find the time to go for a day or a weekend's hike.  That'll be good and I'll have the chance to do both summer and winter hikes into the mountains, such as they are on this island we call home.

Off to clean house as we're expecting one of our daughters home with her new boyfriend for a few days.  Oh, and finally, I understand there are problems with using World Pay on the donation website.  I've e-mailed my contact at the charity.  I'll give her a ring from work tomorrow to see what the score is. 

Thanks for reading!  Please feel free to make comments.