Our BHF fleeces and kit bags arrived this week.  There were a few emails flying around from some of our co-trekkers worrying about the size of the kit bag and not being able to fit everything in, but it was pretty much what we're expecting to receive!  It makes the whole thing seem a lot more real now.

We've got one long weekend left before we go, and we will be stopping in Bath to complete three full days of hard walks, after which we'll be calming things down during our last few days in the UK.  One worry that is creeping up on us is the increasing number of confirmed cases of swine flu across the world - fingers crossed it doesn't prevent us from travelling!

 

We spent last weekend in Glastonbury where we completed some really hilly walks!  We walked near Old Wardour Castle (used in the Robin Hood film) and to Glastonbury Tor, and both were quite demanding but rewarded us with amazing views.

Our last information pack from the British Heart Foundation came through this week, with final details for meeting places and flights, so we're just waiting for our BHF fleeces and luggage bags to arrive on Friday!  We have some emergency contact details that we have put here on a new Contacts page on the website, should anyone need to contact us urgently whilst we are away.  Don't forget you can also keep up to date with how we're getting on out there by looking at the Live Updates page!

This Saturday we're only doing a short walk and then heading into London for the evening as we'll have been together for five years that day, but we'll make up for it on Sunday with another good long hilly hike!

 

On Saturday we went and bought the last bits of our equipment and clothing, including our expensive (but incredibly warm and comfy!) sleeping bags!  The Outdoor Shop in Milton Keynes kindly offered us a 25% discount on everything we bought as we are doing the trek for charity.

We completed two ten-mile walks on Sunday and Monday, and for the last few weeks we're really working on healthy eating and lots of exercise so we're in tip top condition when we leave!  This weekend we're heading to Glastonbury for another change of scenery

Our last fundraiser will be the race night we are holding on Friday 1st May at our house, just to gather together some last few pennies.  Teri's in the process of printing all the photos we've taken during our training and fundraising events, ready to make a scrapbook (surprise, surprise!).

 

We can now reveal the winners of the Pot Luck Grand National!  The race took place on Saturday and we had a perfect number of 39 entrants for the competition, and we took the last horse ourselves!  The winner was Mon Mome, owned by Carolyn Oldfield, so Carolyn has won £30.  There were two fallers at the first fence and after many slow-motion replays we came to the decision that Himalayan Trail fell first, owned by Gillian Duckworth, and Gillian has won a box of luxury chocolates.  So in the end we each had an Auntie win the prizes!!  A big thank you to everybody that took part in the competition.

On Friday there was an article about us in Teri's local newspaper, the Halstead Gazette.  There was even a mention of us on the front page  (there can't be a great deal of big news in Essex at the moment...!).  You can see a shortened version of the article by clicking on the link below.

http://www.halsteadgazette.co.uk/news/4251152.Pebmarsh__Couple_take_on_charity_trek/

We should also be making an appearance in Matt's local newspaper in the near future.

Some of you may have noticed the new 'Live Updates' page on our website.  This is so that when we are on the actual trek, we are able to text updates to our website and keep you informed on how we are getting on!  As you can see, Matt has been testing it over the last few days!