57 days to go

No training today but such a lot of Kilimanjaro activity. I sent out an e-mail this morning to some friends and customers to let them know what I am doing and how they can help if they want to. I have spent the rest of the day fielding the phone calls and e-mails of support, many of them pledging funds for RFAD. The comments have been many and varied from "Mulvey's midlife crisis" (thanks Clive) to "Well done, I wish I was going". A few people have made contact with advice, most of it very useful.

Most of all I am amazed by the generosity of many people. We now have pledges for over R27,000 so I am thinking that my original target of R100,000 may be well under what is possible. We will see. This blog has had 75 hits today so far so I am hoping that there is still plenty of interest to be generated. I don't have any pictures of training today so I thought I would add another one from the Grand Canyon last week.

59 Days to go

I am back from the USA now and back into the training program with Sheila and John. We did 9 km around the streets of Durban on Saturday and then had a great 3 hour walk in Paradise Vally Nature reserve today. The paths on the reserve were badly washed away from the rain during the week but it was great fun none the less.

The fund raising is starting to show some progress and on my return from the States I was delighted to find that Clive Simpkins and Jacques de Villiers had both put up a page on their Blog. The Lions club in Port Shepstone have also come to the party with a wonderful contribution so we are moving ahead.

The list of things we need for the climb seems to be never ending. I will post a list here in a few days but to give you an idea we have already spent over R12,000 each on kit and there will be more I am sure. (Boots R1,400, Jacket R1,000, Waterproof pants R500, Windproof pants R500, Sleeping bag R1,500, etc, etc.) One thing is for certain, when the weather gets cold at the top of the mountain (-20C) we will be ready for it!

63 days to go

Had a great day today. Walked 9 km to the local shopping center in down town Tempe. The first thing I noticed during the walk is that nobody walks in Arizona. I don't mean that there are very few walkers, I mean that there were no walkers on the 9 km trek to the local Mall. I did pass 4 people in a bus shelter waiting for a bus, I guess they must have got a lift to the bustop. Even the buses have a place on them at the front for bicycles so that the poor cyclists don't have far to ride.

Phoenix also has other interesting problems. As you can see from the picture the bug problems seem to be rather more interesting than our cockroaches in Durban.

64 Days to go

I haven’t entered anything into this blog for 19 days. I have, to say the least, been a bit busy. I have been away a lot of the time but John and Sheila have continued to get in as much training as possible.

I have been at a weekend meeting at the National Speakers Association head office. Unfortunately the NSA Head Office is in Phoenix Arizona! Still, I haven’t been shirking my responsibilities and did some training yesterday at the Grand Canyon.

If you haven’t been here before you have a treat in store. My first site of the Canyon was breath taking, literally! I had to sit down I was so awed by the site. Emotion welling up inside of me I sat for 30 minutes in silence just taking in the enormity of it all. I have added a couple of pics here but they cannot do it justice.

I have now seen 2 of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World (Grand Canyon and Victoria Falls), 5 to go!(Everest, Northern Lights, Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Paricutin Volcano in Mexico, the harbour of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil)