Training is firing on all cylinders, Richard has been tabbing with a weighted bag around various parts of Germany (where he is currently working), and I recently completed a one day 45 mile training run across Hampshire. Despite ending the run feeling like an asthmatic sloth, it was an enjoyable day out. We plan to spend a January weekend attempting some river crossings in the comfort of an English winter, to determine the best technique is before hitting the ground in the tropics.

 

Not all has been plain sailing; we are still in the throws of appealing for a 4 month visa extension to enable the expedition to maintain its ‘unsupported’ title, a lengthy process that seems to require persistence. This has been an on-going discussion over the last 4-5 months, and, if all else fails, we’ll potentially have to arrange an extraction from the middle of the jungle to satisfy the needs of ‘red tape’, before an insertion back to the same position a few days later. Not a preferred option, but certainly a plan B that would still enable the expedition to warrant an ‘un-aided’ title.

 

Slowly but surely cash has been trickling in for our chosen charity, ChildFund. We’ve had some incredibly generous donations already, despite having not even started the project. Upon hitting the £10,000 target, we’ll have raised 75% of ChildFunds cash for their PNG inoculation patrol programs, a great initiative that sends medics deep into remote areas to vaccinate infants against preventable diseases. So I’d urge you, without trying to sound too much like a ‘give blood’ ad campaign, if there is a spare fiver knocking around in your pocket…..see if you can save a life. Or have a pint.

 

Thanks for following,

 

Patrick Hutton