141 Days to go

Great news  - my raffle tickets are selling very well over 50 tickets sold in a couple of weeks.  Thank you to everyone supporting this important cause.

My online donations have now exceed $2000 - a BIG thank you to all these generous people.

This week end (labour day long weekend) has seen me on Saturday complete an 18 km hike with full gear/backpack which was tiring but rewarding to know it was not too bad.   Had my two dogs for company, so the trek may have been a little quicker if I didn't have to stop at seemingly every bush and vertical structure along the way.....it is amazing how much a dog....never mind, it was good to have them there with me.  Sunday walk a less strenuous walk of about 8 kms without the pack and today a lazy 60 km on the bike.   Today was beautiful sunshine and plenty of people out and about - great week end all up.

156 days to go

The blog has been a bit quiet of late but I have been busy...

Running around behind the scene orgainising a raffle (see previous post) and a number of friends and colleagues have already signalled their intention to purchase a ticket -good odds really only 100 tickets and you can win an Apple Ipad2...

I have secured generous sponsorship from GE Australia & New Zealand which is a fabulous gesture and really inspires me to train harder !

I have maintained my walking regime - my dogs are even more eager to join in, now they bring their walking lead to me as a not so subtle hint to get moving......I have been doing lots of cycling too and over the last 2 weekends in particular it as been very very warm (in the 30s) so plenty of water is the go!!!

Raffle Tickets on sale - win a Ipad 2 (first prize)

Raffle tickets now on sale:

$50 per ticket and only 100 tickets being sold.

To be drawn at 4.pm on 4 May 2012 or earlier if all tickets are sold prior.

1st Prize - Apple Ipad2 64gb wifi RRP $799.00

2nd Prize - Kindle eBook readers RRP $185.00

3rd Prize - Apple Ipod shuffle RRP $55.00

Contact me on 0408 553 716 or mhardy101@gmail.com if you would like to purchase a ticket

New Sponsor GE Australia&New Zealand

A big thank you to David Read Vice President Strategic Sourcing and Facilities at GE Australia & New Zealand for GE's generous support for Amnesty International Australia's important and worthwhile charity defending and protecting Human Rights.  

Thanks so much once again for your sponsorship and encouragement.

Training for Mt Kilimanjaro fundraising climb in Aug 2012 - Main Range Track , Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, 2012

Training for Mt Kilimanjaro fundraising climb in Aug 2012 - Main Ridge Track , Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, 2012, a photo by Martins images on Flickr.

Main Ridge Track saddle between Charlotte Pass and Mt Carruthers. Whilst the day was sunny the wind was howling over the saddle but the view is spectacular -the area directly behind my is the Lady Northcote Canyon on the Abbott Range with Lttle Austria peak to the left and The Sentinel to the right.

Roof of Australia -next the roof of Africa!

Training for Mt Kilimanjaro fundraising climb in Aug 2012 at summit of Mount Kosciuszko, Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, 2012, a photo by Martins images on Flickr.

Training for Mt Kilimanjaro fundraising climb in Aug 2012 at summit of Mount Kosciuszko, Kosciuszko National Park, NSW, 2012. Just completed three days of hiking - (1) Kosciuszko summit at 2228 mts from Threadbo village (18 kms and the first 5 kms very steep and all steps),
(2) Threadbo to Dead Horse Gap along the beautiful Threadbo river about 12 kms and
(3) Charlotte Pass along Main Range Track via Blue lake (Australia's highest glacial lake) including crossing the Snowy River about 12 kms. Great weather and location -all the time carrying pack of about 10-12 kgs to replicate what I maight be carrying at Kili.  206 days to go.

225 days to go

In addition to walking around the local area, today I went to the Kokoda Memorial Trail (1000 steps) at the base of Mount Dandenong.  The 1000 steps path as the name suggests has lots of steps and is steep in parts and apparently 1.8 kms in length from the carpark to the top.   I had a training partner in the form of Liam back from ADF duties and happily setting the pace -one thing he may have forgot...make that two things - he is much younger than I and he also didn't have a laden backpack!!!  Nonetheless it was a pleasant weather day which was conducive to us completing two circuits up the 'steps' and return.   The exercise in every sense of the word was most beneficial to test out the equipment and I look forward to completing many more ' steps climbs' before the big one in August next year.