Jenny and Ollie's Big Trip

Thank God We’re Not Doing it on Bikes :)

To get us in the mood (with only 2.5 years to go!) we've been watching 'The Long Way Round' with Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman. It's fantastic and very inspirational. But I have to say there is one sentence that me and Jenny have been uttering each and every time we wince behind cushions, and that is 'Thank god we're not doing it on bikes!'.
It looks so painful every time they fall over, and up until the time they rolled one of their 4x4s I was watching with a smug smile on my face! It has certainly opened my eyes to what the terrain will be like in Mongolia. Although I was aware the roads are not really roads, seeing it in full colour brings it home. But perhaps it is this remoteness that makes the place so appealing and the people so completely different to those we see every day in Europe. It hasn't put us off taking that route, but perhaps we now have a bit more knowledge of what it can be like.

Webify (Ollie);

I have spent the last week on a fantastic PERL course in Melksham. This is a work sponsored course, but will certainly help me in my long term objective of creating and understanding websites. The tutor is Graham Ellis of http://www.wellho.net/ and I cannot write enough good stuff about him and the course. He is 100% enthusiastic for the subject, with a depth of knowledge only challenged by the legendary UberNerds of Valhalla (ok I'm making that up). Graham is the driving force behind Welllhouse consulting, and I would say that Graham (and Lisa) are just going to create a better and better leaning environment. Big up Graham and big up PERL :)
So give me 6 months, and this website will have all the bells and whistles!!

Hopefully this weekend I will add some updates to the website, but it’s very sunny :)

Run Ollie Run

Well the marathon training has started again this week. I have managed two five milers, and Sunday is going to be make or break day with a nine miler (!!!!). Hopefully, if I can manage this run I am back on target. So far my back has only given me a couple of twinges, and I'm (sort a) confident.

Vehicle Dependent Trips!

Although it might not seem like it, we are making progress towards finding our ideal vehicle. But it has involved changing our minds 100 times on the way. We are now open to any 4x4, but the race seems to be back to being between a Toyota (Landcruiser or Hilux) and Land Rover. We have lined up a couple of visits to vehicles. One a Hilux Surf, which I just saw advertised whilst driving along. Another is an expedition ready Land Rover. This vehicle has already been driven by Richard and Camilla (http://www.kenningtontocapetown.com/) to South Africa. Once we have seen these two we will hopefully be ready to make a call.

We have also been in touch with some other overlanders, Bronwyn and Andrew, from http://www.4x4xafrica.com/ , who have been most kind and invited us to an overlanders bbq/braii. We will certainly be the newest to the game there, but this is an ideal chance to get some advice from people who know.

Saturday 17th June 2006 - Bagsie be Ewan