Hey folks,

In 9 weeks we are going to be in Africa!

So how do I feel? The word overwhelmed would sum it up. It seems like my days are just a blur, weeks are buzzing by as sponsorship proposals are sent out (and rejection letters are received – very enthusiastic rejection letters I may add), liaising with charities, organising the fundraising gig (that’s all Mandy and Elisha at the moment, god knows what I would do without them), working (I still haven’t told you my new job – working in a bike shop), getting gear blah blah.

A couple of weeks ago I was overwhelmed in a “holy shit” kind of way. We were 10 weeks out from departure, we had no bikes, no air tickets, no panniers, no camping/cooking gear, no camera man, no camera gear, no GPS, no insurance, blah blah……………….basically had nothing. Plus I had just bought a new map of Southern Africa, and our planned route that had only been 20cm on the African Continent map was now over a metre on the Southern Africa map.

But after a week of staying up late spending a small fortune on internet shopping –we took 2 hours to decide which pot set to buy as the one we wanted weighed 50 grams more than the other ones- and knocking on the right doors, we have the vast majority of gear. Check out all our Ortlieb gear below, cheers to the supportive guys at Diggari.

The only major things we need now are our bikes! Ummm kind of a major thing I suppose when we are planning on cycling 5000km. As I have found out with organising the expedition, the simple things are never simple, behind the smallest tasks always lie challenges. After waiting on potential sponsors to get back to us, the weeks kept passing by, and let me tell you when you are asking for sponsorship you wait a long time, a very long time, I think I usually get put at the bottom of people’s to do lists, right below cleaning the disgusting smelling moisture build up from between the rubbish bin and the bin liner. But a big thanks to Dirtworks, they are working with us, and doing a great job at securing our bikes, so fingers crossed we have them in the coming week.

Overwhelming in a more positive way, however, has been people’s willingness to jump onboard and help out, to support the Final Continent Expedition. Its great having so many bringing their skills to the fore and willing to help. Thank you…….no really, thank you.