A lucky escape

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while - we're nearing the end of the current phase of my project and I'm flat out at work, and last weekend was full of RFU. By which I mean that on Saturday we went en famille to the England v Fiji Autumn International (courtesy of the RFU's 2 for 1 and U16 offers) and on Sunday I completed the first phase of a Level 1 Coaching Children Ruby Union course.

Anyway, we've passed three momentous fundraising milestones in the past week. First a combination of Elaine, Anthony, Melinda and Izzy took us to the summit of Ben Nevis (and a little beyond), so we'd completed our tour of the UK.

Then I got confirmation of that I've been approved for a £750 grant from the Navigant Foundations. That took us into exciting and unknown territory. I'd promised you foreign mountains you've never heard of and can't pronounce... so how does Koschuta sound [1]? At 2,133m, it's the fourth highest mountain in the Karawanks [2], which are sandwiched between Austria and Slovenia and apparently one of the longest ranges in Europe.

Fortunately for the credibility of the expedition, Ian stepped in with a donation that has taken us to the summit of the far more respectable Mount Bistra in the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. Actually, I have to be more specific than that, because Wikipedia tells us that Bistra (Macedonian: Бистра) is one of the most interesting mountains in the Republic of Macedonia . The mountain has many peaks higher than 2,000 meters and the highest one is Medenica Peak, 2,163 meters above sea level.

So, interesting Medenica Peak it is. But even continental European mountains are puny in the face of the Andes. The Wikipedia page for the Andes doesn't even list mountains below 4,000m, and we are still nearly 300m below the start of the trek. I haven't even been able to see nearby marvel of geography Puente del Inca.

Do you want me to be stuck on that minibus for ever? Of course not. So you'll all be buying tickets for my prize draw, won't you? We've got 5 great prizes, worth about £1300:

• A week in a holiday villa in Spain
• A case of vintage wine
• A newborn and child photography session, with a print and CD of images
• A custom-made corset (or a discount on a wedding dress)
• A family ticket to Big Game 5 - Harlequins vs London Irish on 29 December.

If you're interested, drop me a line for details of how to buy tickets.

[1] No, I don't know either
[2] Stop sniggering at the back