Sore feet!

Phew! What a hard, but rewarding, bank holiday weekend!

We decided to embark on not one, but two (yes, two) training walks.

The first took us from Tilford to the beautiful ruins of Waverley Abbey, then up Crooksbury Hill and across Crooksbury Common before returning to Tilford. It took about four hours, including a wander around the ruins (and a bit of a sit down at the top of Crooksbury Hill!). The total distance was just under six miles.

What a wonderful opportunity to get away from the rush of everything and marvel at that increasingly rare thing - silence. The silence was, of course, soon broken by the sounds of us struggling up hills and glugging on litre after litre of water!

Today we ventured out for walk number two. A slightly shorter one this time - just under three miles - due to achey, blistered feet (ouch). This led us around Puttenham Common, which included part of the North Downs Way. Stunning!

Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to the aches and pains that will inevitably come tomorrow. Time to sit down with a cuppa and rest before getting started on next weekend's fundraising activity - watch this space!

Info: For those of you interested in following our footsteps, we were once again following pre-planned routes taken from Pathfinder Surrey Walks, walks 13 (Tilford and Waverley) and 1 (Puttenham Common).

Training day!

After buying a little map book of walks around Surrey I decided it was time to start some training.

OK, so, like most 27 year olds I've been able to walk for about 26 years now. One would think this would exclude me from needing to practise for my 4,600m altitude, 4 day hike in the Andes, but apparently not!

I picked out a nice little six-miler, to take my training buddy (also known as my other half, Chris) and me from picturesque Compton, Surrey, up through Artington to the outskirts of Guildford, then back through the Loseley estate (although I have been berated by a friend for not using the opportunity to take in some delicious Loseley ice cream - sorry!) to Compton.

There really are some beautiful sights to be seen on this walk, from the unusual Watts Chapel, to the stunning Loseley House (pictured above - excuse the bad photography!). And despite being a bit off the beaten track, it's all so easy to find with a bit of a walk and some exploration.

A few hours later, tired and with aching legs, we returned to the car and headed for a relaxing pub lunch to "reward" ourselves. I think I'm going to enjoy this training!

For info: today's walk can be found in Pathfinder Guides: Surrey Walks, walk 14: Compton and Loseley Park

Off to a flying start!

Wow, it's been an eventful couple of days!

Decided to get things going with a bang, and had a chat with a journalist called Pete from the local paper yesterday - which resulted in frantic attempts to make myself look presentable as he arranged for a same-day press photographer to come over. Hopefully I'll look reasonably human when the article is published - I'll be sure to link it here for you all to judge for yourselves!

It's been busy on the donations front too - as well as lots of lovely donations from friends and family on my Just Giving page, the lovely Craig and Sarah at Clever Recruitment have contributed to the pot as well - thanks guys!

Where it all began...

Thanks for your interest in Gem's little jaunt up Machu Picchu!

I'll be trekking up Machu Picchu to raise funds for the RSPCA - an organisation that has meant a lot to me since I was 5 (yep, 22 years ago now!) - when I joined the Animal Action Club and wrote them a very demanding letter asking them to save ALL the animals in the world! It's very difficult to imagine the world without the RSPCA in it - quite simply, the animal welfare in England and Wales (and arguably, worldwide) wouldn't be what it is now if the RSPCA hadn't started doing their thing nearly two hundred years ago. They've done so much to shape attitudes, improve animal welfare legislation and help on the front line of animal cruelty, it's impossible not to respect and admire their achievements. And without the support and donations of the public none of this could have happened!

This trip is a big "thank you" to the RSPCA for all they've done for the millions of animals that need them - and for the impact they have had on my life. I hope to raise a hefty wodge of cash for you to help further your work :-)

So, the trek itself... on arriving, and after a bit of acclimatisation to the altitude (hey, its elevation is 3.5km!) I will take part in two days of community project work in the Cusco/Sacred Valley area, before embarking on the four day trek up to Machu Picchu. I'll be on the Salkantay Route, travelling through the land of the ancient Incas, crossing passes up to 4.6km high through the Andes mountains - and onwards and upwards to Machu Picchu itself!

I'll be keeping this page up-to-date with my fundraising and training efforts - so feel free to check back to find out how I'm getting on!

Thanks so much for visiting my page. If you've enjoyed it please take a moment to visit my Just Giving page and make a donation - double thanks if you donated! My target is a daunting £3,500 inc tour costs so every little counts - even if you can only afford £1! And if you've got a moment, I'd be eternally grateful to anyone who shares this page on Facebook, Twitter or by email. :-)