Money makes the world go round

As I mentioned in my first post we're doing this (crazy) thing for charity - the Marie Keating Foundation. When we first got going back in February we thought raising the required €5000 each would be no bother - but it turns out asking people to hand over their hard earned cash during a recession is possibly harder than that final night's climb to the summit (I'll let you know when we get back). Those who have donated have been really generous and we are really appreciative of this considering the times we live in. Also, the practical help and support we've been getting from our friends has been touching; we won't forget it!

Of that €5k, some of it covers our flights, accommodation and meals while on Kili (which we are obviously putting in ourselves) but ALL the rest raised goes to the charity. (This post isn't even going to talk about the other personal expenses with which we are faced - equipment, vaccinations, visas...watch this blog for more on those).

Other than just straight begging for cash, we held a Pub Quiz recently which was lots of fun! (Even though the fact checker - me - got a few things wrong when setting the q's - D'OH!) At this event, we had a raffle for some fantastic prizes which were all donated to us by some extremely lovely people at the Great Outdoors (90% of our kit comes from them! they know EVERYTHING), Halo Hairdressing, Dominos Pizza, Buttercups Beauty and BootCamp Ireland (D, have you used this voucher yet!!! :-)) The amazing first prize was a gorgeous wildlife photograph which we ALL wanted and no doubt contributed to raising most of the money we made that night! Thank you Des!

We also did a shopping centre collection but that wasn't great - I can appreciate though that people would rather donate to someone actually doing something like packing bags rather than standing there looking fabulous (as we always do). Unfortunately getting into the local supermarkets to pack bags is akin to gaining an audience with the Pope - you have to have booked at least a year in advance (and have some sort of diplomatic passport or something)!

In total, the 5 of us doing it for the Foundation are short around €16 000!!! EEEK!

We've bought a block of tickets for a comedy night so that will hopefully bring in some euros, and we are trying to organise a singles' night for later on this month. My good friend C is something of an events coordinating queen so she's looking forward to helping with that - thanks babe!!

Well, watch this space - hopefully we will have raised all that by the end of August!!!

The Beginning

It's 2010. I am 30 years old this year. So far, I have not published a Nobel prize winning tome, nor have I achieved CEO status, or figured out how the CERN collider thingy works (besides the possibility that it could suck us all into a black hole...or something). So really, it's time I get a move on.


A few months ago, I heard that a friend had decided to climb the highest peak in Africa - Mount Kilimanjaro. At 5895 metres (19000 feet approximately), it's the highest free standing mountain in the world.


Yes! There's my challenge right there, I thought. And even better, it's for charity - the Marie Keating Foundation. One way to get over being over the hill is going over another one - isn't that how the saying goes?


My husband has been roped in, without any protest as he's a Bear Grylls wannabe (I just wanna be with Bear Grylls), so the two of us plus our friend and her sister are planing the trip of a lifetime in October.


I thought I'd start this blog in case anyone out there is interested to hear how four complete hiking beginners (and, in my case, a severe exercise-phobic) are training, what equipment we need and from where...we've been really lucky finding loads of useful info and are loving the outdoorsy pursuits here in Ireland.