On Saturday 16 February, I spoke at the CANSA Gala Dinner. The black tie event was nothing short of spectacular and the company made it an evening to remember. My speech was very well received and I was met with a standing ovation.

Not only this, but we sent an ice bucket around to business cards from people interested in sponsoring squares on the banner. I am pleased to say that 30 people have volunteered and several of which have committed to more than one block.

A massive thanks goes to Sue, Munnik, Lionel and everyone who make the lives of those less fortnuate than us a little better.

I also went to Drifters on Sunday to pick up some more of my climbing gear. The boys there are always fun to chat to and I must say that Matt is running the place well. Thanks to you guys for putting up me and sorting everything out quickly.

This weekend John Black went to Australia to climb Kosciusko, the highest mountain in Oz. He summitted on Saturday after a grueling 90 minute walk in the heat of the day, John made his 4th of the Seven Summits. Although Carstensz Pyramid is the highest mountain in Australasia, it is really difficult to access due to political reasons, so a lot of climbers climb Kosciusko in Oz as the 7th summit. John will be climbing Carstenz (Indonesia) at a later stage, when access issues are resolved. So well done John!

Lastly, I would like to remind everyone who has not finalised their spaces on the banner to do so soon. I will be leaving in just over 5 weeks and I would like to try finalise as much as possible before I go.

It’s 39 sleeps to go and the butterflies are starting to really kick in now. My house looks like an Eskimo Factory shop with gear everywhere, but as the time grows closer, i am starting to realise that it is all worthwhile.

Please email questions you have regarding this trip as I want this to be as interesting as possible.

“Upward, and forever upward” - George Mallory

Robby

Climb high for those who can’t.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 9:23 am and is filed under Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.