9 weeks till Machu Picchu

Train Train Train - that's the name of the game now, as we have a lot to look forward to!!!!

The final invoices for our trip to Machu Picchu came through this week and they have confirmed our regional flights from Aberdeen to London.

Machu Picchu

More importantly though, we now have confirmation of our extension trip to Lake Titicaca :-)  We will be heading there by train after the trek to Machu Picchu.  Once at Lake Titicaca we head out on a boat to see the floating island of Uros, enjoy the Titicaca National Reserve and then staying on Amantani island where we stay with a local family and enjoy the community lifestyle.  While on the island we will have a chance to visit some pre-Inca ruins and enjoy the famous Inca weaving.

Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca map

We both had the weekend off this week, so up we got up early and headed out to climb Lochnagar.....

Lovely day we thought as we headed into the glen, should be great we thought and the sun was shining and making it look fantastic.  We parked the car and crossed the waterfall at the start of the path, this was our first clue on how strong the wind and sun was.  The snow melt was in full swing and the wind was blowing the trees quite strongly.

Heather and Karen in front of Loch Muick
 

The wind was so strong, it took all our strength not to get blown over, and at present that's a strong wind to blow me over LOL!!!

We passed a second waterfall that is usually just a trickle, it was not a trickle just now!

Small waterfall?

So lets think ..... what to do .... we have to train for a long distance walk on rough terrain and we're here now ..... we checked the maps and decided to circle the loch instead.

Glen Muick has several tracks that don't include going all the way up Lochnagar so we chose one that was about 8 miles long but safe in windy weather and off we went!

We headed up the left side of the loch towards the lightning path (a path that looks like lightning and heads up a very steep side of the hills), this path splits half way up giving you the choice of climbing the Munros or circling the loch.  There's a waterfall at the point where the path splits and we had to stop and take photos.

Karen and Heather at the lightning path waterfall.

 

Howard, Karen and Heather at the lightning path waterfall.

As you can see we managed to get Howard to join us this week, its amazing what a bit of sun can do!

So after making our decision and enjoying the views of the snow melt water rushing down the hill, we headed round to the other side of the loch for lunch.

Karen, Heather and Howard enjoy lunch in the best looking restaurant in town.

So far we had managed to stay one step in front of the rain, but the clouds were threatening all day, could we make it back without getting wet?



Heather and Howard as we headed back along the deer fences.




After lunch we continued round the loch through the trees and passed the deer fences and sapling trees, enjoying the beautiful sunny weather and fighting the wind but the only time we got wet was passing along the shores of the loch down in the glen.  No photos of this I'm afraid, the cameras were all kept in their bags, but it was fun when the wind lifted the water off the loch and sprayed it all over us.

There is a serious reason behind all this of course.  Now that the Inca Trek trip is getting closer it's easy to forget why we are doing this.  We may be training to ensure we beat this challenge and make the most of our opportunity but a lot of people out there have a much bigger challenge on their hands, with the prize at the end for them being LIFE!

Cancer is one of the biggest diseases of our generation, I am sure you all know someone effected by this disease.  Macmillan Cancer Support do as much as they can with every £1 they receive but are limited by their funds, more funds mean they can help more families effected by cancer.  Please consider giving a donation to Macmillan Cancer Support through our just giving links here: Karen and Heather.


10 week count-down

If you recall Bon Accord Lions Club helped us put on a fantastic Race Night in February.  Well we got some great news from them again this week, it seems they pick charities occasionally that they feel are the most worth-while and refund their £100 fee.  Well yes you guest it they chose us this time.

Thank you very much Bon Accord Lions Club

In fact thanks to the generous people of Aberdeen, our fundraising is well in hand.  So far we have raised £5, 319.39 of our target £6,600. 

Thank you Aberdeen

 

 

 

With the fundraising coming along well and the Trek to Machu Picchu only 10 weeks away, Heather and I felt it was time to increase our training regime dramatically.

 

As we both work full time and different hours getting training time together isn't easy but luckily for us we live in the North East of Scotland so hills are not to far away.  Hills like Benachie which is only 30 mins drive from here.

 

Benachie

 

So two weeks ago we headed up here for the first time and Heather being younger and fitter than her dear old Mum was at the top in 45 mins, I was about 15 mins behind her but I did it.  Yipee!!!!

 

 

Heather up Benachie

Karen up Benachie

 

 

 

Okay this is definitely going to have to be a regular trip until I beat Heather up the hill, like that will ever happen.

 

 

Heather waiting for me again

 

 

 

Okay so the following week, Heather ends up waiting for me again.  Doesn't she look cold oops!

 

 

I decided I was going to have to do something here, so for the next week I left the car at home and walked to work every day.  Then yesterday we all headed out to Dunnottar Castle and I kept up with Heather Yipee!!!

 

 

 

Heather and Karen at Stonehaven

 

 

 

Its a great walk with a very steep start up the cliffs from the village, we headed along to the war memorial and Heather, Howard and I were all surprised just how many members of the same families were listed as having died during the war.

 

 

Howard and Heather at the War Memorial

 

 

Next step the castle and what a view you get from this cliff top path.

 

 

Heather enjoying the view of the castle.









 

 

Dunnottar Castle is set out on cliff separated from the mainland with smuggler caves underneath, this is one of the most interesting looking castles in the north-east with a even more interesting history. 

 

Heather waits for Howard to catch up!

 



Heather, Karen and Howard at Dunnottar Castle

 



To get to the castle itself you have to climb down and back up again several steps, the largest single section has 178, yes we counted them and laughed afterwards that we would have to do that regularly too to practice for the 3,000 steps we have at Machu Picchu.

Today I headed out on my own as Heather had to work, but lets face it I need more practice than she does, Howard had enough yesterday.........

So back up Benachie it is....

 

Me up Benachie

I did it though getting better all the time...........still a long way to go but I will be ready, if it doesn't kill me first!!!!!

However, don't forget what we are doing this for, Macmillan Cancer Support help to tackle challenges like these every day for people suffering from cancer as well as helping their families in their hours of need, so if you haven't already donated to our fundraising cause please do so by clicking here Karen and Heather.

What an amazing feeling...

It finally feels like things are falling into place and everything is starting to feel so real now.  Despite having to cancel our fancy dress pub crawl on Sunday 9th February due to mum and Lianne being ill (meaning I would have had to go round the pubs by myself as everybody else was busy), we have had nothing but good news in the last few weeks.

On Saturday 15th February we held our Race Night in the Transport Club in Aberdeen and what a great night we all had (even me who left with sore arms from being nominated to jockey for about a million races - possible slight exaggeration there). We had lots of support from friends coming along to buy horses and raffle tickets,  bet on races and take part in the fun photo booth.  In the end, after paying the Bon Accord Lions Club for their help with providing the equipment and running the races, and after buying the prizes for the actual races, we managed to raise another £693.37.  Not only did we manage to raise a lot of money from the race night but we all had a great time too.  Drinks were flowing (although possibly flowing a little too quickly on one table) and almost everybody left with at least one prize each, some people took home about a dozen prizes.  One thing's for sure though, it never would have been such a success without all the help we had from the Bon Accord Lions Club.  Thank you so so much Bon Accord Lions Club!!

 Getting set up...

People queuing to place bets...

The races get off to a flying start...

Getting into the swing of it...

Kathryn, Sarah and me taking our turn at the fun photo booth...

Kathryn takes the army costume very seriously...

Another race...

On 17th February we received more good news.  Mum's work approved our application for raise and match meaning that they have added another £2577.06 to our total, which brings our current total up to £6118.51.  This means that we only have another £481.49 to reach our target of £6600.

So, it's great that the fundraising is going so well and it takes a big weight off our shoulders knowing that we are so close to our target.  Now that our big events are finished and we only have a couple more fancy dress pub crawls to do, it means that we have more free time and so are able to concentrate more on preparing ourselves for our main challenge - the Inca Trail.

As we both work different shifts it means that we don't have much opportunity to train together, so, we are walking as much as possible on our own and going to the gym by ourselves whenever we get the chance and we are going to climb a mountain together every weekend from now until Peru.

Me

Mum

It feels amazing knowing that all our hard work is beginning to pay off and that after all this we will have raised thousands of pounds for Macmillan Cancer Support.  It may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but knowing that we are helping to contribute to the amazing work that Macmillan do is a great feeling as they wouldn't be able to do what they do without help from people fundraising for them.  So please, dig deep into your pockets and sponsor us, any donation no matter how small will be very much appreciated.

http://www.justgiving.com/Heather-Kennedy5
http://www.justgiving.com/Karen-Kennedy5

The Race is on!!!!!

Well this has been an interesting couple of weeks.  The gym training is not going as well as expected because both Heather and I have had the flu; Oh okay a "VERY BAD COLD", anyway we have not been able to breath, even talking has been difficult, much to Howards amusement, he lives with two woman who every time the speak start coughing!!!!

It hasn't stopped our fundraising though, we are just taking turns with the jobs LOL!!!

So while I was in bed, Heather spent her spare time contacting load of companies, begging for donations to the raffle for our Race Night and calling loads of pubs in Aberdeen getting permission for us to visit them for last weeks Fancy Dress Pub Crawl.  She was very successful!!!!

However, on the day off the pub crawl, Heather took to her bed, leaving me and Lianne to do the pub crawl ourselves.  I think her timing was brilliant; I had just agreed with Lianne, that we were each going to try and beat Heather at the pub crawl, as she has raised the most in every event so far :-(.  Heather will do anything, to avoid being beaten LOL!

It didn't work though, it may be because it was a Saturday night instead of Friday or Sunday this time, OR it could have been the costumes, but we raised more that night than ever before; Lianne raised £338.39 and I raised £417.86, giving us a total of £756.25.

I was dressed as the lion from the Wizard of Oz but Lianne was dressed as Edward Scissor-hands.  A costume so real looking, one girl ran screaming and hid in the toilets as soon as she saw her.  Bad Lianne!!!!!

Lianne as Edward Scissor-hands and Karen as the Lion from The Wizard of Oz

This brings us to this week and some of Heathers begging has worked well.  We have several more raffle prizes for the Race Night from companies such as The East Neuk, Partylite, John Laidlaw Butchers, plus several others have asked us to come back to see the managers, with comments such as "I'm sure he/she will but you have to ask him/her" so appointments have been made to go back later in the week.

Meanwhile, posters for the Race Night have now been put up throughout the city, watch out for these whenever your out and about.

 



 Tickets for the Race Night are available online by clicking the link here Race Night OR on the door.

Don't forget you can also make donations for our biggest challenge "The Trek to Machu Picchu" online through our Just Giving Accounts here: Karen or Heather.

What A Battle

What a fantastic night we all had on Friday night raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support.  The Battle of the Bands event arranged at The Tunnels was a very successful night. 

 

The Tunnels © Karen Kennedy

 

 

Unfortunately one of the bands had to pull out at the last minute, but that still left five bands in the battle.  Easily Led got the night off to an exciting start, unfortunately they had to leave immediately after performing for personal reason's but we would all like to say a big thanks for making the effort.  Congratulations also go to Easily Led for coming second in the battle :-) Our thanks go out to Morgan's Music for donating the second prize of a ukulele plus £25 Gift Voucher.

 



Easily Led - © Howard M. Kennedy PhotoClassic





 

Eden was next on the timetable however, their was a slight problem, someone at The Tunnels forgot to pass on the message that we had a wheel-chair user in one of the bands.  Thankfully the staff at the Tunnels were very good and although it was not ideal, they did the best they could to help.  There are two rooms at the Tunnels, one which is wheel-chair friendly and one that is not, unfortunately we were in the wrong one.  Rodney could not get up onto the stage so the mikes were brought to him. 

 



Two of the Eden band members on the stage - © Howard M. Kennedy PhotoClassic



 



Rodney played the Harmonica up by the sound man and the bar © Howard M. Kennedy PhotoClassic



 

The third band up was Reverse 61, a very young band with a great future ahead of them, these lads had great voices and had everyone there was singing along with them.

 

 

Reverse 61 © Howard M. Kennedy PhotoClassic

 

 

Logic Effect were the fourth band to take the stage and have the crowd singing and dancing to their music.  They are also the band that took the third prize for the evening, a large selection of chocolates donated by Heather and Myself. 

 

Logic Effect © Howard M. Kennedy PhotoClassic

 

The last band to take the stage were a very new band to the circuit who had only performed a few times before, but they had the whole room bouncing and with the result took first place in the Battle of the Bands competition, they were I Just Punched A Hurricane.  The winners of this event got a Photo Shoot worth £250 from PhotoClassic, that the bands are free to use for promotional material, cd covers etc. Thank you PhotoClassic, its much appreciated!

 

I Just Punched A Hurricane © Karen Kennedy

 

 

At the end of the night we counted the takings and have added a further £263.61 to our fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support.  Thank you everyone for a brilliant night.

 

Don't forget we still have one more large event on the calendar for the 15th February at the Transport Club, join us that night for a Race Night and Fun Photo Booth.  This event should be full of fun and laughter, tickets are available in advance online or on the night.  Don't forget to buy and name your horse, prices start from £3 per horse.

 

 

 

We also have a couple more Fancy dress pub crawls arranged for the next couple of months, the next one is arranged for the 18th January 2014.  Please give generously, you will be promised a good laugh at our costumes, remember what the last ones looked like, I'm not sure I want to.

 

 

Sarah, Heather and Me!

 

Shaz, Heather and Me!

 

 

You can also sponsor Heather and Karen for our biggest event, the Trek to Machu Picchu through our Just Giving pages. Email us if your interested in joining us on one of our fancy dress pub crawls.

 

 



 

 

 

Happy New Year

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a fantastic time over the holiday season.  Lots of presents, food, alcohol and catch up time with the families.  All healthy and happy I hope!  So now to the new year and time to reflect on all that the last couple of weeks have given us. 

Unfortunately there are loads of people out there who have spent the last couple of weeks in hospital or making memories for their families as they may not be here next Christmas.  Cancer is a disease that effects us all, it is the most politically correct disease of the modern world, infecting the young, old, rich and poor alike.

Why not make one of your new year resolutions a vow to help those brave people who are facing this disease right now.  Macmillan Cancer Support does just that!  They are there to help the families of cancer patients as well as the patients themselves, through the toughest time of their lives.

As you all know Heather and I are trying to raise several thousands of pounds over the next few months for Macmillan Cancer Support and our emotions at present are very mixed.  We have had to cancel the Dinner Dance and Auction planned for the 25th January at the Copthorne Hotel due to lack of interest, this as you can imagine was a very difficult decision but the limited tickets sold would not have even covered the costs, so we have refunded everyone who had already bought tickets, I am sorry for all of you who were looking forward to this event, I know I was.

CANCELLED





We do have TWO other events coming up and have great hopes for these as luckily the out-going costs for us are much lower, meaning nearly all the money received for these events will be going directly to Macmillan Cancer Support. 

This week we have the "Battle of the Bands" at the Tunnels on the 10th January, doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 7.30pm.  Tickets are £3 each available on the door.  Check out which bands will be playing and when here.

The second event is the "Race Night" at the Transport Club on the 15th February, doors open at 7pm and then nights fun starts at 7.30pm.  Tickets £3 each, buy your horses in advance online for £3 each too.  More tickets and horses will be available on the night, as will a fun photo-booth.

We do have a couple of Fancy Dress Pub Crawls planned for the near future too, anyone who fancies joining us for a fun night in Aberdeen please get in touch by email.  The last two Pub Crawls were very successful and great evenings.

 

Sarah, Heather and Karen on our first Fancy Dress Pub Crawl

 

 



 

Shaz, Heather and Karen on our second Fancy Dress Pub Crawl

 

 

Don't forget you can also sponsor us for our biggest event still to come the Trek to Machu Picchu, a 6 day trek across the Andes to this amazing Inca city. The trek begins at Cusco 11,400 ft high and ends with a climb of 3,000 steps up to the Inca city of Machu Picchu, before we start the trek back down again ( a shorter route this time).

 

 

 

Machu Picchu

 

 

This is our biggest challenge and therefore, over the next few weeks and months both Heather and myself will be not only raising as much money as possible for Macmillan Cancer Support before we go, but will also be pushing ourselves into the biggest fitness challenge of our lives.



 

Me Just Now!!!!!

 

Fitness Target!!!!

 

 

Please sponsor us for this amazing challenge, through our just giving accounts here: Heather and Karen.