I would just like to say a huge thankyou to my first official sponser on my justgiving page, and also thanks to Deborah West from work for her sponser today.

Unfortunately I wont be around for the next few weeks due to my trip to China, but any donation to my justgiving page would be welcome

Just a small group this weekend, my brother, his fiance and I. We walked from Ashurst to Beaulieu Road Station and back again.

It was the longest walk yet (6 miles) and the best weather by far! Was a varied route through woodland, open grass plains and heathland. Well deserved drink, picnic and an ice cream half way round was enjoyed by all!

Thanks to Andrew Player and Kerry Jeffery for their donations and another £6.50 was raised bringing the current fundraising total to £28

For those interested the walk can be found here http://www.nqsouthern.com/digitalpublication/digitalpublications/index.cfm?dpid=133&section_id=1069

Photos from our walk

Once again the weather was kind and the rain held off until we got back into the car (lucky for us!!!) Just 5 of us this time but still an enjoyable afternoon.

We started at Ashletts Creek in Fawley and walked through the country side and to a detour along to Calshot and went into the activity centre to watch the people on the climbing wall! The detour probably added another 2 miles to the journey but none of us complained. We rejoined the route and walked alongside Southampton Water and the Oil refinery. All in all the walk was probably around 6 miles. The walk (minus the detour) can be found here http://www.nqsouthern.com/digitalpublication/digitalpublications/index.cfm?dpid=133&section_id=1157

Thanks again to Karen & Michael Player, Chris Burgess and Amy Scragg

Photos from our walk

Its official, my confirmation from the NAS has arrived along with my fundraising pack! I will be emailing you details of my justgiving page soon! I cant wait to get officially started!!

Will be walking again this Sunday, this time around the Calshot area, if anyone fancies joining me for a spot of exercise and fundraising let me know

Tonight I have walked the 4 miles home to get in practice for all the walking, I know it is nothing compared to what Ill be doing in Peru but it is definately improving my fitness! This is the 4th time Ive done it and Im doing it quicker and getting less tired each time which must be a good sign!!

I have also started taking the stairs at work, its a long old walk up those stairs from the lower ground floor up to the 2nd floor!! If you see me in that lift make sure I have a pretty good excuse!

Well the rain held off and we had a lovely walk!

We started around 1pm from the Bear and Ragged Staff and started of up the hill along a narrow country lane to the church then climbed over stiles in various field which had amazing views over the Test Valley.

It was then back down the hill to cross over the river. A little while later we walked through a large field with hay bales where we stopped for some silly photo oppourtunities!!!

The route continued to take us back and forth over rivers and we even got the chance to spot a heron.

Towards the end of the walk we stopped at a little farm store to look at the various goodies on sale and then finally we arrived back at the Bear and Ragged Staff for a well earned drink.

Many thanks to Karen and Michael Player, Chris Burgess, Eileen Harris, Susan Trust and Amy Scragg for a lovely afternoon and helping to get my fundraising of to a start!

Details of the walk can be found at http://www.nqsouthern.com/digitalpublication/digitalpublications/index.cfm?dpid=133&section_id=1149

(see below for pictures)

Photos from our walk

Sunday marks the day of the first fundraising attempt! although I feel cheeky asking people for money!

At 1pm on Sunday 8 of us will be walking for a couple of hours on a circular walk around the Stockbridge area (guided by Eileen) I will be asking for a small donation on the day.

If anyone fancies it we will be starting from the Bear and Ragged Staff pub in Stockbridge at 1pm and finsh there sometime later on for a well deserved drink! I would be grateful if you could let me know beforehand if you can make it, it would be good to see you, the more the merrier!

At 4pm today I had an email from Classic tours to confirm that my application had been accepted, all I need to do now is wait for The National Autistic Society to contact Classic tours and my challenge pack will be on its way.

This will be a challenge of a lifetime and I hope you will all support me along the way! I have started to walk home from work once or twice a week which takes around an hour, but already that's getting quicker. And now the stairs are back in use at work I will be attempting to climb them every morning instead of using the lift!!

The next step will be to begin fundraising, I have a few ideas but any you have will be greatly appreciated. So far I have come up with:

• Car boot sale
• Walking group (contact me if any of you are interested)
• Quiz night
• Bowling/skittles evenings

I may also try out my artistic abilities later in the year and attempt making Christmas cards and 2008 calendars! but that may take some practice!! oh and I hope some of you will dig deep and sponsor me for this worthwhile cause!