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22 days left!

Time really is flying now. It's like the inverse square thing; the last 10 days have felt more hectic and more accomplished than the 300 before that, and no doubt the next 5 will be even more so. It's actually less than 3 weeks until we leave the island of Tresco, our safe and comfortable bubble of which we call home, and begin our journey.

Jo Ash also made us aware of a few bits and pieces of interest, including the fact that many smaller border crossings in Uzbekistan have now been closed, and have also been mined. (Notice the use of bold, italics AND underlining to emphasise the fact there will be mines involved. MINES.) Rather amusingly on the other hand, we also found out that James & Will can only drive at a maximum of 43mph in Russia, having not held their license for more than 2 years. Forty three miles per hour. Looks like Mackey will be doing a lot of that driving! Another thing - Ramadan begins on the 11th of August, and it can be illegal to eat/drink/smoke/wear shorts during this time. I'm taking bets at the moment which one of us will be arrested first.

Today, James & Will went for their second lot of injections, and are now sat here writing with a nice big fresh dose of Hepititus B drifiting through their bodies. After spending the morning going for these (a trip to the hospital also involves two boat journeys), we were welcomed back by the site of a mountain of parcels for us - always good to see.

The first of these contained our Spot GPS transmitter - something we are VERY excited about using. For those that haven't read this post, the Spot GPS transmitter is a little orange gizmo, and tells the world where we are. Before you jump on the anti-GPS high horse (the Mongol Rally is not about using such modern equipment to find your path), the Spot unit won't be helping us in any way. It's literally impossible to use as assistance for us to work out where we are. Instead, it'll provide our website with a nice Google Earth map, and you'll all be able to zoom in and find out where we are. It will feel just like you're coming along with us! Our huge, huge thanks to Sam Murray, the director of the Worksmart Group. Sam has been fantastic in offering advice for GPS tracking, taken a good interest in our challenge, and even provided a fake Spot unit to use with our BBC filming! We look forward to plastering the Worksmart Group's sticker on Pete the Saxo, and if you too are interested in finding out more about the Spot GPS Personal Messenger and GPS tracking, please do visit their website!

Some more car stickers also arrived this morning, including the big Tresco Estate bonnet branding. We send our huge thanks to Sign & Print, who have been fantastic in sponsoring us with these stickers. If you need some sticker'ing done, whether it be for the rally or just fancy branding everything in your house, visit their website!

As soon as the weather clears up a bit, we'll get the stickers on and update some more pics of the car. She really is looking spectacular. Well, in my eyes anyway. It's probably the way parents view their new baby as the most beautiful thing they've ever seen, despite the baby probably looking horrific. It's the same. Pete the Saxo is a thing of beauty.

We'll also update you with a big of good news from a communications sponsor we have in the pipeline (more details to follow later), as well as an update of the epic generosity of our donors so far. If you haven't donated, and feel you should (what with it being payday yesterday....), then you can do so very easily! Just look for the donation form on the right hand side of any page of this website. Donating takes 30 seconds, and it's done using Paypal servers, meaning you can donate via Credit Card, Debit Card or Paypal. Every donation will be going to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, and you even get thanked on the final DVD production!

We are still looking for commercial sponsorship, and in exchange for your financial or product assistance, can offer you a number of advertising packages. Please do contact us should you wish to see some more information and some impressive slides.

The one thing to do though, before we set off on this challenge of a lifetime, is the Tresco Triathlon. This fantastic test of athletic prowess and skill will be taking place on Sunday, 11th July on Tresco. With a full field of competitors (in fact, we're still getting applications now, and could easily have doubled the runner numbers), we'll be kicking off at around 3pm for the safety talk. The start, from New Grimsby beach, will be for around 4pm and the entire event finishing at the New Inn (handy, that..). With the triathlon to cheer, kebab roast, live music from "Back Chat" and the World Cup Final to sneer, it will no doubt be an epic event. If you're on the Isles of Scilly that weekend, please do visit Tresco and support the competitors!