I was never particularly happy that the party going up Kilimanjaro had a maximum number of 29.  29 is not just an odd number, it is a particularly odd number.  There is no reason why I don’t like it; there is nobody who tormented me, dumped me or is related to me whose birthday is the 29th of the month to give me reason to dislike this number.  In fact I know nobody who has a birthday on the 29th of the month  (this is not unusual.  I do not know anybody’s birthday.)

So now we are 30.  In just a few short days Neet Nielsen has come through.

She has combined wire, fabric and glue.  She has made man.  Mr Wobbly is coming to Kilimanjaro.  Mr Jelly was, frankly, too big to make the journey.  And he doesn’t belong to us anyway.  Mr Wobbly folds flat and can be smuggled into the hold of the plane.  He will be brought to life in the Kilimanjaro Mountain Resort and beyond.  Potentially into the record books as the first mascot to climb to 19,341 feet.  This is indeed truly Wobbly.

I have a worry.  A worry that Michael O’Leary, the boss of Ryanair, has bought Kilimanjaro. The documents sent through from the travel company have a whiff of the man. “Your packed bag must weigh less than 12kg”, “The bag must be a canvas or a soft-sided holdall”, “Trekkers who show signs of altitude sickness will not be permitted to continue.”  These sounds very like “The hold baggage allowance is a maximum of 15 kg”, “Carry on baggage must be no bigger than 50 x 25 x 30 cm” or “passengers who are under the influence of alcohol will not be allowed on the plane”.  Unless of course you cross our palms with silver.  Or in our case US dollars which were printed after 2002.  The 2002 restriction has yet to be explained to me but I’m sure there is a good reason.  I wonder what Mr O’Leary will charge for the additional mascot?

Mr Wobbly is exceptionally lucky joining so late in the day.  He does not have time to get his malaria tablets.  I took my first one yesterday.  It floored me.  Malaria must be pretty bloody awful to warrant the feeling of nausea I had to endure yesterday.  It was extremely unfair.

E-mails were flying around yesterday between Neet (the creator of Mr Wobbly), Julie (a TryAthlete whose organisational skills and sheer enthusiasm make things happen), Brinsley (who will wear the Mr Wobbly suit) and me (a Muppet) regarding sizing and delivery etc of Mr Wobbly.

Julie wrote “I’ve just read Bryn’s latest blog “The Road to ‘Well”, sounds like you had a wild time on Monday night….with the weather!”

To which Brinsley replied “I have never read Bryn’s blog as ‘in the flesh’ he talks ‘bollocks’, may be he is an easier listen in print; I’ll give it a go!”

Very amusing and, as ever with Brinz, extremely perceptive.

Today will be a quiet day.  And then the mayhem begins.