UPDATE:

Hi all,

So we made it! We crossed Iceland on foot, from the north coast to the south coast! It was a great journey, exceeding our expectations in all sorts of ways (the scenery, the weather, the pain, the people we met...)

However, one of the most rewarding aspects of the trip is how much money we raised. So a HUGE thanks to all of you for contributing so generously! The £1000 mark was a rather arbitrary figure, but we're chuffed to bits to actually make it! And we'll be gently reminding those who promised to donate and haven't yet done so... ;-)

You can see our photos on Flickr. Either navigate to this link:
www.flickr.com/photos/29471940@N03/sets/72157607304784839/
or click on one of the photos to the left and view the photo set "Hiking Across Iceland" or view using the tag "Iceland".

And, for a bit of fun, here's our trip in numbers:
49433, total number of calories burned whilst hiking;
9930, total vertical ascent (metres) during the trip;
3776, daily maximum for number of calories burned whilst hiking;
433, total number of kilometres hiked;
176, number of photos available online for you to peruse;
152, number of hours spent hiking;
40, longest distance (kilometres) hiked in a single day;
37, weight (kilograms) of rucksack at the start of the trip;
23, weight (kilograms) of rucksack at the end of the trip;
19, number of hiking days;
12, number of pounds lost in body weight during the trip (5.5 kg);
11.5, longest hiking time (hours) in a single day;
5, number of compeeds used during the trip;
2, number of nights we saw the aurora borealis;
2, number of toes that are *still* numb;
1, number of stages lost due to bad weather;
1, number of rest days;

Thanks again for your donations! Rob and Andi.

ORIGINAL POST:

Many thanks for visiting our fund raising page! We are hoping to raise plenty of cash for "Save the Children", an international charity with a long history of excellent philanthropic work with the young. We hope you can donate generously to this cause. See here (http://www.savethechildren.org/) for more info about their work.

Some spiel from the Justgiving website: Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It's also the most efficient way to sponsor us: Save the Children gets your money faster and, if you're a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation. So please sponsor us!

So, how can Andi and I persuade you to donate your cash?... The aim is to hike across Iceland, from the north coast to the south coast, completely self-supported. It should take around 20 days. (We estimate the packs will weigh in at around 35 kg at the beginning - gulp!) The planned route is just over 500 km, through tundra, lava fields, mountain ranges, and past volcanoes and huge glaciers (but we'll definitely be going around them, not over them!).

Why are we doing this? (Other than trying to raise money for a charity...) No idea - ask Andi!

Check out our photos on flickr: there will not be much to start with, but we'll try update with nice piccies as soon as we get back.

And check out Andi's webpage that shows our progress: http://asalzbur.web.cern.ch/asalzbur/iceland/

Thank again! Rob and Andi.