Mountain bikes: Brand new mountain bikes would be too much of a temptation for a poor rickshaw man on his one-speed bone-shaker (and who could blame him?) So we've chosen 2 robust but average mountain bikes from our tour centre to take with us on our trip (hopefully the pink colour will put "would be thieves" off!)

Snowboards: Thanks to Duotone, well now be able to freeride down the Himalayas the Alps on our Sponsored Stylus boards! Thanks Guys!

Windsurfer: The wind is perfect, the waves are beckoning, the smell of the surf is on the air. You climb up onto the roof to grab your new board and sail. Somebody beat you to it! If only you'd listened to Rupert and Bridge and taken your 6 year old, well used gear with you on your world trip!

Outside Boat: Used Grabner boats are as hard to find as the proverbial "Hens Teeth", but we managed it. After asking around everywhere we heard of a white-waterrafting centre in "Wildalpen" who were willing to sell us a boat. Now we've just got to find the best rivers on our route and make the most of it.

Rucksacks: For those times when "Lucky Luke" can't go on any further we'll be glad that Deuter sponsored us a rucksack and a child-carrier so we can carry on where he left off!

Clothes: Yes, we are taking some. Luckily we're being sponsored by Camel-Trophy adventure wear so we won't freeze and in keeping warm we'll look quite smart too, killing two birds with one stone as they say.

Maps and Guides: We've listened to all the travellers out there and have taken their advice so for English speaking me, it's "Lonely Planet Guides". For Rupert who prefers German, it's "Nelles Reiseführer" We'll keep you up-dated on their good and bad points as we go.

Camera: A Canon EOS 500 28/80 and 75/300 will be responsible (together with Rupert) for most the photos on this site. We're also taking a compact camera and a polaroid but don't tell Iran as you're only allowed one camera there!