I’m about to fly to the world’s largest land locked country. I’ll be spending almost 2 weeks thousands of miles away from the sea!? I’ll be like a fish out of water – or perhaps a seakayaker out of the sea?

I’m off to the world’s 9th largest country, which is certainly not one of the most visited. It gained notoriety in the film ‘Borat’, although I’m told the film is a total misrepresentation of my destination – Kazakhstan.

Why am I traveling so far from salty water? I’m delighted to be joining Sarah Outen for 11 days on her epic adventure to loop the planet by human power. I last saw Sarah at the start of April, when we kayaked from London Bridge to Dover together. I then spent a few days in Europe cycling and driving with her, filming her pedaling her bike, Hercules, from the French coast towards Russia! Since then she’s been chasing the rising sun on a 5 month cycle journey across Europe and Asia. I’ll join her in Almaty in Eastern Kazakhstan & we’ll cycle together about 900km to Urumqi in China. I’ll be filming the journey and trying to keep up with Sarah, who has been developing steely thighs for 3 months now! I’ve been out on my mountain bike quite a lot over the last 3 weeks and am fit enough to cause an equally competitive friend to fall off his bike trying to prevent me from overtaking him! Whether I’ll be woman enough for over 100km a day in the foothills of the Tian Shan mountains remains to be seen!

I’ve been aided in my training by some swish new cycling gear from Assos and Rudy. I now look a bit like a biker, and I had some fun with my photo-sensitive glasses for the above photo. The glasses are clear when it’s overcast, but automatically turn dark when the sun is out. Fantastic! I exposed 1 lens to the sun for a few minutes (while covering up the other one), then popped them on for the photo. Well, you’ve got to have a bit of fun, haven’t you!? Sarah is sponsored by their UK supplier, Yellow Limited, and they kindly gave me some kit for my part in the journey. Sarah’s logistics manager, Tim Moss, has lent me his bike Bob — which stands for Beast Of Burden! I have been warned!

I’ve also got some great panniers from Ortlieb which will safely carry my kit and keep it dry. It’s all very exciting and I  look forward to arriving in Almaty in about 24 hours from now!

On a separate point, our digital download sales are proving popular. A lot of people who have bought a download, have been back for more, so they must have been pleased with the quality and price. If you’ve never tried downloading a film from the internet, then now is your chance to try it out for only 99p!?  For this cost (less than a cup of tea or coffee) you can watch never-before-seen footage of Dutch seakayak guide Axel Schoevers as he kayaks around the Netherlands, see footage from kayaking under the Golden Gate Bridge, paddle with manatees in clear water in Florida (Weeki Wacchi river), see short features on Chris Duff, seakayaking in Georgia, paddling in Penrhyn Mawr tidal race, Skooks tidal race, the Manitou islands & Lofoten islands.… and more!

Not sure how it all works? Have a read here.

Keep your eyes open on the internet aswell, a few websites are offering discounts on their favourite films for a short time. The good folks at Kayakyak are offering money off some of our seakayaking films from Canada – in aid of Canada Day on 1st July. Check out their blog if you haven’t seen it.

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