We've escaped the city for the weekend and I'm writing this in the sunshine outside my sister's house in the Cotswolds. A lamb roast is in the oven, as we await the return of her husband Chris from sheep-shearing duty. In the absence of tractors or landrovers coming up the lane, the scene makes me feel like we've gone back in time to the 18th century - half expecting a horse-drawn hay cart to appear around the corner at any moment.






















Nostalgia for this time last year is in full effect - 365 days ago we were recovering from our pre-rally leaving party at the Prince Albert, and had just booked our tickets home from Ulaanbaatar. Am insanely jealous of everyone heading east in a couple of weeks, even moreso as they're launching from Horse Guards Parade this year, rather than Woburn Safari Park. Who knows, we might even have turned up on time if we'd left from central London!