TENBY adventurer, Rosie Swale Pope, celebrated her 58th birthday on Saturday, which also marked the first anniversary of her epic run around the world. The grandmother is now a quarter of the way through her 20,000-mile global trek, having clocked up around 5,000 miles since she left her home town on October 2, 2003. On Tuesday, September 28, Rosie, who is now following the Trans Siberian Railway route, was 535km from Irkutsk and the first snow of winter had fallen. When she arrives in Irkutsk, on the shores of Lake Baikal, around October 16, it will mark the easy part of her journey through Russia. She will then plan for her next big leg towards Mogadan in the north-east of the country. Once she has a visa for her second year in Russia, she will need to plan the next stage very carefully as the winter is bitter, with temperatures ranging between 30-60 degrees below zero, and beyond Mogadan there are no roads at all. Rosie's reason for continuing north through the winter is because she thinks it will be much easier to cross the rivers when they are iced over, and she hopes she will be able to follow the tracks of transport trucks travelling north. Her journey will be made a little easier as her buggy will have its wheels replaced by skis and she will have her arctic tent and clothing to keep her warm. However, if it all proves too difficult, Rosie will find a quiet place along the route to make her winter hibernation, before putting her best foot forward again in the spring. Rosie, who has crossed Holland, Germany, Poland and passed through Moscow, and has encountered nothing but hospitality, generosity and friendliness all along the way, is continuing to fly the Kitezh banner to show her support for the orphan children who live there. On her website, Rosie says that despite the gales, Siberia is beautiful and she adds: "I can't believe I've got so far in a year."
