The Queens Baton Relay is the world’s longest, most inclusive relay with will travel more than 180,000 kilometres and will visit all 71 nations of the Commonwealth over the course of 366 days.

The Queens Baton Relay started off in London on the 14th of March 2005 and travelled 231km to Cardiff in Wales on the 18th of March. From there it was 309km north to Douglas in the Isle of Man on the 21st of March and then 106km to Belfast in Northern Ireland on the 24th of March. Glasgow in Scotland was the next part of the journey, travelling 178km and arriving on the 27th of March.

The Queens Baton Relay departed of Saint Peter Port in Guernsey and after the 722km trek arrived on the 31st of March before heading 1499kms south to Gibralta and arriving on the 3rd of April. From Gibraltar it 3,509km to Larnaca, Cyprus arriving on the 7th of April and then 1,734km west to Valetta in Malta arriving on the 10th of April. From Malta it was 2001km to St Helier in Jersey arriving on the 12th of April before heading 295km back to London on the 15th of April.

The longest trek of the journey so far then saw the baton leave Europe for the African continent and travel 4,487 to Banjul in Gambia arriving on the 20th of April and then 661km on to Freetown in Sierra Leone arriving on the 23rd if April. From here it was on to Accra in Ghana, 1,474km away arriving on the 25th of April before travelling 618km to Abuja in Nigeria arriving on the 29th of April. Douala, Cameroon was the next stop 1,169km away arriving on the 1st of May and then travelling 2,370km on to Entebbe in Uganda arriving on the 4th of May. 508km further and the Baton arrived in Nairobi, Kenya on the 7th of May before travelling 3,188km to Windhoek, Namibia on the 10th of May. 2,850km away on the remote island of St Helena, the Baton arrived in Jamestown on the 17th of May.

Port Louis, Mauritius was the next leg, 7,855km away arriving on the 1st of June before travelling 1,732km to victoria in the Seychelles on the 5th of June. Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania was next on the list 1,752km to the west arriving on the 10th of June before heading to Johannesburg, South Africa, 2,464km away arriving on the 13th of June. 1,483km away was Lilongwe, Malawi arriving on the 18th of June as the Baton passed into it’s fourth month of it’s global tour.

Travelling 613km west to Lusaka, Zambia was the next stop arriving on the 20th of June and then on 1,256km to Maputo in Mozambique on the 22nd of June. 686km on to Gaborone, Botswana arriving on the 24th of June before heading 555km to Manzini, Swaziland arriving on the 26th. Maseru, Lesotho was the final African stop, 432km away arriving on the 28th of June before jetting 10,499km to the Caribbean Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago, arriving on the 1st of July.

565km away it was Georgetown in Guyana on the 5th of July and then 718km on to Bridgetown in Barbadoes on the 8th of July. 259km on to St Georges, Grenada on the 11th of July then 133km to neighboring St Vincent and The Grenadines on the 14th of July and then 72km to Castries, St Lucia on the 17th of July. The next few short legs included 150km to Roseaum Dominica on the 20th, 100km to Plymouth, Montserrat on the 23rd and then 110km to Kingston, Jamaica on the 27th before heading 784km to Nassau, Bahamas on the 30th.

On the 2nd of August the Queens Baton Relay arrived in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos after travelling 759km and then travelling on to George Town, Cayman Islands, 1,093km away on the 5th of August. Belmopan, Belize was the next stop, 846km away on the 8th of August before travelling 2,853km to St Johns, Antigua and Barbuda on the 12th. 423km away was Basseterre, St Kitts and Nevis on the 15th of August and then 107km to The Valley, Anguilla on the 18th. the final two Caribbean stops were 300km away in Road Town in the British Virgin Islands on the 21st and then Hamilton, Bermuda on the 24th before heading 9,343km south to Stanley in the Falkland Islands.

10,902km north to Ottawa, Canada on the 3rd of September was the last American stop before heading 10,685km to Islamabad, Pakistan in Asia on the 10th of September, one step closer to its final destination in Melbourne, Australia.

New Dehli, India had the Queens Baton Relay arrive on the 13th of September after its 679km journey before heading on to Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1,426km away on the 17th in the second half of the global journey. Colombo, Sri Lanka was 2,183km away on the 20th before heading 766km to Male in the Maldives on the 23rd. Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia who recently held the Commonwealth Games was 3,133km east with the Baton arriving on the 26th of September before heading 1,481km to Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei on the 30th of September.

On the 3rd of Octber the Queens Baton Relay arrived in Singapore after travelling 1,294km before heading 4,949km to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on the 9th. 2,505km east began the South Pacific leg of the journey in Port Vila, Vanuatu on the 15th and then 850km on to Funafuti, Tuvalu on the 24th before heading 950km to Apia in Samoa on the 31st of October.

On the 7th of November, 611km away, the Baton arrived in Alofi, Niue before heading 599km to Nuku’alofa, Tonga on the 14th. Honiara in the Solomon Islands had the Baton arrive on the 18th before travelling 800km to Nauru on the 21st and then 9,750 east to Tarawa in Kiribati on the 24th before heading to the Australian Antarctic Territory, 8000km away where it will spend a month from the 2nd of December, including Christmas Day and New Years day before heading back to warmer climates in Suva, Fiji, more than 7000km away on the 3rd of January.

Travelling the longest distance in any one leg the Baton will then travel east to Raratonga in the Cook Islands on the 6th of January, 2006 before heading 4,850km to Kingston on Norfolk Island on the 15th of January before its second to last international journey to Auckland, New Zealand on the 18th, 950km away.

On the 24th of January, the Queens Baton Relay will finally arrive in Australia after travelling the last distance of 2,157km and then travel the country before making it’s way into the MCG for the Opening Ceremony on March 15th, 2006.

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