The Start.

Friday 26th of October
Last three days in Delft Holland, have been non stop. Everything from emails, phone calls, last minute repairs to car, purchases and packing of the vehicle. The car has been supplied by the organization, but has needed a lot more repares that initially expected in order to make the journey. This is partly as this is the third time the car will be doing the Touareg Trail. A last minute decision to change wheel bearings was wise as one side was so worn the bearings were square! Have uploaded a visual diary of all this on my photo page. I hope you find this interesting!

Saturday 27th, Sunday 28th and Monday 29th October.
With a 7am start we leave Delft and at 10am arrive at the Brussels Africa Museum where the Trail is officially due to start. The reception is extremely busy with press and well wishes. All teams are introduced to the crowd and are asked to say a short piece about our own charity projects including DJ and myself. At this point it really dawns on me that I am probably the only English person there out of a crowd of over 200! Un-phased I stand up and apologise for the English and deliver a brief introduction to DJ and myself as a team and MAG my charity. All 20 teams are given a W20 Pentax waterproof camera to play with on the trip.

We leave at around 12.30 for Barcelona over 800 miles away. Generally the car travels well but do quickly realize at first full petrol fill that we have a leak at the top of the petrol tank. We conclude that it is probably a faulty connector pipe and that the tank will have to be dropped, but decide to press onto our destination as it will be warmer place to work. Combination of air in fuel and carb problems leads to a very long trip down at an average of 80k. 21 hours later with very little sleep we are one of the last to arrive at Barcelona Harbour. At this point we immediately commence our fight with dirty petrol tank repares and carb adjustments. I draw the short straw for petrol tank as I fit better under the car. As suspected it turns out to be a split in the fuel line connector and carb problems. Remainder of the day is spent relaxing and adjusting to the new situation. We hear problems of other cars including massive oil leaks, wrong fuel etc. All which have been sorted by the mechanical team. Nice to know there is mechanical help if we need support.

Sunday evening and monday day are spent on the boat crossing to Morocco. Practicing Garmin GPS as will be needed everyday from now on! and recovering from long drive down. Due to arrive at 6pm this evening. The plan is to make a 40k drive to a camp sight for sleep, 5am start the following morning. Will try and make quick updates from now on when possible, so watch this space.