Dakhla - Nouadhibou 381km

Wednesday 24^th

Mileage 68650

We continue on the loooong western Sahara road today and leave camp at 5.45am as we must make good progress, Crossing the border from Marocco to Mauritania can take some time, We must first dross the Moroccan border, then we drive through the approx 4km of 'No Mans Land' there is a track we must stick to as there are land mines either side and exploded car wrecks left there to warn of the danger....to be continued....

some pics to follow soon too :)

Ksar Tafnidilt / Tarfaya - Dakhla 840km

Tuesday 23^rd

Mileage 68129

Today is a loooong day but necessary to get from Morocco to Mauritania and we do have a treat at the end to look forward to! So we set off from camp before sunrise and followed the tarmac coast road south through the Western Sahara. Laura preformed brilliantly all day, she didn't miss a beat, its a really tough day on the car as we stop only every 1-2 hours to refuel or visit the desert bathroom then we are pedal to the metal again to make progress, we want to try and reach camp before sunset for our treat!
We drove all day with the roof open and only a Matts Soft Tops Sun Mesh over our heads, we were really pleased we has this as we were cooler without shutting the sun out completely, Thanks Matt!

It was again 30 degree c today and the rather boring road / drive was only broken up by police checks, we must hand in a document with lots of info on it (la Fische) smile sweetly and hope the officer will let us pass smoothly! Needless to say we had no problems :)

It was hard going on us today too, driving that road can be really tiring anyway but we seem to have could a cold! Dads is worse than mine, he is sneezing every 5 minutes I just have a really sore throat.

A highlight of the day was when a (heard?) of Camels decided to cross the road as the 2cv's approached but the best bit was when we arrived at the bivouac the organisation had arranged for freshly prepared Oysters! It was Oyster Camp, we have been here before and they were the freshest thing I've ever tasted and really yummy, so much so I had to tell myself to stop after about 8 as I don't want an upset belly tomorrow!

Tree Camp – Ksar Tafnidilt / Tarfaya (Camping) 511km

Monday 22^nd

Mileage 67931

Wow, today was awesome! I won the steering wheel again and we drove (after about 10km of off road) on tarmac again and it was a bit of a race to get to the beach were we would then drive 30km along, we mus meet together and drive at the same time (pretty much)

Those of you who have heard or stories or read my 2009 blog will know we had problems last time, we have to go through some water before the hard sand of the beach and last time we got water into our electronic ignition, Well this time it was different, 1. I was driving and 2. we got water into our standard point ignition, Laura pulled herself out of the water on her starter motor and after about 10-15min work I was flying down that beach like there was no tomorrow!

After the 30km of pure beach fun I 'let' Dad drive as I wanted some roof time! I could see everything really well from up there and it was cooler and FUN!

We had it all soft sand, rocks, water and all while we were driving through a beautiful Canyon, still the Salty African sea smell in the air, mmm lush.

Dad thought he would cool me off a few times when driving through the water but it was actually rather appreciated (the first time!)

We lost sight of one of the teams we were driving with (Fitz and Stan) so Dad and I went back and sound them under their car replacing a broken tye rod end, They had put a greese nipple into it which actually made it weak, but, luckily, we carry a spare.... no problem

The rest of the track continued to be just as fun and all the cars were close by which was really nice. The campsite was in the grounds of a lush hotel and is one Dad and I stayed at in 2009 so it was nice to revisit, We must leave at 5am tomorrow so another early night beckons!

Marrakech – Tree Camp (Tiznit) (Bivouac) 322km

Sunday 21^st

Mileage 67730

You know its gonna be a good day when it starts with Eggs & Bacon! Breakfast is usually bread (often a little dry) with ham, cheese or jam or chocolate spread, and there is only cream, no milk so Tea is off the morning menu :( So I was really chuffed with Eggs this morning!

It was our final day in the mountains, the summits were eventful today, at one Dad found a skull which he has kept as a souvenir... and at another when we stopped our Dutch friend Edwin dropped his sunglasses, the slope was pretty steep but he was determined to get them back, so off came a tow rope from one of the 2cv's and around his waist it went, we then lowered him down, slowly so as not to cause a rock slide, well most of us took pictures! But it was successful, glasses retrieved!

Camp this evening is a red sandy one in the middle of nowhere surrounded by cactus fields, really lovely, but caution must be taken when the 'bathroom' It was about 10k of really fun track to get to the bivouac so a pleasant end to a pleasant day

Ait Ben Hadou – Marrakech (Camping) 180km

Saturday 20^th

Mileage 67426

We start today with a 60km drive along the 'Telouet Track' then onto one of Africas' deadliest roads with descents on narrow roads on steep cliffs for approx 100km!

The day was a success and we drove with 6 cars at times which was really nice to see, snaking up and down mountains. :)

The place where we camped was very nice, with a pool and showers, but no time for that, (although we did was a few clothes) we ate, helped a team mate with his car then took a taxi into Marrakech. I believe the guys ordered a 6 seater, well that means 2 in the front (not including the driver) and 4 in the back of a beat up Mercedes! So even the taxi ride was an adventure!

I loved Marrakech, yes, its more touristic than any of the places I have seen in Africa and I like less tourism but it was cool to see it, there is a big square and you must watch where you step as there are snakes being charmed on the ground, there are different 'fun fair' games like fish the hoop onto the top of a bottle of coke etc, there are people playing drums and dancing, the atmosphere was lovely. I didn't take many pics as they all want to charge you for pictures!

We walked up and down the Souks (long tall streets full of shops selling all sorts, shoes, bags, food, clothes, jewellery and so much more, I also loved the atmosphere down these little streets, ok so every shop keeper tries to see you his goods but they are friendly about it and I didn't find them too push if you say no. We moved on to the food area, now these guys are pushy! As soon as we walked into the food stall section they were like bees to honey, eat at my stall, no, I am cheaper, etc etc, In the end there was a nice lad with a great English accent and lots of knowledge about Little Britain, Delia Smith....and the list goes on! So we ate there, I had a 'meat' tajine (I really love that dish) and dad had lamb chops. Then, to avoid spending too many Dirhams we went back to the camp site for an early night.

Algeria – Zagora – Ait-Ben-Hadou (Hotel) 309km

Friday 19^th

Mileage 67426

Punctures 1

Today its much cooler, there are lots of clouds in the sky keeping the sun off us (hmm, could have used that in the middle of the desert yesterday!) The Vespa riders took a different route to us yesterday so we left a small camp of 2cvs behind when we left at 7.30am. We drove off road for about 70km, I beat Dad to the driving seat again today and thoroughly enjoyed the slaloming rocky track which lead us to more mountainous scenes of the Atlas. Yesterday we drove through a huge gorge and reached approx 3000m elevation today we were half that, I was writing the blog and made myself really dizzy due to the altitude and about 1000 corners every 10 miles! So I was pleased we were not so high today! And it was worth it to see the layered rock and muti colours making up such amazingly grand views, I don't think and camera can do it justice.

Today was a pretty easy day and the last part was tarmac, we dove as a 3 car convoy none of which had problems! (these cars are awesome!)

I got to drive another team car for a while, up and down the mountain which was fun and a little adrenaline fuelled as the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car and African drivers give way to no-one! Haha – TAB (That's Africa Baby!)

We stopped a little before camp at Ouarzazate (North Africas Movie Capital) where films such as Sahara, Gladiaror, Lawrence of Arabia.....and others were filmed. I actually stayed here with another team and Dad continued the remaining 15km to the Hotel. I bought myself some souvenirs then made my way back too. When I arrived Dad had a big smile and proceeded to tell me how he got bored and took Laura up a mountain, stopped at the top, took some pics, then spotted our FIRST puncture!!

The hotel was really lovely and had wifi but it was slow and kept disconnecting. I had hoped to send a few mails and messages but with the blog too it was not possible ….so love to all from Africa!

Its now the Saturday 20th October, one week after we left, time is really flying!
sorry the blog updates are not as often as I would like, we stayed in a hotel last night 'La Rose du Sable' GPS: N31 02.766 W7 08.052
We leave now and drive a dangerous decent to Marrakech! wish us luck!
 

Todra – Algeria Camp (Bivouac) 338km

Thursday 18^th

Mileage 67219

Today we meet the sand! The road book says to make good progress, travel in groups of 3 and take enough food and water as there is a big chance you wont make it to camp!! (we drove this track in 2009 and didn't make it!)

First we have 120km of tarmac, on this part we (Dad and I, Erik and Dave , Fitz and Stan) stopped for a pee break I dropped Dad off and drove a few meters further and got stuck! But not badly, I had my private pee then shouted for the muscles to come and push me! Haha, no-one was bothered though, we treated it as a practice run for what we have to come today!

I drove all day today, and I am very pleased to say I only got stuck twice. The sand was really deep but once I got back into the technique I really really really enjoyed myself! I even helped drive another teams car out when they got stuck!

The carb flooding issue from the previous day was a bit of a worry when we first set off but Laura performed better than we could have hoped and we had no problems all day. I really love this holiday!!

Camp was really nice in a fort looking building in the middle of the dunes, we made it!!!!

Boujad Forest – Gorges de Todra 300km

Wednesday 17th

Mileage 67818

Todays track takes us off road firstly, then up and down the Atlas Mountains the views were breathtaking, literally! It was really windy when we stopped at the top of them to take pics. Laura strugged a little as she seemed to flood her carb when we needed to apply throttle uphill, but when we heard other teams having the same problems we tried not to worry too much. Our oil temp was running at about 100 degrees and we did need to bleed the brakes once as they got so hot when going downhill, The roads were loads of fun to drive and really Laura was running and coping well. But as they say, don't speak too soon....before we reached camp we decided to refuel in preparation for a long day tomorrow in the sand, we filled our 2^nd tank and when leaving the garage there was a really strong smell of petrol, so at camp it was straight to work. The 2^nd tank has a gasket on the top (fuel sender unit) and the gasket was kapot so again we fashioned a gasket, this time from a cardboard (tea bags) box......no problem, just solutions!

Assilah – Boujad Forest (Bivouac) 403km

Tuesday 16^th

Mileage 66792

We set off from camp at approx 7.30am and after about 30km we stopped to try and get our CB working and decided to have a quick check under the bonnet....good job we did as we found a massive (potentially catastrophic) oil leak! Upon investigation we discovered a crack in the 2^nd oil cooler....phew! No major problem, we disconnected it and set off again. Its a shame as now we have no 2^nd oil cooler which would have been nice to have, especially on the 2^nd part when it really heats up.

The max temp so far has been 30 degrees c

We stopped at a small village and bought chicken and chips which 4 of us shared under the nice shade of a tree then later we had further problems when we realised that we cannot charge our GPS via USB and our inverter is fixed at the rear of the car! But we found a temporary solution and just had to put up with a cable running over the passengers shoulder.

We drove a fun off road track and arrived at the forest camp just as the sun was setting and it was beautiful. (we are 2 hours behind English time – sunset is at 5.45pm Africa time) We spent our evening at camp helping out a team mate who's exhaust manifold had come loose and burnt out the gasket. The parts truck was not at camp as he had gone to find a 'lost' vespa driver so Dad and I worked with Erik to fashion some gaskets from an aluminium tray which we acquired from the catering truck! (4 layers on the one side of the manifold which had burnt out) We got to sleep at about 1.30am with a long day ahead of us tomorrow

Tanger – Assilah (Camping) 85km

I forgot to add, Laura’s mileage when leaving Norfolk was 65587

Monday 15^th

The Ferry was very nice. We had to reverse on which was an experience. Moments after being shown the room we were sleeping, afterwards we showered, ate and were all feeling ourselves again. The ferry crossing was slow but the rest was good, we uploaded our first weeks worth of 'tracks' onto our GPS and after 26 hours we docked at Tanger and after approx 2 hours we were through the border and had our money changed into the local currency 'Dirham' we then drove a tarmac route to our first camp.

Before setting off in Europe Laura was struggling a little with power but when her rubber hit African soil she began to wake up :)

Tevueren (Belgium) → Bacelona. 1,350km

Saturday 13^th / Sunday 14^th October

Barcelooooonaaa!

We are here!! Its been a long drive and I am feeling a little confused by what day it is but the first big leg of our adventure was a complete success and good fun.
I am pleased Dad ignored one of my 'how we can lose weight' requests and left the stereo in the car as we really enjoyed singing our hearts out on the way here!

We met at the Africa Museum as planned and talked with the friends who kindly came along to see us off and wish us a safe trip...Thank You!

At 2pm we left the pretty heavy rain behind in Belgium (Sorry guys) everything went smooth and to plan, but we did decide to take a look at Lyon in France (aka, took a wrong turn) and it seems to be a very pretty place (at approx 11pm at night) maybe I must go back there sometime hey?! Haha

Those who own a 2cv can probably appreciate that its not easy to sleep in one, yeah yeah, I usually have no problems sleeping (I can hear my family and friends saying now) but I was running really high on excitement, coffee and cakes! Well, I still am!
We have all met up at a truck stop approx 30 miles before the ferry port and will be leaving here at 11am (10am UK time). The ferry leaves at 4pm. I was very excited at the thought of eggs and bacon when we got here and was quickly disappointed by the gloopy eggs and leathery bacon served up :( ….(not to mention the price...jeez) Take me to Africa, the food is better there!

We are now going to raise lauras suspension a little and give her a quick check over. Getting here she ran like a 'Dream' no, like 'Star' no......like 'Laura' does when she knows she is going on an adventure. If she carries on this way for the next 5 weeks it will be great! Fingers crossed :)

Once more I want to think our 'Home Team' for their last minute help, especially my big sis for getting and setting up this lap top for me so I can keep you all updated, Its working great so far too! Cheers big ears!

Oh and big thanks to Peter & Ria Vande Look for taking these pics of us at the start and putting them on facebook for our friends and family :)

 Team Autotest - Thanks for the Merchandise guys! :)

When we get on the ferry we will upload tracks to our GPS and maybe have a beer?! Oh yeah and perhaps I will sleep a little.....!

Its a 24 hour ferry, and then an 85km drive to our first camp :)

Hope to be in touch again soon x

 The rain ponchos came in handy, Thanks again Auotest / Bosch Car Service!

 Some bad luck for one of the teams on their way to the start, Wheel nuts not tightened :(

 Lined up and raring to go! (This is the other car I have been working on the last 4 weeks) 

Don't they look great!!!  :D

 Ok enough Rain.....Lets Go, Go, Go!!!

 Check out the donuts we bought in Spain!

 Good Morning Barcelona!

The Penultimate Day...

...Tomorrow we leave for Africa! Well, firstly Barcelona :)
All the teams and most of the organisation will meet tomorrow morning at the Africa Museum in Belgium. Then, at 2pm (Remember UK are 1 hour behind, therefore 1pm English time) So you can all be thinking of us and wishing us luck.....please :)
We will drive from there, non stop, 1,350km (approx 838 miles) to the Port at Barcelona and our ferry leaves at 4pm Sunday (14th)
We arrive in Tanger at approx 6pm Monday and after the border formalities (which can sometimes take some time in Africa) we will drive 75km (approx 46 miles) to our first camp at Asilah.
* These crazy Belgian folk talk in kilometers so I will be following suit from now on in this blog.

Laura, has had a few last minute problems, with ignition and wiring but they seem to be resolved and we have confidence in her now! I am already in Belgium so will be meeting Dad and Laura at the start tomorrow. So I have my fingers crossed for a safe trip to Belgium for them :)
In the last stages of preparation we have received lots of help from our sponsors, Autotest and Threeways as well and technical assistance with the car and the electrical equipment for the blog and GPS etc, from Matt Hoskins, Mark Casserly, Carl Sheldrick, my lovely Sis, nieces, nephew and Mum so a big Thank You coming your way peeps.....
!
Its really nice to know we are supported by our friends and family so please remember so check up on us occasionally and maybe add a comment. I will post you updates as often as I possibly can.

Today I am feeling really excited but also a little stressed, I still need to pack and complete that never ending 'to do' list!

Team Building / Training Weekend

On the weekend of 8th & 9th September Dad and I took Laura to Ronse in Belgium to meet the other teams, attend some briefings for GPS use, first aid basics and bush mechanics, to fill in the forms for our visas and to hear a little more details on where our route will take us.
The atmosphere was lovely. Spirits were high, everyone was excited and very friendly. It was a very different experience to the Training weekend we went to in 2009 as this time we had friends there! :)

As you may know from the official website: http://www.touareg-trail.be/  Part 1 of our Adventure we are joined by Vespa's! The riders are all really nice and there is a girl whose Vespa is called 'Star'! I will be cheering her on! :)  They ride a different route to us but we will be at the same bivouac (camping) in the evenings. Also joining us are motorbikes so its going to be a very different experience to last time and I look forward to getting to know everyone better and sharing a great experience with them!

Another purpose of the weekend was to have Laura checked over to ensure she is 'fit for purpose' Well, we knew she was not ready to go. Her 'new' bonnet was still with our sponsor being 'stickered' and we have many new parts to go onto the car which we did not use (and wear out) for the trip to Belgium. The guys advised us of a few changes we could make but nothing major and we have not made those changes as time has simply run out! We also had a small oil leak which we were aware of.
After the Training weekend we resolved the oil leak but Laura was not running very well, she was really holding back on power after making a few changes to the carb we were still a little confused but finally we discovered that the 123 (electronic ignition) was way too advanced, so that is changed and now she is running well again! problem...? nope, just solutions!

There are still some last minute things to do and we must still pack (as light as possible) ....bring on the end of lists! haha

So we are really counting down now! This Saturday 2pm (1pm UK time) we will be leaving the Africa Museum in Tervuren and heading off on a solid drive to Barcelona.
I will update the blog as often as I can in Africa, I will write it each day it just depends on internet access and access to contact home as to how often I can post. Just like last time if anyone has any questions just post them and I will do my best to answer! :)

I know its not in English but it might be nice for some of those not so English friends of mine!......

This time next week...

.....It will be day 1 of our big African adventure! and yes, you guessed it, we are still not quite ready! But we are positive in our minds and spirits and all 3 of us will be ready and eager to go when the big day comes!

Over the last few months we have been really busy preparing Laura (Our off road 2cv) seeking sponsors and raising money for charity and I can now report positive updates on all 3

The charity we chose to support this year is Parkinson's UK. A very close friend of ours went through a real tough time when her father became ill with the condition and unfortunately passed away earlier this year. Its a difficult condition to live with and around and hopefully our support will help others.
We have now reached the 100% mark of our target and the figure is still rising! I cant thank everyone enough for their generosity! Love y'all!! x

www.justgiving.com/2cvafrica

I'm really pleased with our sponsorship support this year, although I received many declines from various companies we have some great support on board. Our main sponsor is one more Autotest with Bosch Car Service. http://www.autotest.boschauto.co.uk/AUTOTEST/Home We are so proud to have this main sponsor and I'm sure, as before, we will blowing kisses back to you guys in the UK when we are using the spare parts you provided!! (hopefully not always from flat tyres!)

We also have: Mobil Oils, Airways Tyres, Vredestein, Threeways Garage Shipdham, Damaco Race Engines, NDB Autos Norwich, Matts Soft Tops, Rudolf Import and Export, Parnham Engineering, Silly 2cv's, Vintage Tyres, G-Signs & Hudson Signs....

We have made some changes to Laura ready for this adventure but nothing too extreme. We re-conditioned the gearbox, and her engine has lots of nice new parts. We have re-enforced the back arms (only the front we re-enforced last time) we have re-enforced a few more areas of the chassis and changed the skid plate under the car for a lighter 'un-dented' version! We have overhauled the dashboard and added some more gauges to monitor the engine. We also changed the seats back to standard 2cv seats as they will double up as camp chairs and are lighter! (took some persuading to get Dad to agree to this though! - hope they work well!!!!)
Her look from the outside has also not changed much although she does have a different roof and bonnet, the reason for the new bonnet is because we needed a larger hole in it to accommodate her NEW tyres....yep that's right we have shiny new Vredestein tyres all round so my fingers are crossed real tight for much less than 21 punctures this year! :)

Here are a few pics of the strip down / rebuild...

 Let the strip down commence...!

 Yay! These heavy seats are history :)

 Hang in there Laura!

 Brrrr..... not much chassis work done on this day

 Still red African dust everywhere!!

 Floor painted and new dashboard started. (and possible extra fuel capacity idea)

New bonnet ready to be painted and 'stickered'  :D