Finding sufficient excuses for not sorting out the photos and/or the road book until now (May) is going to be difficult but I'm going to go with being kicked out of the flat, kipping on Fraser's floor and at Kate's mums house (mainly Kates mum's, Fraser didn't do my washing, thank you Jill!!!) and finally moving in with Kate, er and snowboarding.

Anyway I've just returned to the 21st century with broadband and so will attempt to sort through the photos and scribbled notes in the road book so Dave and my Grandkids can tell Grandad to shut the hell up and stop telling the Bansang ferry story for the nth time coz they read it on ibrakeforcake first.

I think we covered most of the prep for the rally pretty well so I'll start from Hyde Park, which is better than me and Dave nearly did as there would appear to be more than one bits of open ground opposite a 'Marble Arch' mmm 4000 miles of navigation to go and we're struggling with Hyde Park..........


Dave brake tests the Trooper

Have only just found out how much the Trooper sold for, which is a bit slack, but both Chris and I have been up to our eyeballs since our return from the P2B. £699.66 was what it fetched, which I am a bit dissapointed with, to be honest, but the fuel pump issue must hasve hindered bidding, even though it only needed a good clean and refurb.

Sorry one and all if you've been waiting for pictures from the trip. A small selection of the piccies are up on the FLICKR host site that we use and can be accessed by clicking on the image below. Sorry again as I've been really busy with work and completing/knocking down bits of my new house and the piccies took a back seat for a bit, but Pippa and Ian and Jan, DVDs will be winging their way to you next week at some point.

Enjoy the images, they show a bit but do no real justice to how amazing an experience the P2B was...

Hey Chris,

I checked out your site - How could I not when it has such a great name

I wanted to post a comment to the Sahara update (doh), but the function seems to
be disabled. Worried about dodgy comments from your mates eh?

Here is is anyway:
Bonjour/Hola from one of the Australian bikers! ...well, technically I am
South African and my partner Sean is the Ozzie, but I dont mind the demotion


It was excellently exciting to stumble upon some of the Plymouth-Banjul
crew. Chris and Daves were one of the first cars we saw. 'ibrakeforcake'
provided a few good miles of in-helmet entertainment. It was with amusement
that Sean and I stopped to provide additional assistance to an over-eager
fellow rally car, a little mini-van with the adventurous spirit of its 2
burly german male driver and navigator. The Ibrakeforcake team however had
it all under control as they towed 'Mona' the mischievious minivan out of
the perilous desert sand and away from the ship wreck that had lured her in.
Not bad for a Charade!

Happy travels south boys. And heres to using more female undergarments to
get you there!

Michelle

***

I'm glad to hear that Sean has run into you guys again. It's difficult not
to be able to continue south with him, but then, that's the curse of having
to go back to work eh (all the better for saving up for a complete joint
adventure next time around).

I was happy to hear that your African bush mechanics are workign well -
gravity assisted fuel pumps sound brilliant!!

Good luck with your adventure. It is great to get out and meet such spirited
people who have the balls to do more than just armchair travel! Wey hey!

Happy and safe travels,
Shells

Hello

Contrary to popular myth and rumour me and Dave are alive and well having made to Gambia and back in one piece. Full posts/pics to follow once we've adjusted to being back in blighty.

Happy new year to everyone I've not seen

We have arrived home, a little more smelly, tired and weary. Lots of piccies and stories to tell which will go up on the blog when they're sorted! Thanks to everyone who helped us get the car and equipment ready for The Gambia and the people who sponsored us to get the car there.

We met up with Kemo Cesay, our PAGEANT contact and donated the materials to Sinchu Baliya school, amid one of the warmest receptions I have ever experienced. Really great to see the kids there and the how outside help is changing their school environment. We were also fortunate to visit Bansang Hospital, up country, with the Los Perros Locos boys, who'd arranged to donate their car as an ambulance and donate some medical supplies. This also gave us an opertunity to give over the medical stuff that we'd bought. Another amazing welcome, with more local dancing and a detailed four hour tour of the Hospital's facilities (or lack of them). Quite an experience and great to see the impact that Anita Smith has been able to make there. Google 'Bansang Hospital' for more info - it was on the BBC last Friday, too.


A massive thanks to all the people who helped us along the way - too many to mention in detail, but you know who you are! Special thanks to Steffi and Kate who let us go and supported us, also our Parents, Bob, Cath and Derek. And a Massive thank you to Gav for all the tireless web work and behind the scenes geekery!

Sorry if you all thought something terrible had happened, it hasn't, well not before I last spoke to them yesterday evening. They have had an eventful week, nearly getting lost in the dessert, dodgy guide, pot holes the size of the trooper, dead donkeys, holding areas, kids trying to nick stuff, locked keys in the car and holding up lots of angry ferry passengers which resulted in the trooper being lifted out the way and shaking hands with a crocodile (do crocodiles have hands?)! By and large your average day in Milton Keynes.

Anyway they are safely in The Gambia, Dave sounds like he's had an amazing time, they're off to see hippos tomorrow and are set to come home on Friday.

Got a very quick but informative call this morning, they had left Layoun and headed into the Western Sahara travelling with two Australian bikers. They are stopped fairly regularly by military check points but all is well and they've had no problems with the locals! The car started rattling and they had got sand in the air inlet, so with a pair of tights securely in place they were off again and are now heading towards Dakhla only a few miles north of the Tropic of Cancer. The weather has got hot and even at night they it's mild (not that they know as it seems the lure of hotels is winning over the camping plans!).
Steph

I think MK implied Marrakech Gav, but not to worry! Yesterday (Boxing Day) they successfully navigated the Atlas Mountains over the Tiz-n-Test pass with scenery "to die for" with the weather hotting up and on to Agadir.

Back in time to the lost days of Gav; the boys spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Marrakech sampling interesting foods and fighting off the market traders, but I am assured they have got some bargains. Dave marvelled at the number of donkeys and as it was The Festival of the Lamb, or some such, there were sheep/lambs everywhere, on mopeds, in the streets, in houses...

Generally both boys are in very high spirits and are really enjoying their adventure; jealousy is beginning to seep in - but can't really complain as I am now sitting in the South of France and for the first time in over a week I have seen the sun!

Steffi

A quick update from the chaps, we are missing a few posts since some chav nicked my phone the other day...true christmas spirit and all that....

So Chris informed me yesterday (might have been christmas day) that they had left MK, now then, i am assuming that this is some sort of typo for those in the know(and dave should know) MK means Milton Keynes and he left there 10 days ago! S lets make a massive leap here because geography isn't my strong point and its a 5m walk to the atlas and i'm in a rush, so....they left Meknes in morocco yesterday with the Atlas mountains looming in the distance and they do look 'bleedin' high. Well done there chris.

Glad to be back on the road and in a convoy of at least 8 cars they are now off to Sidiinfi to camp for the Night.

They both wish us a Merry Christmas as we do them!

Good luck guys.