Ups and Downs

Cracking win by Ireland over Wales, but sadly Irish Ferries are off their game. The ferry is quite unwell and will not go before Wednesday at the earliest. They offer a "landbridge" alternative which involves a horrible drive from Plymouth to Dover, but it seems the only alternative to stand a chance to get to Malaga by next weekend.

So instead of a leisurely lunchtime departure, it'll be at a dark and icey 5am tomorrow.

"Technical Difficulties"

No passports arrived in the post yesterday, and so I tried visiting the mail centre this morning and the staff had a look, but nothing there either. So it looked like I'd be leaving without the passport and hoping it would catch up.

But, just now Irish Ferries have sent a text message - "due to technical difficulties, tomorrow's 1700 sailing is postponed to Monday...", so there will be a good chance of having the passport after all. And it also means getting to watch the Ireland-Wales rugby match in peace tomorrow.

Luckily I have some flexibility in the schedule, with the first deadline a rendezvous with Stefanie in Malaga next Saturday. But I hope that the MV Normandy is not suffering anything serious after its winter break. Perhaps it's a flat battery or someone has mislaid the keys.

Itinerary

This has been updated after the trip.

I drove the first and last legs alone, and otherwise had co-drivers who flew in to join the adventure at various points.
 

Day		Date		Where		Co-Driver
1		6/2/07		Irl/UK	Ferry to France
2		7/2/07		France	Biarritz
3		8/2/07		Spain	Bilbao
4		9/2/07		Spain	Soria
5		10/2/07		Spain	Gibralter	Steffi
6		11/2/07		Morocco	Chefchouen	Steffi
7		12/2/07		Morocco	Fes	Steffi
8		13/2/07		Morocco	Fes	Steffi
9		14/2/07		Morocco	Midelt	Steffi
10		15/2/07		Morocco	Erg Chebi	Steffi
11		16/2/07		Morocco	Skoura	Steffi
12		17/2/07		Morocco	Marrakesh	Steffi
13		18/2/07		Morocco	Marrakesh	Steffi/Jason
14		19/2/07		Morocco	Agadir	Steffi/Jason
15		20/2/07		Morocco	Tan Tan Beach	Jason
16		21/2/07		Western Sahara	Camp	Jason
17		22/2/07		Mauritania	Camp	Jason
18		23/2/07		Mauritania	Camp	Jason
19		24/2/07		Mauritania	Camp	Jason
20		25/2/07		Mauritania	Camp/Nouakchott	Jason
21		26/2/07		Mauritania	Camp	Jason
22		27/2/07		Mali	Camp	Jason
23		28/2/07		Mali	Camp	Jason
24		1/3/07		Mali	Camp	Jason
25		2/3/07		Mali	Bamako	Jason
26		3/3/07		Mali	Bamako	Jason
27		4/3/07		Mali	Bamako	Steffi
28		5/3/07		Mali	Sévaré	Steffi
29		6/3/07		Mali	Niafunké	Steffi
30		7/3/07		Mali	Niafunké	Steffi
31		8/3/07		Mali	Sévaré	Steffi
32		9/3/07		Mali	Sanga	Steffi
33		10/3/07		Mali	Sanga	Steffi
34		11/3/07		Mali	Sanga	Steffi
35		12/3/07		Mali	Douentza	Steffi
36		13/3/07		Mali	Camp	Steffi
37		14/3/07		Mali	Sévaré	Steffi
38		15/3/07		Mali	Sévaré	Steffi
39		16/3/07		Mali	Segou	Steffi
40		17/3/07		Mali	Bamako	Steffi
41		18/3/07		Mali	San
42		19/3/07		Mali	Djenne	Con
43		20/3/07		Mali	Camp	Con
44		21/3/07		Mali	Camp	Con
45		22/3/07		Mali	Timbuktu	Con
46		23/3/07		Mali	Timbuktu	Con
47		24/3/07		Mali	Timbuktu	Con
48		25/3/07		Mali	Camp	Con
49		26/3/07		Mali	Camp	Con
50		27/3/07		Mali	Camp	Con
51		28/3/07		Niger	Niamey	Con
52		29/3/07		Niger	Camp	Con
53		30/3/07		Niger	Tahoua	Con
54		31/3/07		Niger	Agadez	Con
55		1/4/07		Niger	Agadez	Con
56		2/4/07		Niger	Agadez	Con
57		3/4/07		Niger	Agadez	Con
58		4/4/07		Niger	Agadez	Con
59		5/4/07		Niger	Camp/Arlit	Con
60		6/4/07		Algeria	Camp/An-Guezzam	Con
61		7/4/07		Algeria	Tamanrasset	Con
62		8/4/07		Algeria	Tamanrasset	Con
63		9/4/07		Algeria	Camp	Con
64		10/4/07		Algeria	Camp	Con
65		11/4/07		Algeria	Djanet	Con
66		12/4/07		Algeria	Djanet	Con
67		13/4/07		Algeria	Djanet	Con
68		14/4/07		Algeria	Camp	Con
69		15/4/07		Algeria	Camp	Con
70		16/4/07		Algeria	Camp	Con
71		17/4/07		Algeria	Camp	Con
72		18/4/07		Algeria	Camp	Con
73		19/4/07		Algeria	In Salah	Con
74		20/4/07		Algeria	Ghardaia	Con
75		21/4/07		Algeria	Ghardaia	Con
76		22/4/07		Tunisia	Tozeur	Con
77		23/4/07		Tunisia	Kairouan	Con
78		24/4/07		Tunisia	Hammamet	Con
79		25/4/07		Tunisia	Hammamet	Con
80		26/4/07		Tunisia	Hammamet	Con
81		27/4/07		Tunisia	Ferry to Sicily	Con
82		28/4/07		Italy	Cinisi, Sicily	Steffi
83		29/4/07		Italy	Giardine Naxos	Steffi
84		30/4/07		Italy	Taormina	Steffi
85		1/5/07		Italy	Palermo	Steffi
86		2/5/07		Italy	Cosenza
87		3/5/07		Italy	Agerola
88		4/5/07		Italy	Amelia
89		5/5/07		Italy	Scofiano
90		6/5/07		Switzerland	Lugano
91		7/5/07		Germany	Black Forest
92		8/5/07		Germany	Rhede
93		9/5/07		Germany	Rhede
94		10/5/07		Germany	Rhede
95		11/5/07		Germany	Rhede
96		12/5/07		Germany	Rhede
97		13/5/07		Neth/Belg/France	Ferry to Ireland
98		14/5/07		Ireland	Home

All packed

3 days to go

Everything is ready - almost. The car registration papers and insurance papers arrived, and the tyre I destroyed on the mountain test run is replaced.

The only thing missing is my passport, which the Algerian embassy in London has had for over three weeks. After a lot of calls, they said they could not find the agency invitation fax, and to resend it. They sent the passports on Wednesday, there is some chance they will arrive Friday...

First Fully Loaded Test Run

And first puncture.

    With an audience. 

Vehicle

Land Rover Discovery 300tdi (1998)

The previous owner had taken the vehicle for a Saharan trip, so it already had the following modifications.

• Hannibal roof rack, roof tent and side awning
• Steering & differential guards
• Front winch bumper with 2 swivel recovery eyes and X9000 Superwinch
• Extra fuel tank - 120l and 30l
• Scorpion Racing 2" suspension lift
• Snorkel air intake, K&N filter
• Alisport intercooler
• Split charge dual battery system with internal power points
• Jackable rock sliders
• Dark tint rear windows, and light tint reinforced front windows
• Safe
• Immobiliser
• CB radio
• Internal 70l water tank
• Coolmatic Fridge
• Water pump and filter system
• On board air compressor
• BFG AT tyres with Staun beadlockers
• Four 20l jerry cans with roof holders
• Fog lights
• Two GRP sand boards
• Built-in storage

Additional work since purchase:

• New tyres
• Change alternator
• New drive belt
• Reconditioned radiator
• Full service of fluids, filters, grease etc
• New hi-lift jack
• New ladder for roof tent
• New radio with USB connection