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| The Route of the rally we're about to undertake |
Wednesday, 28 December 2011
Flight to Singapore was good. Seat
27K is back of business class. Flight time approx 8 Hrs
Flight from Singapore to Heathrow is long. 14 Hrs. Flat beds are good. Slept a lot of the way. Had seat 21K. Plane not full. Only 9 passengers is section of 44 capacity.
Arrived Heathrow in the dark. Sixt
desk unmanned. Phoned them and was advised to go to bus stop 21 for a bus to
depot. Took some time to find bus stop but bus was there waiting. Long drive to
depot. Long wait for service. They were unable to find the car we were supposed
to have and offered another of same type but that would require we waited while
they went and filled it with petrol. They then offered a Mercedes Benz which we
took.
Went to Brooklands where we had
coffee and checked the place out then started driving towards West Hendred
using back roads to fill in time. We had hoped to collect sat phone etc from
Rally HQ. About 10 am rally HQ advised that pick up today couldn’t be done,
public holiday, no one at office so we headed for Southampton.
Stopped at Winchester on the way. Seemed very like I remember Cork. Lots of people in a mall, very limited parking, cathedral is large, 5 pound admission, I didn’t bother.
Onward to hotel in Southampton, had lunch, 1 hour sleep, went out again just after 4 to look at Southampton but it was dark!! Would be interesting in the daylight.
Stopped at Winchester on the way. Seemed very like I remember Cork. Lots of people in a mall, very limited parking, cathedral is large, 5 pound admission, I didn’t bother.
Onward to hotel in Southampton, had lunch, 1 hour sleep, went out again just after 4 to look at Southampton but it was dark!! Would be interesting in the daylight.
Weather is cold, totally grey, no sun and no wind. Days very short
English countryside very quaint. Mary would love it.
Camera and GPS still on Aust ESDST –
have to sort that out some time (Mary will not be happy until it is!).
Thursday, 29 December 2011
(left): Mark and the rally car, which was unloaded from the container ship at Southhampton - we picked it up from the warehouse this morning. It was very dirty but all intact.
Met fellow competitors, Aussies Greg
and Sam Newton who were also picking up their car.
We then drove both the rental car and
the rally car back to Brooklands Hotel where we left the rally car and went off
in the rental car to pick up the Satellite phone and the tracker brackets at a
place called West Hendred. Here we met the rally organisers Phillip, Heidi and
Barbara.
Back at the hotel we checked it, met
fellow competitors Jeff and Sam Robertson. Then we tried
to fit the extra bit and pieces we had collected and brought over into the car.
Very difficult, the car is already full. We gave up quickly as it was pitch
dark by 5pm.
After this we drove across town to a
suburb called Swiss Cottage where a nephew of Marks lives and we had used his
address as a location to have parts shipped to. Most annoying is that the new
Garmin GPS we bought especially for the rally doesn’t work any more. Won’t
power on. I fear buying another in the short time frame we have will be
impossible.
Found no shortage of places to eat at
Swiss Cottage but it was freezing cold out on the street.
Drove past a sign saying “Low
Emmission Zone” on the way and worried we may have driven thru a “no go” area
(a la Florence where we were fined) but some quick research by Mary tells me it
relates to trucks.
Time to search for a new GPS.
Time to search for a new GPS.
Friday, 30 December 2011
Forgot to mention it was our 37th wedding anniversary yesterday and the first one we have ever been apart on the 28th December. There is a first time for everything.
Spent the first couple of hours tracking down a new GPS. Anne (Pickering) and I drove down to Chichester (about 100 Km) to get it. Now I just have to load it up with maps etc.
While we did this, Mark repacked the car. He is sounding more confident that we can fit everything in. We are going to be cramped I think.
(later)
Today we had a get together for
competitors called rally school. We were told all about to use a GPS (which I
already knew) and how they wanted us to use the trackers that are installed in
each car. At various points along the way, we are expected to press a button on
the tracker to transmit our position to a satellite which in turn sends the
info the scorers in London. No need for officials!! Our position also gets
updated on their internet site so the world can see exactly where we are.
After the lecture they had a map reading exercise which they said would similar to what we will have on the first night of the rally. The exercise had us drive a mapped route through the back blocks of Newbury, about 50 minutes drive west of London.
After the lecture they had a map reading exercise which they said would similar to what we will have on the first night of the rally. The exercise had us drive a mapped route through the back blocks of Newbury, about 50 minutes drive west of London.
It was a good exercise for us in a few
ways. We learnt we need to do something about the windscreen fogging up and we
have some water leaks we should try and block up. The route went through narrow
lanes with high hedges and a turn ever Km or so. It poured rain the whole time
and there were sheets or water on the road.
The nicest thing I could say about the
weather here is that it’s miserable. Freezing cold and raining most of the
time. My toes go numb while we are driving along in the car. I will find my
thickest socks for tomorrow.
Mark has bought an in-car camera which
is proving to be a bit of a challenge for us to install. I hope we can get on
top of that tomorrow.
Ended the day having dinner with
another of Mark’s nephews - Murray’s son Philip and partner Bec.
The 31st was fairly quiet. We fiddled with the car, bought a few bits and pieces and settled into the bar with the other Australian and a Canadian crew in the evening. We were all gone by about 9:30.
If all goes to plan after a
navigation section, we will be catching the ferry from Dover to Calais at about
4am and then driving all day to Beaune in France.
1/1/2012 – 2/1/2012 (London to Beaune, France:)
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| Scurtineering at Brooklands before the start |
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| Mark with the Datsun at scrutineering |
This is the longest stretch of rallying I’ve done since probably the ‘95 Round Australia.After a poor nights sleep we took the car to Brookland’s motor museum at 10am for scrutineering& briefing.There were hundred of vintage cars there.Only problem –pouring rain!!. We left there at 4pm (still in heavy rain) for the House of Lords car park adjacent to Big Ben, Parliament House where the rally officially started.
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| James and Max Stephenson's 1928 Vauxhall |
The first car left at 7.01. As car 10 we left at 7:10pm.
We did threeforest stages in Kent plus what I thought was a horror navigation stage (which I didn’t do too well at) also in Kent, plus one stage in the Somme region of France.
In the UK, they used different timing systems almost with each section, and some “forest sections” are more like a motorkhana than a rally.
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| Our Datsun on the ferry from Dover to Calais |
I am writing this as we travel the motorway to Beaune.
We did get a sleep on the ferry and I’ve just driven for a while to give Mark a break.
Our car has some annoying problems but nothing serious.It leaks water and fogs up badly, power steering doesn’t work sometimes which made 10 point turns on narrow lanes a very long process when I need to go back to find the road we should have be on.The exhaust was touching the sump guard and making noise but Mark fixed that while we were waiting to start the Somme section.
Glad to be away from the miserable weather in the UK.France is cold and overcast but it hasn’t rained yet.The UK seemed to have rain 90% of the time.
At hotel now after doing another driver swap.It’s a Novotel and had wifi.Need sleep!
Results show us as 16th – I’m amazed we are that high but it’s a very long way to go yet.
Day 3: Beaune, France to Firenze (Florence)
3/1/2012
We both slept really well last night.We were so tired we fell asleep late afternoon and stayed in bed pretty much until 6 this morning.
Highlight of today - we saw the sun!!Briefly. There was even blue sky. It didn’t last long.
After the sun came fog for some hours, then a bit of snow on the edges of the road as we got near the Frejus tunnel (below) which is 13Km long and takes you from France to Italy.
When you can see it, the scenery is spectacular.
Most of the day was travelling on motorways and autostradas but in the evening we did some “World Cup” sections which were more competitive.They consisted of narrow tar roads which climbed up and down the Ligurian Hills.
We left Beaune at 9:15 am and arrived here in Firenze at 8:45 pm so 11 and a half hours on the road covering more than 800km.
5-1-2012
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| Line up for the ferry from Ancona to Greece (left), and (right) Ancona seen from the ferry |
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| The Datsun coming off the ferry at Igoumenitsa in Greece |
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| Waiting to start a rally stage in Greece |
I was wrong about not needing the rally jacket. Greece was cold and rainy.We travelled 160 Km inland to near Meteora where they has a section that climbed a mountain with snow and ice on the road.This was Mark’s first experience driving in these conditions and he now knows how slippery ice is!!
Last night they had us in 13th spot.The day 3 results had us 8th. At the start of competition they decided we are 9th so we started 9thtoday.
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| No service crew, except Mark and me! |
Car is going well. It’s competitive with most vehicles except the Porsches which are very serious about winning. They have also entered a Toyota ute to carry spares for them.Our car has some vibration in the back (we hope dirt in the wheels) - will know when we start tomorrow. Tyre wear seems OK at this point.The clutch will slip if provoked so we have to take care with that.
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| Going through a Greek village (left) and (right) chasing down a Volvo competitor |
Most excitement today was when a number of cars including us took a Keep Left which was 150 metres before the real Keep Left. I thought it was a bit soon but all the wheel tracks did go that way and the 240Z that Mark had in sight went that way.
Well, 3 tenth down we saw other cars coming back and Mark turned around immediately to at least get the jump on the other two. Next thing, one of the very fast Porsches came over a crest heading down the road at us.Both Mark and the Porsche braked hard and changed direction.
Unfortunately Mark went left and the German in the Porsche went right.We had a very low speed head on.No damage to us, but a bit more to less robust Porsche.Probably not a friend anymore.
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| Waiting to start near Meteora, with one of the craggy limestone mountains behind us |
We have passed through some very spectacular country.I am getting a few photos but it’s a bit hard as we are past most things before I can get ready.
Day 6
6-1-2012
Day 2 in Greece was the best rallying we have had so far. I’m told that we are using the roads that the Acropolis Rally uses and I have to say they were pretty good stages.
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| 1. our Datsun; 2.Cauwenberg&Castelein's Porsche 911; 3 Lloyd & Scott Mercedes 280; 4 Atherton & Henchoz Volvo 144; 5 Newtown's Commodore. (All action photos from official website) |
We had been worried about a vibration in the drive train. We had swapped the rear tyres to the front and put the spares on the rear to try and even out the tyre wear. The interesting thing was that the vibrations moved from the rear to the front. We were still trying to work out what was happening when with 4 minutes before we started a section we noticed a front tyre was going flat. I suspect that the tube had gone flat and that the tyre only stayed up while the valve still sealed the rim. Anyway, we now have a flat tyre we need to get mended and all the vibrations have gone.
On the first competitive section of the day we were stuck on a slippery hill when the cars in front of us, two Volvos and a 260z were bogged and blocking the road. I believe we could have driven it easily if they weren’t blocking the road but once we stopped, we too needed a push to get up the hill.
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| Next to the event's oldest vehicle,the Stephenson's Vauxhall |
At Customs, the Australians were taken aside to have our passports stamped. Citizens of the EU went straight thru. Carnet had to be stamped and there was a small problem that everyone would have had that we were exiting the country without any import stamp! After a minute of conversation in Greek they decided they would book them in as well as out.
The ship has been charted just for us so is pretty comfortable. We each have a 4 berth cabin to ourselves. There is no choice of menu, they serve fixed courses and that’s it. They did also serve a reasonable white and red wine. Other Greek wines I’ve tasted since being here are really not to my liking. We were told some shipping had been cancelled due to very high winds (Force 10 and 11) but other that rolling about a bit and a howling noise when you go near an exit, it’s not affecting us too much.
Health wise we’re good. I’ve taken a bit of skin off a knuckle where the window winder is close to the roll cage and Mark has kicked a toe (while wearing thongs to dinner) and slammed the boot lid on his thumb when rushing to change the flat tyre. Nothing serious.
I’m told the ship has internet so that will be the next test!!
Week 2
Day 7 - Ferry from Greece to Egypt
On the way to Alexandria Egypt via a ferry. This must be costing the organisers a packet. The ship is quite big and at a guess I’d say we are using 20% of its capacity. All food and drink is free'
I spent about 2 hours this morning looking at the bridge and the engine room…
It has two V12 engines which I think are 1700 horsepower (I struggled with the chief engineer's Greek/English) .
They can do 420 rpm max but cruise at 400 RPM. A reduction box drives the propellers at 196 rpm. This one doesn’t have variable pitch propellers so they start the engines in reverse to go backwards. From what I can gather the camshaft has lobes for both direction and somehow the camshafts move when the direction changes.
While on the bridge we were in the shelter of Crete and the wind was only 17 knots. The captain was predicting 37 knots when we get to the open sea again. As I write this it is getting very bumpy. Walking around is getting difficult. People are staggering like drunks and looking for things to hold onto.
I did see the stabilisers in operation down in the engine room. Big hydraulic rams were moving as the ship rolled around.
·The inside of the windscreen was so fogged up we couldn’t see a thing.
·The power steering wasn’t working and to turn around was a 5 minute exercise at best.
·I notice some of the cars that did it well had special lights sitting in front of the mirrors for swivelling around to find intersections.
·The route to take was very clear. We just couldn’t find the intersections.
The forest sections in England were also a bit peculiar. One of them had us stop on six occasions between markers (a motorkhana garage) and a lollypop man (like in a GP) would lift the lolly pop when we were allowed to go. Another one had a short loop and a long loop starting and finishing at the same point. There were places where you had to split and places where you had to merge. There were passage controls where you had to merge. We actually drove towards oncoming traffic to an intersection where we turn left and the car coming towards us turns right and we use the same road. Not the sort of rallying I’m used to!!
But as I said Day 2 of Greece was OK and I think the rally will start in earnest day 2 of Egypt. Looks to me like the first stage is just a drive down a river bed with multiple GPS coordinates for a guide.
Tomorrow is a drive (no competition) from Alexandria to Ain Sokana on the Red Sea. We need to try and get a tyre mended and obtain a wiper blade if we can.
We have been warned that officialdom at border crossings will be painful.
Rest day on the ferry was really good. We went to bed at a reasonable hour, expecting the boat to dock at 7:30 am. So out of bed at 5:45, we then learned that the ETA was now 8:30.
After docking, there was an announcement that we should all stay onboard at the bar, and Egypt's immigration officials would come to us. That worked OK, but it did take 2 hours.
After that we all drove off the ferry on to the wharf for customs inspection. They have decided that we don’t need a carnet for Egypt.
Finally about 2:30 we were led out in groups by officials on motor bikes and into the chaos that is Alexandria traffic.
We were soon separated from each other and we were able to find a small roadside workshop that fixed tyres. The problem with the tyre was as I suspected that the tube had gone flat inside the tyre. There is a concern here that these tyres aren’t meant to have tubes. The inside surface of the tyre is very rough and that probably caused the problem. We have bought 6 more valves for tubeless tyres to fix any further flats we get from this cause.
Driving from Alexandria to Cairo and on to Ain Sukhna was hectic. Egypt traffic has to be seen to be believed. Roads are choked with cars and there is always room for an extra lane. Two lane roads are really three lane roads.
Despite the number of cars, traffic does seem to keep moving. Cars simply merge without any anger or drama. Many driver toot the horn to ensure you know they are there. It all moves slowly and smoothly. No one ever makes sudden moves.
The Movenpick hotel look pretty good. I wish we had seen it in daylight. We are now in 7th place and have to leave at 7:44 am tomorrow. There are 3 desert stages tomorrow.
PS: we didn't see the Pyramids - too late, too dark.
Day 9
9-1-2012
About two km into the first stage we were bogged for the first time. That was after getting past three other cars who were bogged sooner than that. And we were on our own. The others were bogged together and helping each other.
By now we had attached a second tow rope so the rescue vehicle could stand off on more solid ground (perhaps where we should have been driving) and he got us out. 
We are at a hotel called Imperial Shams in Safaga (right) where we have rooms but will have to leave at midnight to catch a ferry at 4am for Duba in Saudi Arabia
Day 10: Safaga (Egypt) to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)
Another day, another ferry. This time Sagaga in Egypt to Duba in Saudi Arabia. We were all on the ferry by 1 am and I was asleep when it left which I’m told was about 4am. The ferry was a catamaran and had 2 car decks. The rally filled 1 deck and the other was empty as far as I could see. We had a lounge for rally crews with airline type chairs (which didn’t recline). I slept reasonably well.
There is no competition in Saudi, so it is all transport and I’m writing this in the car as it's 118 km to the next call in the route chart.
Day 11-12 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Gedaref, Sudan
I am writing this on the ferry to Safaga Sudan. It's actually the morning of the 12th. Our guess is the ferry will get in at say 11 to 12 and if immigration/customs takes the usual 4 hours it may be 4 pm before we start the 700 Km drive to Gederaf. So midnight at best to Gederaf and we have a 7:30 am start the next day.
We have a cabin in the ferry and it’s the worst accommodation we have had so far. No hot water, no towels, last cleaned the day it was built. We slept in our sleeping bags rather than use the bedding. Mark has just told me that the toilet doesn’t flush. Can't wait to get out of here.
Saudi Arabia was interesting. There are virtually no women to be seen. Men are generally friendly wanting to shake hands and ask about the car but language is a problem.
There are lots of young boys in groups, generally driving utes whose behaviour is crazy. They want to meet you, shake hands, and race you in their utes. They hang out of open doors, drive through red lights and would be arrested in 5 minutes in Australia. And they look about 15 years old to me.
Sun goes down at 18:12 so we will have about 500 Km to do after dark. Most traffic on the road is big trucks. There is a lot of sand blowing over the road. At one stage it looked like it might rain but that hasn’t happened. Camels and goats are common. It’s a tar road, one lane each way and is good except for the volume of trucks.
I take that back, 30 mins later it is very poor quality tar. You need to weave all over the road to avoid big holes and if a truck comes the other way, you have no option but to hit the holes. We launched ourselves once with all 4 wheels off the ground.
Day 13 Gedaref (Al Qadarif) Sudan-Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
We reached the Sudan/Ethiopia border (right) at about 9 am. There were hundreds of trucks lined up but we were ushered past to the immigration office, then the carnet office. We were actually on our way again within 2 hours, which is the quickest border crossing so far.
Week 2
Day 7 - Ferry from Greece to Egypt
7-1-2012
I spent about 2 hours this morning looking at the bridge and the engine room…
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| engine room |
It has two V12 engines which I think are 1700 horsepower (I struggled with the chief engineer's Greek/English) .
They can do 420 rpm max but cruise at 400 RPM. A reduction box drives the propellers at 196 rpm. This one doesn’t have variable pitch propellers so they start the engines in reverse to go backwards. From what I can gather the camshaft has lobes for both direction and somehow the camshafts move when the direction changes.
We have been told we can have access to the cars from 4 to 5 this afternoon but I think it will have to be a little calmer or that won’t happen.
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| Vehicle hold of the Blue Star Diagoras |
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| I have washing hanging all around my cabin. |
Taking stock of the rally, there really hasn’t been very much of it yet. I say we haven’t done as much as there is in a state round yet. Yesterday was supposedly a tough day doing Acropolis Rally stages. They were nice stages but in length they were only 8, 6, 10, 15, 6 and 8 kms.
The biggest difficulty I find is that you don’t know what the transport/touring sections will bring. If you relax on the freeway you then find you need to speed thru villages and backblocks to make the time. Then sometimes you find your way early and could have relaxed. They are timing to the second (not all the time) in the ”World Cup Stages”, but you can lose bulk minutes on transport stages if you aren't careful.
The biggest difficulty I find is that you don’t know what the transport/touring sections will bring. If you relax on the freeway you then find you need to speed thru villages and backblocks to make the time. Then sometimes you find your way early and could have relaxed. They are timing to the second (not all the time) in the ”World Cup Stages”, but you can lose bulk minutes on transport stages if you aren't careful.
When to get fuel is another issue. I was worried we were low yesterday and we found a garage and put another 20 litres in. I know of 2 cars who ran out of fuel.
Our section times are generally 4th to say 8th fastest without trying too hard, and we are now in 7th position. A couple of those in front of us are there because of their navigation skills in Kent and we will run them down without too much trouble in time.
Reflecting on Kent navigation (I’m a bit scarred from this) here is my list of excuses: ::
·It was pouring rain, the Datsun low beam is dreadful (there were penalties for using high beam).·The inside of the windscreen was so fogged up we couldn’t see a thing.
·The power steering wasn’t working and to turn around was a 5 minute exercise at best.
·I notice some of the cars that did it well had special lights sitting in front of the mirrors for swivelling around to find intersections.
·The route to take was very clear. We just couldn’t find the intersections.
The forest sections in England were also a bit peculiar. One of them had us stop on six occasions between markers (a motorkhana garage) and a lollypop man (like in a GP) would lift the lolly pop when we were allowed to go. Another one had a short loop and a long loop starting and finishing at the same point. There were places where you had to split and places where you had to merge. There were passage controls where you had to merge. We actually drove towards oncoming traffic to an intersection where we turn left and the car coming towards us turns right and we use the same road. Not the sort of rallying I’m used to!!
But as I said Day 2 of Greece was OK and I think the rally will start in earnest day 2 of Egypt. Looks to me like the first stage is just a drive down a river bed with multiple GPS coordinates for a guide.
Tomorrow is a drive (no competition) from Alexandria to Ain Sokana on the Red Sea. We need to try and get a tyre mended and obtain a wiper blade if we can.
We have been warned that officialdom at border crossings will be painful.
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| The pilot boat coming our to meet us to navigate our car ferry through the wreck-littered Alexandria harbour |
After docking, there was an announcement that we should all stay onboard at the bar, and Egypt's immigration officials would come to us. That worked OK, but it did take 2 hours.
After that we all drove off the ferry on to the wharf for customs inspection. They have decided that we don’t need a carnet for Egypt.
They had sniffer dogs running around and mirrors to look under the cars. They checked all engine and chassis numbers. The man did this by putting a pieces of paper over the number and rubbing with a pencil so he had an image of the number. He then put this next to the documentation he had to see if the images looked the same.
Bags had to be taken into a hall to get x-rayed. The funny part of this is we only took a token bag in to be x-rayed. The rest stayed in the car. We then waited and waited for word that we could go. Holdups included
1. They wanted to put Egyptian plates on the cars. We didn’t.
2. They wanted us to travel in convoy. We didn’t.
3. Some people had over $10,000 in cash and this caused them some concern.
Finally about 2:30 we were led out in groups by officials on motor bikes and into the chaos that is Alexandria traffic. We were soon separated from each other and we were able to find a small roadside workshop that fixed tyres. The problem with the tyre was as I suspected that the tube had gone flat inside the tyre. There is a concern here that these tyres aren’t meant to have tubes. The inside surface of the tyre is very rough and that probably caused the problem. We have bought 6 more valves for tubeless tyres to fix any further flats we get from this cause.
Driving from Alexandria to Cairo and on to Ain Sukhna was hectic. Egypt traffic has to be seen to be believed. Roads are choked with cars and there is always room for an extra lane. Two lane roads are really three lane roads.
Despite the number of cars, traffic does seem to keep moving. Cars simply merge without any anger or drama. Many driver toot the horn to ensure you know they are there. It all moves slowly and smoothly. No one ever makes sudden moves.
PS: we didn't see the Pyramids - too late, too dark.
Day 9
9-1-2012
Stayed at a Movenpick resort (left) on the Red Sea last night. A pity we got there so late, it looked interesting.
Today started with a four-hour transport running down the coast and was to have three world cup stages in the desert sand.
The drive down was interesting, in that there are thousands of windmills generating electricity (below) and hundreds of unfinished resorts. Perhaps a GFC problem.
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| Richard Atherton and Rob Henchov get some hellp from locals (photos above and below from official website) |
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| Mark powers through the sand |
After a while a Land Rover (competitor) came past and we waved the tow rope at him and he tried to pull us out. Unfortunately he got bogged as well and lost interest in helping us. Next was a 4WD towing one of the Porsches.
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| From the Facebook site of Grant Tromans/Simon Russell |
Sadly a few kilometres later we found ourselves going in the wrong direction and started heading cross country (driving across the sand dunes) hoping to intersect the real road.
When we came to it (the road we wanted), we were going down hill at about a 45 degree angle and Mark stopped, as it looked like a sheer drop to the road we wanted. It wasn’t, it was just a bit steeper, say 60 degrees and we could drive down it, except we were again bogged. I couldn’t believe it.
After a while a local boy arrived and he and I tried to push. Still no go. Then another local arrived and with three of us pushing, once it started, it rolled easily down to the road we wanted. We lost about 30 minutes.
I expect we will gain a few spots over the ones who didn’t get out as easily as we did but the 4WDs who didn’t get bogged will probably now be ahead of us.
The second section was cancelled. They ran the 3rdone which was only 7 Km and while bumpy there was no real worry of being bogged or lost.
We are at a hotel called Imperial Shams in Safaga (right) where we have rooms but will have to leave at midnight to catch a ferry at 4am for Duba in Saudi Arabia
Tomorrow is just a drive through Saudi. We have been told cars will be searched for alcohol. I’d better have a few drinks now.
Day 10: Safaga (Egypt) to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)
10-10-2012
Another day, another ferry. This time Sagaga in Egypt to Duba in Saudi Arabia. We were all on the ferry by 1 am and I was asleep when it left which I’m told was about 4am. The ferry was a catamaran and had 2 car decks. The rally filled 1 deck and the other was empty as far as I could see. We had a lounge for rally crews with airline type chairs (which didn’t recline). I slept reasonably well.
Upon waking in the morning, the girls on the rally all put on their burka type robes but with black head scarves rather than the full face bit. The girl drivers had to swap places with some of the rally officials who will do the driving for them while in Saudi Arabia.
It was 11:15am before we got away from the port after doing immigration, customs and carnet. Customs was relaxed and the threatened search for alcohol didn’t happen. We then started the drive to Yanbu where we will spend the night.
There is no competition in Saudi, so it is all transport and I’m writing this in the car as it's 118 km to the next call in the route chart.
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| coming up to a checkpoint |
irst impressions of Saudi, it is very bleak and desolate. More so than Egypt. They do have better roads and infrastructure. Clearly a rich country. The highways we are travelling on are 2 lanes each way separated by 30 meters of gravel in the form of a dip. Speed limit is 120 which is as fast as the Datsun is comfortable at. We can talk by yelling at each other at that speed. Any faster and we need the headsets on.
We are not really happy with yesterday’s scores. Cars that didn’t make it thru the first stage and cut and run, skipping controls, got the same penalty as us who completed the sectio,n got the redirection and reported on time to the next control.
What the organisers have done is dropped all penalties for the 2 transport sections after the sand and they put a maximum on the last stage of 10 minutes. The effect of this is those who were ahead of us and who didn’t complete the section or report to the next 2 controls, got the same penalty as us. So instead of us gaining those places we lost 4 places from the Porsches and 2 of the big 4WDs who didn’t get bogged.
This is the second time this has happened. In Greece, cars got stuck in mud and they limited time loss there as well. They are definitely making up rules as they go. There will always be winners and losers when this sort of thing happens, but at the moment luck (or maybe the organisers) seems to favour others.
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| a decorated highway roundabout |
Saw camel and goats on the edge of the road today. Unfortunately we are past them before I can get a camera going.
Car still going well. Tyres lasting OK.
Staying at the Tulip Inn in Yanbu. We have an apartment tonight but there is a Mosque next door. There was a call to prayer a little while ago and I just hope there isn’t one at midnight or 4 in the morning!!
The apartment has Kitchen, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, lounge room and they are all big rooms. No alcohol tonight JDay 11-12 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Gedaref, Sudan
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| Mark was able to get a Bundaberg ginger beer |
We have a cabin in the ferry and it’s the worst accommodation we have had so far. No hot water, no towels, last cleaned the day it was built. We slept in our sleeping bags rather than use the bedding. Mark has just told me that the toilet doesn’t flush. Can't wait to get out of here.
Saudi Arabia was interesting. There are virtually no women to be seen. Men are generally friendly wanting to shake hands and ask about the car but language is a problem.
There are lots of young boys in groups, generally driving utes whose behaviour is crazy. They want to meet you, shake hands, and race you in their utes. They hang out of open doors, drive through red lights and would be arrested in 5 minutes in Australia. And they look about 15 years old to me.
The was also some pilfering of things in cars last night. Some people lost badges, we lost the little Australian flags, one car lost their Yellow Brick tracker. That’s a bad thing to thieve, it reports back where it is.
above: Mark with the owner of an SS Commodore, and me with another fan
(later)
It's now after 5 in the afternoon and we are in the road to Gederef. Customs and immigration again took 4 hours. The countryside in Sudan is bleak and desolate. We seem to pass mud hut villages at regular intervals.
Sun goes down at 18:12 so we will have about 500 Km to do after dark. Most traffic on the road is big trucks. There is a lot of sand blowing over the road. At one stage it looked like it might rain but that hasn’t happened. Camels and goats are common. It’s a tar road, one lane each way and is good except for the volume of trucks.
After that effort ,low beam stopped working. We had highbeam or nothing, and this didn’t go down well with the trucks. Eventually, we stopped and hot wired one of the low beams so we could dip the lights for oncoming traffic.
1:15 am now in Gedaref and we have to leave at 7:30 to head for Ethiopia.Day 13 Gedaref (Al Qadarif) Sudan-Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Only 4 and a half hours sleep last night. A not so flash motel at Gedaref (Al Qadarif) but it did have internet. It didn’t have hot water.
There were 1000s of people at the border and lots of police military to control them.
Ethiopia had a few surprises. There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people lining the villages as we pass through. It reminds me a little of the Hong Kong to Beijing rally except the Chinese were very quiet. These guys jump up and down and yell and clap.
There seems to be three different types of police/military judging by uniforms, with on average one every 1 Km or so. In villages there was one every 100 metres. The guys in blue fatigues had big sticks and didn’t hesitate to threaten the crowd if they wanted them to move back. The guys in the blue uniforms would stand at attention and salute as we drove past. As we reached Bahir Dar, crowds grew thicker and would applaud us.
The country side is changing as we go south. Ethiopia is quite green and attractive in parts. The housing in villages consists of small log houses and brush thatching. It's clearly a very poor country. Many people, often boys, on the edge of thr road looking after 1 or 2 cattle or sometimes a donkey. Some seem to be looking after small herds of goats.
Competition-wise there was one road section today
where we worked to make the time. We were 2 minutes early ,so I don’t think
anyone will have too much trouble with it. The last time we did any competitive
driving was in Egypt!!
(left): time for a drink
 |
| Carpark of the summerland Hotel in Bahir dar |
Hotel here in Bahir
Dar is the Summerland Hotel. It's luxury in comparison to Gedaref and the ferry
cabin. We start at 6:30 tomorrow, but as it's not yet 5pm as I write this, we
will catch up on sleep tonight.
The car has been pinging badly on the low octane
fuel. Mark has just gone out with a local to buy a heap of octane booster (later-
he couldn't get any, so it will have to go on pinging)
 |
| getting medical help might be a problem |
Getting local currency
can be tricky. On the first few occasions, the organisers acted as our money
changers and gave us enough local currency for the country in exchange for US$
or euros.
In Saudi, the fuel was ridiculously cheap. Something like 6 cents a litre I think, but in Sudan last night we only had 18 Sudanese pounds left and couldn’t fill the tank. We weren’t worried as we had enough to get to the border where we expected to get more currency. We needed another 28 pounds of Sudanese money to get out of Sudan and were just about to hand the dollars to a guy when the police started coming towards us and he ran away. He later signalled from the edge of the crowd and we followed him to a road side stall where he was doing a roaring trade with rally crews. We later discovered Sudanese officials will accept $USs.
Mark was unsuccessful in getting any octane booster so we have to put up with a bit of pinging. I haven’t noticed it today but the engine does seem a little sluggish some times.
 |
| coffee ceremony |
Rally crews were in 3 different hotels last night. The one we were in was very good and after dinner we were invited outside for coffee ceremony. They had music and dancing girls who tried to get all the men up to dance. Then after moving a couple of cars to a safer distance, started a fairly large bon fire and served up coffee and damper. The coffee was awful. Mark fed his to a pot plant and I then passed mine to him for the same purpose.
 |
| inquisitive locals |
The rally started with 250 Km rough gravel today. So rough I’m surprised this computer still goes.
There were 2 competitive stages, but unfortunately we were behind a Volvo and couldn’t get close enough to overtake. Stuck in dust for 15 of 40 km on the first section. We damaged 2 tyres and had to put the spares on. Despite that I’m hopeful we should have moved up a couple of places. Hopefully they will have results available tonight.
 |
| from the rally's official website - note the tribesman watching all the action |
 |
| approaching bridge over the Nile |
After the 250km of rough gravel we started 500km of transport to Awassa via Addis Abba. North of AA is the Blue Nile river valley. It really is very spectacular. We didn’t really have time for any stops so I’ll see how my pictures taken on the fly went.
The country side looks a bit like NSW table lands (Armidale/Glen Innes area) as you get closer to Addis Ababa. We were within 16 Km of Addis Ababa before we started seeing cars but once in the city it was as bad as, say, Cairo.
 |
| just a little bit squeezy |
There is virtually no traffic on the road other than busses and trucks north of AA. There seems to be a bit more to the south. I’m writing this as we follow the other two Aussie crews, the Robertsons and the Newtons. I’ll trust their navigation!! The Stevensons will find today hard in the 1923 Vauxhall. All Australian crews except us are father-son combinations.
An English-speaking local gave us directions to what he said would be a good place to get our tyres mended. Finding something in Addis Ababa is a bit of an adventure too. They don’t really have addresses, he told me. Anyway we found it and they were delighted to be involved. Mended both tyres and we put them on the car for the drive to Awassa to see if they would stay up. Cost zero!!
Hotel (at Awassa) is again good but we have been warned tomorrow in Moyale wont’ be the same standard. Results are available and we have come up 2 places to 9th. The repaired tyres vibrate badly so we will keep them just as spares. Changed all filters tonight.
Day 15 - Awassa (Ethiopia) to Moyale (Kenya)
 |
| Outside out hotel in Moyale |
Relatively dull day today. We left a nice hotel in awassa and drove 500KM to a much more down-market hotel in a town called Moyale on the Kenya/Ethiopia border. There was a road section with a 106 KPH average and everyone made it. Border officialdom was minimal and we reached the hotel early afternoon. (Moyale is the place David dedscribed as a ‘dump’and Mark said was the worst place he’s ever been in).
The hotel is clean but not big enough, they were asking some crews to double up, ie 4 per room.
Our room has a ¾ size double complete with mosquito net and a mattress on the floor. The bathroom has no light, a cold shower, and there is 1 towel per room only! Food was pretty good considering. I was refused entry when I tried to enter carrying a beer I had bought down the street. This is a Muslim establishment apparently.
 |
| Mark with the guys who guarded our cars oveernight in Moyale |
We spent 14000 Kenyan shillings on 40 litres. That’s got to be expensive.
Ten minutes after that a boy tried to extort more money from Mark telling him that he had carried the fuel and hadn’t been paid. Mark politely told him to go away.
 |
| Drinks at Moyale Prison Welfare Club (the warders' welfare, that is) |
Day 16: Moyale to Marsabit (Kenya)
16-1-2012
Mark is not enjoying Kenya. Accommodation started bad and today is a tent! All roads have been extremely rough hard rock.
Tomorrow, we get to Nairobi and then there is a rest day. Jamie (Waterhouse) has organised a local rallyist and hopefully we can give the car a refresh. It did feel like a bucket of bolts by the time we got in today.
16-1-2012
 |
| local market |
Today was rough. Really rough. It started with 10km of rough which was really just getting us out of town. Then had 68km of slightly less rough which they had an average of 68 KPH on. All top cars cleaned it. The following 168 Km was untimed but was the roughest stretch I’ve ever done.
Mark reckons half the field will be out there until midnight. We have been in for an hour now and there are 5 4WDs and us in the camp ground. |
| Marsabit camp ground |
Yes– camp ground. The tents are already up and we have been allocated tent 10. They have beds made up with sheets etc. Individual smaller tents are showers and toilets, (pit type, freshly dug). Locals are boiling water and fill the shower bucket when some one comes along for a shower. I asked for a bucket to wash a shirt and they took it off me and said they will bring them back to the tent when it’s dry.
It’s now about 2 hours since we got in and there are still no more crews in. Because the worst of the rough was after the stage and the organisers changed later controls to passage controls, penalties for those having trouble are minimal. This is not helping our cause.
Mark is not enjoying Kenya. Accommodation started bad and today is a tent! All roads have been extremely rough hard rock.
Tomorrow, we get to Nairobi and then there is a rest day. Jamie (Waterhouse) has organised a local rallyist and hopefully we can give the car a refresh. It did feel like a bucket of bolts by the time we got in today.
Day 17:Marsabit to Nairobi
17-1-2012
We went relatively slowly through the stages and eventually came to good tar road which was wonderful after the previous 2 days. We passed 3 cars but 5 4WDs passed us. They are most suited to these rough conditions. One of these, the BMW X5, was over on its side at the edge of the road 5 minutes after he had passed us. They waved us to keep going.
The diagnosis of the car’s problems was good. The banging in the front end is likely due to the nut on the bottom of the strut coming loose. The engine problem is probably due to a loose distributor which has moved and retarded the ignition timing. This also explains why it has stopped pinging in the low octane fuel it’s been receiving lately. Bottom line, by the end of tomorrow car should be ready to start again and be as good as new. Oils will be changed, 6 new tyres fitted.
Wildlife today consisted of gorillas, camels, cows and goats. Nothing exotic yet. Some signs warning of elephants!
Left the campsite at 7:48 this morning and we were soon into the extreme rough again. Organisers up to their usual tricks. At the first control they add 20 minutes to the time allowed and changed later controls to passage controls. We didn’t mind as much today as we were getting worried about the state of the car. Engine power seemed down and the front end had some very loud bangs coming out of it. Yesterday using the headsets stopped us hearing the bangs too much but today they are so loud they can’t be ignored.
Traffic is extremely bad in Nairobi. We left the official hotel to take the car to a workshop and took the best part of an hour to do 10 Km. We left the imprint of our bullbar on the side of one little van which was intent on forcing it way in front of us.
The diagnosis of the car’s problems was good. The banging in the front end is likely due to the nut on the bottom of the strut coming loose. The engine problem is probably due to a loose distributor which has moved and retarded the ignition timing. This also explains why it has stopped pinging in the low octane fuel it’s been receiving lately. Bottom line, by the end of tomorrow car should be ready to start again and be as good as new. Oils will be changed, 6 new tyres fitted.
We haven’t ventured back across town. We are staying at the Crown Plaza which was near the workshop. Washing should be back tonight. Sleep in tomorrow.
Wildlife today consisted of gorillas, camels, cows and goats. Nothing exotic yet. Some signs warning of elephants!
Day 19: Nairobi (Kenya) to Arusha (Tanzania)
18& 19 Jan 2012
The 18th was a rest day in Nairobi. Spent the majority of the day at the workshop while the Datsun had a much needed full service. Normally I’d go back to the hotel and relax while something like this is happening but Nairobi traffic is so bad that is easier to stay put.
 |
| damaged shock absorbers from other cars (©Gerardbrown.co.uk) |
So after a car service we went across town to the Safari Park hotel which was the official hotel accommodation and slept there ready for the start this morning.
 |
| (photo from official web site ©Gerardbrown.co.uk) |
There was a long transport proceeding the 3rdsection so the slower cars (and 4WD) all started in front of us again. Things started to go amiss when driving in dus, we hit a hole and launched the car off the road bending something in the front end. We continued with dust getting thicker and eventually got close enough to the girls in the MG to attempt a pass. This went haywire when they, not knowing we were there, were intent on passing a 4WD which was holding them up. Anyway the result was we ran into the back of them.
We then came across a 4WD passing another 4WD (no wonder it was dusty) and we went between the 2 4WDs. All pretty hairy.
After a quick and rough wheel alignment we headed for the Kenya/Tanzania border (left) and it was here that we met the guys who serviced the car yesterday and they told us we needed a new ball joint.
We tried to source one Arusha where we are tonight, but couldn’t get the right one. Another competitor has lent us one of his spares. Getting all this done has taken a long time but we are now ready for tomorrow.
Mark's back has been playing up a bit (especially after the rough of Marsabit), and I don’t think laying under cars fixing ball joints will improve it.
Just looked at results and start list, and notice we are being seeded tomorrow. So (in theory) tomorrow might be a bit safer.
Day 20 - Tanzania - Arusha to Dodoma 20-1-2012 |
| View from hotel in Arusha, Tanzania |
 |
| A bogged bus, on the main road from Arusha to Dodoma, which delayed the start of a stage today[photo from the official rally website] |
Writing this morning of the 21st. We didn’t get in until 1am this morning.
Yesterday was an important day with 4 timed sections. We did well on the 1st but a fan belt broke on the 2nd. We replaced it with a spare in a few minutes but this one jumped off within a few Km, leaving us with a boiling engine.
We struggled to get the fan belt back on but simply could not get it back on a second time.
Made a temporary one from insulation tape to drive the water pump, but eventually the battery went flat.
A local hunter and policeman towed us the 160 Km into Dodoma. All dirt, max speed about 30 kph, stopping at every village on the way to try and find a fan belt.
A local hunter and policeman towed us the 160 Km into Dodoma. All dirt, max speed about 30 kph, stopping at every village on the way to try and find a fan belt.
 |
| broken fan belt |
 |
| hooking up for the big tow |
 |
| getting towed |
End result, we will have lost probably 2 hours which will be near impossible to recover. We will take it easy from here to get to Cape Town.
Day 21 Arusha to Dodoma to Mbeya (Tanzania)
The last few days have been a bit hectic, rally-wise. Yesterday was disaster day, and I think we are in 13th place now [official results say 12th]. There is no way of catching up any of this up, except to wait for others to have problems.
Today, after 20 days of putting us in order of results they decided to seed us based on speed. They have put Joost in the Porsche at the front (they did this in Nairobi when they hit him with the 1 hr penalty for his canister shocks) and we have been given 2nd on the road as we are usually 2ndquickest even with the dust and slower cars in front. We did run into a car in the dust the other day and this probably influenced the decision. However, today we didn’t feel like going that quick after yesterday’s events, so we annoyed the guys behind us who have had it so good for the last 20 days.
We are on the way to Mbeya as I write this. Tomorrow morning is into Zambia.
Tanzania is interesting. Definitely a better living standard than Ethiopia but still with lots of villages built of mud bricks, crops of corn, sunflower, beans and things I didn’t recognise.
I got to walk thru one yesterday in search of fan belts. The locals were prepared to take belts off the little machinery they had, if they would have fitted.
The man who towed us 160 Km didn’t want any payment for it. We insisted on giving them $10 each. Did I mention that they were village policeman and one told us proudly he was a sharp shooter? They had a carcass in the back of the ute and stopped at various control point to hack off pieces of carcass for the people on the checkpoint.
It was a very long hard drive. The road was pretty rough, we had no lights and it was a short rope. All we could do was try and keep the slack out of the rope and try to stay behind the ute. The dust was thick and would settle on the windscreen blocking out vision.
About 2 Km out of Dodoma, they handed us over to another police ute that towed us to the motel.
Tanzania is interesting. Definitely a better living standard than Ethiopia but still with lots of villages built of mud bricks, crops of corn, sunflower, beans and things I didn’t recognise.
I got to walk thru one yesterday in search of fan belts. The locals were prepared to take belts off the little machinery they had, if they would have fitted.
The man who towed us 160 Km didn’t want any payment for it. We insisted on giving them $10 each. Did I mention that they were village policeman and one told us proudly he was a sharp shooter? They had a carcass in the back of the ute and stopped at various control point to hack off pieces of carcass for the people on the checkpoint.
It was a very long hard drive. The road was pretty rough, we had no lights and it was a short rope. All we could do was try and keep the slack out of the rope and try to stay behind the ute. The dust was thick and would settle on the windscreen blocking out vision.
About 2 Km out of Dodoma, they handed us over to another police ute that towed us to the motel.
Another competitor arrived not long after us and he had a collection of fan belts. We have borrowed one that’s still a bit short but stretched it on and it has stayed on today. We have put new bolts in the alternator brackets.
We were incredibly filthy when we arrived last night. There was no food available and the shower wasn’t hot. The water also very hard. My hair felt dirtier after a shower than it was before.
We were incredibly filthy when we arrived last night. There was no food available and the shower wasn’t hot. The water also very hard. My hair felt dirtier after a shower than it was before.
At Mbeya tonight, will be interesting to see what the accommodation is like. The organisers have done a pretty good job with the standard of hotels. There are some parts where there are no 5* hotels.
Not taking as many pics now. All villages, border crossings and shots of rally cars are beginning to look the same.
Week 4
Text message from Dave:
Dull day today except for border crossing.No internet here in Mpika.In bed and listening to rain and thunder.
Day 23: Mpika to Lusaka (Zambia)
Today we did 666 Km of which just 12 were competitive. We were second fastest (to Joost’s Porsche), despite catching a 4WD who was very reluctant to let us pass.
Day 24 Lusaka to Zambesi
Zambia seems to be more advanced than Kenya and Tanzania. Traffic in Lusaka is quite orderly and much more like an Australian city. Traffic on the open road travels quickly, and overtaking trucks now needs a bit more care as oncoming traffic is more likely to be travelling quickly.
Mark was a bit down yesterday after the 12 Km section. It was a 666 Km day of which only 12 was competitive, and we were held up by a 4WD (who said he didn’t see us behind him) and caught another at the end. We didn’t pass him. We now have 4 sizable chips in the windscreen. It’s hard to enjoy the drive under these circumstances. Mark cheered up a bit when he discovered we were still 2nd quickest.
We are staying at the Zambezi Hotel which is a large resort just 5 minutes walk from Victoria Falls. I have to admit I didn’t believe that when I was first told but it’s true. Victoria Falls really are awesome. You walk along the opposite bank to the falls and its less than 100 metres to the falls. The falls themselves are (I’m told) 1.7 Km long.
While we were having a late lunch, others came back drenched. We changed to light shorts and T shirts and yes, it’s like walking in a rainstorm.
The amount of spray from the falls is incredible. The camera stopped working after a while. I hope it works again after it dries out.
Today we are driving from Livingston in Zambia to Tsumeb in Namibia. 1042 Km. No competition again.Border crossing in about 100Km away as I write this.We don’t have visas for Namibia.We are all expected to do visa on arrival.
The border crossing went smoothly.We are getting better at it, I think. At this one they had us fill in a large ledger book for the carnet.A big book with columns for all details going across two pages and a row per car.We got a system going where one person fills in the left page and another person fills in a different row on the right page.Then we swap positions.Worked well. There was no undue fuss and no photocopies of things required.
The car has been sprayed at quarantine points twice now. They mainly spray the wheels and tyres.We are required to get out of the car and tramp on a wet towel to clean the soles of our shoes.
At a town called Divundi, we bought petrol and had to pay in US$s as their ATM didn’t work.When asked they directed us to a shop down the road where they said the ATM would work.Mark went in and returned minutes later with a handful of Namibian $s.As we were about to drive off a local ran out to tell Mark he had left something behind.It was a $100 bill, about $14 in Oz terms.Locals here seem honest which has been a worry in some places.
We have done 800 Km in Namibia and it has all been fast smooth tar. Wide with cats' eyes in the centre.Traffic density very low.Speed limit 120 KPH with school zones 90 KPH.
The afternoon had another World Cup section, this time 55 km and a map, not a route chart. We were stuck in dust from just before the 20 Km mark and dropped about 6 or 7 minutes.
At one point,it was painfully hot just to zero the tripmeter. The cumulative reset has to be held down for a couple of seconds to reset it and I resorted to pushing it with a pencil to avoid burning the tip of my finger.
At the end of the day, after we had completed the last 2 competitives, we had 2 flat tyres on the 150 Km transport to the hotel. These were both rear tyres and the ones with tubes but that's another story.
There are only 2 days to go. Less than 1000 Km in total. 600+ today and 332 for the final day.
Today promises to be a bit like yesterday. Namibia is very like the Australian outback. It’s a big empty country with few people, mostly desert with spectacular rock features.
The roads are generally gravel, wide and smooth. The average speed on most competitives is 100 to 110 KPH.
Transports are often similar speeds but on arriving at a competitive start you are informed that the “standard” time, i.e. the time you are due, is now a later time. This has the effect of making you early at the start (you didn’t have to drive that quickly) but means there is less time for the competitive if you are going to stay on the standard time. All a bit silly in my opinion.
The Ai Ais resort is in the middle of what looks like a lunar landscape. Its main feature is a huge indoor spa. Rooms are around this with an inside door to the spa and an outside door to parking. They take only Namibian dollars and we are yet to pay for tyres etc.
The hotel does have credit card facility so the plan is to pay the hotel who will pass it on to the garage.
It also occurred to me as I filled in forms for the Namibia/South Africa border that I have probably been writing the wrong number on forms I’ve been filling in. I remember my old passport number but keep forgetting I’m on a new passport for this trip.
There are 332 KM to do tomorrow with 2 stages for the leaders to fight over. The leaders of the rally are only seconds apart so it will be interesting to see how things pan out tomorrow.
Sunday, January 29
Day 28 Clanwilliam – Cape Town
The run into town was uneventful. We flew the Aussie flag that Rae Waterhouse had given us. The finish was at the entry portal of the very flash hotel we are at, the Table Bay.
Week 4
Day 22 - Tanzania/Zambia - Mbeya to Mpika
 |
| 'motel' at Mpika |
No internet at Mpika
 |
| Facilitie at Mpika motel |
Dull day today except for border crossing.No internet here in Mpika.In bed and listening to rain and thunder.
7 days to go, only 2 more countries.
 |
| border at Zambia |
23-1-2012
Today we did 666 Km of which just 12 were competitive. We were second fastest (to Joost’s Porsche), despite catching a 4WD who was very reluctant to let us pass.
Today’s roads were 99% good tar. Only other traffic to speak of is big trucks. We have seen a couple of trucks rolled over but I haven’t been quick enough to get a picture. Zambia seems fairly lush and there is often grass about 1.5 meters high growing right up to the edge of the road.
Right: the Intercontinental at Lusaka, a big improvement on the motel shacks at Mpika
Tomorrow is another touring day. No competitives at all. They have changed the morning control to a passage control, which means we can leave early and have time for a good look at Victoria Falls.
(I learned more about the road widening in Tanzania which I don’t think I’ve written about. The demolition of lots of houses and signs etc marked by the red Xs is a project to be done by the Chinese in return for mineral rights. Apparently not popular with the locals.)
When we arrived at Lusaka yesterday afternoon, there was an English speaking person who took an interest in the car. Mark asked if there was anywhere he could get a wheel alignment. This man made a call and then he and Mark drove off for a wheel alignment while I went and booked in. The first room they took me to had a single double bed so I got that changed.
We had the washing done by the hotel last night on condition they would bring it back as soon as it was finished. I woke up in the morning ready to ring and ask where it was, but while I was sleeping they had returned it. Mark said he woke up when he heard a tap on the door but before he did anything, the door opened quietly and the washing returned.
Mark was a bit down yesterday after the 12 Km section. It was a 666 Km day of which only 12 was competitive, and we were held up by a 4WD (who said he didn’t see us behind him) and caught another at the end. We didn’t pass him. We now have 4 sizable chips in the windscreen. It’s hard to enjoy the drive under these circumstances. Mark cheered up a bit when he discovered we were still 2nd quickest.
Intercontinental at Lusaka was nice. Had red wine with dinner!
Zambian currency is the Kwacha and you need lots of them. Filling the tank takes 700,000.
At the last few countries, we have rejected the money changers and waited to get to an ATM. The problem is knowing how much to get. The strategy has been to select an amount from the options from roughly where you would pick at an Australian ATM . When you fill the tank, you discover how much extra you need.
 |
| just part of the Victoria Falls |
We are staying at the Zambezi Hotel which is a large resort just 5 minutes walk from Victoria Falls. I have to admit I didn’t believe that when I was first told but it’s true. Victoria Falls really are awesome. You walk along the opposite bank to the falls and its less than 100 metres to the falls. The falls themselves are (I’m told) 1.7 Km long.  |
| Mark welcomed to the Zambesi resort |
While we were having a late lunch, others came back drenched. We changed to light shorts and T shirts and yes, it’s like walking in a rainstorm.
The amount of spray from the falls is incredible. The camera stopped working after a while. I hope it works again after it dries out.
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| Proof we were there! |
The hotel is in a national park and we have been warned not to approach animals if we see them and to keep doors closed as monkeys will get in and steal things. I haven’t seen any animals yet.
Day 25 Livingston (Zambia) to Tsumeb (Namibia)
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| ©Gerardbrown.co.uk |
Reflecting on Livingston, it was pretty good. The Zambezi Sun Hotel was an expensive hotel.T hey charged US$15per hour for internet. Meals were not included and they wanted $47 per head for a smorgasbord dinner. We walked down the road and joined the other Aussies at a restaurant which was cheaper but the service was appalling. Other tables seemed to be getting fed while we were forgotten. Greg Newton tried to hurry then up and did get served first with a near raw steak. At the end they offered free coffee to make up.The Newtons and Robertsons declined and stormed off, but Mark and I accepted and stayed for a bit.
Victoria Falls were well worth the visit.
Leaving the room to go to dinner there was a group of zebras of all sizes wandering around the hotel's manicured grounds.Sadly my camera hasn’t recovered and all pics from now will be from Mark’s little camera or our phones.
The border crossing went smoothly.We are getting better at it, I think. At this one they had us fill in a large ledger book for the carnet.A big book with columns for all details going across two pages and a row per car.We got a system going where one person fills in the left page and another person fills in a different row on the right page.Then we swap positions.Worked well. There was no undue fuss and no photocopies of things required.
At the Kenyan border when we were doing the carnet, the lady wanted a photocopy of the front page of Mark's passport. The only one we had was black and white and was half a page in size. This was rejected.
“It must be A4 size” she said.
I went back to the car to see if I had a copy that met the requirement.I didn’t but I did have an A4 color copy of my passport.I took this back and handed it over as a copy of Mark's passport and she took it!!Maybe we all look alike.
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| Mark drying his shoes after the drenching at Victoria Falls |
At a town called Divundi, we bought petrol and had to pay in US$s as their ATM didn’t work.When asked they directed us to a shop down the road where they said the ATM would work.Mark went in and returned minutes later with a handful of Namibian $s.As we were about to drive off a local ran out to tell Mark he had left something behind.It was a $100 bill, about $14 in Oz terms.Locals here seem honest which has been a worry in some places.
Mark seems to have caught a head cold. I’m still healthy.
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| Elephant warning sign, with 80kph advisory |
Most police checkpoints until today have been very cursory. We usually slow down a bit wave to them and get waved through.Today we had to stop and Mark was motioned to back up to behind the stop sign.The officer then pointed to the stop sign and asked for Mark’s license.Mark gave him his international driver’s license which he looked at for all of 10 seconds before a few questions about the rally and then we waved through.We’re getting closer to civilisation I think.
All wine seems to originate in South Africa and so far it’s all been quite drinkable.
Day 26 Australia Day - Tsumeb to Windhoek (Namibia)
Today’s rallying was in Namibia. 628 Km
There was one World Cup section this morning 18 KM in length. We were 5thfastest dropping 33 seconds. This was followed by three map reading sections on really smooth gravel. These were cleanable and despite my suspicions, had no tricks to them at all. I’m not sure why they didn’t just give us a route chart.
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| Start of 55km stage - After the first 20Km it became a procession in the dust. |
We are coming to the realisation that there is nothing we can do to improve our position. We are 12th spot, and 11th place is roughly 20 minutes ahead of us.
In a 20 Km section we can probably count on catching him and getting back at least a minute but there aren’t enough competitive sections left in the rally. The car in front is a Toyota Hilux and it was in 3rd position until they ran off the road and rolled it. It has no mirrors at all, so passing him requires us to get beside him first so he can see us. We did it the other afternoon but there was only a little dust. Today it was impossible.
The car is also getting tired. It doesn’t steer all well anymore and the back steps out alarmingly some times. Left handers are worse than right handers. I think our strategy has to be to drive to the finish.
It was hot today. Clear blue sky with some cloud in the afternoon. It really does look very like Australia in many parts. Mark’s head cold isn’t improving much. We are staying at a casino!
left: the fastest car, a Porsche, outside one of the two hotels crews are staying at in Windhoek. They're coming third, after also being penalised an hour for using canister shocks
Day 27 - Namibia - Windhoek to Ai-Ais
Writing this on the morning of the 28th.
Yesterday was a hard day of rallying. Made hard by the fact that we were going all day mostly at high speed and it was extremely hot. At the end of the day I think we were both suffering from a bit of heat exhaustion.
At one point,it was painfully hot just to zero the tripmeter. The cumulative reset has to be held down for a couple of seconds to reset it and I resorted to pushing it with a pencil to avoid burning the tip of my finger.
At the end of the day, after we had completed the last 2 competitives, we had 2 flat tyres on the 150 Km transport to the hotel. These were both rear tyres and the ones with tubes but that's another story.
We then found ourselves short of time and needing to average 130 to get to the end control on time. We also needed to stop for fuel which was 78 Km before the end of day control at Ai Ais resort. We had enough fuel to get to the end so we decided to not stop for fuel, get to the end and sort ourselves out from there. We thought we could borrow fuel and drive back the 78 Km to the garage.
As it turned out we didn’t need to do that. The resort had a garage of sorts where we got fuel and they did have some tyres for sale. Not quite the right size but they hold air and will be our spares for the next 2 days.
There are only 2 days to go. Less than 1000 Km in total. 600+ today and 332 for the final day. Today promises to be a bit like yesterday. Namibia is very like the Australian outback. It’s a big empty country with few people, mostly desert with spectacular rock features.
The roads are generally gravel, wide and smooth. The average speed on most competitives is 100 to 110 KPH.
Transports are often similar speeds but on arriving at a competitive start you are informed that the “standard” time, i.e. the time you are due, is now a later time. This has the effect of making you early at the start (you didn’t have to drive that quickly) but means there is less time for the competitive if you are going to stay on the standard time. All a bit silly in my opinion.
Mark is driving well (and enjoying it) despite the way the car handles. Wide smooth roads are good for a car that jumps sideways at the least provocation. We are putting this down to something bent in the steering.
Did I mention they have started seeding of a sort? We are moved up 2 places in the start order to avoid 2 4WD and another car, a Datsun 240Z, is behind us. We chase a Volvo who are good about watching for us and we in turn try not to shower them with stones.
The Ai Ais resort is in the middle of what looks like a lunar landscape. Its main feature is a huge indoor spa. Rooms are around this with an inside door to the spa and an outside door to parking. They take only Namibian dollars and we are yet to pay for tyres etc.The hotel does have credit card facility so the plan is to pay the hotel who will pass it on to the garage.
The man who did the tyre changing was one of the hotel security guards. He was dressed in full uniform and looked a bit out of place fitting tyres. Instead of the usual AK47 often carried by these guys, this one had a slingshot in his back pocket!
The 2nd last day of the rally today. We had decided to go steady and make sure we get to the finish. There were 3 world cup sections today on good fast roads. 130KPH on the first one in Namibia, then after a very efficient border crossing, one stage with a time check in the middle and a short 11 Km one at the end of the day.
We finished the first 2 OK, but soon after the engine began to miss. We then changed in succession, the fuel filter, the spark plug (it was missing on number 1) and the plug lead. None of these fixed the problem but we hadn’t lost any time through it yet. We next tried the crank angle sensor (distributor equivalent). This didn’t fix it either but we were 5 late on a transport. and had to do the section on 3 cylinders. We finished the day on 3 cylinders and but made it to the hotel.
At the hotel we changed the Haltech computer and a coil pack. All to no avail. We then rang Jamie in Sydney and woke him up. He put us on the track. Swapping the injector plugs moved the problem to another cylinder. It was a wiring problem very similar to what we had on the way to Batemans Bay last year. We needed Murray and Craig who sorted it last time.
After a lot of bridging wires and running wires back to the computer and some help from one of the UK crews, we think the problem is fixed. If not, then we will get to the finish on 3 cylinders.
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| entering South Africa from Namibia |
I now have Mark’s head cold and feel somewhat miserable.
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I think this guy stopped here is the new leader
Sunday, January 29
Day 28 Clanwilliam – Cape Town
It’s over – we finished.
After fixing the car last night, we had dinner at the Clanwilliam Bowling Club. It was somewhat overwhelmed by the travelling circus.
There were no results available and they had everyone start today in the same order as yesterday. I suspect we are still around 12thoutright and 2nd in class.
This morning had 2 World Cup stages and we took it relatively easy – well – until the last kilometre when Mark saw the girls in the MG ahead of him and pulled out all stops to get past. We passed them before the control, and for a moment I thought they were going to get revenge and run into the back of us. We moved a car length further and they managed to stop. These were the ones we ran into a couple of weeks ago when we were trying to pass them in Ethiopia.
The run into town was uneventful. We flew the Aussie flag that Rae Waterhouse had given us. The finish was at the entry portal of the very flash hotel we are at, the Table Bay.
We will be having a celebratory drink shortly. The presentation dinner is tonight. (See official results at www.londoncapetownrally.com)
I hope this blog has been of interest. When I settle down and have a read of it myself, I might add the bits I missed on the way, but that’s for another day.
right: Mark being kissed by the Porsche driver Joost Van Cauwenberge, whose car we "kissed" in Greece in a slow-speed head-on on a wrong road.
All is obviously forgiven.
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