We have arrived safely in Doha. Had a comfortable fight, watched 3 movies and were first through immigration. Now for the last 50km with company driver and theb we are at home.
Enjoyed a great breakfast followed by taxi ride to Madrid Airport. Checked in and enjoying a coffee before our flight back to Doha. Our tent bag is still M.I.A.
Dropped the 4 travel bugs that accompanied us on the B2B off at a cache site in Alcala, Madrid. Enjoying dinner at a quaint Spanish pub after the freezing walk.
We have arrived safely in Madrid and have checked into Room 112 at the Tryp Alcala 611. Quite a fitting room number for the last night of our adventure of a lifetime.
After a very long and tiring checkin we finally boarded our flight from Bissau to Lisbon. The flight departed 45 minutes behind schedule. We have arrived safely in Lisbon and currently relaxing in the Blue Lounge courtesy of Mussy before we say our farewells and continue our onward journeys.
We have had a long check in at Guinea Bissau. Two hours in a queue to get our bags checked and obtain hand-written boarding passes followed by another hour wait for the plane to arrive. Boarding eventually commenced at 02:45AM. We departed on our 4 hour flight at 03:20AM.
Our time in Bissau has xome to an end. We fly to Lisbon and then to Madrid in a few hours. The last 3 weeks have passed in a blur! It has been a lot of fun but it will be good to get back to normality again.
Spent the afternoon updating ontheroad. Now it is time for diner.
Had a lot of fun selling some of our stuff. What a circus. Was surrounded by a mob of people hungary for a bargain. Managed to get EUR60 for 5 items. Have had enough of the frenzie for now!
Shaun is having fun selling our sleeping bags, shovel, tools, compressor, etc! We need to fit into our 25kg each luggage allowance.
We are enjoying being online again and catching up on all of your comments. It is great to see all the inteterest in our adventure.
We went out for pizza with a number of teams last night. Said our farewells to 2 teams who are driving back to Europe. Had a great sleep, now time for breakfasr
We had a very late night after the B2B finish party thrown b the local govt. Lots of singing, dancing and jembe drumming, Very festive! We have had a very quiet day relaxing at the hotel.
We are checked in at Malaika Hotel in Bissau. Cae has been sold and now it is time to celebrate with dinner.
Getting a police escourt. Lights and sirens into Bissau. Really welcoming!
The last day of the B2B. So far has been quiet a journey. So far Guinea Bissau has been very welcoming and friendly. Great place to end the trip.
We crossed the border into Guinea-Bissau this afternoon and had dinner at Sincem Boce. We opted to drive to Gabu and spend the night in a hotel instead of camping. Checked in and ready for bed.
We managed to buy 60 litres of diesel at 1.5 times the normal price. Heading for the hotel in the NP. Hopefully some rooms will still be avaialable.
We are here I the middle of a 6 day strike. No diesel to be found. Running low. It is interesting times. We may make a run for the Senegal border and get fuel.
We have had a lovely camp at the Baobab tree. Mark and Seamus made Shaun a lovely chocolate brownie cake with candles as a birthday celebration.
We are sitting in a lovely bush camp. Thorn trees around. Log fire burning. Great company. All the ills of earlier forgotten.
Paperwork finally done. Now in a traffic jam to exit the only road into the customs area.
Shaun dealing with the Senegal immigration process. My job to protect the car. 29 degree's. Hot day in the car.
The futher South you go. The poorer the people. The more the begging. Really sad to see, hard to deal with. Have to have thick skin here.
We are on the ferry! Who knows how long it will take on the other side though.
Found out we are all still waiting in the que! Still going through immigration. Luckily it is a peaceful setting. Shaun has taken our paperwork to our fixer.
Border security trying to get our phones from us as gifts. Not going to happen. Gave him some tea.
Half the team has gone over by boat. Waiting for it to come back. It is a hot day in Africa.
We have had a good trip to the border crossing. We are waiting for the ferry to take us across to Senegal.
we have been on the road for 1,5 hours. Main road going to the border is a narrow 2 lane pot holed road. Crazy on comming traffic. Live stock free to roam.
We have had a good sleep. All packed and ready to go to our next border crossing. It promises to be an event to remember.
Did some dune driving, some ecovery and lots of sharing our knowledge about the dunes. Started out by rescuing a Subaru, then 2 Land Cruisers and 2 Patrols. Taught all of the teams involved about tyre pressures, dune structure and dune driving. The Pajero performed beautifully! The 2.8L turbo diesel has heaps of lo ...
Had a wonderfull evening catching up with all our friends today (Debra the Zebra, Duct Tape & Zip Ties, Team TC, Team Bright Eyed). Made some new ones (3ezer). Shared some vodka with our Russian friends and some red wine with TBE.
It is a very dusty campsite tonight. The wind is blowing! We are inbetween the dunes. Should find some shelter behind our car.
Today is dedicated to border crossing. Took from 0900 to 1300 to get through the Moroccan then Mauritainian border. Now heading to our camp for the night.
Have had a lovely hot spring shower. Followed by a lovely coke at a kite surfers spot. Camping along the road at the boarder of mauritainia tonight.
Have had a lovely beach camp last night. Caught up with some of the British teams. Nice to be in conversation that we can understand. Now making our way south.
Just had lunch in Laayoune. Will have camel burgers tonight for dinner in Boudjour. Sleeping on the beach not far the town. 196km to go.
Have checked all the oil and water. All seems fine. Started animal again and all lights are off now. So starting our day again. We are following another team.
Turning back to Tan Tan. Gearbox light flashing. Will have it seen to as this is the last big town.
Yesterday and today we are back in double figures as far as the temp goes. This morning it is 16 degrees, clear blue skies.
We have opted not to drive the 100km to the star wars set and back again, as we need to sort out our GPS's while we have power. They have been taking turns in misbehaving. We have not been able to do our geocaches in Morocco because of it.
We are up and about. Enjoyed a warm shower. Shaun has shaved! Undies washed. Our car looks like a chinese laundry. We have hung up a washing line in the back.
Tomorrow we enter the Western sahara. We will probably have unreliable GSM coverage from here on out. But will send text from satelite phone. You can still text us via thuraya. We have enjoyed hearing from all of you!
We have arrived safely in Tan Tan! We have booked into a hotel and there are at least 6 other teams here. One team had to abandon their peugot 405 which blown an engine. Luckily our animal has been running well.
Arrived in Tiznit. 333km to go.
Farmers and the village people are clean. No plastic bags and pollution.
On the ourskirts of Agadir, soon we will be turning South to Tantan. Now that we are back in the city. You realise how uncaring we are for the environment.
Going through a village called Tasousfi. Been a better day, lots of mountain passes. Which makes going slower. Really gratefull for all we have.
We have done 100km so far, now in the town of n'kob. Been a good drive so far. Reminds us of the Karoo, just different buildings.
We spent the night at Meteorties hotel on R108. We are both well and in good spirits after a good sleep. We will be driving on tar today to catch up with the rest of the group.
We were even harassed while repacking the car and pumping the tires. Some distance from the village. The other teams had all left by this time. We then started looking for a way across a wide wadi (dry tiver bed), lots of thick soft sand everywhere. As it was already after 1400 and no other teams were aeound we decided ...
The day has been very challenging. Have decided to back track to Rissani amd take the tar road to Tata. Currently taking a break near Alnif. Will post more details later.
We"ve had quite a challenging day. We were making good across the desert on a dirt track until we came to an oasis village where we and several other teans got stuck in a deeply rutted track. We each got pulled by a tractor. After 2 hours we left village feeling very harassed as the villagers were actively trying to ...
We had a good brief sleep. Were warm in our tent. We did have a cold shower today and breakfast. Heading on dirt. Road to Zagora then to Tata. Close to Algerian border. Will do our best to stay on the Moroccan side.
Sitting in the parking lot at the ferry terminal waiting to embark. Not a pleasant experience getting tickets and parking the car. Everyone you come across is on a mission tio fleece you. Valuable lessons have been learned and the defences have been raised. Thanks to everyone for all the encouraging SMS messages. It is ...
Sitting in the parking lot at the ferry terminal waiting to embark. Not a pleasant experience getting tickets and parking the car. Everyone you come across is on a mission tio fleece you. Valuable lessons have been learned and the defences have been raised. Thanks to everyone for all the encouraging SMS messages. It is ...
We are safe and sound. Some 4x4 driving in the dark. Tent pitched. Time to sleep.
Have just received a flurry of messages on the sat phone. Thanks for all the encouragement!
90km to go and we have seen 5 other teams on the road. Travelling in convoy to camp now. Just over an hour to go.
Just had a lovely coffee. Toilet stop - toilet is a hole in the floor.... Shaun setting the lights as they are shining into the heavens and not the road.
235km to go. ETA at camp is 2100. Will be taking it easy on the rural roads. Will send an update before we go to bed tonight.
Arrived safely in Medelt. The snow covered scenery on the mountain pass was stunning. Now to take on the second pass. Unfortunately this one will be in the dark
Have just passed Arouz and started climbing the pass to Midlet, thick snow all around. Road is clear. Snowplow has been active. Stuck behind 18 wheeler. :(
Reached Meknes, turned SE and have just passed El Hajeb. 400km to go. Progress will be slower now that we are on country roads with lower speed limits
This area of Morocco is quite flat. Lots of irrigated farming activities being done. Seems to be the food basket for the country.
We're heading for Meknes on the N13 highway after taking a break just north of Rabat. We expect to arrive in Rissani by 2100 tonight. Animal is running well!
Did some shopping in Tanger, now on the motorway to Rabat. Good to get out of the city. Doha driving has been a good training ground.
We are through customs. Now to find a insurance kiosk. Have met another team who have gone through.
We are now in Morocco. Waiting for the car to clear customs. Can't speak French but the little bit of Arabic has been useful.
We have boarded the Ferry. Nothing like the orderly lines of NZ. Have a ticket, then push and shove to get onto the ferry. First come first serve.
Sitting in the Port of Algeceiras. We will board at 0300 to get a ferry to Morocco. Have already encountered the bribery and corruption of Africa.
The next ferry from Almeria is only tomottow morning as suspected. We're making our wa to Algeciras and hope to catch a ferry to Morocco tonight. Our ETA is 2200. We checked 2 geocaches while we were in Almeria. Unfortunately both will have to be logged as DNF. At least the TBs will log the milage.
We have just been passed by car 082. Our first sighting for the day. We also made radio contact with them. Will meet up there to check out errt options.
Stopped for fuel and lunch. Had a good stretch. Now back in the car heading for Almeria. 200km to go then we will get some clear info about the ferry crossing.
Passed by Valencia. No time to pop in today.
We are driving past Oropesa. There have been citrus orchards all the way from Barcelona. Our QR 15000 - R 30000 car, is running like a dream.
Driving through Heavy rain :( missing all the beautiful scenery. Feel at home here in Spain.
We are mobile! Sitting in Barcelona morning traffic. On our way to Almeira
We have arrived safely in Barcelona. Car has performed well most of the day. Looking forward to a well earnd rest.
4 countries in one day. The marathon continues.
Just a reminder, you can send us messages directly to our sat phone via the thuraya website. We have limited access to the comments on our posts.
180km to go. Passing through Perpignan. Getting there.
Just passed through montpellier tol gate.
420km till Barcelona. Just had a driver change and a snack. Still light which helps. Sun has broken through as we approach sunny Spain.
Back on the road after a meal break. Stunning sxenery. 2130.
We have just completed a quick visit to Monaco, grove passed the waterfron through the tunnel and over the F1 start line, We continue travelling west rowards Sete and Bsrca.
We"re making good progress along the coast, thanks to the Sutostrada anits many tunnels. There are many smal towns and villages nestling in the valleys, The temperature is up to 11 degrees bu still overcast Crossing the border into France as I type this post.
This morning the car is running well, speedo working for now. When we started at 8 it was -6 now warmed up to -1...... Still brrr.
It is foggy and icy on the roads! SLOW start for today. Who said we did not need ice scrapers
We have had a good quick sleep. Got to do 1100km to Barcelona today. Would have been nice to have an extra driver, was not to be, so here goes!
We had a challenging drive from Treviso to Verona as we are both very tired, the Pajero was up to her old tricks again - gear selection acting up again. :-( Tim for sleep. Nighty night.
Had a lovely dinner with Grant in Treviso. Did 3 quick geocaches with our local guide. Now back on the road to Verona.
We have just crossed the border and passed the first toll booth on Italy. Also spotted the Med. Cae is still going well.
Just received a great "welcome to Slovenia" - EUR150 fine for not having a toll sticker on the car. Apparently we shoud have bought one at the first gas station after crossing the border. The price of ihnorance! :-(
Have just crossed tge border ifrom Hungary nto Slovenia ... making good progres.
We have just been pulled over at a routine police roadblock. Have just learned that driing with headlights on during the day is rquired. Got off with a warning and a smile.
45.44946667,16.8401559 Pajero is running sweetly. The gesrbox problem seems to have been cured.
We've completed about 200km. Stopped for fuel and coffee. The gas station ezperienced a B2B invasion - all of the pumps were occupied by B2B vehicles.
We started at 09h00, 12 min ago. Snow is falling. What a feeling!
The Rovingmedics are ready for the start. Our car (# 112) is packed, parked in Parc Ferme and ready to go. We are dressed and about to have a good hearty breakfast before venturing out into the cold to catch a taxi to Hero Square. Watch this space for live updates from the Start and along the route.
Our Pajero was attended to by the friendly team at Emil Frey Autocentrum, the Mitsubishi agents in Budapest.Car has been serviced, oils and filters changed out, headlights adjusted and diagnostic interogation of the ECU carried out. They discovered a faulty speed sensor and some error codes. Reset the ECU and replace ...
Dropped off our car at parc ferme. Then did a cache. Decided to walk the 3 km back. FREEZING! Half way home, now having TGIF on Friday.
The weather has also taken a turn for the worst. Starting to rain with sleet. Did I mention earlier it is COLD!
At last! We have found the Mitsubishi agents in Budapest. Car will go in for service at 12 and take 2 hours. We are enjoying a coffee.
Internet shows 3 service agents for Mitsibishi. All 3 were located yesterday. They were either not the agents or had moved. As a result, still not able to find a mechanic to look at the car. It is a very cold 5 degree's in Budapest today.
We spent the afternoon driving aeound Budapest looking for a workshop to fix our car - no luck. Drivers are very curteous. If you like everything on the diagonal then this is your kind of town. We managed to get most of the stuff on our shopping list tgough. Enjoying a burger at Burger King.
Park your car on the banks of the River Danube; Admire the view of the surrounding buildings and bridges; Wash your car using less than 2 litres of water; Apply many sponsor stickers to your car; Become a tourist attraction in the process! OH WHAT FUN!! ;-))
Just passing Amstetten after stopping to eat and stretch the legs. We are making good progress. 350km to Budapest. We are making good progress. 350km to Budapest. Car seems to be behaving herself but will need looking at tomorrow.
An unexpected detour was required this morning to get the correct docking station for the satellite phone. On route seems like we are going to have gearbox problems. Let's hope we make it. The scenery on the road between Salzburg and Munich really made the trip worthwhile.
We have arrived in Salzburg. Driving in the dark, however can still see the mountains are white! Temp is 8 degrees.
We have met up with our car. Repacked some bags. Got rid of some boxes, mobile in Munich.
Have arrived safely in MUC. Enjoying a coffee while we wait for our car. Team Bright Eyed are about 50km away and making good progress.