Jumping Jeepers!

Morning all (if there's any all still out there...) A quick scan of the PBC website tells me that the auction of the Jap Jeep on 28 Jan has raised 76,500 Gambian Delassi (that's £1363 8s 10d in old money). Our survey said that's the joint third highest total of any of the vehicles auctioned so far, beaten only by a VW Golf and a Land Rover 110, sharing the bronze podium with a Chrysler Voyager and knocking all the assorted Beemers, Mercs and other luxury sedans into a cocked hat. Clearly the pink livery had an effect on someone. Perhaps the Gambian branch office of Sheila's Wheels car insurance.

That takes the grand total raised well above the £10k target, so another milestone passed by our intrepid quartet from the comfort of their offices. Well done chaps, top hole etc.

I promise a website update will arrive just as soon as the oppressive capitalist regime that keeps me enslaved to my wage lets me back out into the light for an hour or so... Cheers, Phil.

Goodbye Gambia, Gatwick bound.

Afternoon all, for possibly the last time. The ambulance has been handed over with pomp and circumstance to the clinic in Fagikunda, which has been added to the fleet that now has a running total of 1 ambulances to help it serve its catchment area of 67000 souls. Puts things in perspective, doesn't it; I'll never moan about the NHS again (unless I catch MRSA). Prayers were said for the van and its erstwhile occupants (though I suspect its future occupants will be in rather more pressing need of divine intervention) and the chief and other village dignitaries were on hand to thank our delivery crew and pose for pictures. The clinic seemed mightily impressed with the meatwagon: the Sister who runs the place is now coralling a posse of volunteer drivers who can be summoned when the van is called upon to ferry the poorly. Apparently, she hadn't told her staff when she heard the ambulance was coming, as she didn't believe it and thought it was too good to be true. As far as I know though, no-one has cracked the classic Eric Morecambe gag during the entire trip, which is disappointing frankly. I wish I'd gone now - I'd have done it EVERY DAY. Which may be why I wasn't invited... or perhaps it just never went fast enough.

This update came from the airport, to which they were ferried direct from the handover ceremony, where our protagonists are enjoying the final vestiges of Gambian hospitality with beers in the sun on the terrace in the company of the remaining PBCers. The plane leaves around 1700h and lands around 2300h as long as the wind is favourable and Gambian Airport Refuelling Ltd. remember to wind the rubber band up all the way before take-off. This time tomorrow, you can get your own updates from the people who were there instead of having your info filtered through my tortuous syntax. So it's adieu, until I build the new website. Cheers - Phil.

*EDIT* - Added pic from Alex's collection, Joe & Alex and the Clinic staff.

Brief notes from Banjul

Hello all. Just a very quick note. After parades through a sacred ceremonial arch, a few Gambian sherberts and the first of the auctions, tomorrow sees the return of three of our triumphant travellers (Chris is back already). I was going to borrow the open-topped bus off Andy Flintoff but apparently he's not got it any more... oh well. The Meatwagon is being prepped for delivery to the hospital tomorrow morning and the team are catching their final rays on the beach before the off. The plane back - already dubbed the 'Party Plane' - is stuffed to the gunwales with PBCers so the fun won't really end till they touch down at Gatwick in the early hours of Wednesday (24 Jan). Nothing like Gatwick to bring you down to earth with a bump, often literally. The weather will also be a bit of a shock for them. I'm trying to be sympathetic. Honest.

Chris has already sent the first pictures in - attached is the convoy (10-4) in the desert, to prove they didn't just drive round Marbella a few times and spin a good story - and as the others arrive back I'll update the website, probably next Monday or Tuesday, with the full panoply of piccies and accompanying captions. Cheers - Phil.

The Eagle has Landed

Success! Just received an update from Joe whilst stood in the Safari Garden Hotel. Against just about every mechanical and bureaucratic setback possible, the ambulance and the jeep have made it the 2700 miles as the crow flies from Portsmouth to Banjul and arrived absolutely bang on target. I cannot even begin to tell you how staggering I think this is, given all that's been thrown at them, so jolly good show, what!

Minor details: they still need to find some accomodation: the SGH is actually a little way outside Banjul and is full. The auctions are now staggered over several days, so the plan is to keep the jeep as a runaround till just before they all leave the Gambia. I think they want to offload the meatwagon ASAP, as soon as they hose all the Canadians out of it ;)

In other news, the website passed 1000 visitors at almost exactly the same time. Spooky coincidence, or divine providence? You decide. More details as I get them. Cheers - Phil.

UPDATE: 1700h. The total mileage on the ambulance was 4116 miles from NIREX car-park to the Safari Garden Hotel. Chris and Alex went to the school on Bakalarr that Pageant supports before crossing the river today to say hello: the head is planning to meet them for coffee in Banjul tomorrow. There's a free dinner at the SGH for all the PBC teams tonight, which will no doubt be a civilised and reserved affair. Black tie I should hope. Most of the teams are flying back on the same plane as our lot (Tue 23 early am: Providence help any non-PBC people on that plane...) so there's a few days of unwinding, swapping tales of derring do and cementing friendships to go.

So that's it. I wouldn't expect too much more from me now till they get back with some photos to publish, at which point I'll revamp the website and try to find it a permanent home; I can't leave it on the Uni servers forever (all donations of webspace gratefully accepted and rewarded with a sponsor's link). If you want to send congratulatory messages, rude remarks, demands for payment or entries into the Reader's Digest Prize Draw to any of the team then probably the best thing to do is to post a message on the forum and I'll pass it on best I can: if there are enough messages I'll compile them into a new page on the website/blog.

I beg leave to remain, Sirs, your humble and obedient servant,

Phil.

Gruelling Banjuls

Morning all. 8 am update: The entire convoy of 20-odd vehicles all eventually made it to the Gambian border around midnight after a nightmare crawl along Senegalese roads which have 'potholes the size of... England'. Everyone sailed through Gambian customs, nice chaps who even took the trouble to say 'Welcome to Gambia', unlike every other border guard they've encountered. They were furnished with escorts by 'Uncle Sam Security', sent as guides by the hotel, since the border area is a little bohemian, ripe for gentrification in estate-agent speak, who whisked them to a secure compound where they spent the night in their vehicles waiting for the ferry to open. (I assume the secure compound is a locked fenced area, rather than a heavily guarded bottle of, say, potassium permanganate *bdum-tish!*)

[tumbleweed]

Ahem. Our determined double duo were first up this morning and are thus the first of the PBC-ers in the ferry queue (but many Gambians got up even before them, so there's still a long wait; the ferry only takes 6 vehicles at a time, see pic [Wikipedia]). The Safari Garden Hotel is about a mile the other side of the river, where our mechanical missionaries can finally offload the vehicles (which are currently full of rescued Canadians - hope someone finds them a good home), with a tear and a wave no doubt and go off on a jolly for a few days. Sorry, did I say jolly? I meant cultural exchange to add valuable context to the fundraising effort. We'll hold the celebrations till they actually hand the vehicles over, but the fat lady with the pointy helmet is warming up in the wings... Cheers - Phil.

Sayonara Senegal

A convoy of 28 vehicles left Zebrabar about 1100h this morning (16 Jan). It's 300 miles to the Gambian border, they've got a full tank of gas, probably no cigarettes, it's not dark and they're wearing sunglasses. Hit it! Should reach Gambia about 1800h ish: then it's more border shenanagins and the long queue for the "Ferreeee... 'cross the Gambiaaaaa" (That doesn't really work either does it...) Little chance of comms till then, so probably no more bulletins today. Oh, and they've finally got the CD player to work in the ambulance. Cheers - Phil.

UPDATE: They've reached the Touba district of Diourbel. Apparently it's 'too hot' : a difficult concept to grasp for someone who's about to cycle home. Still some way to go... 106 miles as the crow flies to Banjul.

Zebrabar R&R

Hello all. Had a few more nuggets of info from the team so worth putting fingers to keyboard I thought. They got to the campsite about 0130h this morning, with 7 people in the back of the van and according to Debbie's report, not unreasonably hit the bar. A round of applause greeted their arrival, both for actually making it and the heroic rescue mission. Brings a tear to yer eyes *sniff*. Mauritanian customs had turned at least one person back at the border (from the extended convoy, not our intrepid four), not sure why. They are currently relaxing on the beach - the first real rest day our quartet have had since the off, given the problems they've had - my contact was standing in the sea with the sun in her hair as we spoke. I'm about to cycle home in the rain and I've forgot my gloves...

There is talk of all the PBC teams currently at Zebrabar setting off in one big convoy (impossible to use that word without mentally saying '10-4 Rubber Duck there's Smokey on your backdoor [younger readers - ask your parents or go here ]). The 'customs escort' has been procured (in much the same way as 'safe parking' is procured in the streets surrounding most Northern football grounds on match day no doubt) for the three remaining vehicles of the original convoy. It is, [insert deity of choice] willing, Banjul itself tomorrow; about 300 miles to go. Let's hope the rapidly segmenting ambulance can survive the shaking and extra load long enough to still be an ambulance when it gets there. Cheers - Phil. Oh, pic is aerial view of current billet.

Boiiiiiing... said Zebrabar

Quick and dirty update: The decision was made for the whole convoy to leave for Zebrabar campsite early Sunday (14 Jan) morning. The smart money, from the outset, was on the Mauritania exit/Senegal entry border crossing to be the worst of them all. Add the complication that half of the travellers were no longer piloting the vehicles they were supposed to be removing from Mauritania and the book was firmly closed: this would be a nightmare. Next comms were at around 1930h: after a difficult journey, serious border problems were confirmed. At least 1 vehicle was still waiting for an exit stamp at 2145h and final comms were at 2300h confirming that all the vehicles were finally through and leaving the border area. It's about 55km from the checkpoint to the campsite so one assumes that our Fab Four reached Zebrabar sometime around midnight.

I'm a little sketchy as to what happens next. The PBC website suggests that they now get a customs escort across Senegal to border with The Gambia, as the Senegalese apparatchiks are apparently none too chuffed at having these convoys in the country; something to do with import prohibitions for vehicles over 4 years old. I'm not sure if there is a rest day first or if that's happening today. The auction of the remaining vehicles is on the 17th (I think), so that's really the only remaining deadline.

For those of you who've arrived late: there's also a website that goes with this blog that has maps, routes etc on it. If you haven't already, click on it: would be nice to get the counter over the 1000 mark before the team get back. Cheers - Phil.

PS: The team have had a nice e-mail from Ringwood School (see the website for an explanation):

Hi to the Ice Cold Team from Ringwood School!!!! We are following your progress with interest, best wishes to Chris!! it seems a long time since the meeting at school and in the Tesco car park ! Keep up the good work, we are all supporting you every step of the way. Regards, Chris Edwards, Headteacher.
Thanks Chris and hi to everyone at Ringwood. Now get on with your GCSE coursework and stop mucking around on the interweb ;)

And ye, that on the sands with printless foot...*

Welcome once again, scattered readers and hark ye well, for I have received news and beg a tale to tell. The convoy that entered the desert grew to 7 vehicles: our familiar pair, a Renault R19 (Camel Tow), a Peugeot 405 (Def.Intrepid), a Beetle (Getcha Motor Running) and Fiats Uno (Engineered to Destruction) and Croma (2Porsche2Push), ably guided by local lad Dahia. Already experiencing unfamiliar conditions - geography not my strong point but even I know rain, wind and cloud cover are not normal utterences for Africa's Wincy Willises - things proceeded to get steadily worse, with the wind whipping up the dunes into a sandstorm the likes of which our guide professed to never have beholden before. (That sentence begs a Long John Silver style 'Aaarrrr Haaaarrrr!' at the end, so treat yourself to one even though it's a long time till International Talk Like A Pirate Day). With visibility severly reduced and airborne sand ingressing into places not kindly disposed theretowards, the first casualty of day one in the desert was the 405. Repairs are now out of the question - no life-saving Morrocan 3 to call on - so the 405 was abandoned and its occupants distributed amongst the remaining vehicles. The campsite was reached that evening, when the guide became ill and the assembled throng dined on camel: whether these two event are connected was not disclosed to your reporter. A Bedouin style tent was erected for the nights repose, which of course fell over in the middle of the night, forcing the camel-fed intrepids to finish their slumber in the vehicles.

The next day (Friday) dawned with no abatement of the sandstorm in evidence and the combination of gruelling roads and windblown abrasive tolled the death knell for another vehicle; the Croma. Again, repairs, however valiantly attempted, were futile and the occupants were redistributed: suddenly, the value of having a large van in one's convoy, even if dressed as an ambulance, became evident to many of the participants. Nightfall saw a beach camp established.

The value of the ambulance moved from invaluable to priceless in one fell swoop today, the final day of the desert saga, when the conditions defeated the Renault. The convoy now had to distribute 14 people amongst the four remaining (alreadily heavily laden) vehicles: one doesn't need a Phd in Resource Management to fathom a wager on which vehicle is bearing the brunt. In fact - and here's the first real victim of the merciless sand - all the medical hardware collected by Alex for the Gambian hospitals has had to be jettisoned to make room for the shipwrecked deserteers. Although slightly tempered by Dahia's promise to return to salvage it from the dunes and pass it amongst the equally needy local medical facilities, this has taken a little of the gloss off the fundraising effort. For the greater good though: Team IceCold are now genuine PBC heroes. As well as the meatwagon's omnibusian efforts, the Suzuki Jeep continues to perform faultlessly, even pulling fellow convoyers out of the drifting sands from time to time: not bad for a little 1300 beantin. Think my next car might be Japanese...

The convoy pulled into the campsite cum hostel in Noukachott late this afternoon (Sat 13 Jan), again in wordless agog at the sight of hot running water, to recover their strength for the push to Senegal tomorrow. Some of the genuine Paris-Dakar Rally runners and followers are bunking with them so no doubt tales of derring do are being swapped over campfires and cold ones as we speak. Despite the trials and tribulations, they're still bang on target. The next section apparently has the worst 'roads' of the whole trip, and given the slightly worrying reports that the Transit and Ambulance sections of the meatwagon are slowly parting company, this is not good news. Still, all good character-forming stuff. Four days to go till the auction in Gambia.

I think that's it: I've wrung the last narrative jices from the wisps of information I hastily scratched down when Joe rang, so I'll leave you there. The convoy passes back into radio silence now for a day or so: more news when I get it. Until next time, cheers - Phil.

PS. I went to both Tesco's and the opticians today, but I think you've had enough excitement for this instalment, so I'll tell you about that another time.

*The Tempest a5 s1 1.33.

***no signal***

Just to prove that that was absolutely the last communique until emerging from the desert, here's a report to confirm that there's nothing to report:

Nothing to report.

Furthermore, I haven't been to Tesco's or the opticians yet, so I can't tell you about that either. Did go to Asda though. Shocking queues.

Have a good weekend everybody. To keep you going, here is a picture of the Richat Structure, one of the most striking geological features in the world, which is in the Mauritanian desert. I don't know if our people pass it though. Cheers - Phil.

Just Deserts (sorry)

So it's finally into the desert... Chinese was very nice last night and the rested team are about to set off. A few odds and ends to report now. I've been asked to thank some people the convoy encountered at the Sahara Regency Hotel in Dakhla: Freya and co. from fishing trip gurus regencyfishingadventure.com (website not quite up yet) who organised mechanics for 5 poorly vehicles in the convoy, found the restaurant for them and are all round general nice guys. Thanks people: I'll put a proper link on the website when yours is up and running. The guide for the convoy is called David (Arabic Da'ud or Dawud). Let's hope meetings with metaphorical Goliaths can be kept to a minimum for a change.

Time for another pic: this time, the scenic entrance to Nouamghar National Park courtesy of photosaroundtheworld.wordpress.com. I'm not sure if that wall's to keep things in or out... Cheers - Phil.

UPDATE: Absolutely positively the last communique before emerging from the desert in 2-4 days time: a puncture has been suffered and fixed between 0930 and 1030 - they had some trouble getting the wheel off - and the convoy has been swelled by the arrival of another group. There was also a scurrilous comment about Russell's food intake but I couldn't possibly repeat that.

Hello Mauritania, Goodbye Western Sahara/Moroocco depending on your political allegiance...

The convoy rolled up to the border around midday (10 Jan), were processed by Moroccan customs (who currently police the Western Sahara/Mauritania border) just after 1400, trepidously traversed the heavily mined 7km (4 mile) no-man's land, presented their credentials at the trio of huts that consitutes the Mauritanian side of the border and were through. Five and a half hours in total, which probably felt like an age to the other teams but just the merest brush with officialdom for our hardened border veterans compared to their 27 hour sojourn in Tangiers. A guide was swiftly procured - one of the conditions of passage for the PBC teams is that they use a local guide to help traverse the desert - then it was on to the campsite at Nouadhibou.

You'll all be devastated to learn that it's started raining after many days of unbroken sunshine; crossing the Sahara in the rain has a certain cachet, don't you think? Showered, shaved and shaken down, the convoy are off to a Chinese restaurant (well, when in Rome...), having decided by majority to take an extra day to cross the desert, arriving at Zebrabar campsite on the 14th Jan although I may have misunderstood this - it was a crackly line.

I'm amazed that the bulletins keep coming in - just when we're told that all comms will be lost, a pocket of mobile coverage appears and we're back in touch. The world really is a smaller place nowadays, isn't it. I'm not sure I'm going to need this carrier pigeon now, so I'm off to consult Hugh F-W's book for the best way to cook it. Waste not want not - there are people starving in Africa (apart from those in Chinese restaurants, obviously). Cheers - Phil.

Is this the way to Nou-a-dhi-bou / In an ambulance and a jeep too...

Morning all. Our tireless travellers caught up with their some of their truant teammates last night and took over a restaurant for the evening. They are, as I type, now in a convoy of 4 vehicles - no word on who the other teams are - on the dusty trail to Nouadhibou. In a few hours they should reach what by all accounts is the most traumatic part of the journey; dealing with the guards and officials at the Western Sahara/Mauritania border, who are generally less than delighted to have to deal with hordes of English lunatics re-enacting a cross between Wacky Races and Scrapheap Challenge. But then if a couple of dozen middle-class North Africans on knackered-looking camels and donkeys appeared at Portsmouth docks saying they were just going to trot across the country to Scotland for a laugh then HM Customs might well be similarly disposed, so I suppose one shouldn't be too surprised. Cheers - Phil.

UPDATE: the fellow pilgrims are Def.Intrepid (two Canadians in a Peugeot) and 2Porsche2Push in a Fiat from Group 2 (the convoy that set off from Plymouth on Boxing Day and are thus even further behind than our lot).

Deserted in Dakhla

Normal service has been resumed: the brakes have gone on the Meatwagon. So once again our valiant trailblazers (can you be a trailblazer at the back of the convoy?) were reduced to scouring the stalls of an African autojumble for bits. Fortunately, brakes are a little easier to deal with than engine/gearbox/fuelpump/UJ/magic elastic band that went wrong last time so they were up and running again by the afternoon. Oh, they do now have to suffer the minor inconvenience of losing servo assistance, delivering a real old-school braking experience of calf-straining vigour. Character building, I tell'ee.

The plot did thicken slightly this afternoon (as you may have noticed it is wont to do) on return to the campsite, whereupon they were rather surprised to discover that the fellow teams with whom they had arranged to travel onward to the Mauritanian border had developed cold feet about delaying the crossing by a few hours and all snuck off early. Bad form on the face of
it, in my opinion, and I hope our questing quartet get a proper explanation in the near future.

Still no pics, so attached is one for the RSPCA to worry about (courtesy of www.kolumn.pl): local transportation is clearly both less prone to mechanical breakdown than 80's Transit Ambulances and capable of similar load-carrying abilities. Perhaps next time, they should try the challenge on these. Cheers - Phil.

Note: Blogger.com's servers a playing up a bit so service is a bit spotty at the moment.

Message forum

Just a quickie - I've added a message forum to the website: click here to give it a go. Easier than the comments on this website but not moderated by me, so you can have discussions amongst yourselves without me looming over you. Cheers - Phil.

You Dakhla high road, and I'll Dakhla low road...

The Jap Jeep and the Meatwagon finally arrived at the campsite in Dakhla a little earlier than predicted, just after 1700h, the only minor hiccup being the gearstick coming off in Joe's hand (behave at the back, this is a family show) forcing a quick roadside repair. There is some excitement as apparently they have (whisper it) hot running water for only 10 Dirhams a go and fridges! I know some of the team are from Oxfordshire but surely that shouldn't have been too much of a shock. The cold showers and warm refreshment can now change places.

The ambulance was welcomed warmly by the other teams, most of whom were convinced that the Moroccan Customs Pound was the closest it was ever going to get to the Gambia. On further interrogation of said teams, it turns out that some of them are not going to move on tomorrow, as planned, but the day after (Wed 10 Jan). Since our stoic adventurers have done 931 miles since yesterday morning in two 14 hr stints, the plan now is to identify the group of people who also want to leave on Wed and form a convoy therewith, taking the chance to have a well earned slab of R&R tomorrow. According to someone who brought a GPS along for the ride (either a flash git or a very sage man - the trip through the desert will decide that) it's now 770 miles to Banjul as the crow flies. Unfortunately, since the answer to the question 'What have the Romans ever done for us' in these parts is 'b****r all', the road that leads there may well be considerably longer...

As I mentioned, it's pretty much radio silence from this point on so I may have to invent tales of derring do by way of an intermission to fill the space up till they come out of the desert. Or possibly tell you about my exciting travels to Tesco and the opticians. Or, you could all post your most exciting outings of the week. Perhaps you took potted meat sandwiches and a flask! Let us know by posting a comment. Cheers - Phil.

Leaving Laayoune, Driving for Dakhla.

Laayoune reached about 1040h, 500km to go to Dakhla after an early morning drive through the fog, but desert terrain means very sporadic mobile signals, so until the carrier pigeon arrives, there's not much more to add. They've lost another petrol cap and are currently using a piece of bread wrapped in a carrier bag. I think the heat must be getting to them. Still driving at 1300: by my reckoning, barring mishaps, they should arrive around 1800h tonight. I'm bored of seeing bare text so just for your delectation, I've included a nice picture of quaint Dakhla, courtesy of Wikipedia, to spice things up. Cheers - Phil.

Tan Tan, so good they named it twice

Hello everybody peoples! I've been to the pub and done the Sunday Times crossword in under 2.5 pints! A notable achievement I'll think you'll agree. Anyway, as much as I know you're fascinated by my lexicographical endeavours you'd probably rather have an IceCold2007 update... The team pulled into Tan Tan in time to catch the end of Deportivo la Corunia vs. Real Madrid on the telly which puts them 850km (530 miles) from Dakhla, tomorrow's (Mon 8 Jan) target. This is a seriously splendid achievement given recent tribulations and puts our intrepid explorers pretty much bang back on target. Huzzah! No mechanical problems to report (I know, weird as it seems, try to remain calm) so fingers crossed we're back on the timetable to triumph tomorrow. How cool is that!? Furthermore, I've been supplied with the names of the magical mechanics from Marrakesh who enabled this miracle: Ishmael, Omar and Mohammed. If you're reading this guys, then the sherberts are on me if you ever find yourselves at a loose end in Coventry. May the Prophet look kindly on your houses, your women and your livestock, Inshallah!
I'm told that an increasing number of people are looking in to this blog: apologies for the nonsense that intersperses the news, but a jolly good day to you all, especially Mrs Fisher Snr (Chris' Mum) who apparently checks this site every day at 6am - that's why I decided to update now rather than in the morning - and Mrs Fisher Jr. (Debbie, Chris' wife), a fellow PBC widow/er; we soldier on regardless; I'm with you sister! sending our best vibes to our partners in the Dark Continent. If any other team relatives/friends/creditors want a mention, leave a comment on the blog or e-mail us and I'll give you a big-up respek shout-out (as I believe the young people call it).
Isn't it fantastic to have both vehicles firing on all cylinders? Makes me feel so much better; but don't stop praying people - long way to go, game of two halves, not over till the fat lady sings etc etc. Until next time pop-pickers, Cheers - Phil.

Laayoune looming

Shhh... hear that? Exactly. That's the sound of an ambulance purring away through North West Africa with nary a hiccup. Now I know I've raised you on a diet of meatwagon calamities but you're going to have to face it: they're back on track, 5 by 5. True to their word they left Marrakech at 0530 this morning and have driven pretty constantly ever since, reaching Tizi n'Test pass around 0920, Agadir at 1300 and were about 500km N of Laayoune - the target waypoint for tonight - at 1600. The plan is to drive till they drop and start early again tomorrow. Now they're in deepest darkest Africa, the ability to send any pics by mobile has evaporated so it's just my evocative prose to keep you company till they hit something vaguely resembling civilisation again. Sorry about that.

The comments are working now - leave one if you like. They have to be moderated by me (else we get the usual Viagra/Nigerian royalty/etc spam filling them up) so they won't appear immediately but I'll get them up as soon as I can. Hi to Lisa from Cardiff who's the first outsider to leave a comment - follow her example please! Website update tomorrow - tell your friends if they haven't checked it so far. Cheers - Phil.

Get your motor running...

...but not get on the highway just yet. The fuel pump was, as usual, just the first thing in a long line of disasters that once again led to the non-departure of your scheduled service. However, in this case, the motor medic who had his turn at fiddling with our poorly patient-wagon couldn't communicate with Alex at all. This turns out not to be quite such a disaster - he got it running again after spending the thick end of 8 hours, avec a handful of his mechanics, up to his elbows in crappy English meatwagon and asked for less cash than it would cost you to buy a used mudflap from a UK mechanic - it's just we don't actually know what was wrong with it in the first place. Who cares! The thing is running and the current plan is to set off at around 0530 tomorrow (07 Jan) and dash for Dakhla via the mountains. The team are all tired and bored of a hot car-park in Marrakesh; when they booked back into the hotel, they got given the same rooms as they'd just vacated i.e., they could have spent the day in the sun by the hotel pool. I'd be sympathetic if I hadn't walked home from work in the rainy dark at 1645 today. Anyway, it look like we're as close to F.A.B. All Systems Go as we've been in a long while but don't ease off on the praying, finger crossing and wood touching - there's a long way to go yet.

Morning in Marrakesh

The saga continues. The ambulance has been to see the local engine doctor: he reckons it's not gearbox at all but the wrong type of fuel, using leaded in the unleaded engine, causing it to knock. It's a monster engine (2.9L V6) so I suppose it's possible that knocking could be confused with gearbox noise *strokes chin*. The fuel has been drained, put into the jeep and replaced with new blood from the jerry cans (UK fuel, so we know it's OK) but now the fuel pump has failed - no power. This thing is cursed. There's a man from the garage underneath it as I type though the last I heard there were sawing noises coming from its vicinity.. just been txted and apparently the fuel pump is knackered and is itself the likely cause of the noise. This is more convoluted than a Umberto Eco plot. I'm confused.

Presumably, the Moroccan motor medic will replace the fuel pump - not a difficult part to source - and they'll be off. I'll let y'all know as soon as I hear.

Made it to Marrakeshh

Teams arrived in Marrakesh around 2000h last night. They're having a day off to recuperate (bloody slackers) so I doubt we'll get much progress info today, though a pic or two as the sightseeing unfolds is always possible.

Update 1, 1047h. The ambulance has had an oil and filter change this morning but is still making knocking noises. Hopefully, it's just a junior clerk that Moroccan customs sealed into the back for a laugh trying to escape.

Update 2, 1144h. Knocking noises diagnosed by Gower Power team (who are mechanics, incidentally, not flower arrangers or professional violin players, and thus qualified) as dying gearbox main bearings, which will rapidly become terminal. So it's a gamble now: will the gearbox die before or after they get out of Morocco and thus incur the wrath of the Customs Gestapo? Place your bets please... incidentally, the SJ413 jeep seems to be running fine, in caseanyone was wondering. The teams are now in loose convoy with Rene's Kitchen Girls, Gower Power and one of the BMW teams (I think probably Teamcannonball but don't quote me on that) so they're not alone.

Update 3, 1806h. Various team members are/have been using their rest day to try and source a gearbox in Marrakech: no success so far as far as I know. It really needs to be fitted some time tomorrow (6 Jan) if the teams are to reach Dakhla on the 8th to prepare for the desert crossing. I'm actually going to do some work now so no more updates today, but am in tomorrow so stay tuned. Cheers - Phil.

Crisis in Khenrifa - UPDATED 1300h

About 350 km (about 220 miles) outside Marrakech, at a town called Khenrifa, the amublance has become seriously ill and and is currently suffering the indignities of having its undercarriage inspected by African mechanics and Alex... the UJ problems seem to have had repercussions further down the drive train but in its current state the ambulance can't continue. The mechanics are apparently hopeful of effecting a cure, but then the lure of a not-inconsiderable number of Euros makes mechanics the world over overflow with optimism. You're obviously not praying hard enough - pull your fingers out readers. On the plus side, it turns out that despite the delays, half a dozen or so other PBC teams were actually behind IceCold: they stopped to help as they passed our stranded strugglers. They hadn't realised the van had been impounded and thought IceCold were taking in the sights whilst searching for a UJ! So, as long as they can get the van working, then it's all systems go again.

As an adjunct to the customs saga, it turns out that the ambulance is now adorned with an official Moroccan Royal Seal keeping the doors shut, which has become an object of some admiration among the other PBC teams. More soon.

UPDATE: 1300h: They're on the road again, "Quiet and no fumes, cost 70 [euros] and some cigarettes". God bless the universal mechanic who'll do anything, anywhere, anytime for cash in the back pocket and some fags. The whole UK economy used to run on cash and fags, you know. Not any more, it's all VAT, self-assessment and lung cancer. I remember when it was all fields around here... *slap* sorry about that, drifted off for a moment. Onwards to Marrakech! Huzzah!
I've added links to some Google maps on the webpage for each of the waypoints in the proposed route. You'll have to zoom in and out to get context but I think they're pretty nifty. BTW, can somebody add a comment? I've no idea if the system is working...

Reaching Rabat: 1 day behind

The team rolled into Rabat yesterday evening, officially 1 day behind schedule. They were billeted at a hotel with a balcony overlooking a street billed as 'the Champs d'Elysees of Africa'... suffice to say the only similarity was the four lane intersection of milling traffic. It was even smellier than France. I believe a splendid nosh was partaken - "Fantastic dinner..." - and then the troops returned to barracks - "...now back in s**t room." I leave it to your imagination from whom I quote. They've yet to fix the UJ; Alex has discovered a reasonable speed at which the van doesn't vibrate and they're going to cruise at that, on the principle that if it ain't (completely) broke, don't fix it. Confident of reaching Marrakech in time to be grouped today, it looks like things are, fingers crossed/touch wood/sacrifice a chicken, back on track. Will update this entry if I hear anything before stumps today. Cheers - Phil.

Tangiers Red Tape

Pfft... where to begin? As soon as the convoy rolled off the ferry in Tangiers on New Year's Day, the local inspectors in the Customs office decided the ambulance wasn't a tourist vehicle and therefore an import permit was required. Cue impounding of the ambulance and a hunt for some local accomodation (Verdict: clean bedding but no hot water), followed the next day by a dash through the back-streets of Tangiers to rustle up the necessary documentation. First stop, the Embassy (Gawd Bless 'Er and all who sail in her) to get a bit of paper signed by His Excellency's staff stating that the ambulance was simply passing through and in the event of the team inadvertently mislaying it during their soujourn in Morocco, Her Maj's reps would foot the bill. Having secured this, the necessary "man who can" at the port who needed said document, had of course gone home for an African lunch, so after a long wait it was back to the port to add John Hancock's in blood to a seemingly ever-increasing pile of forms in the Port Commander's office. After 27 hours, the ambulance was released from custody around 6pm yesterday (2 Jan).

In parallel to this beuraucratic buffoonery was the hunt for a Universal Joint (UJ) for the ambulance... apparently, a man named Abdul had a cousin who could secure such a rare and prized delicacy for just a small consideration (I'm not making this up...) and promised to return tout suite therewith. Naturally, he didn't return at the promised hour of 8am this morning (3 Jan) but another has now been sourced by unspecified means. The team have decided they've had enough of Tangiers and are going to move on taking the part with them and fix the ambulance at a more convenient time. Last I heard they'd stopped for a spot of lunch as it was getting rather hot.

The upshot of all this is that the team are around a day and a half behind schedule. They need to make up a lot of time to reach Marrakesh soon enough to rendevous with the other teams and be attached to a larger group for the desert crossing. Hopefully, going round rather than over the Atlas Mountains will make up a bit of time but it will be very tight - so fingers crossed everybody.

The website should start to be updated from now on: I'll add the blog posts with some extra links and route resources etc., but the 'breaking news' will most likely remain here, although the team's texts to the PBC central computer system can be accessed from the Progress page on the website. Cheers - Phil.

UPDATE: The team are de-stressing at the famous Roman Ruins at Volubilis: soothing pic by Joe.

Happy New Year: Africa in our sights

Quick HNY from the team - pic shows them about to leave Gibraltar with the hazy peaks of North Africa looming across the Straits. The New Year party doesn't seem to have claimed anyone in the terminal sense, just the normal level of New Year's Day torpor in evidence, so it's onwards and upwards. First task on the Dark Continent: to source a universal joint for the ambulance somewhere in Tangiers or thereabouts. Such is the glamour of international exploration. Until next time - Cheers! - Phil.

Gibraltar (or thereabouts)

The teams reached the hotel just outside Gibraltar around 1100 (our time), no more jeep crises but it seems the ambulance is having a few new problems, with something in the drivetrain and an interesting range of fluid leaks rearing their heads. While waiting for it to cool down prior to inspection, our intrepid explorers have wandered into Gibraltar itself and duly sourced a roast lamb Sunday slap-up nosh and a couple of cold ones, so at least the essentials have been attended to. They say an army marches on its stomach (or in Alex's case, its liver) so progress should now be restored. Only the small matter of a free New Year's Eve party lies between our great white hunters and the Dark Continent... Happy New Year to you all (if anyone's reading) - Phil.

Bayonne, Fr: Ambulance surgery

Direct from Chris by sms: 1st day. Limped into bayonne [last night]. 1st running repairs. Now the pyrennes. I assume he means the Pyrenees, the Franco-Spanish border. Ambulance suffered a cracked exhaust, expertly fixed by Alex in the traditional manner (i.e., with a baked bean tin). Joe assures me they ate the beans first... There are rumours of a recurrence of the slight water problem for the jeep, but no official confirmation so far. In any case, a sterling effort by the team to get through France in a single day, reaching the hostel in Bayonne about 9pm our time last night after a marathon 14hr odyssey from boat disembark to bunk beds. More soon...

They're off: first update from abroad...

Well, theyve reached France: had a first update from the teams, direct by text from a French supermarket... one assumes that both vehicles survived the ferry crossing in that case. More updates (hopefully of slightly more interest) to follow. Cheers! - Phil.

Visit to Ringwood School: we're nearly off...

Chris writes: On Monday 11 December I was invited to take Ice Cold to Ringwood School as part of the fundraising efforts for Pageant. this was the longest run that I had done in Ice Cold, she went beautifully. I even got her up to 70mph on one windy down hill section - flying! Curiously she has an alarm when you reach this speed, I can't imaging why as she is shaking and whining so much there is absolutely no doubt that you are approaching 70mph. When I eventually found the school, my map reading has still not improved - it is going to be down to Russell to make sure that we get to the Gambia. All the pupils were very impressed and the car is now covered in graffiti - she really looks the part. (see photos on website)

Saturday saw Russell and me spending Russell's money on Ice Cold, she is now resplendent in big off road tyres, air horns and a number of spotlights. So that is it one week to go and scarily we are almost ready....

So there you go - probably the last visit before the off on 28/29 Dec. The website won't be updated till after New Year so for up to date details of progress in early Jan, keep watching this space - Phil.

Logo, Gambian photos & e-mail probs

Hello all, time for an update: the website has been updated, with a new colour scheme and sexy logo featuring the two vehicles. There's big and small versions available for use by one and all. The totaliser has been added - we're over £5k now. Some developments on the condition of the vehicels from Alex:

"So far we've painted the jeep (it had a disturbing military paint scheme, now it has a disturbing pink flowery paint scheme) and we’ve equipped the Ambulance with stretchers wheel chairs and spine board.In addition, we've already had generous donations from NT staff of axle stands, trolley jack, jerry cans, medical equipment (splints, crutches etc) and a set of spare wheels for the Ambulance.I still have to raise the suspension on the ambulance for off road duty and it goes to the red cross for a check over in a couple of weeks. I’ve managed to reinstate the electrics for the blue lights, but the viscous fan coupling appears to be [in need of attention]. The jeep is Chris’s responsibility, and last time I saw it, the driver’s seat had collapsed and the radiator was leaking."

We've also had an e-mail from Pippa at Pageant, one of our supported charities:

"I am attaching a few photos of the Pageant building which was partly financed by the last rally (Super Trooper), and which we officially opened in October. A very nice block of 3 classrooms and a staffroom (the latter sorely needed as the 38 teachers have had nowhere to sit at all until now, only out in the playground) I left Bakary some money for furnishing at least part of the building, so you should see it being well used by the time you arrive in January. Bakary is the man talking to me in pic CNV00007"

Visit the website to see the pictures: real examples of how your pledge can make a difference.

Last but not least, we've had some e-mail system problems: if you've sent anything to the hotmail address recently, please can you re-send it? Thanks.

Phil.

Post-summer news...

Chris writes: "Dear all, Sorry that it is so long since the last update, summer just got in the way! But we haven't forgotten to carry on fundraising and as you will have seen we also have a welsh awbulance. In July Jo and I went to meet Omar which was great fun, a real learning experience. On the way home Jo casually dropped a bombshell by announcing that she was about to move to Warrington! Not wanting to let an opportunity like this pass we arranged some fund raising events on Jo's final day. This co-incided with Russ's car design competition and so following a large amount of bribery during the day the final design was a pink jeep with flowers down the side..... Thanks have to go to all of Nirex's staff as between them they raised over £300 - WOW.

Our next planned outing was to the Abingdon 4x4 Festival on the 23 September. Alex & I decided that we'd use our finely honed painting skills and paint the XTCold pink. Unfortunately they don't sell cheap pink paint, so we made some. It came out very ucky and has gone on with a rather tasteful pebbledashed effect - I can see the orders rolling in now as we set a new trend across the UK- we've even questioned whether we should give up our day jobs.

The 4x4 festival was great fun. Several people paid to sign the car. There are a range of different messages and designs, some of them are even publishable. Several of the stall holders made generous donations including the Thames Valley 4x4 Club (http://www.tv4x4.co.uk/) who very generously donate a complete set of off road tyres for the Suzuki and also donated was a set of nets to hold down luggage. At the end of the event XTCold was looking cool and ready to go, well as cool as pink jeep with flowers can!

The Awbulance now has an MOT and I am suggesting to Alex that it might look good in pink, I think we have got some paint left.... Our next event is at the end of October, when Nirex are hosting a joint fund raising day for Breast Cancer Awareness, Pageant and Health the Gambia. Tristan is also trying to arrange for us to go to one of his school assemblies to talk to the kids - how scary is that? Talk again soon" - Pics and more details as always are on the website.

A second vehicle finally arrives...

Taking advantage of the PBC rules that allow a RHD vehicle to be taken as long as it's an ambulance, we've bought one. Alex reports: "Ambulance running well and sat on my drive, no serious knocks or rattles and made the journey from Caerphilly without a hitch. In summary: Clutch good, Brakes need bleeding, Handbrake needs adjusting Steering ok, Lights ok but indicator needs fixing, Engine Cooling system ok. Engine sounds fine and ticks over nicely. Excellent twin battery arrangement. No apparent oil / fluid leaks. Good internal lights. Internal heating good. Oxygen system and shaver point. No whines or knocks. Exhaust new. Enough space to have a dinner party. Tyres not great. Interior and exterior good. Clock slow. No radio. Plenty of power but not much ground clearance. No serious apparent rot. Manual ner naa ner naa noise."

So there. The keener eyed among you will also have noted the new colour scheme for the jeep: more details of the associated fundraising to follow. As always, more details on the website.

Russell's Jeep Design Challenge!

Russell writes: If you have seen the 4x4 you'll know it is currently in military camouflage colours. So to avoid being shot at (at least for thinking we're the military) we plan on doing a small paint job - herein lies the point of this email.

Your task, should you or your family choose to accept it, is to submit a new design for our Suzuki 4x4.... sorry, no luminous green!

All designs submitted will be subject to approval by the judges (i.e. us) and the winner will have their design painted on to the jeep - along with a prize! ooOOooH!

The closing date for designs will be Friday 1 September. There is a 50p entry fee - and please remember to write your/ the designers name somewhere on the back before sticking it together.

Happy colouring.

Russell.

Visit the Vehicles page on the Website for templates and entry forms.

The PBC Launch Party. Not a jolly. Oh no.

Chris writes:
Thought that you might be interested in our latest adventure which saw us at the Clyst Hyddon rave last weekend (8th July - bit late, sorry: Ed). We knew that it was going to be good when, on the Friday morning, XTCold refused to start and shouting made no difference. One frantic lunchtime later and still no luck so it was on to plan B which involved getting lost in Dorset and arriving late on the Friday night in Devon. We camped next to Gower Power, who appear to know something about carburettors on SJ's, so providing we can do something about our map reading skills we may yet make it to the Gambia. We decided to calm our battered nerves with a visit to the local hostelry where a scary woman refused to feed us so it was back to the campsite with a take away for some camp songs. Unfortunately Russ only knows 'row row row your boat'……..….

Saturday saw Alex 'power skate boarding' until he fell off (one skateboard, 2.5litres of diesel power). So battered and bruised we took him for a full english breakfast at the lively seaside resort of Sidmouth. Sidmouth is for the young in heart. Where other towns have cycle lanes, Sidmouth needs them for zimmer frames. Still we weren't daunted it was off with the shoes and in to the sea for a paddle.

By the time we got back to the campsite things were really starting to heat up. Fortunately the weather was getting cooler so it kept us in balance. After a few beers Russ retired to his tent for a snooze, for the rest of the afternoon snatches of row row row could be heard coming from his tent. During the afternoon we made a number of friends from group 3. Then it was on to the evening entertainment, two excellent bands and several beers later we called it a night. Of course we didn't sleep, the rain and the cows saw to that.

A new coil and XTCold is like new, well we're getting a spark.

Till next time
Chris, Jo, Russ and Alex

Website: It's Alive!

The Website is now up and running, with details of pledges, flyers to download, photos and much more... will be included. Check back regularly for updates. This blog will remain the 'news' section as it's easy to update and you can link your own blogs to it, but links, resources and so on will appear on the website. Proper job! - Phil.

Fundraising Update 1

Chris writes:

Well we have begun our fund-raising. Steve Barlow, a colleague, started the ball rolling with a sale of plants raising £51. Whilst Steve was busy growing and selling his plants we have been agreeing the team logo and developing the flyer. These have been developed with the help of our backroom team, Phil the web wizard and Martin the graphics guru.

Last Saturday we took XTCold along to the Milton Fete. Milton Fete is a traditional celebration of village life complete with Morris Dancers and Pony rides. On our stall we had more plants to sell and a lollipop lucky dip, which the kids loved. The stall was managed by the rest of the back room team, Debbie and Tristan. By the end of the day we had raised a further £72 and many promises of help.

So what next? Well we are hopeful of doing more fetes and two different bands have offered to play charity gigs. There is of course the pledges which have started to come in. And we are hopefully of raising some corporate sponsorship. So with another £9,877 still to go I guess we had better start writing…….

Blog goes live...

Here's a picture of the first vehicle purchased by the team: a Suzuki SJ413 [wikipedia]. Hopefully, they'll remove the ropey paintjob to avoid being targetted by over zealous American forces or local warlords... Presumably you're here because of the flyer: we haven't quite got the website sorted yet but when we have we'll put it here in the links (on the right) with maps etc. Check back soon!