Game Over!

If guts, determination and sheer bloody mindedness were all that was required - we would be in Spain by now, waiting to go to Morocco. Unfortunately, some good luck was also required and that was sadly lacking!

Fruit managed to get as far as Montpelier in the south of France before the car just stopped. There had been the expected problems along the way but most were solved with a turn of a spanner whilst others required a little more ingenuity - fuel pumps wired via a cig lighter.

On Saturday morning Fruit was barrelling along when the engine cut out with no warning - this proved to be a problem too far. Despite numerous attempts to get the car going again both Fruit and his new French mechanic friends were stumped - game over!

It has been some adventure, and we have met and worked with some great people, but we just couldn't manage the happy ending we were after.

We would like to thank everyone who helped us with this project and hope everyone on the Tuareg has a great time - we'll be thinking of you!

Take Two

It is probably true to say that when most blogs should get interesting - they dry up for a while - either because people are two depressed to write anything or they are so busy they barely have time to sleep - let alone be vaguely creative. We are no exception - Fruit has been stupidly busy and I have been trying to keep him going. Also, we are now up to about Plan F is it is hard to keep track!

Anyway - enough excuses.

Fruit set off for Almeria again yesterday evening (Thursday) - take two! He originally left at lunch time on Tuesday - but didn't get very far. The car conked out and we had to call upon the services of the AA to get him home. First thing Wednesday morning, man and car headed over to Land Ranger Services in Middlewich courtesy of Shaun's tow truck (2 days and 2 tow trucks).

Some work was needed to the cylinder head, and water system in general, a wheel bearing and the brake calipers. It sounds very much (to me at least) that if the engine hadn't conked out a wheel would have fallen off!!! It's funny how things work out sometimes!

So, by Wednesday evening the car was going again - but vibration was something of an issue - so Thursday saw the engine mounts being replaced with more compliant ones and me searching for some gel gloves and some ear defenders!

Last seen (and lets face it he is hard to miss) in France and heading South!

Dunes and desert maintenance

Back to the Xmas trip......

We started the day camped under a palm tree by a dune, what we had assumed - the previous night - was "the middle of nowhere". In the morning our every move was observed by 5 kids and an old chap, who were quite keen on selling us something - but even more interested in not missing a single move we made. Initially I found this rather uncomfortable (largely because I wanted the loo), but once we had decided to engage it was really quite fun - especially when we turned the tables on them and subjected then to our version of the tea ceremony. They weren't too impressed and required about half a mug of sugar to make it palatable!

We eventually got underway and headed into the dunes on a bearing - found the first waypoint and relaxed a bit. This was our first experience of driving in the dunes and the light was terrible - really flat - so it was difficult to see where the holes were, which resulted in us ending up in a couple of precarious positions. But a bit of digging and some advice from the locals and we were soon back on the flat lands between the dunes drinking coffee and comparing landrovers.

We filled up the tank and the jerry cans and headed away from Mersouga and civilisation following a route from BD. There was no sign of tracks or villages on the map - but the GPS seemed to know where it was going as we headed further and further off the beaten track. About 4.30 we spotted a rather nice looking dune which looked as if it would offer some shelter and pullled over for the night. It would have been a nice early stop, apart from the fact that the vehicle check revealed a dodgy wheel bearing! Time to put Jim's pre-trip lesson into practice with some desert maintenance. So Fruit's first wheel bearing change was done miles from anywhere, in the sand and in the dark. Quite an eventful day.

Shopping

There's not just a car to think about you know - oh no. There are gizmos and gadgets (the trip meter and GPS I have mentioned already), there are video recorders and cameras, there are miscellaneous bits of kit, first aid kits and, of course, clothes! While Fruit has been ordering headlamps and intercoolers I have been buying clothes and today I received the first consignment of Up and Under rally team hats (which will, believe me, become collectors items - my dad is already after one). The fleeces and T-shirts are to follow.







Miscellaneous bits of kit








Speaking of clothes, there is also the small matter of a race suit. I wore one of these for one stage during the Tuareg in 2007 and hated it. Fruit, on the other hand, looks at his as a big romper suit and loves it. He thinks I should have one and I suppose he has a point - while I hope not to need one, having a chance of not being burned to a crisp in the event of a fire seems like a good idea. And I have capitulated with the boots (Asics don't yet make nomex training shoes - a possible gap in the market?) and gloves, but the jury is still out on the full suit .... shame they don't do a two piece.....!

Missor

The second day brought more off road challenges and a few navigational err, how shall I say, hiccups. It strikes me that I am between a rock and a hard place here - as a poor workman blames his tools (so I can't blame the dodgy route instructions), but then if I admit to being incompetent - I might as well blame my tools.... Anyway, to cut a long story short, we got lost - a bit, but then we got found again - so that was probably good practice. The plan was, if lost, to go back to the last place where we were sure we had been. As we didn't have to go back to the start, I count that as a success!


We were certainly driving on terrain that was totally new for all 3 of us - the Rat being more used to axle deep mud, than to rocks and sand. We had tiny tracks to follow, oueds to cross and to drive up and washouts to negotiate. Odd bits of road were interspersed between the extensive off-road section, but even the road wasn't exactly what we were used to!


We made it to Missor at a reasonable time and decided to spend the night at the Hotel Baroudi, one of the hotels used by the Tuareg. I think we may well have been the only guests and given how chilly it was that, perhaps wasn't surprising (we ended up in our sleeping bags under their bed clothes with an electric fire on all night.

Now where was I?

Oh yes, on our Christmas 'dip to toe in the water' trip.

We took the ferry from Almeria (in Spain) to Melilla (in Spanish Morocco). For someone used to cross channel ferries, this crossing bordered on the bizarre. There seemed to be no plan (we were sent to the top of a multistory car park, only to be sent straight back down again), and the staff (all of them) gave the impression that this was their first day. Once on the boat, things weren't much better - the restaurant only opened briefly, about four hours into the crossing, long after hunger had passed.





Still, we got there, and then had the border to face. Another time I would go to Nadir (i.e. Morocco proper, instead of a small bit of Morocco the Spanish have claimed) and deal with customs on the boat. The border was pretty chaotic and something of a culture shock. Every time the gates briefly opened there was a rush of humanity loaded up with all manner of items fantically trying to get back into Morocco to sell their wares as soon as possible.


BD, a mate (and Dakar old hand) from just up the road from us, had given us some routes to try out. We had good instructions and GPS points - but hadn't worked out how to upload the GPS co-ordinates. After about 30 km on road, we turned off road and started to follow a canal and then it was truly off into the wilderness - just the three of us.


I was navigating well (I had no idea where we were - other than on the route we had decided to follow) and all was well in our world. Although it was dark by the time we decided where to stop for the night - but I think that was just an excuse for a camp fire (that and the fact that it was perishing!)

Progress?!!

OK, I'll admit it - I've been putting off writing this, largely in the hope that I could announce a major breakthrough - breakdown more likely (of the nervous variety)! So, we are still some way off. The engine hasn't been started yet and our ECU (which is kind of important) is in Gloucestershire, while we are in Cheshire. We are now on a promise of one on loan (thanks Andrew), so there is still a cat in hells chance that the engine will get started this week.

So, we are still running up against the buffers, with Fruit needing a new seat, which won't be delivered until next week. MOT, yes that would be nice, paint - it takes how long to dry?

Do you know how many individual components there are in a car? No, neither do I - but let me tell you its a lot, and we are still ordering them. Today I found myself flicking through Land Rover Owner International and Land Rover Monthly (unheard of), looking for breakers yards to try to source some Defender push button switches (2002 onwards), you know rear wash wipe, hazard flasher, heated seats that sort of thing .......anyone got any they don't want.....?