e noho ra!

Priscilla is packed and we are ready to roll first thing tomorrow morning. We are booked on the 8am sailing from Dover to Boulogne. The date has finally arrived; it feels like a very long time coming! Now my feelings are mixed with slight apprehension!! I've been reading the daily SMS messages from the other teams and alot of the info has been very useful, but sometimes too much knowledge can be scary!! Anyway, thanks (no, really) to the other teams that have been before us and posted their reports. Thanks also to everyone that has helped Priscilla prepare for the journey, and to those that have sent their wishes.
I'll be updating this blog as often as I can, and will be sending frequent text messages to the main rally site: www.plymouth-banjul.co.uk
Look under "field reports" for Lord of the Sands. If you would like to send us messages, then you can text or send a message to this blog (click on "comments" below and follow the instructions), we would love to read them!!
See you soon in Bourdeaux (hopefully):)

The clock is ticking...

With only 2 days to go, I've been running around picking up last minute supplies, and resorting all our gear. The living room has been transformed into the operation headquarters! and we have guests for dinner tonight!! Oh well, the place has that special "expedition" ambience (may be I should serve Cup-a-soup for starters, boil-in-the-bag stew as a main, and dried fruit for dessert, to complete the authentic experiance?):)
Priscilla has 2 brand new rear tyres. She was starting to feel abit wobbley in the steering along the straights. So Phil whipped off(!!!!) the rear tyres only to find that one was so badly warped that it could have blowen at any time. Yikes.
A nice man from the West country donated another spare wheel. Thanks to Andrea for her trip back to NZ to supply us with the necessary travel snacks (Jaffas, Toffee Pops, Gingernuts, Moro bars...).
Priscilla is rearing to go and so are we.

Pimp My Ride

I christen thee....

PRISCILLA! (Queen of the Desert).
Of course there really could be no other name. As you can see, Priscilla is pimped and ready to roll. My only small concern is the weather - hope the wind dies down for our ferry crossing from Dover.
Group 1 and 2 have already completed the Challenge and some are back in the UK. I've been reading their daily SMS messages from the road. I plan to keep everyone up to date by this method (go to the main rally site), and will update this site when I can get internet access.
We've updated our vaccinations and have decided to take Malarone to prevent malaria. Steve has applied for a Senegalese visa for his NZ passport. Everything is pretty much organised. Now we wait......

The sandboards getting a work out in the mud!

New Years Day in shorts!

Only 4 weeks to go! We have changed our departure date to the 1st Feb, giving us abit more breathing space to cross down through Europe. The plan is to leave on the 8am ferry crossing from Dover to Boulogne and drive to Bordeaux. The next day, cross the border into Spain and stay somewhere near Madrid, then drive onto Granada for some sight-seeing. The following day leaves us short drive to Tarifa where we meet up with the rest of the group for the night. Tarifa is where we will take a ferry to Tangiers, Morocco. That is the plan for leg 1!
The Merc has a fancy roof box! This was kindly constructed by Mr Phil Froud (thanks Phil, it hasn't fallen off yet). I thought it could double as a bath tub, until some drainage holes were drilled, so spoiling that idea. We've also hooked up the cig. lighter, plus an additional one with 3 ports, so we can charge stuff!