Lauras Damage

A little 'on the huh' upon her return!

Back at Threeways Garage being checked over, with her friend. Beauty and the Beast!?

Examination time...

You can just see the brake pipe in this picture.... Guess we were pretty lucky!

Check out that bend! And this is far from soft metal!

Morrocan rocks move for no-one! (or no-2cv!) ...Ouch!

Lauras damage

Seems it was good that we had a very strong fuel tank guard! You can see it took alot of punishment!

Covered in red African dust! The re-enforced front arms stood up really well to the rough terrain. Now we know what to do to the rear arms!

The memory of Lauras first big ditch!

We are unsure exactly when this dent was incurred! Mali or Togo? It just seemed to appear one day! :)

Evidence of many 'jacking' moments! and one time when she fell off the jack!!

Norwich Castle Mall Display with Autotest and Bosch Car Services

Until now, there has not been much to report lately, Laura has been covered up since she arrived home, in an attempt to keep her dirty! Also so she could be shown in the same state she returned in.

So a big Thank you is due to our Sponsor, Autotest, with Bosch car services for organising for us to show Laura the Tourer and talk about our amazing adventure in the Norwich Castle Mall. We were also very proud to promote them as our sponsors and assist in handing out some giveaway goodies!

It took quite sometime to compile the information, map, pictures and videos, to project onto a big screen. All of this hard work was worthwhile in the end, as there were so many people genuinely interested with some great questions. Dad and I thoroughly enjoyed talking though our memories of the Touareg Trail hardcore edition!

Thanks to everyone who came along and made the weekend so special

Also the local newspaper came along and took some great pictures to enable another article to be published

Norwich Castle Mall Display with Autotest and Bosch Car Services

BREAKING NEWS...

BREAKING NEWS!!!

Laura the Tourer is home safe and sound!

We left Norfolk at 3am on 28th and arrived at the collection point in Antwerp at 2.30pm. It was fantastic to be reunited with our fellow adventurers! It was a shame it was such a short visit, but a vist none the less :)

Laura had a flat tyre!! but this was ok as we were expecting 4!! Also the tyre which was on the bent arm was badly warn and illegal for Europe and England so this was also changed. We had taken some spare wheels with us and changed these before leaving. These are the only repairs we have made so far. We then changed another wheel at Dunkirk as it had a slow puncture.

We travelled over in Dads vehicle and I drove Laura home, I had forgotten how much fun she is to drive! She runs ok, and was very grateful for some proper petrol! Laura, like me, much prefers the African heat!! she starts ok but takes a while to warm up!!
We arrived home to Dads at 3am and I continued (without Laura) back to my home.

To Belgium and back in 24 hours! all on just 5 hours sleep, then I had another 5 hours sleep before going to work on the 29th!! .... Hardcore!

Laura the Tourer has a busy time ahead of her now, so now the winner is home continue to watch this space! I will post some pics asap!

Check out this fantactic video...
Created by the lovely Joris!

We are the Champions!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X6sJym9bbY

Winners! ... collecting our 'Most Hardcore Team' Award

The Finish!

To answer the questions posted…

Sally,
1. where do you wee in the desert if there's no bushes?
Well this was a tough one! It was ok for the men but for me it was behind a sand dune, a pile of rocks or occasionally a 2cv!! It was easier in the jungle! (but had to be aware of the local wildlife!)
2. what animals have you seen?
A Monkey, Elephant, Donkeys, Cows, Goats, A Baboon, Alligators, Dogs, Cats, Lizards, Snakes, Frogs, beautiful large Butterflies, Scorpions, Stick insects, loads of bugs, Beatles etc and of course far too many horrible Mosquito’s! No Lions though I’m afraid!
3. do you have a tan?
A little, most days when arriving at camp I was pleased with how brown I was until I had a shower and washed it away! The small tan I have now is probably just the African red dust embedded in my skin!
4. are father/daughter relations all well and good?
We had our moments! (as most teams did) but are still good friends! And proud of each other! And both very proud of Laura the Tourer!

Yea I really missed a ‘proper cup of tea’ (I’ll see you Thursday Kay!)
I was very careful not to get sun burnt so no worries Jade
Brayden, the nights were actually very quiet, lots of cricket sounds but didn’t hear any wild cats!

Trevor, I look forward to the Full English at the allotment! I’ll bring the tea bags!

Phil, One team of mechanics (David and Eric) travelled in the sandy coloured 2cv, the desert duck, This is a lovely car and is 4x4! And the mechanics were superb! Really helpful and always singing and dancing!

Grandad and Jean, You may have spotted Laura B (girl guides centenary teddy bear) in some of the pictures, she travelled in between us the whole journey (and on the roof some days) She’s home safe also in condition but covered in African dust still! She also got wet in the water fight at the finish!

Apoligies there are not many pics of Dad, he seems to hide when the camera is about!
I've been reading someof my blog posts and also apoligise for the small spelling mistakes! most of the time I was fighting with my eyelids when typing the updates!

Welcomed home to rain!

We left Gatwick at about 11am and arrived at Dads at about 2.30pm, downloaded our pictures and then I arrived at my home at about 5.30pm. There were small delays on the journey home due to the RAIN! but nothing major. It is strange travelling on the right (correct) side of the road! Its lovely to be at home and be spoilt with good food, as many showers as I want and sleep(although my body clock has not adjusted yet!) The adventurous memories of Touareg Trail will remain forever for me and I am sad that its all over, I really miss all the fantastic people and am surprised that I feel so emotional about it all. We collect the car in about 1 months time and hope to be able to see some of my fellow hardcore adventurers then x

Over the next few days I will post more pictures and maybe videos so keep watching this space...

Yesterday we had final photos taken and an award ceremony, we were extreemly shocked, surprised and happy to recieve the big award for 'Most Hardcore Team!!'

have to go now, food is ready ... you know me!! Flight is 1am I believe so its going to be a long 24hours! I will add some more pics etc as soon as I can, Thanks for all of your comments, see you al soon x

Day 29
Sat 28th is a rest day and a final presentation which should be fun, and then we leave for Cotonu on 29th and fly first to Lybia and say our goodbyes to the Belgian, Dutch and French teams, L and then fly on to London, We believe to Heathrow and should land there at about 10.30am

Norfolk 2 Benin 6,070 miles and loved every single one!!

We made it!! Touareg Trail 2009, Hardcore Edition (and that it was) is complete! I feel a little sad its over but also look forward to going home (to proper food!! - and you guys of course!!)
I feel amazed and a little emotional when I cast my mind back to what feels like so long ago and remember all the challenges we have overcome, all the laughs we have had with the teams and organisation, all of the local people we have met the scenery we have seen and all of the friends we have made its going to be hard to say goodbye to everyone and really look forward to keeping in touch and trading photos and videos.

Day 28
Fri 27th
Benin
Abomey to Grand Popo
Today’s distance 137km
Mileage 71914
Sleeping Hotel
Punctures today 0 FINAL TOTAL 21!! (we think we have a slow puncture but not in need of repair, we just pumped it up and it lasted to grand Popo so not counted!) Bruno and Ales I believe suffered 30 punctures so although 21 sounds bad its not the worst!
On to Grand Popo today the final official rally day! The route was tarmac with one last piece of off road to complete. We drove o the peage (toll) where all of the cars and organisation vehicles parked in a line for photos, I cant describe atmosphere at this point, the beach of Grand Popo was just 3km away and we wore going to drive there in convoy, a celebratory drink was had by all and everyone was congratulating one another. After a short while we drove in convoy and a little further up the road we stopped as the local people had arrange some food for us and the Mayor was going to do a speech. During the convoy the passengers were on the roofs of the cars and we were all having water fights, I managed to stay quite dry however when we reached the building where the food was the water fight had only just begun and I very quickly became soaked! (I blame it on the fact I am short and an easy target!) not that I minding though as it cooled me down! After eating Gert and the Mayor said a few words and the Tourareg competitors sung the white stripes tune (seven nation army - this is Bokkerijders (3 Belgian teams we travelled with most of the time) official song I believe and like a theme tune sung throughout the whole trail!) The local ladies also sung a lovely African song and this went on until there was almost a sing off between the 2 groups, everyone was really enjoying the celebrations until the announcement was made … On to the breach! All of the cars lined up on the beach facing the sand (possibly one last opportunity to get stuck tomorrow and use the sand mats!!) we were greeted by locals with drink filled coconuts and then after a count down all ran into the sea, We were warned its really rough and the waves are strong so were careful and emerged no problems, However I decided to go in again and this time I ended up loosing my sun glasses! (prescription!) and on the way out my knees hit the sea bed (lots of shells) and I now have grazed knees also! Oh well, I was absolutely fine and its quite funny that I have not hurt myself for 4 weeks and then get my ‘war wounds’ on the final day! After we discovered the amazingly beautiful pool and swam for the rest of the afternoon and then the celebrations continued through the night. Because it’s the end and its like paradise here I slept on the beach this night which was a beautiful experience! Falling asleep to the waves! And of course waking up to them!

Day 27
Thur 26th
Togo / Benin
Kpalime to Abomey (Benin)
Today’s distance 195km
Mileage 71822
Sleeping Hotel Camp (Chez Monique)
Punctures Today we awoke to 2 Total 21
Last border crossing today to enter our final country, Benin, the end is so close now. Another beautiful scenery day and passing lots of busy little villages. Its was another short day which was great as we arrive at Chez Monique at about 2pm and had chips, we asked for fish also and received fish heads! Nice! They were ok actually but just virtually no meat on them! This Hotel / Camp was beautiful, they make and sell carved wooden objects which are absolutely amazing and beautifully made, I bought a couple of souvenirs from here and Bekke had a guy carve a copy of his 2cv, including all details like the lights etc, This took the guys absolutely hours and was fantastic to watch, the end result was superb, (however I believe it had a spelling mistake so the guy was asked to do it again?!)

Day 26
Wed 25th
Togo
Jungle Camp to Kpalime
Today’s distance 195km
Mileage 71716
Sleeping Hotel camp
Punctures today 1 Total 19
Not much to report today, a nice short day for a change, and beautiful scenery, we travelled up and down mountainous ranges today and reached max approx 963m above see level (max before was about 778 in Morocco) Our tyres are getting very worn now and we have already got rid of one and bought a new one now on the car) from the organisation, the one we got rid of begun to show the metal it was that badly worn, also it had been wearing unevenly as the rear arm is so bent, We have another spare tyre which has a split in it (from the train tracks!) And now our other spare has also begun showing metal so while driving today we spotted 1 tyre amongst a pile in a village which looked about the right size, We stopped and this was a ‘space saver’ tyre the sort cars have which are intended for temporary use only, well we only need it for a few days! we bought it and had it put on the wheel for 10,000cfa (approx 15 euros) #### At camp this evening the organisation showed some videos people had recorded and showed the movie ‘Up’ but I fell asleep half way through … surprise!

Day 25
Tue 24th
MY BIRTHDAY!
Togo
Mango to Atakpame Jungle Camp
Todays distance 459km
Sleeping Jungle bivouac!
Mileage 71771
Car - Laura was made for this trail, literally!
Punctures today 1 Total 18
So today was a good day I still had a sore throat but was cheered up no end when I opens my birthday presents from home! Thanks guys! My where’s the Stig book was extremely popular amongst the other competitors and kept as amused for hours, Thanks Az! When waiting in the breakfast queue the teams sung happy birthday to me which was a real nice way to start the day! Today was mainly off road and was great fun, Its getting so hot now and more humid. This evening we camp in the jungle! Upon arrival an area had been cleared for our car and tent and there was the whole village standing watching us as we ate our evening meal, this kind of event does not happen near then very often! After food I had a birthday drink and the famous jumpers Seppe and Luc got the local crowd to sing happy birthday to me, (followed by the birdie song!) how special!? This was certainly a birthday I will never forget, 29 in a jungle in Mango!