Location: Casablanca (Morocco) to Ronda (Spain)
Rolling into Casablanca though complete carnage was somewhat iconic. It has long been on the itinerary and sits alongside Moscow, Beijing, Singapore, Sydney, Auckland and New York as a key mile stone for the expedition. It’s hard to describe the level of satisfaction or indeed relief, as with most experiences on this trip, it’s simply too out there to comprehend.
Here at the Fire Fighters Charity, we’re all eagerly counting down to Martha and the crew successfully completing their world circumnavigation on Sunday, 10 April at 1pm at the Grand Square and Colonnades, Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich.
I’m quite new at the Fire Fighters Charity, having joined as PR Manager just a couple of weeks ago, but as a former member of Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service I have ‘followed that fire engine’ since the expedition got underway last July. What a trip!
We’ve enjoyed every step of the journey as Steve Moore has lead Martha and the crew an impressive 26,000 miles through 28 countries. In particular, the highs and the lows have kept us all entertained over the past 9 months; the silliness of shipping, the amazing cities, the GPS blips, and especially the quotes of the day! Our sincere thanks go to you all for your epic achievement and we’re both proud and touched to be one of the team’s chosen charities. Read more →
High point: Amazing jazz band at Ricks Café, in Casablanca
Low point: Was he dead?
Breakfast at Riad Verus can only be described as a treat; this guy really has done an amazing job with this old building. It was only after breakfast that I took a walk up the four flights of stairs to the roof, and discovered that it doesn’t actually have a roof, well not one in the traditional sense anyway.
Being a Sunday didn’t mean that the Souk in Fes would be any quieter, the hustle of the market was in full flow, people going in all directions, with the odd donkey carrying supplies, and the never ending number of cats roaming around.
Ceuta (Spain) to Fes (Morocco)
A Whole New World!
High Point: Entering Morocco and taking Martha into her 5th continent!
Low Point: Narrow bumpy roads and speeding trucks made me feel like I was back in Russia.
No Point: Moroccan guy “Hi are you from England?” …. James (Master of languages) Morrow replies “Ci” … Nice.
After 8 and a half months we had finally reached the African continent. Yet something wasn`t quite right as we awoke in the Spanish city of Ceuta on the very tip of Northern Africa. Ceuta has been a Spanish territory since the 1600s and in 1995 was recognised as an autonomous Spanish region in order to help control illegal immigration into mainland Spain. Moroccans don’t recognise the city easily and I got the feeling the crew didn’t quite feel they were on the African continent properly until we had crossed over into Morocco.
High point: Making the ship to Cueta, the Spanish border town in Morocco, with two minutes to spare thanks to ‘pedal to the metal Morrow’ and a bit of good old fashioned FTFE luck
Low point: Driving around Cueta for about 40 minutes trying to find a place to stay on a road we could fit Martha down
No point: Ship cam, 35 minutes watching the view from the front of the ship was riveting
Location: Coveta Fuma (Spain) to Cueta (Morocco)
Waking up somewhere familiar was very surreal indeed. Casa Holder brought back nice memories of summer weekends with friends, I never thought we’d be visiting again in a fire engine!
A wonderful wonderful day! A touch of nerves as per normal when we have to deal with anything shipping related. Today was no was exception. Martha had already been in Spain for couple of days and we were itching to get on the road (and very conscious of our time constraints). The sillyness of shipping didn’t disappoint but with our man Eric on the case dealing with all the craziness. He did a grand job of dealing with the shipping lines, warehouses, truck drivers, crane operators and all the other people involved in this over complicated process.
High point: Martha has cleared customs!
Low point: The search for a mobile internet solution for updates to the website, computer says no
First night ever in a hostel, and a nice one at that. The others have made comments on my snoring, but I’m quite sure its all fictitious. The room was quite a sight first thing.
A good start to the day, with a meeting at Sea World’s offices at 9am. Eric from shipping company Sea World Services has been a star and has managed to get the fire engine cleared by customs in record time, hopefully this will enable us to unload and get going by lunchtime tomorrow. This obviously depends on how long it takes to re-inflate the tires and reattach the lights that had to be taken off for the shipping from New York to Valencia.
An impossible challenge made possible by a group of very generous people. 9 companies came together to help the FTFE expedition all over the world.
Location: Azul Yoga & Pilates Retreat, Villaverde
Team Fix It: Jamie, Karissa, Radhika, Annie, Jo and Adele
Operation fix Steve: Setting up and running a charity and attempting to achieve a world record, though extremely rewarding, is stressful and definitely takes its toll on the mind and body. Steve has been battered and bruised after spending 235 days driving Martha 28,268 miles across five continents. Due to the ship’s regulations we weren’t able to travel with Martha this time, so while she was bobbing across the Atlantic (I miss her) the goal of the week was to rest, recuperate and work (FTFE admin) in a super relaxed environment before the final push back to London. The Azul Yoga and Pilates Retreat was the perfect place to bring Steve back to wellness, whilst attempting to straighten his drivers back, catch up on much needed sleep and give him the energy to get home without 14 cups of coffee and two red bulls a day!
