When Steve first spoke of his plan of driving a Fire Engine around the world, we all knew immediately it was going to happen. This was Steve, his talk is never cheap and the “Why” was clear.
So the idea was quickly accepted, over a few pints as these things often are, and the attention quickly turned to “which way”.
High point : After 8 days in Mongolia we’ve all become very accustomed mechanics striving to fix Martha’s wounds each morning after the battering she has taken on the awful Mongolian roads the previous day. Yesterday morning was satisfyingly dirty as Ben and I fixed the oil leaking from the back locker while Steve, Ross and David managed to answer the eternal question “how many men does it take to change a lightbulb?” as the 3 of them scratched their heads and drank coffee while repairing the flood lights that fell off the roof the night before (after some suspect driving ). Read more →
Join the stage 2 boys in Mongolia for a quick recap of stage 2 so far Steve Moore, Ross Shepley-Smith, Dave Orders, James Morrow and Ben Haslett.
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High Point: After going off the so called main track on Tuesday night, waking up this morning literally in the middle of no where, surrounded by mountains on all four sides was a special treat for all of us. The rest of the crew were a little concerned we were lost. However I had every confidence I had done a wonderful job of navigation the day before (if I do say so myself) and we were just round the corner from civilisation! Thankfully lady luck was on my side and we very quickly stumbled across the village I had been looking for at 9pm last night. I knew those cub scout compass lessons would come in handy one day, thanks mum and dad. Read more →
High Point: After a couple of grinding days of desert running it was truly stupendous day today. A day that will stay with me for many years. Heading North we were back where we love it the most, remote. There can’t be too many places on Earth where one can just crack open a compass, drive North East and conquer everything in your way. Our trusty torque-heavy beast rolled her sleeves up to show her true worth. With no roads to talk of, she wiggled and piggled her way through the big man’s back garden. The only people we saw all day was a Nomad family as our Nav (Ross) for the day was a little lost and needed reassurance we were heading in the right direction. To be fair, you cut your own route here, glorious. Read more →
Well we finally got out of that awful compound and crossed the border into Russia. I dare say that you are as surprised as I was to discover that I am now a large car – and we’ve got papers to prove it. It seems the Russians love their paperwork.
We had to hurry to get to Moscow because the stage 1 crew had to catch planes back home, I will be sad to see them go but the stage 2 crew would be eagerly anticipating our arrival. With Moscow about 400 miles away some hard overnight driving was called for.
An army they say marches on its on stomach and expeditions are certainly no different. Diesel for Martha who is always hungry, but then again who wouldn’t be travelling 26,000 miles, and food and water for the crew.
As the expedition began to evolve from those early spring months in 2009, and research and advice was continually gleaned from every quarter, a list of priorities emerged that we knew were vital to our success. The Showstoppers
One of the items that we knew would have to be dealt with at some point was VISAs.
High Point: Showers. Camping each day is obviously amazing but it had been over a week since we’d been able to properly clean. Altai provided an opportunity to stay in a hotel with running water. And it didn’t disappoint. We’ve been bathing in ice cold river water for a long time but the hotel had warm running water! We now look almost human again. Read more →
High point: An amazing sunset, followed by a great dinner with equal thanks to Dave and Vestey Foods for their invaluable inputs.
Low point: today was my personal nadir. It started with a sore head as I’d imbibed perhaps a touch too much of the local potion the previous evening. This was followed up by a 185 k drive on tracks that made sitting in Martha feel like being in a washing machine. Also it was a filthy hot day. Finally, every stop we made was warmly greeted by a swarm of ravenous mosquitos. Wow, I hope I’m not sounding as fed up as the stage one crew. It’s really not that bad! Read more →
