New trip to Morocco

Organising an overland motorbike trip to Morocco. Final destination is the Sahara. More details soon.

New Blog

We will be using our new blog: http://trip100.ontheroad.to/uk-mongolia-uk/ from now on. Although we will update this one periodically, the other blog is easier to manage and allows us to update via SMS. So please visit us on thge other blog. Thanks.

Ups and downs of landrovers

The top picture is how the pop-up looked originally and the other two show what it looks like now. Also in the photo are John, Jan and Julian from Exmoor Trim.

I have not written an entry for a while. Not long now before we go, just days in fact. So much as been happening and so much to organise.

Truck:
The truck has had its ups and downs. The highlight has been the people from Exmoor Trim who have given us new pop-up canvas and two new front seats - the people there are FANTASTIC. John and Jan did most of the work. A huge thank-you goes to Julian for offering to do the job and a huge thank you to everyone else there - I was made to feel very welcome. So BIG UP Exmoor Trim. Today I had a panic about the water pump, I thought it was broken and they are impossible to find - turns out it is a faulty guage! I put a new carb in last week and the truck is running sweetly. My love-hate relationship with the truck continues.

Other prep
We have practically all our gear ready; truck spares, tools, manuals, guides, maps and even a 3-stake ground anchor very kindly lent to us by my mate David. We are still waiting on visas.

We have started another blog - not sure which one we will keep to. The other one appears to be easier to update - particularly via mobile phone. For those that want to take a look, this the address: http://trip100.ontheroad.to/uk-mongolia-uk/

Expedition check.

Everything is staring to fall in to place. matt has finished the expedition check on the Truck. He has managed most of the jobs and I am going to pick it up tomorrow. My mate dave has done a fantatsic job on repairing our winch (A Ramsey RE 8000). Dave is also lending us a land anchor for the trip. I must say now that Landrover enthusiasts are fantastic and have hearts of gold. My mate John has nearly finished making a bed for one of the kids (now we all have beds in the truck). I have a warm glow all over - such good people.

My Mate Matt

My mate Matt is a Landrover fanatic, he owns one, he has a baby one for his son and he works in a Landy garage - best of all he loves working on my Landrover! Matt has been a true source of help and inspiration for me in learning how to love and look after my Landy.

He now has a real task and his biggest Landy test to date: he is sorting out the final problems and doing an expedition check on my Landy expedition truck.

As well as the major expedition check he is going to sort out my final snagging list:
- Repair winch on front of vehicle
- Radiator: It needs lowering so that it does not catch the radiator hose. The bearing/fixing also needs tightening/repairing
- Rear air locker is leaking air through the rear axle
- Change front wheel bearings (save for spares), and check rear ones.
- Fit windscreen water jets (supplied)
- Repair small leak in roof – water is coming through in to the top of the cab and damaging the electric’s (radio etc). I have sealed some of the joins in the roof but have been unable to locate and repair the leak source
- Fix a rear recovery point plus something on the front (tow hook and rings?). Three and a half ton pin hitch?
- Replace both broken wing mirrors
- Replace brake light switch

Matt is a top bloke and I'm very happy to be his friend. I only wish he was coming on the expedition with us! Thanks Matt :-)

Satellite phone

We have decided to take a Thuraya satellite phone with us for emergency use. Those of you that would like the number please contact us. Be warned that they can be quite expensive to phone but it is possible I believe to send free sms texts messages from the Thuraya website (http://services.thuraya.com/sms.html). For more details about Thuraya check out this good site: http://www.nomadic-one.com/travel/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=2

Online Thuraya services: http://services.thuraya.com/

Russian and Mongolian Visas

Russian and Mongolian Visa application forms were huge but have now been filled-in and sent off. Now just got to send them the fee, ouch! As we are getting multiple entry Russian visas we have had to provide letters of introduction.