Not the smoothest of starts that one could have hoped for but, nevertheless, the intrepid fellows of Team Great Balls Of Fur have successfully overcome the trials and tribulations that were the first 24 hours of The Adventurists Africa Rally.
A less than smooth start was ensured when 'The Politically Unnamed Van', the Cheetah, was stricken with what can only be described as catastrophic gear box failure in Blandford, Dorset the night before she was due on the start line in Hyde Park. However, not to be deterred by such trivialities, team mechanic Ian, assisted by Craig and then Charlie and Tony, spent a pleasant evening fitting a new gear box and at the sociable hour of 0500 on Friday morning they finally rolled into London, tired, dirty and a mere 10 hours late.
Hyde Park's Victoria Gate was to play host to the rally's departure and, almost miraculously, both vehicles and all 6 team members managed to make their way there in time for the line up, hand shaking, back slapping and bum tickling. This stage remains the most successful to date with all eyes on 'Jen' Zebra and 'The Politically Unnamed Van' who quite simply eclipsed the rest of the field in terms of style and effort. The addition of a 'well loved' Chesterfield sofa, a bath tub and a standard lamp only served to enhance the reverence and veneration with which the noble chariots were received. This was not, however, to detract from the gentlemanly splendour displayed by our intrepid 6 explorers who, in their varying array of tweed, cut quite a dash amongst the miscreant pond life who will be their partners in rallydom for the next 5 weeks.
Having carried out some final pre-rally adjustments, namely adding a lick of fur to the hub caps, the Team was rewarded with the prize for best vehicles which contributed handsomely to their air of confidence and bon viveur, and high spirits were enjoyed by all as the teams lined up for the off.
3...2...1...Go, Go, Go!
Engines revved, horns sounded, crowds cheered, the zebra broke down.
For a vehicle that had covered at least 400 miles in the last couple of weeks without so much as an untimely splutter to be dropped by fuel pump failure not 50 yards beyond the start line was disappointing to say the least. Not, it must be pointed out, for the other teams, who all sailed merrily past with smug grins on their faces, offering such helpful tidbits as 'do you guys have a place to stay in London tonight?' and 'we thought you were coming to Prague too.' But fear not dear reader for the Zebra lives again. Thanks to an impressively rapid(ish) fuel pump replacement by Ian, egged on by the remaining team members, who had established themselves on the Chesterfield, under the watchful gaze of the standard lamp, in the middle of the road, Great Balls Of Fur were up and running again in no time and the journey officially commenced.
All went well for almost half an hour before Tony decided that he had had enough of driving and that a set of traffic lights just short of a motorway on-ramp would be the perfect place for a change of Cheetah pilot. The lorry driver in the next lane had different ideas and took the opportunity to plough into the now wide open passenger's side door. This happy event luckily turned out to be not as serious as first thought and with some gentle persuasion, the door lives to fight another day.
From then on the drive to Dover was plagued with nothing more serious than a renegade fur-covered hub cap that embarked upon a bid for freedom across 3 lanes of motorway traffic, and a minor evasion of the law when the Cheetah's admittedly less than road legal Chesterfield back seats were at risk of being discovered.
The drive through France saw the chaps following a somewhat unplanned scenic route, Belgium brought a much needed pit stop to clean the spark plugs, and Holland offered the opportunity to uncover an alarmingly rapid oil leak but, apart from these minor deviations from the script, which have been passed off as 'first night nerves', all is going well.
The team are currently holed up in Guttersloh, Germany where running repairs are being carried out and preparations made for tonight's Officers' Mess Ball at Princess Royal Barracks. Next stop Prague...hopefully.