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Epilogue

 Well it really was a stupendous adventure as the original newspaper Le Matin challenge promised in 1907. The adventure has to come to an end, and so does this blog.  So now you can get on with renovating your bathrooms, working in your jobs and returning to normal life.  You cannot live vicariously through us [...]

Final Blog entry for day 37

We did it! We made it! All without once using the truck of shame! As you have probably all read, via SMS updates on the road, we managed to coax the car across the line under her own power and somehow we have maintained our silver medal status?! Very, very happy with that result! It [...]

Day 37 – Final Day – Arrival in Paris (we all hope)

I am not sure how today is going to pan out but I  intend to get as much information as possible  out to everybody as regularily as possible.  Please keep checking regularily and check spot. Somehow we are all going to will Rhys and John across the line Regards Admin 8:52AM (Paris Time) Woke up [...]

Day 36 – Sooo Close – With help From MG Car Club France we WILL make it

(15/10 6:46 PM) Australian time: Cylinder head leaking coolant under manifolds. We leave for wshop 15kms away soon. Will put more rad sealant in at wshop. NOTHING is going to stop me driving across the finish line!!! (15/10 7:08 PM)Australian time: Feel free to update blog today. Will try to keep you informed via SMS. [...]

Day 35. The truck if shame is looming

On a mountain climb through the italian alps this morning our clutch slave cylinder failed  Not much we could do but come down the mountain and continue our onwards journey  We have been on the phone with the engineer in Melbourne as well as our car club and have been coming up with a strategy [...]

Day 34 – Italy (Nearly there)

Today is going to be very, very long. It is now 1:15pm and we left the ferry about an hour ago and have been crawling in a traffic jam ever since. We have travelled a total of 7.6km and our average speed is 8.2km/h! We have around 450km to travel today and we definitely will [...]

Day 33 – Thessaloniki to Igoumista Greece + overnite ferry

The day had a normal start, our time out was 7.32 am, and we exited the underground carpark of the most excellent Met Hotel, into a drizzly early morning.  Some simple navigation saw us leave Thessaloniki as quick as possible, but the rain was steady, and the trucks made it almost impossible to negotiate peak [...]

Day 32 Instanbul, Turkey to Thessaloniki, Greece

Back to competition today, and a border crossing to throw in.  After all my christmasses coming at once, and the Balance-O-Matic did its stuff balancing the front end wheels in-situ, we had a great day running down the miles on the freeway transit sections, leaving us more time to get to the end of the [...]

Day 31 Silivri just east of Instanbul

Wow, day 31! It’s hard to believe that we have been rallying for a month! We must be crazy. We agreed today that this has to be the toughest vintage car rally in the world. It certainly feels like it.  Today began in a snow covered car park at Abant Lake, following a fantastic breakfast [...]

Day 30 Kosakli to Abant Lake – Turkey

Back to back great days.  Today was the second serious day of competition in Turkey, and we had a mere 530 kilometers of travel, indispersed with 5 competition stages.  The shorter distance meant it was likely we would finish in daylight.  Better than that, the first stage had been cancelled due to fears the day [...]

Day 29 Erzurum to Kozakli – Turkey

The days appear to be getting longer and longer…..over 700km’s today! We keep comparing the days distance to equivalent long distance drives in Aus, and I think we’ve driven from Melbourne to Adelaide many, many times over now! According to our GPS, we have travelled nearly 11,000km! And with only very minor problems in the [...]

Day 28 – Tabriz to Erzurum, Turkey

An early start today as it was our last day in Iran and we had a 300 kilometre run to the border then another 300 kilometre run to our Hotel in Erzurum in Turkey.  Separated by a border crossing of course. The border crossing went smoothly enough – or as we expected.  About 3.5 hours [...]

Day 27 – Rasht to Tabriz , Only 10 days to go

Day 27 Part 1 Not a huge day today, just 400kms all up. It started off in the salt spray from the Caspian Sea and drizzle from above and we headed north along the coast again before launching into the mountains. We all faced a steep climb that took us from 22 metres below sea [...]

Day 26 Iran – Reports from Rhys and John

PART 1 – From Rhys   Long day as expected arrived at our hotel at 11 45 pm after leaving Turkmenistan  at 7 am. Sitting in air con comfort and car is securely parked in locked courtyard in Gorgon, Iran.  There is a favourite segment of mine on local radio during footy season called vent [...]

Day 25 – Gorgan, Iran

No news yet from John and Rhys but they are in Gorgan - Iran, the overnight stop for last night Skytag is not working in Iran but you can follow their progress on Spot.  Click on the spot button on the home page they are on the road to Rasht tonights overnight stop

Day 24 Turkmenabat to Ashgabat

After a very difficult day yesterday, John was getting over travellers tummy, and an acute gastro episode hit Rhys right in the middle of the 2 borders, 2 very long border crossings – which necessitated a change of clothes and a trip to Doctor on duty to declare me fit for entry to Turkmenistan.  The [...]

Day 23 Turkmenabat -Turkmenistan

Rhys and John have no internet access from yesterday or this morning and mobile phone access is limited.  So no reports from them about yesterday as of midday Melbourne time. They did have a very long and tiring day yesterday.  As suspected the border crossing was gruelling.  Both a long wait and very hot. They also [...]

Day 22 – Rest Day Samarkand

A rest day today, before we embark on a non stop 15 day rally through 6 more countries, no more days off to catch up or recuperate.  The car is ok, we didnt start work til lunch, and just some fettling, not much we can do now about the problems that have developed as there [...]

Day 21 Samarkand -Uzbekistan

It has been a short day but a tiring day. We have only drive 315km today but it was quite hot in the car today and it has really sapped my zing. I am writing this in a very comfortable couch in a bar in tonight’s hotel. Don’t know the name (they are all merging [...]

Day 20 – Uzbekistan

Today was an uneventful day on the road.  We almost didn’t break anything on the SA (more later). The trip today involved a border crossing so we only had 330 kilometres to travel today, and including just over 3 hours in the border (including 2 hours in no mans land, with no mans toilet).  The [...]

Day 19 Shemkent, Kazakhstan

Hi All,  Tonight sees us in downtown Shemkent on our 2nd last day in Kazakhstan. Tomorrow we head for the border and enter Uzbekistan. It has been a very long 730kms today and could probably be deemed as the ‘anti-glass day’ as this morning one of the two remaining screws on the LHF 1/4 window [...]

Day 18 – Our second day in Almaty as a day off

Our second day in Almaty as a day off, was very relaxing as we had a long wait to get car parts expediated through customs which arrived urgently 4 days ago for us, and hence not a lot to do this morning.  We had time to unpack the car, spanner check, and decided to shout [...]

Day 17 – Rest day today – Plus Lots of Photos

Rest day today. Well, not really. We spent the whole day in a large workshop called ‘Red Scorpion’ with about 25 of our fellow competitors. It was just full on carnage! We managed to make and fit some front spring blocks to give us some more clearance  in the front end, Rhys fixed both front [...]

Day 16 – And yet we are still going!! Amazing!! Plus an update and Photos

The poor old car needs a bit of TLC and it shall recieve it over the next 2 days. We have arrived safe and sound in Almaty, formerly the capital of Kazakhstahn. I have been pleasantly surprised at the westernisation of this large urban city. Sure, it’s a bit rough round the edges, but what [...]

Day 15 -Kazakhstan (Less Than 10,000 km’s to go)

We are currently 140 km away from Usharal and our final night of camping! Today’s voyage began on the worst roads in all of Kazakhstan. Just MASSIVE pot holes and broken bitumen! It was sometimes easier to drive on the dirt shoulder! I think we were lucky as all we got was a broken boot hinge [...]

Day 14 Russia to Semey Kazakhstan – Plus Photos

Can’t pronounce the Russian resort we stayed in last night, we arrived just before midnight and left at 7 am, so not much to report on Russia, except that the organisers last time had a very bad experience in Russia, so the silk road beckoned and we got the hell out of there asap.  The [...]

Day 13 – Russia

I have started this entry while on route to tonights destination of a ski resort in Russia, which sounds fantastic, but after camping in Mongolia for the last few days, a shower with a roof and a toilet without a view would be sensational! I woke up this morning feeling not too cold as I [...]

Day 12 Khovd to Russian border

A big  but satisfying day 320 kilometres and no new problems and we made it almost to the end of Mongolia. Have enjoyed the experience but the SA is definitely worse for wear. Disco Stu move over DJ John was navigating and spinning the tunes of Elvis beatles and Aussie 70s rock anthems.  We average 29 [...]

Day 11 Rest day Khvod

10:41 AM): You know you are in melbourne when it is grand final week and desparate pleas go out for tickets to the Grand Final.  Not only are we distant from our families and cannot help out at home, my wife and girls are saints members and have missed out on tickets in the ballot. [...]

Day 10 Teel River to Khvod

190 ks today should have been an easy day But…  We left early to take it easy however the pounding our car has had has been incessant and today our MG cried no more both front shocks were ripped out of the chassis, damaging our brakes again, the radiator had a fracture due to stress and [...]

Day Nine

Long day very sandy and corrugations still plugging away All MGs are in camp, lots are not. Overall a gøod day. Morale boosted by car stereo still working and comm by sat phone Rhys and John

Day 8. The longest day yet

We left camp at 7.15 am and arrived at 9 pm completing 330 kilometres – it was all track today and unmade roads. The road surface was not worth contemplating and the tracks were very slow going mostly rutted, stones and corrugations. Highlight of the day was the scenery it was absolutely stunning and only ever [...]

Day 7 From Deepest Mongolia

We are still going.  Car is holding together The rough roads are murder!  Only 3 days left of rough roads before Russia All MGs fine John

Day 6

Sorry no photos tonight as we are staying in a ger (yurt) in Kharakorin 350 kilometres west of Ulaan Bataar. An easy day all Tarmac roads except for some of the highways can’t cope with the bitter winters and large craters that started as potholes jumped out at us. We missed all but one.  A [...]

Day 5 Blog for 14/09/10 – Rest Day(yaeh sure)

Firstly I would like to thank those of you who have sent messages either via email or via the comments below – it gives us tremendous moral support when we are so far from home. I know that both he and I are missing our young families and wives very much. But enough of that [...]

Day 4. Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia.

Hello all, I am typing this to you from our salubrious room at the Chinggis Khan Hotel in downtown Ulaan Bataar. It’s a far cry from the tent and dusty surrounds of Sainshand last night. This morning began at 5:30 after a night of listening to tired snoring from others and the not so quiet [...]

Day 3 End – Gobi Desert

 We made it through today – a huge relief. After a monumental border crossing we entered at 8 and left at 1 we had 250 ks of competative driving to do. The first 100 ks were very tough aveaging 20 ks per hour and took 5 hours to do 100 k. We broke the front [...]

Chinese Mongolian Border 12/9/10

We are leaving mobile range in an hour or so and ate queing on the Mongolian border Just got the weather forcast for the next 10 days.  As we expected 10 to 28 today in the low areas going to -4 to 8 on the Russian border.  Today is the first real test of the [...]

Day 2 Blog entry for 11/09/10

Sending this out to you from the Erlian Pacific International Hotel on the 11/09/10. We arrived here at around 6pm this afternoon after leaving Lake Daihai resort at 8:32am. Today was a day of hillclimbing and expressway driving. We have fortunately left behind the crazy drivers of Bejing and surrounds and enter the sands of [...]

Day 1 “The Off” (Plus Photos) And Only 14062 Km to go

After close to 3 years preparation, 2 years work on the new SA0945, and leaving our respective families earlier this week (we were all in tears), the anticipation of getting started was overwhelming. We had an early rise at 5am to have breakfast and get going by 6 am to reach the Great Wall by [...]

Arrival In China

After some reasonably comfortable international plane rides and very easy customs checks, we arrived in Beijing yesterday morning at 6:30am. Met up with a fellow Aussie competitor from Tasminia who is driving a Dodge (I think….I was a bit blurry) in the customs queue and as Rhys had thoughtfully already organised an airport transfer to [...]

Charity Fundraiser

We are pleased to announce that we had a farewell on Sunday just gone (28th August 2010) for friends and families, and we were able to display memorabilia of the preparation of the MG, maps of the routes, stickers, video of the last endurance rally we competed in, and also video of the last 2007 [...]

Wow… we made the telly

We are supporting a local charity the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre  (www.cpec.com.au) and had one of the TV stations come out and do a story on our rally and also cpec.  It was filmed today, and broadcast tonight in the middle of the main TV news bulletin.  2.5 hours of filming condensed into 90 seconds of [...]

The 2009 Easter NatMeet

The first official club outing was the 2009 National Meeting at Geelong at Easter for the MG car clubs of Australia.  We loaded up the long range fuel tank, regular fuel tank, and in total had an estimated 130 litres of fuel on board for the first time.  The tanks were overfilled and a little bit, but [...]

The first drive….

The preparation of this car goes back about 26 months after it was acquired in July 2008, when it was apparent that SA2089 would not be restored in time, and to make it so, i would have to sell my first born son to fund the restoration.  Good news for the first born, as SA0945 arrived in [...]

Men who share misery together are forever brothers

Tim Cahill has summed this experience up the best.  If I could be as bold to read between the lines, what he was referring to was the fact that married couples who share misery together get divorced. Whilst my wife shares (tolerates) the house with the MG’s, 40 days on the road eating dust, navigating maps [...]

British Car Jokes

OK, so we are not too serious about our cars…. and can make light of the foibles of the veteran machines.   Most praise is deservedley held for Lucas, the “Prince of Darkness”.   Q: Why do the British drink warm beer? A: Because the all have Lucus refrigerators. We won’t be laughing so hard when the Prince [...]

The garage is getting crowded…

I rang Bruce about 4 months later an admitted to him my plans for the car, and to my delight he was very happy for me, and his car – not sure in what order, but I did have his blessing. By now the garage, drive, and nature strip was getting crowed when MG number 4 arrived in July 2008.

Genisis – In the beginning …

I first saw the Peking to Paris Endurance Rally advertised about 6 months prior to the 2007 Rally run by the Endurance Rally Assoc, and this appealed to me back then. I was captivated and hooked immediately. The countries, the adventure, the challenge of the 70 year old motor car, the endurance of 40 days of competitive rallying, this was for me.

Welcome

Welcome to the blog following the adventures of SA 0945.  The first blogs will document the rally car preparation, as well as the trials and tribulations of testing these modifications. During the actual Peking to Paris Endurance Rally (10 Sept to 16 October 2010) organised by the Endurance Rally Organisation, we hope to get as [...]