All Systems GO!!

Myrtle and Kotka are due to present themselves at GB Liners depot in Hereford on 16th March, to be encased in a container for the 5 week journey to Tientsin, a huge container port south of Peking.
Kip and Carmen depart Heathrow on Saturday 21 May with Cathay Pacific, and arrive Peking Sunday 22 May to be met by a guide who will take them for a medical exam (eye test and hearing test), then to Tientsin to be reunited with the old ladies. Then the ladies have to be examined (headlights and exhaust emissions) followed by a 100 mile drive to a driving school to be told which side of the road to drive on etc.

What are their feelings at the moment?

Carmen- "terrified. I am having sleepless nights. When we did Peking to Paris in 2007, I only drove the car a hundred yards or so, and that was getting the car out of sand drifts, with Kip pushing. To go from that to driving my own car 8,000 miles is a worrying jump"

Kip- "hopefully, proper preparation and common sense, coupled with the knowledge that everywhere we go we can rely on the goodwill of the locals, means that at the end of the day we shall make it. The "worst" part will be the crossing of the Gobi, where roads do not exist for the most part, and it is a matter of picking the track that looks most used. Last time, using our Austin Seven Brian the Snail, we broke part of the prop shaft, lost our brakes, lost the lighting system, wipers, and broke a rear spring...all in the first week. We know why, and have taken appropriate precautions. It's going to be fantastic- one way or the other!"

Myrtle - up in the air, awaiting final medical check

Myrtle-" as you can tell from the photo, I am up in the air about it all. However, my mate Brian made it last time, and he had Carmen and Kip plus all the spares loading him down, so with just Carmen and the spares I will have 12 stone less to carry and it should be a doddle. After all, I spent my early life in Kenya, where the roads were pretty bad. I am looking forward to driving down the valley of the Charge of the Light Brigade, when we reach the Crimea"

Kotka- " Well, I have never been abroad, bar France, so for me it's going to be a real adventure. Both Myrtle and I have had a thorough medical check and once Myrtle is back on the ground we should be all set for the trip. I am not too keen on the thought of Russian petrol, which Brian the Snail told me was not up to much, but then he had his radiator topped up with champagne when he reached Paris."

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Statistics

• Total distance covered: 0 miles
• Distance remaining: 8,000 miles

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Post to: Kip Waistell, c/o 1 Fairfield Green, Fownhope, Herefordshire, HR1 4NL