Peking to Paris 2007

Click here to see the a pdf of the powerpoint (large 15mb).

In May 2007 and Michael & Anne Wilkinson participated in one of the world’s great adventures. They retraced the original 1907 race in a 1951 Riley along with 133 other cars in the 2008 The Peking to Paris Motor Challenge – An Endurance Rally Association.

Anne’s detail journal of this amazing journey.

The entry is divided into three categories of vehicles dependent on the dates of production of the type of vehicle being driven.
The Pioneer Category:
Cars of a model-type in production prior to 1920 with only authentic period modifications permitted.
The Vintageant Category:
Cars of a model-type in production prior to 1940 without disc brakes, regardless of age or supporting manufacturer documentation.
The Classics Category:
Cars of any model-type in production prior to 1960.

For more technical information see the official Peking Paris Motor Challeange website.

I knew I could, I knew I could, I knew I could……

The traffic congestion grew and our pace slowed. The stop-start traffic of a busy city was for once a welcome inconvenience. The welcoming sight of the dome of Notre Dame came into view. We were still too worried about ATA to relax. Crossing to left side of the Seine we promenaded along the quais, Saint Bernard, de la Tournelle, past Place Saint Michel where Bill was waving from above, and along Malaquais and Voltaire to Pont de la Concorde, for our final river crossing. Horns tooting and people waving it is amazing how the familiar sight of the Australian flag catches your eye. There on the Seine we did meet… our dear friends of a lifetime… Bronnie and Andy dancing through the traffic on to Place du Concorde!
Intently we weaved through the mayhem and out onto Rue Royale humbled by the Madelaine and right into Cappucines and thump, one Tom Wilkinson jumped onto the running board of ATA, “I beat you, I beat you!” He won the race to Paris.
It becomes a blur, familiar faces and friendly faces, old friends and new, the Riley Club, the other participants the marshals were all there at the finish line for ATA’s final meters. Presented with Gold medals and sprayed with champagne we rolled to our final car park…Place Vendome.
There was time to party with ATA. Our welcoming party included our children Chris, Ed, Tom and Kate. Peter Brock, Bill’s friend from London, Sonia our exchange daughter and her parents Jaques and Mylene. Bronnie and Andy, Mary and Gary Giles, Richard Wardell and his wife Maria, Joe Cook and Nick Chapman. The Riley register was represented. Damien Breen was late.
We drank a glass with Richard and Judy and Robert Moore and his gang came over to ATA to steal the ashes trophy, but didn’t. We will have to post it. Our good friends and family had organised food and champagne for our picnic in the place. We would have liked to party and relax all afternoon. But best laid plans……. Heathrow had sabotaged our party. Chris and Kate had been delayed in Sydney, missed the connection in Heathrow but eventually arrived at CDG eight hours late, but with out luggage! This included all their belongings plus the driver and navigators clothes for Paris and beyond. We all had a black tie dinner to attend and nothing but burnt out travel clothes to wear. Ed had brought the dinner suits and shirts but the black shoes were missing. Jaques and Nick gave up their shoes. Bronnie, Sonia, Kate and I went shopping. It should be fun to shop in Paris, but with two hours, two dresses and shoes to purchase in the chaos of sale time is more difficult than driving from Beijing to Paris.
Five days later we still do not have the bags! Mike has spent much time and even more money on the phone trying to get our wardrobe. Oh well, it just made it even more interesting.
Kate and I did eventually find outfits and the boys assembled black, brown and even cream shoes to accompany cuff-links made from foil. The dinner was fantastic and a great reward for 35 days of hard work. A video was screened that had been filmed over the course of the rally. It was only then that we actually stopped to realise what we had been through and what we had achieved. Stay tuned for the book, the DVD….OH and by the way, we finished fourth in our category, Classic but first in our class 1940-1955. It’s never over until the fat lady sings! So two large trophy’s are heading down under.
None of this would have been possible if it were not for the tireless efforts of Ras. Months and even years of preparation went into getting this car ready. Ras was even awoken on several occasions late at night to provide advice on many of the car troubles being experienced. Thank you Ras, you got it right!
We would also like to thank all our family and friends at home for looking after our kids, especially Mum and Dad who had them over for dinner each week and helped them with any problems they had.
Thank you to the Riley Club for all the support. We are so proud of ATA.
Also all of those who have been following the blog and adding comments, your support has been fantastic and much appreciated. We really feel we didn’t do this alone.
To Richard, Judy, Simon and Liz in our rally team “Table for Ten” it’s been great fun, thanks for your support and friendship. And to everyone on the rally who helped us through, you made it so enjoyable and an experience we will never forget. There is no doubt that we have made some great friends on this rally that we will continue to catch up with over the years to come. Thanks Paul for our evening liaisons, your care is greatly appreciated, and thanks for not sending me home!
We look back and wonder how we drove over 13,000km, the answer is one day at a time. I anxiously await Michael’s next big plan.

Just one more……..a delayed but very big thanks to Pete Spencer…..our “go to man”. All our messages were first emailed or texted to Pete via Michael’s phone and it was he who blogged our stories. He is Wilkore/Minifabs I.T. guru and nothing is ever too much trouble for him, and no message forever lost. Xiexie, Asante, Spaceebah, Tanan, Aciu, Paldies, Dziekuje, Danke, Merci and much more Pete.

Mike, ATA and I are all grateful for the well wishes and messages of support we received. With all your encouragement we just had to……….get to Paris!

The Trophy

The Trophy

Originally uploaded by Michael Wilkinson.

Paris

P1000365.JPG

Originally uploaded by Michael Wilkinson.

Riley finish

Riley finish

Originally uploaded by Michael Wilkinson.

The Office

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Originally uploaded by Michael Wilkinson.

Put the Champagne on ice…cautious optimism.

Photos here

The next time Mike suggests we go for a drive I am going to suggest we go parking instead. Hopefully we will be in a bigger more comfortable car. It’s OK ATA can’t read.
We drove along the Mosel river valley and then the Rhein. The working waterway providing one vista after another.
Our day was controlled so as not to all race to the champagne house Chateau Henriot. We enjoyed a glass or two of bubbles and then headed back into the heavy traffic for the streets of Reims. A drink and a party tonight for one last time as the group was the plan but there was confusion and we all wandered off in small groups. Just as well not to have too late a night, driver has a bad cold and ATA a splutter.
The hot gossip of the day was David Ayres had been put in jail for 24 hours. Traffic, lip ? As driver of car 1 his prompt release was being negotiated.
A date with destiny awaits. One more piercing required and one more bout of anti dog nausea. An 11.00 am start for Paris the finish line in sight. I can smell the Seine, the crepes, the shops. Clean clothes and comforts of home await.
One last day ATA, 180 km and we can all rest.
We want to say, Peking to Paris, been there, done that!

Near yet so far

Photos here

We left Gdansk with only 1000km of this marathon remaining. We drove the secondary roads and lanes of Poland and enjoyed a speedy crossing to Germany. With multiple passage and time controls for the day the pace was relaxed. We found ourselves wedged between the Goodwin brothers. Roger in his Bentley Speed 6 and Jon in his Aston DB6. We had ringside seats when the brothers decided the game was to be chasey, better than tag.
The scenery is lush and trees line the roads, but everyone is done, the only view we are now looking for is the finish line in Paris. We met three young German boys in a petrol station and gave them a small koala each. When we explained we were off to Paris they were unimpressed, it’s just down the road.
We overnighted in Potsdam, only 30km from Berlin. The bravest lads headed to Berlin for apparently a memorable evening. I choose not to understand.
Winding our way on to Koblenz the four hundred killers dragged by. Bits are still falling off the car. We lost a carburetor cap along the way. More gaffer tape required.
The route is still lined with waving locals, they are still enthusiastic. We get lots of thumbs up. I convinced the weary driver to stop. I told him “secret checkpoint” screech of brakes….”where he asks?” Just at the Cherry kiosk, Yum Yum. I offered my Euro but was told no. Good luck a handshake and a photo was the only request.
Igor and his band of singer songwriters have composed the final lines to the rally song. Set to the tune, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine” please don’t take my suspension away.
Gerry and Matt are struggling without a water pump. They are trying to sell their Buick, the ad reads, recently restored, one careful driver…… Good Luck.
Judith and Richard are enjoying the smooth roads, and our team leader can again overtake us Like the RoadRunner BEEP BEEP.
Liz and Simon had their first puncture….on the motorway.
God and ATA willing, we look forward to ……..champagne in Reims.

Solidarity and Gdansk

We awoke early on our day off in Gdansk to a grey sea and drizzling rain. Disappointed on two counts. One being the plan was to work on the car in the morning before heading off to explore. The second count being it was 6.00 am and we were wide awake when we could be sleeping.
The diligent mechanic had his list of repairs and maintenance, so he donned his overalls and fluoro waterproof and hit the carpark. My morning duties included once again attempting to hand wash mud splattered, oil stained clothing. It is hard to say which of us was sloshing around in deeper water. Eventually a cold wet mechanic gave up on the plan. The depression which had been over England causing flooding, was now hovering over our hotel and we had to get out. So tourist Mike took his wife for a ride on a tram into Gdansk.Gdansk and its port are known as the home of Lech Walenzka and the Solidarity movement. Formerly known as Dansig the historic old town has been totally restored from the rubble of 1945. I guess the tenacity of these people mould individuals such as Walenszka. Having met Digby and Neville on the tram, yes they did eventually rejoin the rally, we toured with them. We visited the church where John Paul II said mass,the old town square with its fascaded buildings, walked across the bridges and viewed the museum. The museum, the old town hall told some of the story of the reconstruction. First we were shown how the British, the Germans, the Russians and also the Americans had bombed and shelled the town and port. One photo showed a tank wedged in a hole in the road with cars behind and around it in various states of repair. It reminded us of our necklace of cars struggling along the potholed roads of Russia.
In the evening the rain eased. As we were situated on the Baltic waterfront we ventured down the boardwalk into the resort town of Sopol for dinner. We walked home along the beach likening it to Sorrento.

As Maxwell Smart would say….missed it by that much

updated photos here
The road from Mikolajki to Gdansk began with three Time Trial sections.
Having found ourselves well placed in the field due to our lack of road
penalties I must say we were just a tad apprehensive. The Riley was
strangely out of place, starting each day fifth on the road behind the
speed of the 61 Jag MKII, the 66 Merc 600, the cool orange Studebaker
with its V8 and with Jon Goodwins super fast Aston always in pursuit. I
would never underestimate my trusty driver but we were certainly the
kids playing on the experts patch.
We watch the faster cars at the start line, engines revving, the grr of
the Aston amazing, the countdown has relevance, 10,9,8 grr grr 5,4
GRR,GRR, 3,2 wheels spinning rear end swaying they’re off stones flying
into the air as the rocket forward. We approach the line, it’s
impossible to look cool, 9, 8 find road book, 7, 6 tighten seat belt,
5,4 please don’t stall, 3,2,1 we draw away. OK I feel better now lets
just get clean around, straight ahead I say, pretty obvious really, Look
tree ahead tree ahead it must be left phew on we speed. It’s a relative
term and I must add here Liz and Simon (2CV) are in agreement 50 to 60
seems much faster in our cars So back to the trial over the rise and
down into the copse of trees, the sunlight dappled across the track. Umm
dark patch across the road, nowhere to go but through Splat cch chh mud
and water was punched up through the floor of the car and over the
bonnet. The windscreen was blacked out with a film of mud, quick the
wipers! Not the fuel pump wipers water water mud sprayed through the
interior Michael enjoying a mud bath an then oh oh chug chug chuug
chuuug the engine failing distributor? Fuel? Pump pump chug chuuug we
slowed. PLEASE ATA I WANT TO GO TO PARIS PLEASE “What do I do, will I
get out Will I push?” is it over? Chuug chug chug ch ch she coughs and
splutters I think I can I think I can and she spluttered to the end of
the road.
OK that’s our place gone we think. Slow time, Nascar driver will easily
make up minutes on this one. WE ponder what to do now we have finished
the first trial with two more tests to qualify for a gold medal Stop or
push on hoping to dry out the engine? A dilemma and only a few
kilometers to think. ATA was sounding better, not missing, we arrive at
the next start. Stop we need to clean the windscreen at least and the
washer bottle has fallen off. I am very pleased we still have toilet
paper, even though most of it has been used stopping up a leaky
windscreen. This time the TP was used to scrub off the mud.
10,9,8 and off again please no mud. Oh OH splat splutter
chug,chuug,chuuug ATA groaned again,” I don’t like mud packs, I can’t
breathe and I won’t get you to Paris.”
OK we get it. The problem with being early on the track early is that we
clear the track for everyone else by scooping up the mud inside ATA and
carrying it away. The last car claims, what mud, what water? It’s all
over my legs, Michael’s lap and ATA’s engine.
One VERY last trial to go. By this stage we have stopped, opened the
hood and hoping to the determine problem by splay patterns discovered
not splays but tidal wave surges. Lets just close her up clean the
window again and crawl around the trial. Gold medal intact. Why couldn’t
we do this one first, open and sandy we zoomed along this is the style
we can do these tracks. The mud blackened faces began to smile we can
enjoy this one….. The navigator blipped excitedly calling the tulips
she jumped one ahead, oh oh back back she called a little off road
detour and on to the track again SORRY SORRY she called ,move on he said
“If the time difference is under 20 seconds it will be all my fault she
moaned.” ” Not to worry, they will make up far more than that on today’s
performance, Paris is the goal.” Hare can beat Turtle.
All over congratulations from marshal’s we moved onto the road travel
part of the day and negotiating our way to Gdansk. We use the smaller
road to avoid the heavy truck traffic where we can which often means
rougher roads. The pretty landscape and villages more than make up for
this inconvenience. We enjoyed a few moments stopped by a lake watching
the fish jump and collecting wildflowers. I enjoyed taking some photos
as the locals pedaled by.
The hotel is situated near Sopot overlooking the Baltic with a promenade
stretching from port to pier. The buzz in the bar lobby was great,
everyone was relived to have finished the tests with the only challenge
remaining …get to Paris.
Having decided to ignore the results board we went in to dinner. While
in the process of reviewing yet another buffet meal, Phillip Hasslam,
our friend and closely ranked competitor greeted me with a hug and
commiseration’s so close he said. What you don’t know? He asked. You
drop a place by ONE SECOND ……..
Of all the losers we now come fourth…… Will any one remember? David
didn’t kill Goliath this time, but ATA will take us to Paris!
I hope!

Let me out of Russia

New photos here

The border crossing was painfully slow but we were fortunate. Into the
timed sections of the rally the start times have been reorganized and
the classics start first. Having managed to survive Mongolia well and
with quite good times on the sand ATA has been seeded fifth and thus our
start time is 5 minutes past the zero time. We are surprised but happy
with this. Having been car 108 and used to start times of plus 108
minutes we had been one of the last to the border on all other
occasions. We were lucky to only have a wait of about two hours. Some
crews spent nine hours in various holding areas, one chap even pitching
his tent and having a three hour nap. This was a great pity as Estonia
was beautiful and the timed sections were great fun and many missed this
day. All results were thus cancelled.
Everyone was relieved to be out of Russia. We very much enjoyed Moscow
and St Petersburg and the locals on the road had been very friendly, but
the corruption is very evident. One in four cars were stopped on the way
to the border and issued with fines. The last opportunity to milk the
rally.
Estonia has beautiful smooth tarmac and graded gravel. The Estonians
are rally enthusiasts and claim fame to many rally champions. The local
clubs had us use their motor cross track, rally sections and even the
race track. The community was out in the medieval city square of Tallinn
to welcome us. We had a most enjoyable drink in the fading sun in the
old city at the same time as some of our friends were finally crossing
the border.
But the evening was spent yet again in the carpark looking after ATA and
lending support to Richard and Judy and others who have serious problems with their cars. Peter from the support team was working his magic again, trying to find a way to support the
rear shock absorbers in place. They have punched holes through the
bodywork of Richard’s Volvo.
Tallinn to Riga had many times sections and tight time controls. We aim
to meet the controls and on the timed speed sections be “alert but not
alarmed.” We have no great speed expectations and just want to get ATA
from A to B i.e to Paris and if we check in to every passage and time
control and race section within given times we may end up with a gold
medal. This, as you can imagine makes the drive busy and demanding, ATA
is doing her bit so I have to make sure the navigator concentrates.
She also has to nag the driver and remind him trees are our enemy.
Riga to Vilnius was one challenge after the other, making time controls
with only a minute to spare. The day started on the race track. You
enter unsighted and all the directions which appear clear become mudddy.
Keep left in pits area and on to kart track, “:you have to talk me
through it” he says. Not quite running a 400m keep left wasn’t going to
cut it, but the twist and turns for a go-kart in a car with the finesse
of ATA was a struggle and I thought surely this will be too slow, there
was no point ready out landmarks every 2 meters or so, it was just
follow the bouncing ball. And then through the pits and join the main
track. The grandstands with hundreds of spectators cheering as ATA
roared by (chugged doesn’t sound as good) OK now I had some recognizable
tulips (direction symbols). We are on a race track and I can say go
right, or hit the wall, go left or hit a marshall, This must be the
straight, but the best thing I did say was, stay right, another lap to
go, wow the cheering, oh that as for the Red Jag as she zoomed past us,
Vrmm long gone. And then go left to finish and we complete another
requirement. It sounds easy doesn’t it but three cars lost their gold
medal status on this test by not keeping left or right of the control
point. Extremely disappointing!
It was great fun and a real buzz meeting the deadlines and dealing with
roadwork’s and road delays. The scenery green and pretty and many fields
looking like Monet’s painting with the Flanders poppies splashing the
fields with crimson. In many places blue lupins and white and yellow
wild flowers speckled the red. People were out collecting the flowers
for bouquets. Can we stop, take photos, my cries fell on deaf ears. “Do
you really want to? Maybe there will be flowers at the control.”
All was not lost, the locals out in force for the Dubrogiai time trial,
lined the road. In the middle of the event at a passage control I was
handed a bouquet of wild flowers and welcomed to Lithuania, and we
skidded off again.
Sometimes you have to go a long way to get a bunch of flowers.
Vilnius to Mikolajki we another busy day. Not as many time controls but
one speed section after another. We passed rolling hills and horses and
cows, oak trees and wildflowers. Storks with their young in their nests
atop the telegraph poles. The day ended in Poland’s Lake District. A
Sunday the scene was splendid with yachts and boats and swimmers
enjoying the large freshwater playground.
Lots to do in the carpark. Mick and Andy’s FC off the road with
mechanical failure
One busy rally day to go, I hope………to get to Paris.
Goodnight from Poland!

Too much to see Too little time

You can tell it’s a rest day as the participants stroll into breakfast.
The pace of the herd slows and we dawdle over coffees. Yet the sights of
Moscow await. By design or chance we found ourselves with half a dozen
others exploring the canyons of Stalin’s Metro. Steep, long escalators
transport the stream of thousands of zombies to the chandelier decorated
platforms. The speeding trains roar into the station to slow only when
you have begun to think they will not stop. Red square was our
destination. We toured the Kremlin and explored the many chapels of St
Basil’s. The colours of the highly decorative murals are straight from a
child’s paintbox, clear and bright. The exterior is whimsical shaped
liked a highly decorative circus tent. It is amazing to be in the
square, a place of Lenin, Stalin, Yeltsin where the tanks were rolled
out in a show of military might.
We finished the day with dinner on the square watching the sky fade and
the lights come on.
An early start was required to travel the 700 plus kilometers to St
Petersberg. The large Hotel cosmos was not service oriented. The
Kettlebys were awakened at 330 am by a pounding on their door, three
large men had accompanied the laundry lady, herself quite frightened,
and were demanding payment for the laundry immediately. Having forced
their way into the room our intimidated friends paid up and decided it
was a good time to leave town. We had a leisurely 6.00 start and found
ourselves in peak hour gridlock at StPetersberg by 430. We reached the
hotel some two and a half hours later, in time to head off to the Irish
Pub party hosted by Peter Livanos. It was fun to be in an Irish pub
serving Guinness in the Russian city.
We toured the city of many golden domes. Being a city like Venice with
many canals the river and the Baltic sea we decided a boat tour would be
fun. Huddled under blankets to keep warm and dry we were shown many of
the interesting architectural features of this beautiful city. A quick
lunch was followed with a walk in the huge square a tour of the churches
and matroushka doll shopping. The eight of us then headed back to the
carpark for mechanical duties, determined to return with more time and
no cars in the future.
Reseeding had us heading off at 7.05 to Tallinn. This is the day when the
rally alters and time and speed becomes an issue. Apparently more like
rallies should be. After the lengthy border formalities we began the
timed sections, not all are overly fast but you have to keep moving.It
turned out we had been lucky the crossing took us about 2 hours. There
were competitors there for 9 hours. The system is corrupt and bribes and
false police charges ripped off our friends at the back of the queue.
The speed sections we just do our best considering our primary aim is
just ……to get to Paris. It was fun and ATA did do well, as did the driver
and the navigator. She needs to keep concentrating and stop looking at
the sea vista and taking photos. She never text messages on time
sections. At any rate the section will probably be cancelled as the
leader of the event David and Sadie delayed at the border never made it to the
stages.
Arriving in Tallinn we wound our way through the cobble streets to the
square and a reception of hundreds of people. A beer in the sun in the
medieval square was a great way to finish the day.

But there’s more!

The thick forests now open up into rich farming paddocks. The road regularly interrupted with villages, all with golden domed churches and log style housing. The road on from Yekaterinburg to Perm was a relatively short day. Due to roadworks, navigation was a little twitchy,going with the vibe placed us within 500m of the ice caves by GPS reckoning. But unfortunately a deep gorge, between us and them. Seeing a local I decided to get out of the car and ask for help. Stepping straight into ankle deep mud was a great ice breaker. My newly entertained friend and I had a conversation in Russian style hand language. We all know Michael would be much better at this. But my helpful comrade understood “lost” and drew a map, Russian style, and with sign language similar to feeding a baby with here comes the airplane, described the topography for back up hill round bend, over bridge and back to here but the other side of the deep granite gully. By now I had collected a number of other crews who with blind faith in my hand Russian followed us the 11km to the ice caves. The caves at Kunger stretch 5km under ground with frozen waterfalls and lakes.

Perm is a distant cry from its notorious history of labour camp Perm 36. It is a busy city with lots of construction. Large shops with windows displaying European designer labels line the streets. We pulled huge crowd in the carpark yet again. At 11pm still in bright daylight people were still flocking to take their photos alongside the strange vehicles. To experience the long days at latitude 58o is disorienting. Being exhausted I went to bed in bright sunshine and awoke in daylight at 5 am. I am told the sun did set but I can’t say I noticed.

Michael was thrilled the other evening to find Aussie rules football on Eurosport. The Geelong, Adelaide crows game with a Russian commentary had us rounding up all the Aussies for a laugh even though they are from every other state than Vic.
On and on across Russia we trek, all to a set time table. With 700 km to Kazan we need to keep moving and traffic obstacles are not welcome. We had a most unusual experience on the road. Finding ourselves in a 20 car tailback on the single lane road we worked ourselves slowly towards the lead. Five buses in tandem driving slowly was the cause of the problem. Two small blue cars closely following did not seem to want to overtake so waiting until a large opening appeared ATA wound up and ready to go pulled into overtaking position. With this the small blue cars pulled out to block our path and hung signs out of the window with children symbols on them. OK we get it precious child prodigies being transported to child camp and no one is allowed to interfere. So we sat there, soon Gerry and Matt roared up the outside only to have the same block happen. And again and again cars would try so that eventually we were 10 cars back from the buses again. Eventually they left the road and on we could all go. A few hundred miles and more interruptions. We climbed the road aware at the crest twenty or so young people were blocking our passage. The group were in a festive mood celebrating the wedding of their friends. Much vodka had been consumed and they wanted to share some with us. Now I know the polite way to refuse in Mongolian but this was different. How to say no thanks with a smile all the while thinking not in a blue moon. We had vodka and alcohol soaked fruits spilling into the car and bodies piled on the bonnet posing for photos. I can assure you I was taking a few myself. ATA edged her way on with good wishes and cheering, another car soon to be the crowds amusement.

Ten minutes later, another police checkpoint, what does he do? Wave us in, more photos for the mates. Keep smiling , but need a plan to hide behind mad truckie so that police need to police.
Let me bore you all with the many chores of the navigator. Apart from the obvious, the task is to tell the driver where to go. And sometimes she really wants to tell him where to go!
The driver can be apt to have the retention span of a two year old. It is not hard in most instances straight on will suffice. He is inclined to need constant repetition nothing new for 100km navigator can close her eyes. And then there is the bleat anything to nibble? Any chocolate? Coffee? Water? Lunchtime yet? Not to mention the other chores such as washing, communicating with children and scrounging food to make lunches or shopping. The navigators collective first checks the breakfast offerings for suitable sandwich fillers. The bread is usually stale but suffices quite well. The fruit is very popular and finding bananas is like striking gold. The staff are usually very happy to fill a thermos and when all this is prepared breakfast can be considered.

We traveled to Kazan and onto Nizhny Novgorod both interesting cities, and onto Mockba…Moscow. The traffic getting heavier and heavier. The drivers of truck are good, helpful and organized. The car drivers leave a lot to be desired. We are told there are 50,000 fatalities a year and I am not surprised. Each day on the road we see accidents or their results. Unfortunately some of the group witnessed a fatal accident caused by speed and stupidity. The wider roads have no lane markings and some cars weave at high speed through the lanes off onto the gravel and back again.

Our first evening in Moscow had been designated African Safari Reunion dinner night. Martii and Perka our Finnish friends arranged a most spectacular night. We all met in the lobby and enjoyed Russian sparkling before embarking on the bus tour. We were shown golden domes the KGB offices buildings of note and then Red Square. St Basil’s, the Kremlin the gates Lenin’s tomb all on show with a thunderstorm lighting the sky. We sheltered under the café umbrellas and stood in awe, it was a most moving experience to be there as tourists in a place years ago we would have looked on with fear. Where tanks were rolled out as a show of strength. Where the many chapels and paint box colours of St Basil’s reminds me of a Christmas decoration. When the rain eased we were taken to a restaurant on the square that had been reserved for our group of twenty alone. We were entertained by Russian musicians, and plied with vodka and caviar. Served course after course of fabulous food and far to much wine and vodka. I must say that what goes on within the group stays within the group, and the many incriminating photos will not be published. Darkness had fallen when we left the restaurant. Behold we were in Disneyland, the GUR store was lit up like Harrods and the Domes of the Kremlin and St Basil’s were reminiscent of Fantasyland ( always my favourite land) It was a magical night and we are most grateful to Martii and Perka.

In addition to todays stories there a updated photos here.

Tyumen Yeketerinburg

We shared the road to Tyumen with hundreds of trucks. The cars weaving and swerving to avoid the pothole hazards.The trucks bucking like bronchos along their axis.The countryside flat and monotonous, silver birch the dominant tree.

Karen and David’s Itala back on the road after an all nighter.Problems they had using 30 litres of oil for the first 200 km driven.
Later in the cold, rainy day we were waved in at one of the many police checks “can’t have been speeding!” we just look good. Chat, chat in Russian..blank faces. “speuken si deutch?” the officers enquiry. No Aussie our reply. He then proceeded to insist on showing us on a map of where we already knew we were going.

The many police control checkpoints are a reminder of days gone by, when these gates would be shut.
Accommodation short straw again. The time control was in the good hotel but we were off to the crumbling ex KGB haunt. Adjacent to the rail yard we listened to shunting trains and PA announcements all night. Better than the Vostok, the benchmark of bad hotels but we had fun. The rooms so bad everyone congregates in the bar until late. Suprisingly it is still light at 11pm. The breakfast provided the following morning was questionable. On arriving back at the time control hotel we all snuck in for a second much better breakfast.

The road on to Yeketerinburg monotonously silmilar except we had moved on to fir trees. A shorter day had us into Y early on yet another public holiday. The cars were surrounded in a paperazzi style crush. We all have new sympathy for celebrities, we all grow a little tired of the faces at the window, the tapping, the photos, people jumping on and in your car. Cars parked, bags dumped we ventured out to see a few sites.
The city is famous for its bloody history. The execution of Tsar Nicholas II took place here in 1918. The site of the Romanovs death is today marked with an iron cross and a massive Byzantine style church named the Church of the Blood. Beautiful and golden we were fortunate to view it when the priest and a few women were singing chants.
The city buildings a mixture of massive classic style and crumbling concrete blocks. There is a lot of new building going on. Parks and a large pond soften the austere look.

The weather is more varied than Melbourne, sunshine one moment hail the next. It is causing a few interruptions with our day off in the carpark. Brakes the latest fault to be repaired. I wonder how long they’ll all be out there?

Syberian style house

Syberian style house

Originally uploaded by Michael Wilkinson.