Got to start this entry with thanks to: Dan, Becky, Glenn, Penny, Pat T, Davina, Helen P, Julie, Mrs H, Russ, and everyone else who pulled together to make the Africa Ball at Paignton Zoo such a great night. Special thanks to David Towers and Nina Brzezicki and the rest of the Zoo staff who really pulled out all of the stops.
Importantly the Bush Tucker event, which saw Phil Burford pipped by ‘King of the Jungle’ Brendon Prince in a tight final, raised over £200 for Motivation.org.uk. The Expedition funds were boosted too by the very kind support from revellers, plus a few who couldn’t make it! We really are completely overwhelmed by the amount of support that we are getting. I hope that we can continue to share the adventure with everyone, not least by keeping up this blog throughout!
Still, now the razzmatazz has died down for a while, Rach and I are back to the planning and prep with some rescheduled Driver Training courtesy of Land Rover Experience at Eastnor Castle. This should not only be fun, but provide us with some essential skills, delivered by the best trainers in the field. We will also be proving the Azalai’s latest (and hopefully last mod’) the Cruise Control fitted by OEC over the last couple of days. Paul has also put an adjustable flow-rate valve onto the tail-lift hydraulics so we can adjust the ascent/descent speed compromise. He’s also done a really neat and bespoke hinge for the trailer board to negate needing to mount/unmount it depending upon configuration. I’ll try and post a picture of it at some point. Finally, pleased to report that he Carnet has been processed in good time and is now safely in our possession. Thanks again to Paul Gowen at the RAC.