Sussex

Just ten days to go before we take the BA flight to Boston and the start of our latest drive.

Having just seen the effects of hurricane Irene on the Eastern Seaboard of the USA, and with two more months of the hurricane season to go, we have to hope that when we are driving down from Canada we are spared such an event!

We have heard from Kenny and DeeAnne that they will be arriving in St. Johns at 1am on Tuesday 13th September, having flown from Texas via Quebec and Montreal. I hope they aren't expecting me to collect them from the airport at that time!!

Finally, our good friend Ahmad has arrived in the UK for a few days and we are trying to meet him in London next week before he flies to Iran.

Sussex

I have just had confirmation from Cars Europe Ltd that the cars are on their way and will arrive in Newfoundland on September 1st which gives plenty of time for customs clearance before we pick them up on September 13th.

Our Texan friends, Kenny and DeeAnne, who will be travelling with us as our passengers for the first week of the drive, have let me know they will be arriving in St. Johns at 1am on the 13th.

Here's a brief update on our travel plans prior to the start of the drive on September 14th. We fly from London on September 7th to Boston, where we stay with my nephew for a couple of nights and then we take the train to New York. We stay there for Wendy's concert on September 11th and then fly to St. John's on the 12th. Lots to do therefore before we start driving!!

Sussex

I am writing this while we are down in Sussex for a few days. Yesterday I delivered the Landcruiser to Cars Europe up in Suffolk. They will load the car, with Bob's Landcruiser, into a 40ft container, next Monday.

Here's the Landcruiser, with the windscreen stone-guard fitted once more, parked up at the warehouse ready for shipping.


Now we are about to embark on our eleventh long-distance drive and I have just realised that we are nearly at the 10th anniversary of our first drive, the Inca Trail, which took place in October 2001. What a wonderful ten years it has been. How fortunate we are to have visited so many out-of-the-way places all over the world. With the planned trips to New Zealand and Australia, we will have driven through all the continents of the world.

London

Looks like we are all set to go!

The car is ready and on Tuesday I take it up to the shippers in Suffolk. Later in the week, Bob will be delivering his Landcruiser and both cars will then be loaded into a 40ft container for shipping to Argentia, Newfoundland. Argentia is about 130 kms from St. John's and our plan is to hire a car in St. John's and drive to Argentia to collect the cars and bring them back to our hotel before we start the drive across Newfoundland.

I heard in the week that Kenny and DeeAnne, who were hoping to rent a car in St. John's for a one-way rental to Quebec City, have not been able to do so. I suggested they join us as passengers as far as Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they should be able to rent a car. Let's hope they can do that.