Bon Voyage to Matt Wright (Africa Above and Below)

[Andrew Prince]

Matt and team are heading through Europe and then South through Africa starting tomorrow.
Matt is due to set off bright & early in the morning to catch a 10am ferry - he's due to pop round "mine" on the way, so will update this thread if there's any advance on his plans
Initial plan is to head through northern France to sample some champagne, I believe - I'm sure it will be nicely chilled

Here is the website for everyone to follow:
http://africaaboveandbelow.com/home.html

Best wishes and safe travels to Matt, Lorien, Japie & Gigi

Cheers,

 

[24Seven]

Good trip Matt.

Please keep us updated on your progress

 

[kamalsrana]

A very good trip to you Matt.

Keep safe and dont drive when tired.

All the best.

 

[Chris]

Matt, just so that you know - I have changed my mobile number, e-mail, name by deed-poll etc

Best of luck


Chris

 

[Chas]

Good luck on your journey Matt , remember not to overload the truck, so perhaps you should leave that bottle of sherry behind.

 

[Gav Peter]

Good luck kids Don't forget Gigi's copilotting skills buddy & hope you get your phone sorted PDQ

Have a splendid trip

 

[Andrew Prince]

Had a call this morning from Matt as they were entering the M25 (so he's sorted his phone at least) at 07h30.

They were having some issues with fuelling - I think the diesel was waxing a bit in the fuel lines and they were struggling a bit for oomph. Hopefully that sorted itself out as they got properly warmed up. I haven't heard anything further, so presume they made it to Dover ok - they should be boarding the ferry now and ready to depart Blighty

PS: I updated the first post on this thread with their website details.

Cheers,

 

[Crispin]

Good luck - very jealous......

 

[ignat]

Good luck Matt & Lorien! :greetings-waveyellow:

Have fun!

 

[Rob]

Good luck, Cape Town is on my wishlist so will be following closely.

 

[Ian Rubie]

Good luck Matt and co. Keep the updates coming.

Ian and Nickie

 

[Matt Wright]

Hello all!!!

Greetings from Luzern, Switzerland where it's finally stopped snowing. Thanks (lol, still thanking you guys for helping out!) for starting the thread. I promise there will be a cracking website to read through after our long ferry ride from Venice to Alexandria. It's 5 days odd and it looks like the best time to do it.. I've done a LOT of driving since departing London as conditions have been pretty terrible. Pouring rain, driving snow, strong headwinds and lots of driving in the dark - despite leaving at sparrows every day! I forgot how early it gets dark here...

Anyway, we made it to Switzerland as follows : London > Reims, France > Stuttgart, Germany > Luzern, Switzerland. Tomorrow we'll do a long haul of 350miles to Venice and get ready to board the following day. It took us 5 hours to do just 200miles today. That's how bad the snow's been. I promise you, UK weather is like the Bahamas compared to this stuff.. Managed to get some good photos and even some video footage so will put it all together on the ferry..

Ok, have to duck I'm afraid - need to post about my fuel / GEARBOX issues. grrrr. It's under the 80 section btw so if you're keen, head on over..

Chat soon and thanks so much for all the messages!!! It's great hearing from you guys!!!

Matt

 

[Andrew Prince]

Glad you guys are making progress and more or less on track still

Ok, have to duck I'm afraid - need to post about my fuel / GEARBOX issues. grrrr. It's under the 80 section btw so if you're keen, head on over..

Hmm sounds a little ominous...

 

[Gav Peter]

Good to hear from you buddy - glad all is well

Looking forward to the website mods - eranu eranu eranus!!!

 

[adrianr]

Well done Matt. Hold your vision in your mind, end result only.

 

[kamalsrana]

Way to go Matt....

Enjoy it mate.... Keep safety a priority, all the best matey....

 

[Andrew Prince]

An email just came in from Matt - alive and kicking (and spitting mad )

Weather in Europe was MENTAL.. heavy heavy snow so going was slow and tough. I drove the entire way as well..
Ferry was 2 full days longer due to massive seas, we never even docked at Tartous.
Headed straight to Alexandria, paperwork wasn't too bad. Only got out at 1am tho. promptly had 108 litres of petrol put in the truck so at Toyota now waiting to go fetch it and get it pumped etc. All in Arabic, so despite checking, we got petrol. (insert RAGE).. Had to sleep in the car seats last night cause the hotel address is totally wrong and after driving around till 4am, no luck lol. What a nightmare..
Anyway least they can fill the aircon up and have a look at the gearbox

Will write properly when we're settled. Just been a bit taxing to date!!!

 

[Jimbo4x4]

Sounds like they're having a whale of a time

Chin up Matt, the adventures have only just begun

Seriously, have a great time guys and believe me when I say I wish it was me!

Jim.

 

[Matt Wright]

Greetings guys

All is good in the world (for the next 7 hours). We got the diesel / petrol situation sorted out and Nala is going like the wind again (well, 95% - a good drive should get the last of the petrol/buggles out). We finally found our hotel and it's a palace compared to sleeping in the car But we check out early tomorrow and head for Cairo where it's Sudanese visa time.. It seems that Tracks for Africa and Garmin have zero useful maps for Egypt so navigating has been a lot of fun Starting to feel more like an overlander now after wearing all my clothes inside out and then back to front
I finally uploaded the first draft of the site so have a peek when you can. There's still loads missing but it'll have to wait till we get down to the coast and have 5 or so days to relax... We're still carrying a bottle of champagne we want to crack open - we're just either in a tricky spot and can't, or we're dead tired!

We've met so many really helpful people - maybe they learnt something from you all..

Will be in touch and let you know when the forum gets updated. (Gav - it sends a message on FB so you can ping the guys if you see it and I haven't had time.. Oh and I still need to write up your page )

Feeling good about everything and confident that we're learning the ropes quickly
Matt

PS - Sat phone details on the website - you can text us free

 

[Andrew Prince]

Glad to hear that things are on more of an even keel than this morning Hope you come right on the gearbox asap and you can really get into the drive across Egypt!
Brace yourself for the driving experience of a lifetime with the Cairo (Cairean?) locals

Cheers,