Kapp2Cape - Nordkapp, Norway to Cape Agulhas, South Africa

[GirlChild]

Hi everyone!

So, Viking Explorer and I have dreamed about this trip for years. Then, everything conspired to make 2012 the year to bring dreams alive!

We are leaving the UK on 7th October from the Adventure Overland Show and heading to Nordkapp in Norway - the northern most point in mainland Europe. We'll be spending about 3 weeks in Norway (Viking Explorer is an amazing tour guide) before heading south to find some warmth and heat.

We are travelling down the west coast of Africa, and our very rough estimate is to be in Cape Town to spend Christmas with my family in 2013.

I have been writing a preparation journal since the beginning of 2012, which has been posted in numerous places - except this one! I have been shown the light

If you are interested in any previous preparation posts, please do head to our blog for a bit of a read. I'll be posting the latest entry plus all future ones here ...

I hope you enjoy following our preparation, and our adventure. We hope you are inspired to follow your own dream, whatever it may be.

kind regards,

 

[GirlChild]

Re: Kapp2Cape - Nordkapp, Norway to Cape Agulhas, South Afri

Hi all!

Monday update this week, courtesy of the Bank Holiday!

This has been an interesting week - being off sick has thrown me into the roller coaster ride of "hooray, this is so amazing" and " oh no, everything could go wrong".

In any case, we still make progress! Enjoy.

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Hooray for long weekends! Not only could I slow down and make sure I returned to full health, but that extra day makes a big difference to what is accomplished. As we continue to sort through the house, and make steady progress towards finding new homes for furniture, I am periodically plagued by small attacks of paranoia: “what if we don’t sell all the furniture?” “What if the tenants don’t sign?” “What if our friends don’t want our furballs?” And in the cold light of sanity, there really is very little that is insurmountable. But that doesn’t stop the mind playing havoc with me.

So what have we been up to this weekend? Quick canter through the activities:

- Very Helpful Friend came for a visit, bringing with him good knowledge of car electrics. The fridge has now been wired into the fuse box in the vehicle. However, the attempt to wire in a new aerial was unsuccessful - any tips on how to have the radio instruct the aerial to extend would be welcome!

- We have started to personalise the vehicle - you’ll know it is us when we come past! We plan to add flags for each country we pass through, so we started the process.

- The waffle boards have been trimmed to fit their designated spot. A few centimetres makes all the difference.

- Very successful weekend with online selling saw us find new homes for 2 CD towers, one chair, and an upright fan. All the buyers were extremely prompt at collecting their purchases. Big thanks to them.

- We continued with packing the boxes for the vehicle. Part of my paranoia is that - despite our thorough planning - we’ll have far more than we can fit in the vehicle. So far, so good, and we still seem to have 1 empty wolf box. Good for starting the adventure.

- Our bicycle spares have all been gathered up, and outstanding items ordered. We know from previous excursions into Africa that spares are sometimes tricky to source, so want to ensure we have a few essentials.

- We have solved our water purification dilemma! Thanks to Viking Explorer’s french teacher finding some french travellers' websites, we have decided to use Micropur Forte for our needs. Great African Explorer (i.e. African GirlChild’s old man) has also been considering the more “heavy metal” based purification methods over iodine and chlorine based options, so we feel like we are on the right track. The challenge now is how we measure 0.5g of powder, which is all that is needed to purify 50l of water! A plan is in the making …

- I have ordered a watertight round tub which will serve as our washing machine: at the beginning of the day, place dirty clothes, water and washing powder into said tub and close. For warm water wash, place on roof rack; for cool wash, place inside vehicle. The driving through the day should “agitate” the washing, which then only needs rinsing at the end of the day. I like it!

I think that broadly covers the activities.

Viking Explorer has a mere 14 days left of work, while African GirlChild has 20. Not long now. 41 days until we catch the ferry …

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Sadly, back to the desk job tomorrow. Just when I was getting into the rhythm of the prep ...

Until next time!

kind regards
African GirlChild

 

[GirlChild]

Re: Kapp2Cape - Nordkapp, Norway to Cape Agulhas, South Afri

Hi all!

The weeks are becoming few ... here is our latest update. Enjoy!

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When we first became serious about this adventure in October 2011, we put a date in the diary. The date was today -
2nd September 2012. In some ways it is frightening to think that we should have departed today. But then again, we would have done things differently along the preparation path, so may have indeed been on the ferry tonight instead of in a chaotic house. The date changed for us for all the right reasons, including giving us the chance to be a part of the Adventure Overland Show, so no regrets.

This week has been the epitome of chaos. Again, it is all for the right reasons, but that doesn’t make it any easier for the mind to comprehend. The good news is that the cupboards are getting emptier and emptier. The bad news is that I haven’t managed to sort through everything that is now in piles on the floor, or bursting out of boxes. My nice orderly system a few weeks ago is no more … I only hope that we put the right boxes in the vehicle … Stress levels in the house are soaring - but so far no major fall-out between the explorers. That is the most important.

So what has this week been about?

The removals company has been a major source of both frustration and stress. The costs slowly mount (oh yes, we have negotiated your storage cost, but that didn’t include the insurance, which is the other arm and leg …) and so we are reducing our meagre belongings even further. We are now aiming for under 250 cubic feet. Now, to appreciate this, measure out 6 ft by 6 ft by 7ft high. That is it. The sum total of all our possessions from a 3 bedroom house. Not a whole lot for 2 people. Anyway, negotiations continue, while we come up with other cunning ideas.

On the upside - the chaos in the house was compounded by the “Grand Central Delivery Depot” that was our house this week. All variety of items were delivered - from our washing machine tub, to business cards, to bicycle spares. All very necessary for the trip.

We also received the audio files from BBC Surrey. We have uploaded these onto the website (after learning yet more new technology!) so please do have a listen. Remember - no laughing. It was our first time in the studio! Follow the link here. LINK

We listed numerous items on ebay to sell. Mixed success (as always) but importantly, the furniture is selling. Probably faster than hoped, so the bedroom now has piles of clothes that need sorting. All books and CDs are now heading to work with Viking Explorer to see if there are any takers there.

Viking Explorer is also sending a pile of Norwegian books to Den Norske Sjoemannskirke which will be used by the Norwegian community in London.

The sorting continues, and the pile for the “Giant Car Boot Sale” in 2 weeks is growing out of proportion. Me thinks 2 cars will be needed. Anything left will be heading straight to the charity shop.

The first of the 2 other cars looks like it has a new home too. Friends are keen to take it over, but need to sell their little van first. Hopefully that won’t take too long!

I have written and submitted my first guest blog. Hopefully I’ll be successful, and I’ll see my scribings and musings inspiring others to follow their dreams.

I am starting to feel rather exhausted. The end is in sight, so I just have to grit my teeth and carry on for the last bit.

And so, after a busy week, and with a mere 5 weeks left, I think I have earned a glass of wine tonight.

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Until next time!

rgds
African GirlChild

 

[GirlChild]

Re: Kapp2Cape - Nordkapp, Norway to Cape Agulhas, South Afri

Hi all!

It is time for another weekly update on the preparations! Not long to go, and then I'll be scribing our adventure diary! Enjoy the last few installments of 'preparation journal'!

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1 month to go
When I started the preparation journal, I wondered if we would ever reach this point - would we be able to follow through on our ambition, our dream? I am pleased to say we definitely are! In many ways, as time ticked by, and we became more and more engaged in our adventure preparation, the option to ‘bail out’ and return to corporate jobs thankfully diminished.

I also wondered where we would be preparation-wise when I wrote the entry that had the “1 month” on it. Would we be ahead of plan? Would we have too much to do? What would be our stresses? Would the house be empty or still full of furniture? Would the vehicle be ready to go yet?

Now that I have reached the “1”, I have no idea whether I have met expectations or not! I do know that we still have lots to do! I also know that we couldn’t have reached this point without all the help and support we’ve had from friends, family, the 30DC community, the forums and the overland community. You’ve all helped us on our way - even if it is something as seemingly small as a comment to say “keep it up”. So, I’ll apologise in advance if you don’t get a specific mention - but know that you have all been so instrumental in us reaching our departure date.

So what have we been up to this week?

Firstly, with a month to go, it is the time to give notice on all the services to the house: TV, SKY, phone, water, council tax. It feels quite strange - especially when the “retention” team try to prevent you from leaving! “No, I really am going travelling, and won’t be needing the SKY movie channels - even if you are offering them free!”

Our dear friends - the Devon Connection - have very kindly offered to look after our box of Very Important Documents, and will also be receiving our post while we are travelling. They are true stars, and we look forward to them joining us for a holiday in Ghana!

Our other dear friends - Scottish Aussie Twosome - are taking ownership of the first of our cars. They will also be looking after the dear furballs while we are adventuring. Similarly, big stars. We also look forward to them joining us for a holiday in the far south of Africa. Hooray!

Very Helpful Friend came to lend a hand again, with wiring the aerial (hopefully it’ll work now) and attaching the roof-top tent to the roofrack (which needs longer bolts than those supplied - obviously!). Like the other big stars, we look forward to him also joining us along the adventure.

We took advantage of the late summer weather on the weekend, and brought our final car boot sale forward by a week. We were rewarded with good sales, but nowhere close to selling everything. Valuable funds added to the travel pot, but lots off to the charity shop next week. That will make a big difference in removing the clutter in the house.

The other online sales have been doing well. The furniture continues to trickle out, and other small appliances have joined the exodus. We’ll continue this in the coming week.

The sewing machine has been in action again this week. We have been unable to source the “perfect” backgammon set - so I made one! OK, I didn’t quite make the counters and the dice, but I made the backgammon board from scraps of fabric I had left over from the other sewing projects. There is a little internal pouch on the right for the counters and dice, and then the board rolls up! I just need some orange ribbon and it is complete.

(If you have been intrigued by the sewing projects, please do come past and visit us at the Adventure Overland Show where we’ll have them on display.)

On the sobering side of the preparations, we have prepared our “In Case of Emergency” contact list, and will be sorting out our wills in the coming week. We have also purchased travel insurance, with a focus on medical evacuation, and also coverage in FCO restricted countries. We do, of course, plan to be careful on our adventure, and we hope that these will never need to be used.

I think that is broadly the week gone by. Viking Explorer has only 5 more days of employment! African GirlChild has a mere 11. It is 26 days until we start our adventure with a journey up to the Adventure Overland Show!

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That is it for this week!

Until next time!

kind regards
African GirlChild

 

[GirlChild]

Hi all!
So, time is ticking ... and my early-bird disposition is starting to merge into nightowl tendencies ...
Sleep is going to be soooooo good ... after 7th October
Latest weekly update. Not many of these left, so enjoy!
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This week, we have to say big thanks! We start off with thanks to Very Helpful Friend who spent the whole of Saturday with us. With his help, we repainted the lounge (well, only 2 walls actually) and also emptied the study, removed shelves and repainted. Having an extra set of hands made this job much easier.
The next thanks is to the Scottish Aussie Twosome who came over on Sunday evening - and brought us dinner! Concerned for our welfare, they ensure we had a good meal. So very kind.
Back to the affairs of the week.
This week has been very busy - unsurprisingly. The week started with my first guest blog being published! I have been a member of “Escape the City” for a while, and had an opportunity to share our story. You can read my contribution here. Very exciting for me. I look forward to sharing our story in other places too.

Our bedroom is fully installed! The correct length bolts have enabled Viking Explorer to secure the tent, and the mattress has found its new home.
The rest of the week has been about making the house empty. We had a relatively successful week with furniture sales, and tomorrow the final items will be listed. As the furniture leaves, the contents sit on the floor - the house is sheer and utter chaos.
We have also been working hard on the admin side - so much paperwork to sort out for the ‘leaving behind’ bits. The removals company have been booked in for 3rd October. This is the drop-dead date for getting everything in the right categories: for the trip, for storage or for the tip The newly painted study will now be our “to be stored” room. As with most “3rd bedrooms” it isn’t terribly large, and we have set ourselves a goal of “only half full”. Let us see how it goes.
The ferry is booked! Yes, I know it should have been done ages ago, but revenue management doesn’t seem to be a strong point at the ferry companies … and prices have actually been falling since I first looked! We have come in about £50 cheaper than first check - and that is after a cabin upgrade! (Note to self - potential contract opportunity in there somewhere …).
The embroidery patches have arrived! Hooray! Now I need to stitch them to our designated items … we should be easy to spot at the Adventure Overland Show, as fleece tops will be adorned
This week we have also been in touch with other overlanders - past, present and future. Vicki of Langebaan Sunset was a great motivator and shared her words of wisdom from their last weeks of preparation. Thanks Vicki. Vikings Across Africa, who are a group of 15 from numerous nationalities, are travelling from Reykjavik to Cape Town in a converted orange Bedford Truck. They depart a few months after us, but have a shorter journey time, so we look forward to meeting them en route (Ghana potentially?). We have also had a few contacts via the Adventure Overland Show, and we look forward to meeting TrundlingJack and TrundlingJenny in Daventry along with many, many others. It is so inspiring for us to share our story.
Viking Explorer is now officially a full-time Overland Explorer, as his previous role of Business Analyst has ceased. He has immediately thrown himself into his full time role, and progress in the house has increased. For the first time, I actually feel that we may have everything sorted in time! That didn’t, however, stop me having nightmares last night that the movers were coming this week! Yikes.
Anyway, I have only 6 more days at work, and we have 19 days until we leave the house. Time is ticking ...
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That is it for today! Another week down and a mere 3 to go ...
until next time!
kind regards
Sheelah

 

[Graham]

Very interesting,

I think the sleepless nights will be kicking in soon.

Gra.

 

[GirlChild]

Very interesting,

I think the sleepless nights will be kicking in soon.

Gra.

I fear you are indeed correct - but we'll continue to try to complete the 'to do' list during daylight hours

rgds

 

[GirlChild]

Hi all!
Latest update ... enjoy!
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This week I had a long chat to my dear friend, the Devon Connection, about their dream. Like us, they didn’t want to wait until retirement to pursue their dream, and so 2 years ago they starting moving towards making it a reality. It has been an adjustment, with hard work, sacrifices ... but they remained true to their ideal and it is now falling into place, almost better than they could have hoped for.

They are an inspiration for us. We look at their perseverance, and it keeps us focused on achieving our own dream.

This week has been a tough week. There were some unexpected admin curveballs which appeared and needed attending to, and lots of form filling. Not fun. Distracting. Energy sapping.

We watched the steady flow of furniture and other sold items out of the house. The house must be the Tardis - there is really no other way we managed to tuck away quite so much! The psychology of ebay continues to flummox me. Some people pay much closer to a “new” price than we could have believed (we sold our road bikes for 50% more than our most optimistic hopes) and then others want everything for next to nothing. Overall, though, we have done very well: both in reducing the amount going into storage, and generating some funds for the trip.

We also sold Viking Explorer’s car. We were very worried we had left it a bit late, and thought we may struggle to find a buyer. After 2 hours on Autotrader, a phonecall was followed by a prospective buyer - who turned into the actual buyer. Probably a bit quicker than planned, and we found ourselves a set of wheels down.

It has to be said - while we are focused on the goal, and absolutely can’t wait to hand over the keys to our house and start our Adventure, we are still Human. And unfortunately, Humans find it incredibly unsettling to wrench themselves out of a comfortable, known, rut and make Big Life Changes. So, there have been moments this week where watching our worldly possessions exit stage left has been frightening, and a few tears have been shed. Then we just carry on.

We did have some fun moments this week too. I find I work best when I can switch from one side of the brain to the other. So, after hours of admin, decisions, packing - I try to find time for something creative and fun! This week I started stitching our embroidery badges to our backpacks and shopping bags. Very cool. Also, I managed to bake fruit cake using the “boozy fruit” I made a few weeks back. Believe me - there is no chance the cake will go bad: it has been well preserved

Our friends continue to help - by ensuring we are eating properly! Let me re-iterate - this is a vital part of preparation support. This weekend, Frequent Flyers invited us for dinner and ensured we left well fed. We caught up on their recent travels (including a trip to India) and shared more of our adventure with them. We also helped them with an itinerary for taking their parents to South Africa for the first time, but they have assured us they will also meet us there closer to the end of our adventure.

This week also saw a bit more discussion on the route. As a result, we have decided (at the 11th hour) that actually a winch might not be a bad idea. Goodwinch have come to our rescue, and will be sending one our way. Hopefully it won’t take too long for Viking Explorer to install …

There has been some work on the website - the route has been updated with new graphics, and a new page featuring the sewing projects has been added. Do take a look.

That is about it in a nutshell. African GirlChild has 1 more day in the office … and it is a mere 12 days until we head up to the Adventure Overland Show.

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Early night for me ... sleep is such a luxury
take care
African GirlChild

 

[Ben]

Looking forward to reading about your adventure.

 

[AndyCook]

a winch - excellent, sounds like the route change may be "interesting"
have you already got a winch bumper then?

 

[Graham]

Hi AGC, so not too long to go now.
What is your concerns at the moment, what are you (if any thing) are you most worried about?

Can you just run through your trip, and name planned main cities again please.

Thanks,

Gra.

 

[GirlChild]

a winch - excellent, sounds like the route change may be "interesting"
have you already got a winch bumper then?

Yes. We had orginally planned to install a winch, so changed the bumper. Then, the winch didn't fit, so we just left it. So, it was a very easy job to install the winch delivered on Monday by Goodwinch.

I feel much better with one.

 

[GirlChild]

Hi AGC, so not too long to go now.
What is your concerns at the moment, what are you (if any thing) are you most worried about?

Can you just run through your trip, and name planned main cities again please.

Thanks,

Gra.

Graham - the main concerns for us are visas for Nigeria and Angola. The requirements seem to change so often! Whatever information we may have now is sure to be out of date by the time we get closer!

As for the route - please head over to the website and have a look at the route tab. We are trying to avoid main cities as much as possible - only venturing in if we need to get visas.

 

[GirlChild]

So, as the days are rapidly disappearing, our level of exhaustion rises, and ability to make decisions diminishes. 　No worry, we are nearly there. As long as the vehicle is packed, the rest can really go into storage at this point.

Apologies, but short and sweet this week. Desperate for sleep …

- African GirlChild’s final day at work! Hooray!

- Our first 2 nights of camping have been booked in Denmark. Or rather, contact has been made with the campsite, but no booking needed. Super.

- The winch that was ordered last week arrived on Monday as promised. Big thanks to Goodwinch. VikingExplorer has installed it.

- Our packing continued with clothes being allocated to storage (and vacuumed into storage bags), or to the trip (now into the trip bag) or charity (into the charity box).

- We have completed the legalities for our Wills. Sobering, but necessary.

- We have sold all our furniture! Finally! Well, actually, not quite all: 1 breakfast table and 2 folding chairs remain. 　Last items to be collected tomorrow.

- We discovered a leak in the rooftop tent. Rather now than later ... So the mattress came back into the house to dry out, and VikingExplorer has sealed the visible cracks, tears and holes with Duct tape. Hopefully we have caught them all.

- We also discovered a leak in the back window. No problem - used some sealant to stop that one.

- We have been packing the vehicle. Perhaps this should have been started earlier, but better late than never. So far so good.

- I made flynets for the vehicle windows. In particular, this should keep our the tsetse flies in Zambia.
VikingExplorer cracked out the video and has started a daily video diary (very short each day). Please head over to the blog if you’d like to see them!

We have also had a few goodbye meals and drinks. Big thanks to those who made sure that we had at least a few good meals this week.

And that is that (I’m afraid). Thursday this coming week we hand over the keys to the house, and move into our friends’ place. Friday we head up to the Adventure Overland Show. Sunday we board the ferry and our dream truly becomes real.

WOW!

 

[GirlChild]

Hi all ...
This is the post that should never have been - but hey ho, that is life!
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Life gives you what you need, rather than what you want.

This should be written from the campsite in Denmark, as we make our way northwards. However, Life has given us a few extra days in the UK … and this is not a bad thing at all.

The Adventure Overland Show over the weekend was fantastic. We were overwhelmed by the support we received from so many of you who have been following our preparation. Many people came past to see us - it was great to finally put faces to names. There was lots of chatting, and a chance for people to have a look at the preparation on the vehicle. We also gave a talk about the ups and downs of our preparation so that future travellers may avoid our mistakes.

The biggest lesson we learned was that we started packing the vehicle too late, and discovered that our rear suspension wasn’t up the task. Fortunately, as we were at the Adventure Overland Show, we were in the best place to find help! And Julian of Overland Cruisers is our knight in shining armour. Yesterday, he ordered in new heavy duty coils, and today he and Viking Explorer are making the necessary coil switch.

This meant that after our fabulous send-off from the Adventure Overland Show, we had the afternoon to catch our breath. We grabbed a quick bite (eating being something we didn’t really manage to squeeze in during the busy days at the Show) and enjoyed a slow drive back down to Basingstoke where the Aussie Scottish Twosome opened their home to us and gave us a warm place to sleep.

Amazingly, we received a call from the ferry company to check if we were still planning to travel, as the ferry was departing in 15 minutes and we hadn’t checked in yet. What customer service! I had been unable to get hold of them during the day to postpone our departure, so was delighted by the phonecall. Nothing was a problem - they moved our ticket to Wednesday with no charge or fuss.

In reality, this was exactly what we needed. We were so rushed in the last weeks that we never had a chance to stop. We took the day to dump some items from the vehicle, enjoy some quality time with our friends (something we haven’t done in far too long) and just catch our collective breathes.

And, for the first time, I am starting to feel the butterflys of excitement! Let the adventure begin!

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And hopefully the next post should be the first edition of the adventure diary!
kind regards
African GirlChild

 

[Chas]

I came to see you at the Overland show, I found your truck but nobody was there at the time , oh well another time perhaps. Bon voyage and a safe trip.

 

[uHu]

I have been reading your postings here with joy. It's fantastic that you embark on such an expedition, and even better when you share it with us. You certainly have chosen the right vehicle in which to travel. Wishing you the best of luck.

 

[Leopard]

Looking forward to following your trip. All the best!

 

[ram]

It was nice to see you at show,sorry to hear about the delay,i'm sure everything will be alright
Have a safe trip

Ram