Our guide Queenie

The arrangements all seemed so straightforward on paper but like life this exercise has more twists and turns than you could imagine…….here’s a bit of the twisting and it is only a tenth of the story.

The two Queensland cars have arrived but won’t be released and cleared for approximately a week. This means that the group has to break into two convoys with each convoy having a mandatory guide. As the travel company could not provide an additional car for the second group Dan,   our mechanic has agreed to drive with Simon who has a vacant seat because Madeleine is still in England due to the current flight restrictions. This reconfiguration provides a seat for the second guide who will drive in Dave’s car once they are on the road.

Once Madeleine arrives, Dan will either wait for Dave or drive with the first convoy guide until the second convoy catch us and we are reunited and only require one guide.

Are you confused…..you are not alone in that!

The four Victorian cars were processed by customs yesterday and apparently everything was pulled out of the cars and checked. Our guide Queenie spent the entire day on the phone liaising with staff who were working to move the cars out of the containers, informing them how they could start each car. So our trip to Simata, at the Great Wall was spiced with constant calls about the intricacies of starting the red, yellow, blue and white car. This communication involved Peter, Ken, Reg and Simon doing rough sketches for Queenie explaining to her where the starter buttons and batteries were located. She then translated the information by phone back to the port.

 So as we understand, and understand being the operative word, tomorrow we go back to collect our driver’s licences, then take the cars from the port to the vehicle registration office to get plates and other documentation required for this road trip. Here’s hoping!