We are still taking wrong turns on the roads less travelled and as a group we generally loathe expressways. What do you see and where’s the adventure driving on an expressway…… not for us. There’s no accounting for what happens when you sit in a forty year old MGBGT for nearly 94 days.

We are now moving pretty rapidly and in the last few days all cars are speeding along. Fingers, toes and all other limbs crossed, please! This section is a bit of a “drive through” but we knew that when we signed on.

In Croatia the scenery was beautiful and we all enjoyed ourselves. High summer, 31 degrees all the flowers in bloom, the sky clear and blue, Adriatic just so warm for swimming, roads are fantastic, even  those less travelled, superb accommodation, can’t get much better we think as  it is predictably gorgeous  but it is starting to feel a bit shall I say it….easy in comparison to where we have come from.

On our drive from Split to Croatia we did take a wrong turn and then had to take a 30 minute ferry ride to get across an inlet. We did lose Reg and Mary or they lost us but with Tom-Tom and Mary’s navigation they made it to the ferry on time.

Now it is a breeze to drive across borders but something is missing. There are no black undercover cars trailing us, like in China, there are no officials policing the way we dress, there’s no possibility  our rooms are bugged, there’s no sense of will we get through the next unknown country  and what is in store for us.  The thing I most miss is, now we just drive along like every other car. From China to Iran we felt as if we were in a cavalcade of very special cars. It was unique for us and those we passed. Everyone tooted, waved, hung out windows and even the most retiring Nonnas smiled with a twinkle in their eye. We were making people laugh, even if it was only a ten second laugh, it was extraordinary.

Today as we drove down the three lane expressway into Brescia, Italy, the cars just flew by. Porsches, Audis, BMWs and every shape and size Merc. Flash after  flash  as they speed past and we were sitting on 110 kms. I only caught one person’s eye in 430kms and she looked from her Audi convertible with a condescending glance. I reckon if she did give the convoy any thought, which is highly improbable, it would be those poor, silly people in those beat up, old cars but little did she know where these cars had come from.

If I was passenger in her car I would have slept from China to Italy….totally ” non compos mentis”. It would be so easy to sit back and sleep as I normally do on any long trip but I am smitten by MG travel as you simply can’t sleep, you have to be alert and you see and hear everything that’s going on around you.

Today two South Africans in a MGBGT and a Yorkshire man, in a MGA joined the group to drive through to the UK with us. Tomorrow we meet the people from the Italian MG Car Club and they will drive with us for half a day so they can be part of this adventure. Maybe there’s still some surprises in store. Good ones I hope, just as long as we all stay safe and get to the UK. That’s the name of the game.