Quick Update
Well it's been a long old time since we made a blog update, so firstly apologies for not keeping this up to date. Hopefully from here we will be back on track. When we last posted Ollie was hobbling along on a twisted ankle, whilst our heroine Jenny was fully fit and raring to go for the Grim 8 part two.
Well Ollie continued on the ill health trip having about another 5 injuries/illnesses too dull to discuss here. But the Grim athlete had a resounding success, knocking about 20 minutes off her previous P.B. So a big well done to Jenny (and Julia and JP). Photos of that and the Bupa Great South Run that Ollie and Julia ran are available here.
Jenny has promised that she will continue running her annual event whilst Ollie's next event is the Reading half marathon, that he hasn't actually started training for yet. Tomorrow is the day! Once this has been completed his attentions will turn 100% towards the John O'Groats to Land's End cycle ride. This is still very much on his mind, and will be the main focus after the Reading half. This is still scheduled in for the first two weeks in September.
Scary .....
Christmas Toys
Our next excitement, trip wise, was the Christmas goodies that added to our supply of toys for the trip. The first major addition was a Hennessy Hammock, most likely the first of a pair. These are the ultimate in expedition hammocks and are geared up to allow a comfortable and dry nights sleep, as well general lazing around. They are also mozzie proof, which will be a huge relief for Jenny, who could attract a mosquito at gin and tonic convention held on the Winter's Solstice at the North Pole.
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Here Jennifer shows how a lady would enjoy a hammock in the new forest.
The pictures of Ollie in the hammock have been censored on the grounds of taste and decency |
In a similar vein, we also picked up another new canoe in the sales. This one is destined to come with us though, although we haven't told it yet. Regular readers will remember that Ollie does not have a good reputation with delicate canvas canoes, but this one is made of toughened PVC or something equally exotic. It is inflatable and takes Jenny less time to pump than it takes Ollie to find his shoes.
When packed up it takes up the same amount of room as one of the boxes in the back of Dino. With a little bit of mental repacking we have found we can justify the room and extra weight. This, as well as our push bikes that we will now be taking on a spare wheel carrier, will make us appear to be proper adventurers.
Ha ha, little will people know! The canoe has been tried out locally on the Test, and once O&J figure out left and right, will make a great addition to the Jollyfollies kit list.
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Our final major new piece of kit was a leaving present to Ollie from his work, where he had been working for six years. Ollie's original plan had been to stay in his nice comfortable chair until Jolllyfollies set sail in 2009. But to his surprise Ollie was signed up by the reformed Boy Band, Boyzone. Hence Ollie is currently in Dublin, rehearsing for the new tour. OK, that's not quite true, but Ollie did get an offer of a new job, which made a lot of sense both financially and for his future, bearing in mind he will soon be a nomad. Ollie's long suffering workmates had long known about his plans to drive to Australia, and hence had also known exactly what it was Ollie would want as a leaving present - a LEATHERMAN! Woohoo! Now Ollie can hang round with the real overlanders without being found out!
Dino to the Doctors!
Well, it's been six months since Dino last visited the doctors surgery at Foley's and we have a list of jobs that could keep the whole of Solihull busy for a week, hence next Saturday we will drop him off to Foley's for a month of work. the biggest job is we will be putting in a new gearbox and clutch. Although we love the workout we get when driving Dino long distances, and the 50/50 chance of finding 2nd gear, we have decided to bite the bullet and get Dino a whole new gearing system. This is very exciting, although we will miss not having Dino guarding the house for a month. Also on our list are:
- New high lift jack and attachment to Dino
- Spot lights and headlight improvement
- Spade holder
- Additional tow points
- Repairing Ollie's damage to back step
Once all this is in place we will only be taking Dino to Foley's one more time before we leave. We are now perhaps starting to move into the penultimate stage of our preparations. Next year the trip starts for real!
Changes to the Website
Since we first started this website we have used eBlogger to record our blog, but we have now decided to migrate this across to the format that we use for the entire website. This will mean that we are not reliant on another company and should mean maintenance and uploads are easier to perform on the road. At least in principle. So Ollie has been busy the last few weeks migrating the historical data to this format. We hope that old links will still point to our diary, but we will also put a post on the blogger site, linking back here.
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