Welcome along to the page with all the news. We will try and keep you up to date with all the changes and plans as they happen. And feel free to drop us a line if you like what the team is doing.

We made it - and then...

Right then.

So right now I am nursing a small case of sunburn on my left shoulder - as a result of listening to Mark and deciding it would be a good idea to ride a scooter 55km north to the weekly markets on the berach. Oh well - so as you can probably tell - we are not sick of driving in India yet.

ANyway - just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been reading, commenting, and donating.

We've had a blast - are still in Goa, and won't be back in NZ till the 9th of May.

At that stage we'll put up a full summary of the travels - lots more photos, and some comments about the absurdity of driving in India.

Until then - if you are interested in taking part, the Winter 2010 Rickshaw Run is about to accept sign-ups...

www.rickshawrun.com

Andy

SMS Update

Goa! Finish line! Unbelieveably under own power at 16:35pm. Shattered but very happy. 12 breakdowns & 0 accidents. May we never drive one of those machines EVER again!@

Link to Photos

Hi One & All, We've had some issues loading photos so I placed some on face book. The public link is

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=107367&id=681159618&l=1596cecfe6

And for those who are interested - we are in Pune - having illegally drive3n the expressway here this morning. Well how were we to know three-wheelers were not allowed?

Only 560km to go now - we think...

SMS Update

R Made it to Pune! Motor still makes noises but hey, it goes.. Still hoping to make the finish line on Saturday if the shaw holds up.

Those darn cheating kiwis...

So in the end we had to. After three hell days of constant breakdowns, watching accidents, and hot winds - we finally broke.

Last night got the shaw on a train to Kalyan- just north east of Mumbai. Now only 560km from the finish line - hoping to make it for Sat or Sun.

But she is making new, strange engine noises... and the battery keeps playing up. Why do we deserve this?

The Indian train bureaucracy was an adventure though- you have to book your tickets first - and then book your baggage - and then hope they have room for your baggage (in our case a rickshaw).

And to any other teams wanting to try this - make sure yuo take off the mudguards and one rear wheel - and then they fit beautifully through the cargo doors.

Toddlepip

a

SMS Update

R We're enjoying a day off in Jabalpur while our Rickshaw is fixed (we hope). Turns out the piston is broken this time. Over time I think we've replaced the whole engine in the $&((@ useless thing. India has become a love hate relationship :-))

Jabulpur and bust

Ok - so it is 9.45am - and we are not on the road. 

Which can only mean one thing - car trouble.

Let me recap - after having a half day off in Varanasi - we agreed that in order to make the finish line we would have to cut out some sightseeing - so no tigers for us this trip.

So we heading west, then took the south road towards Rewa.

All went well - and we were 240km into the day, when another team was run off the road by a bus. We helped them out and got them to hospital (not something I can recommend) - but luckily they were ok. No broken bones. But we spent the night holed up in Rewa - lovely town with the best tasting mangoes inthe world.

So yesterday we got on the road around 7 - hoping to make a big day of it. Sadly, within 20km had broken down. After an hour, we flagged down a truck - who took me to the nearest mechanic (15km away). Since he was working on some bikes, I had to wait an hour. Then he droveme back on hios motorbike and after an hour he got the tuk-tuk fixed.

So we took off again. It appears India is going through a heat wave at the moment - so we took lots of water - and just as well. 63km short of Jabulpur we brike down again. But thi time we managed to limp to a mechanics in a small village of no name. After 2 hours, and 5 mechanics looking at it - it still wasn't going.

However we flaggeddown a smal truck and agreed on a prive forhim to drive us to Jabulpur. However pride was on the line forthe locals - because the rule seems to be, that if a mechanic can't get a vehicle going, then they don't get paid.

Pretty soon there were 50 people around the shaw - all gesticulating and many drunk (because there had been an election rally earlier that day - and they hand out free cheap boose to people). It started to come to push and shove, but the truck driver helped - and then another two teams happened to pass by - one of whom had a guy who could speak some Hindi - so wegot to leave town. But not beforethe truck was kicked and punched by a couple of guys.

The driver was awesome though - and although it took until 9pm to get to a hotel - we are here now,and waiting for a mechanic who is meant to turn up at 10.

Will let you know what happens. But as we are now 2 days behind schedule, we are going to try and get the shaw on an overnight train towatds Mumbai to cut out 800km. That will leave us with 700 to drive in three days to make the finish line...

Lets see how it goes... 

Varanasi - we made it

Hi all - so the firt week is behind us - and we are totally bushed.

A quick recap for you all...

Day 1:

A short afternoon downhill of 100km to Guwahati - large city in Assam. Learning to drive the beast - and getting used to Indian roads and conditions - including overtaking on blind downhill corners.Had one very large truck blow a tyre about 10 metres in front of us. Was madness.

Day 2

Long hard day no bd roads. Apparently a highway - but one side was beng bult - so spent 300km bouncing all over the plae through Assam. Just got over the border to West Bengal when disaster struck. Lost all power and died on the side of the road. Luckily there was a hotel right there - with three other teams already in it :)

Day 3:

Back on the road and repaired by 11am - flew through the most amazig countrysie - tea plantations, lots of tree lined small roads - and a great hotel in Siliguri at the foot of the Himilaya - which we could not see through the pollution. Got given a tape by some guys driving past - and managed to only break down once - but a quick clean of the carburettor got us going again.

Day 4:

Real tough day this one. 350km - all the way down horrid roads filled with trucks belching smoke at about our head height - saw a number of nasty accidents and got stuck in traffic. Ended up in a half finished hotel but one that 'had all amenities" - and to prove it, the owner opened the bar just for us to have a well earned Kingfisher.

Day 5

Was meant to be an easy one - a short 250km cross country on back roads to meet up with one of Indias 'superhighways'. Of course - this being India, we got lots, asked directions every 5km, ended up on the werong road, and still managed to meet team Bubba G on a hell of a road in the middle of nowhere. Was great. Basically cut across West Bengal to the Jharkhand border and found a nice hotel on the highway. Highlight of the day was driving across a toll 'bridge' - the townspeople had built a clay and dirt road across a dry river bed - about 900m long - and charged 5 rupee to cross. Got some great photos of it. But the main roads we wanted were dirt tracks, with some bits of ashfelt sticking up. Oh well...

Day 6

Again - not everyting went to plan. Wanted to charge 400km up Highway 2 to Varanais - then have a day off. Sadly we didn't make great time - ended up in a town caled Sasaram - 100km before Varanasi - still covered 350km in the day though. Was actually pretty boring - just a long striaght road - with lots of trucks and increadibly hot. Mercury got over 40 and we cooked in the back.

Day 7 - Varanasi!

So we gotup at 7 thinking the 100km would only take a couple of hours. Little did we know. About 25km in, we ran in to three other teams and took some great film footageof them in formationon the highway. Sadly, we should have known that a lack of trucks meant something was wrong. A few km later,  we doscovered the reason. There had been a murder in a local village so the whole highway was shut in both directions. This necessitated a 'shortcut' across country. On a signle laneroad, with cars in both diorections, and lots of dust. Somehow we made it. Then ran into Indian sign post problems, Until 10km before Varanais, there were lots of signs - then there were none. So we drove 15km past the city before we reaslised - had to head back - but almost ran out of petrol. Finally we just took a country road that looked like it wsa going in the right direction - and what do you know. It was.

So here we - are - in a lovely hotel, about to head on a tour of the Ganges river to watch the evening prayers, and to see some cremations (not too sure about that one).

Having a blast - although it is terribly tough.

Will hopefully get some photos up soon.

Andy 

SMS Update

well we made it nearly 200km before next major breakdown. This time locals could not fix her so after arguing with an angry drunken crowd we got her on the back of a truck heading to jabilpur. MAybe someone there can fix her... Will keep you informed.

SMS Update

R So we are on the road again (NH 7) southbound from Rewa. Major breakdown so took us 4 hours to do first 35k's. Also lacking in confidence a bit after no stress's accident in front of us yesterday. This run has been a lot tougher than we thought.@