Hello, as promised, one final, but belated, post showing a few of the shots from our trip.

The only other team to do the trip in a classic car older than the oldest team member. a 1968 Triumph TR5.

Bruce the Mini on the first morning, all packed and ready for the trip.

Bruce modified for the Alps... Engine cooling on a budget. (Also, note the budget beam deflectors.)

The great Convoy to the Alps.

Pulled over for the engines to have a breather.
From left to right: The Ken Block Focus, The 106 Rally Light, The Volvo, The shiny Corolla, The Fiat Brava Camo (in hiding, rather fittingly), Rodney the Rover and finally, Bruce.

In convoy again. Team Rodney and their Rover. Also called Rodney.

Proof that Bruce made it to the top of the Stelvio Pass.

The Stelvio Pass.

The TR5 on the Stelvio Pass.

The convoy on the beach in Croatia.
Left to right: The shiny Corolla of The TESTTUBES, The Ken Block Focus, Bruce the Adventurer, The Volvo Mansion, Rodney and finally, 106 Rally Light.

Are we nearly there yet? Yes, sadly we were.

And finally, the UFO Bridge in Bratislava. Our unofficial finish line in Slovakia. Mixed emotions here, overjoyed that we made it and sad that it was nearly over.

And a final update, £759.50 already has been donated to Prostate Cancer UK, not including Gift Aid. And over a £100 to come from offline sponsors which will be donated to EWB (Engineers Without Borders).

Cheers Duck.

Rock and roll dreams come true!

And now it is time for the final instalment of our Bratislava or Bust adventure.

After Croatia, we had a steady drive to Maribor in Slovenia with a mini reunion of the rally teams at the campsite and a few beers to wash away the hot day with discussions of the week, the cars and the sponsors, including our sponsors, Roofing Supplies UK.

Next morning was the final morning and began with the convoy regrouping for the final drive to Bratislava through Austria and Hungary. In Austria, we were all pulled over by a black van flashing its lights, honking the horn and the driver manically signalling for us to stop... No, not the rozzers but a man from Monster who had seen our friends in the Ken Block Focus bearing Monster stickers and had been instructed to get pictures of the convoy for the website and donate over 75 euros worth of energy drink, stickers and other merchandise to our cause. After this, we headed into Hungary to do at least one challenge... Eat goulash, turns out we like goulash. After that it was a straight drive into Slovakia and Bratislava where the finish line was across the majestic UFO bridge. At a petrol stop before Bratislava, the convoy, which at that point was the Mini leading Rodney Rover, Ken Block, Corolla, 106 and the Volvo, grew to 8 cars with the 206 and the Jungle Bus Camper van sticking to the rear. Believe me, we couldn't have led people the wrong way through the city. At the hostel, we managed to complete another challenge by hiring a Mariachi band to sing 'The Sound of Music' by use of beer, instead of the specified nun in Austria; but hey, what is the difference between the Spaniards and Austrians... Apart from the obvious thousand differences. So check in was next. This seemed the perfect time to cover the organisers car in the 1000 Monster stickers we had been given. After a night of drinking and Alan going missing because he didn't see the point in taking his phone out, and miss-timed a trip to the toilet. Not to worry though, we found a local that looks like him, no one will notice the difference. Sorry Mrs Webster.
             
This morning we all met up and walked round Bratislava in a pedestrian convoy containing the same groups as our driving one, and found that Slovak-Alan is identical to the original. Now we are convoying to Germany with the Focus, Rover and Volvo after a tearful goodbye to the Corolla and 106. We will miss these people and hope to see them again soon, despite not knowing their actual names, and just calling them by the car.

So, time to sum up then ladies and gentlemen. What have we learnt on this amazing holiday? Well it is possible to not know the names of good friends, the guys at Monster are very generous, roundabouts and bumps confuse iPads and everyone, no matter where you are everyone loves a Mini. Especially the Swiss... And the Slovaks... And the Italians... And the Austrians... Ok, just everyone.

One last thing, we didn't win anything, but those that did win deserved it. We don't mind that we didn't officially win because our convoy are the real winners. We had thrills, spills, laughs, saw Europe, got great memories and even greater friends. If that isn't winning, we don't know what is.

Over and out.

On the road again!

Time to start doing these posts daily I think.

Turns out I may have jinxed us yesterday as prior to the campsite, the suspension bushing went on the left rear, but not to worry as a bit of bodging with a steel plate soon fixed the problem which, we think, was due to stiffening the shocks on the heavily laden Mini, so thats soft again. After the fix on the site, we convoyed in to Trieste for check and enjoyed pizza on the harbour.

So, Monday/day 6/the penultimate leg of an amazing journey... Alan and Sam had chosen to brave the tent whilst Rik opted for sleeping under the stars, as did others sharing the site. After that, we went in to Trieste for amazing ice cream, which even the ice cream hater liked, before trekking to Umag in Croatia in convoy with the 'Ken Block' Focus, the super light (smashed windowed) Peugeot 106, Rodney the Rover and the mansion they call a Volvo Estate. At Umag we joined up with our good friends in the Corolla and had a dip in the sea. A really needed, truly glorious dip in the sea. And now I type from the back of the Mini having just crossed into Slovenia for the over night stop in Maribor. One thing we have learnt is that the vertical/horizontal position sensor in an iPad gets confused on roundabouts.

Cheers for now.

Just don't mention the war featuring spam on the stalvio

Bonjourno. Apologies for the delayed blog post so have an essay instead.

Thursday was finally time to start making a few valuable rally points en-route from Brussels to Strasbourg... Not that it was easy to find the required left hooker Mini, but luckily we did manage a bit of crafty mirror magic to seal the deal. A fantastic pizza was enjoyed in Luxembourg with team Celica. By the team we had motorway blasted to Luxembourg, clocked up a whopping total of 9 over takes and many complimentary honks and thumbs up for the Wonder Wagon, we decided it was time to try the Mini's country road skills on a fantastic drive in to Strasbourg. We managed to find check in on time and enjoyed a night of socialising at the campsite bar.

Early rising the next morning, a bee line was made for Vaduz in Liechtenstein with a mission to top the previous days 9 points. This time we decided to convoy with Team Rodney and Squeak the Rover 25 for a couple mo laughs and games. First stop was Colmer in France where we discovered Duff beer and began our point making mission with a cheap but of Statue of Liberty tat; a lighter that is also a bottle opener and officially the cheapest tat to be seen of any team. The next point scoring mission was a spot of sneaky off-roading in a rural field en-route to a twisty German road we had spotted on the map with a 1200metre summit and then Zurich. After failing to find an open bank in order to complete the mission 'attempt to open a Swiss bank account' a bit of rethinking was in order and as it didn't specify we had to open it in a bank, a trip to McDonalds was in order, with footage to follow. This scored us the maximum 25 points plus bonus for sheer audacity. After making speedy retreat from Zurich with an angry manager on our tail Ken Block caught us up and joined the convoy... Or at least Team Focus in their Monster logo covered Ford, making the next mission 'swap your team members' a peace of cake and bonus points for taking people from two teams and not just one. Team members swapped, it was time for a ten car convoy up to the castle in Vaduz! And as with any convoy of ten crudely decorated cars full of students, the local rozzers decided to come too... Being friendly, we let them. So check in and our day of shenanigans scored us a whopping 44 points and putting us second and only 5 points behind the home team Swiss, not including bonus points.

Saturday morning saw a rather large convoy through Switzerland and up in to the alps for a fantastic blast through the 60 hairpins of the Stelvio pass. For this, however, a bit of fettling was required by removal of the grill, propping the bonnet 3 inches open and stiffening the dampers in order to improve engine cooling and handling in the hair pins. A fuel stop dropped us 5 minutes behind the convoy, and as the firm favourites of least likely to make it up, we were very happy to overtake several of the rear cars and barrel up through the pass without issue despite the 100kg box on the roof. After lunch at the top, we set the pace back down with Rodney, the TESTTUBES and Team Volvo. Videos and images to come. With the cooling system working well, it was time to head further south and in to the heat of the Italian Lakes. With the tent pitched right on the shore of Lake Garda it was time for the worlds most needed swim to cool us from the Italian heat, and the boiling green house we call a car. After BBQ and beer it was time to hit the Garda's premier club for the BoB party... And those that remember say hat it really was a great night, those that don't remember include Sam and Al, yet some how, the Rik survived the death cocktails of Vodka, Rum, Gin, Schnapps and other unidentified spirits that gathered in a single pint glass.
With the two drunks having commandeered the tent, Rik made use of the beach and had the greatest and most beautiful sleeping bedside view in Europe, even if it was rather uncomfortable. But no matter, a morning swim in the lake cured that issue.

And now here we are, blasting in convoy with the TESTTUBES on to Trieste, where we are promised Italy's finest ice cream. So the only problem we have had with the Mini is engine cooling in this heat which means that the heater is constantly on in order to draw the heat out of the engine... And in to the already sweltering car. So hence the door is wedged open with wood and cable ties. Yet, even with the open door and missing grill, we still can't move for waves, photos and stories from every former Mini owner in Europe, especially the Swiss.          

Thunderbirds are GO!

So here is our late first blog entry. After an afternoon drive down to canterbury on the Tuesday, we headed to the welcome party to meet the other cars and drivers for registration and a couple of pints; where we promptly managed to get lost on the campus at Kent uni.
After a night in the travel lodge and a quick decoration of the car in the car park we headed to the start line and joined the other spectacular cars there; including an MR2, TR5 and the worlds shiniest corolla. The first challenges on the list was to visit the cathedral so queue a mad invasion of Canterbury with lost students scattering every single road available, and then on to Dover and Calais. One thing we learnt on the ferry crossing was that complete strangers get very generous when they see a charity t-shirt.
Post crossing a drive around Dunkirk ensued to find a French looking man; harder than you would expect, we couldn't a single onion wearing bloke anywhere. With a final drive to Brussels via a quick tour "In Bruges"; very pretty, we must go back. We pitched the tent and went to the check in with the Test Tubes in the Corolla, got lost in Brussels and went to the pub instead. A very productive day!  

Technical issues have been incountered, pictures to follow at a later date :(

Cheers    

The Final Countdown

So with 1 week to go before those people [never ever ever ever] described as "Derby's answer to Top Gear" embark on a fantastic 1500 mile charity road trip from the gates of Derby Uni and on, across Europe, to Bratislava in Slovakia as part of the event Bratislava or Bust. With Bruce prepared, all the essentials ready to pack, the accommodation booked and the route prepared, all that is left to do is sit back, relax and hope that 3 students can hold a map the right way up.

So here is the plan. Apart from a night of near luxury at Canterbury Travel Lodge it will be camping all the way so let's hope it doesn't rain.
And as for the route?
July 31st - Day 0 - From a grand departure in Derby we will worm our way down England, past London and arrive at the rally Check-In in Canterbury for a party.
August 1st - Day 1 - Depart Canterbury for Dover and catch the ferry for an explosive invasion of Calais before crossing France, entering Belgium and spending the night in Brussels.
August 2nd - Day 2 - Wake up and rock on through Belgium, Luxembourg, get lost and end up in German, re-invade France and spend the night in Strasbourg.
August 3rd - Day 3 - Time to leg it through Germany and in to Switzerland before coming to a stop in Liechtenstein for the night; hopefully finding the driving road that Top Gear couldn't get on to which snakes from Triesenberg to Triesen [Varied names. I know]. Now there will be just one goal for Germany... don't mention the war!!!
August 4th - Day 4 - Through the remainder of Luxembourg, a bit of Austria and some Switzerland it is time to hit the one and only Stelvio pass and all 58 hair pin bends from Davos to Stelvio and having survived the Alps without throwing a Mini off the hill, crashing in to a bulldozer or teetering in a coach on the edge of a cliff, it is time to head across northern Italy and spend a night, and a party, on the southern shore of Lake Garda.
August 5th - Day 5 - Time to skip through northern Italy and head towards Trieste and a night on the coast with a route passing Verona and Venice and snaking along the coast to what is rumoured to be Italy's best ice cream shop.
August 6th - Day 6 - Hopefully without a hangover from the mid-rally party, we will have to kiss the coast good bye and head north through Slovenia for a night in Maribor.
August 7th - Day 7 - The final leg of Bratislava of Bust requires heading further north, through Eastern Austria, kissing the edges of the Hungary, entering Slovakia and coming to a stop in Bratislava. Time to celebrate we think?
And then what? A three day leg across Europe through Czech Republic, Germany and France and back to Derby.

It's going to be good.

Hello Everyone!

Only a couple weeks to go until the start of our adventure!
So its about time to mention a couple of our larger sponsors, Firstly Derby University who have very kindly offered to support some of our fuel cost during the event, this shall also be our own unofficial start and finish line for the trip (pictures to follow soon).
More information about the Uni and its wide variety of course available can be found on:
http://www.derby.ac.uk/

Secondly, we'd like to thank Roofing Supplies UK for their generous charity donation of £200 towards Prostate Cancer. The Company is a leading supplier in both roofing fixtures and material sourced worldwide for your individual requirements.
More info can be found on their website:
http://www.roofingsuppliesuk.co.uk/

Finally we'd like to send a huge thank you to all our other sponsors who have help raise our charity total to a staggering £709.50 so far!