Overview

Today i managed to blag a lift with some guys in a different team who had a Volvo V70 that was covered in leapord-skin fur. They were known as Raging Horn.

It was the first time i had had some air conditioning. this car was the best within the whole of dumball. the reason being that it was contributed to the cause.

leaving sarajevo involved driving through the mountains. it is amazing as to how green this part of eastern europe is. the hills covered in thick green trees right up to their peaks. the rivers below were a turquoise colour.

the roads were very winding with vertical cliff edges on the right and a great river on the right before more mountains. it was 36 degrees.

the police pulled us over. we were with another three cars. we were fined for "speeding". we were warned about this as the police tend to ask for money without doing anything official to any tourists. there was no way we were speeding and when we questioned this, they changed their minds saying we didnt have our headlights on. sure enough, this is law, even in the day time. so we were fined 25 euros for the pleasure, and the rest of their local currency we had in our pockets.

i paid for the border control fair when we left bosnia, it was 3 euros each. funnily enough we were unware that you had to pay not only to get in but to leave also. no other countries have this.  we stopped off for a break and had a swim in the sea and a snack.

we got into dubrovnik the earliest in the entire trip - 7 pm. we went down to the old town in the evening which was beautiful. this place has fairly little western influence. it is very quiet with old white stone streets and buildings for pedestrians only.

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we set off at 10am feeling exhausted. scott and reuben went into the b team and paid for their insurance in bosnia and bought a tank of fuel.

entering bosnia from the outskirts and into sarajevo was eary. many buildings had damage from bullets and handgranades from the recent war. the outskirts around the mountains has a border around it which is a no-go area due to ground mines being placed around there. apparently it will take 50 years to clear it completely.

 this was one of the shortest journeys at 160 miles.

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Scott, Kieran and ray drove down from Norfolk to Dover where i met them for the train. They had put some more work in on the car, cutting a large hole in the roof which had a wooden cover that could be bolted on if needed.

The back was taken out and two extra seats were put in from an old ford escort.

Sunny day leaving Dover as we drove onto the ferry with no problems. Everyone was looking at the car due to the fact it was a hearse, but it also had pink flames up the side with coffin dodgers written on also.

On getting the ferry accross we drove straight along to Brussels and stayed in a hostel for the night, arriving around midnight.

The following morning we met up with the other 35 cars (including the dukes of hazard, the mystery machine, the blues brothers etc.). Everyone had put alot of effort into their cars to keep the whole thing light-hearted.

This event is very well organised and all authorities in the different countries are informed before hand. However, Germany changed their minds at the last minute and refused us entry meaning a longer trip round and a planned stop off in France (Mulhouse) instead! We all set off at 10am that morning after picking up our CB radios, stickers and handbooks. The convoy was lead out of Brussels by the police who were very friendly, from The Atomium (pics coming) onto the motorway.

2 hours from Brussels, our beautiful hearse started to overheat. Kieran kept his hopes up insisting that it would be fine if the thermostat was taken out of the engine to make it run alot colder. However, the head gasket blew anyway much to our dismay.

It is all part and parcel though of such a challenge and this always happens to some of the cars that enter. our team (4 cars) pulled over with us. we left the hearse on the hard shoulder, removed the stickers and contacted both the emergency services and the organisers of the event and the car was picked up. weve yet to foot the pending bill!

ray and i went in one car and scott and kieran in another. what a shame. kieran was in high hopes of buying another car further east in europe.

the journey took us 10 hours due to the change of location and avoiding Germany. We crossed through Belgium, Luxemburg and into France. it was great to spend time with the other people in our team in their cars. its all part of the Dumball spirit helping us out the way they did.

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First off i need to apologise to all who have wanted a daily update. This is the first opportunity i have had to enter onto this blog since we started.

Some of you may know from word of mouth that our lovely hearse died before our very eyes as we were driving into sweden.

This is all part of the fun though, as now we need to find alternative ways of completing this challenge.

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As soon as Aaron and I found out that we had been accepted on the Dumball Rally the very next activity we indulged in was opening eBay and bidding for the first hearse we clapped eyes on! I think you'll agree this is (was) a beautifully genuine 1983 Ford Granada 2.8ltr V6 hearse. We ended up picking the vehicle up from Glasgow of all places. God knows why we didn't choose a slightly more local place for our hearse purchasing antics, like Norwich or Diss, maybe even Peterborough or Yarmouth. But no, we chose one in Glasgow. Never mind it's only 750 mile round trip!

The dodgy character who sold us the Hearse lived in a real grotty place tucked away in a close next to an industrial estate and when we arrived it was pouring with rain.

As we exchanged a deal and handed the money over the supplier ran to his vehicle, wheel spun off, and when we tried to contact him he'd switched off his phone!!!  

Nice  :OI

With a 375 mile journey ahead of us, I followed Aaron in my van and he piloted the beast homeward. It had no heating on this cold, grey, wet, December afternoon.

After driving it for 5 minutes when picking up speed we realised that the gear box would not select its top gear and had a mind of its own. We limped home with the gearbox getting worse by the mile and after 7 hrs or so we were there. As hearses infrequently travel any faster than walking pace auto gearbox problems are very common.

After enjoying the pleasure of running her around for a few weeks the gearbox completely kicked the bucket, when I was sporting a casual wheel spin manoeuvre, may I add. I started looking for a new gearbox. The local scrap yard had a gear box and Reuben and I removed it from the scrapper and fitted it to our Dumball participant to-be. This gear box was good and I ran her around for a few months problem free……………. Until the engine blew up!

At this point we all started to lose faith in our wagon. But I pushed on and enquired with the local scrap dealer, Craig Pope who happens to be a Mk2 Granada freak and he has been a great help. We bought an engine from him, which coincidently came out of a hearse identical to ours in every way, so when it came to putting it in our car, it fitted like a glove. This engine has been in for only a few weeks now, but fingers crossed, it'll get us there!

The decoration is an amalgamation of what Reuben, Scott and I wanted: flames. Aaron insisted on, pink. Honest.

We're not gay, just a little bit poofy………

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