33 days left to go...

James

Jun 20 |18:50

Last Updated on Sun, 20 Jun 2010 19:27

33 days to go...

Thirty three days to go. Basically a month left before we embark on possibly the hardest and most interesting thing any of us have done. I know there are still those that look at this as a nice long road trip, take in the sights and sounds, and simply have a jolly good time. For those still in that mindset, I cordially invite you to come and see Pete the Saxo; perhaps even, come for a little trip around the island! Only after spending a considerable amount of time (relatively, a very short amount of time) might you understand how 'cosy' it really will be in there. For the three of us. For the entire month. Sleeping outside. Toilet facilities consisting of the outside (and a spade). A temperature range of 46 degrees at the hottest, and minus 18 at the coldest. Our meals consisting of whatever we find that day. Not to mention the smell of the little family car after a few weeks...

We've been quite good with the weight and space allowances - well, we thought we had. As it stands, Pete the Saxo only holds parts and other bits & bobs directly for Pete the Saxo. The boot is completely full of repairy things and tools, spare wheels and fuel cans; the roof box, which was originally meant for our belongings, has again been claimed by Pete the Saxo, and currently houses a wide array of filters (both fuel and air). Luckily for us, no encroaching towards the seats has yet happened, and we still have somewhere to sit. With tents hopefully arriving soon, and our three rucksacks (equal in size, so no complaints!) to somehow get a look in, not to mention our blogging equipment (ie. laptop, cameras, inverter, battery chargers, video cameras etc), we're really hoping to gain a divine insight into spacial efficiency sometime soon. Either that, or we begin to prioritise what we've already packed, and how much we really need it.

Myself and Mackey took the car for a little jaunt this afternoon, and treated Pete the Saxo to a jet wash, and then a cream cleaner polish in the sun, which took several hours. We're still getting many confused, often disgusted looks from visitors wondering what a car is doing on a car-free island - many not giving us a second to explain the heroic charity efforts we're going to! Of course, those that do accord us with a moment to explain, are fantastically supportive.

Our equipment list has changed quite considerably over the past few weeks - mainly due to the influx of green ticks! Tresco Estate have been once again superb in their supportive of the Scilly Mission, as have our own bank accounts (much to their dismay). We are still on the look out for a few bits - mainly tents and sleeping bags. These two elusive items seem to be regarded as the holy grail of.. well, anything. Despite contacting over 40 suppliers and manufacturers asking for some support, or even a cheeky discount (in exchange for some advertising), we've had a literal few that have had the time to reply. It's got to the stage that we're over the moon to hear back from them, even if it's a 'no'!

We watch our Visa Machine page on a very regular basis. I'd say hourly, but that might border on obsession - we're still awaiting 3 of our visas to be approved, which is the last real hurdle. International driving licenses to obtain, car insurance to spend yet more money on, as well as a day with a BBC 1 cameraman this week... More to follow......