With the car gone we are now thinking about ourselves. I went to the Iranian Embassy on tuesday morning, having made an appointment, to be told it was closed and could I come back tomorrow! So I arrived at 8.30am again and had to wait til 10.30! -is this a taste of things to come? Luckily Philip and Heidi, the organisers of the rally were there too so we had a cup of coffee and a good chat together and then went to the front of a long queue, had to give finger prints and another cheque and that should get the visa done. To look at our route,see this link http://www.pekingparis.com/gmap/pmap2010.html

I am over the moon because when I got home from delivering Plymouth to CARS UK I found this parcel had been delivered. Pity it wasn't a day or 2 earlier because that would have solved our problems. It is 4 new rear axle seals, but I didn't realise they would include the housing which is the bit that has given us so much trouble as it is bent. Hooray, in Peking I can change the whole seal, back plate, shoes...everything. Would have been better if dominic could have helped me though. R

I took the poor Plymouth to Chedburgh, with Richard's emotional support, this morning for the start of the long journey to Beijing by sea. After weeks of drama getting prepared, and even a pretty big moment last week when I thought we wouldn't go due to what seemed like an irrepairable oil leak into the rear brake drum, I was heartened by the state of some of the other cars. What's a little brake drum problem compared with an engine replaced today?! So I didn't cry, but it was not dissimilar to sending a child off to boarding school... lists and an aching heart. R

Rally Car 74

The car is packed and has our number and names on it and the Rally Plates. It is off to be shipped tomorrow! Next time we will see it will be at the docks in China.

Fantastic John at BCC Snailwell cleaned up our disgusting manky old spare back plates to look like this!! They are lovely. I wish he could do the whole car.

The car is going to be shipped in 2 weeks, where has all the time gone and are we ready? We have had a difficult decision to make, having found a small crack in the cylinder head, do we try to change it in the limited amount of time we have or do we just go and pray it will be ok? We have decided on the latter. So we have gathered our tools and spare parts and packed the car, we have a lot more space than some cars but weight can be an issue so we must try to be careful!