Daily Update 19th June

I didn't leave the garage tonight until 9.45pm. Steve was fitting a cd unit with the lads until quite late and then we had to fit the GPS and Data Logger in somewhere. We have 2 extra cigar lighter connections for all our various electronic equipment and phones and wires are tucked everywhere. After this we polished the car and put on our sponsor labels. The decal for the front bonnet looks fantastic even if I say so myself!

I rang various media persons today in an effort to get some last minute publicity and will know if that worked if there is a group of people outside work at 7am tomorrow, other than my family and friends that is. We have had several cards and phone calls wishing us luck and will be taking the good luck cards with us as we could well need them. I managed to rush around Safeway to buy bottles of water etc in the last 5 minutes before they shut (makes you very popular with the staff) and it looks like we shall be surviving on just that along with a few cereal bars! I have thrown in everything I put out as 'possibles' into my suitcase tonight as I have really run out of time. It's a bit heavy! Looking forward to updating you from Peterborough tomorrow night.............wish us luck.

Daily Update 18th June

The £3,000 point has been reached on our target! Thank you to all who have dug in their pockets for this worthy cause.

Had a much more positive day today as the car has been repaired and Norwich Union Insurance Company rallied round to support us with cover for the trip. Thanks to Don Williams our GPS and Data Logger have been set up and it just remains to fit it all into the car.

We have been receiving good luck cards and warm wishes from our sponsors today which has been lovely and we appreciate everyones support. It's really countdown time now and my dictophone is red hot with 'don't forget' messages to myself. I am really looking forward to updating the site whilst we are away, knowing that people are interested in following our progress with the routes and pictures too. Have you noticed that our outward bound route is on the map now in green? Cuxhaven to Nordkapp will also be on there shortly so you can see exactly where we have reached at the end of each day, well apart from when we are bobbing around on the North Sea that is!

Daily Update 17th June

Things are conspiring against us although we still hope to go on this trip come hell or high water! Steve was snarling today when our lovely Landcruiser sprung a leak. It appears a new water pump is needed. Suppliers can't get it to us until tomorrow so things are getting tight to say the least. It was supposed to have a cd player fitted tomorrow but these repairs have to be done now as a priority, obviously. The GPS unit is proving more entailed than expected so we are waiting for some help to set this up.

Our present Insurance Company, NIG Skandia, will not help us out with cover for the challenge even though they have had copies of all the rules and regs concerning speed limits and rest stops etc. They have dragged their heels over this for several weeks now and only let us know today about the refusal. Our annual insurance renewal is up next week and Steve has now called a halt to the proceedings, taking our business away from them completely. We are disgusted that they cannot help us with this when we have been with them for a few years now. Why tell us 3 days before we leave? Stress and tension is the order of the day!

Daily Update 16th June

I am so very pleased to announce that Plan C has been put into action concerning laptop versus digital camera and has been a success! With a lot of help from PA, this is now all up and running and I'm sending photo's left, right and centre with glee. Thanks so much for all your hard work with this Steve, I'm very grateful for all that you have done for us.

I've made many many notes about how to use the laptop and high tech phone whilst I'm away. I just know that I will panic if it's not written down in 'Janet' speak! Mind you, how it will read after 3 days of little sleep is anybody's guess. The organisers have requested our final route on the computer software that I have not made friends with yet!! After 5 hours in work today and another 4 tonight I think it's just about ready to send. My nerves are stretched to breaking point with this software as it just won't do what it is told at all! I pull the little arrows in the direction I want to go, I tell it that I want the motorways and primary roads but, it still goes off on a sightseeing tour of towns we will not have time to see. It's now 11pm and I NEVER WANT TO SEE THAT CD AGAIN!

On a brighter note, the takings from our City Centre was a whopping £418.37. How great is that? The staff at Mark Holt & Co Accountants kindly checked through the buckets with me as part of the City Licensing agreement and we spent best part of an hour counting it all into lovely piles.

Daily Update 14th & 15th June

Thanks to the beautiful summery weather Plymouth is experiencing everyone is at the beach! They certainly were not at Currys over the weekend anyway. I was forced to give up on that fund raising idea as there were so few people around, and who can blame them? It's only mad fools like me who stand around in this heat. We did sell a couple of pups though so not all was lost.

At Central Park this Sunday the 'Race for Life' event for Cancer Research UK was held. We went along to show support wearing our T Shirts, could'nt park so went right around the houses looking for a space only to exit the car and come across a woman flat out on the pavement! We rushed over, as you do, thinking 'oh my god, she's fainted, has heat stroke...' helped her up and realised she was just having an early liquid lunch! Just when Julie thought all her St Johns training was going to be needed the woman lurched off unsteadily clutching her cans with a surprisingly strong hand!

I managed to get lovely photo's of some of the runners once we had gasped our way to the top of the hill to a good vantage point. We spotted a good friend of ours puffing her way to the finish point, good on you Steph! It was really touching to see so many women, teenagers and even little girls all doing their best to complete the course and my eyes filled up when I caught sight of a disabled lady in her wheelchair really going for it. So many hundreds of women, so much individual effort, and so many heartwrenching messages pinned to their T Shirts. A big hello to the ladies of Plympton who stopped to show me their medals and wanted to dedicate them to 'Babs'. Well done to each and everyone who took part.

Daily Update 13th June

Unlucky for some but not for us. This Friday the 13th proved bright and sunny with a very busyCity Centre, just how we like it! We think we might have done extremely well today in donations but will have to get to the accountants for opening the buckets. Oh yes, more forms and red tape. Steve's wife, Pam, came to visit us and shake a bucket for a while as did my eldest daughter Michelle. All help gratefully received and it gives our morale a big boost too.

We had an orderly queue of donors at one point although I was a bit slow stickering people! We had the car radio on for a bit of upbeat music but it was drowned out by the acoustic guitarist outside Derrys who played 'Apache' by the Shadows up to 6 times through the day which got a bit much for our nerves. A few pups were sold but they didn't do as well as I had hoped for. A Fire Brigade appliance came past us at one point and they stopped to say hello. We shook our buckets at them but they had no change tut! An exchange of stickers did take place though funnily enough. The car looked good with the banners and blue and white balloons. Unfortunately the blue ones heated up very fast in the sun and were going off like fire crackers all day. All we were left with by the end of the day was a few sad looking white balloons hanging limply on our string. Still, put 'em out for good use and will try to plump them up a bit for the outing at Currys in Coypool tomorrow, hope to see you there and a big thank you to everyone who donated today.

Daily Update 12th June

Dear Readers

How is that, professional enough for you? Red dots are creeping up from your generosity. Thank you.

I am having a problem. The laptop computer has no driver for my digital camera and no cd unit to load it on. We are trying to download the driver via the internet but the PA connection keeps cutting out before it finishes. I've been on the phone several times to Phil (Mr Technical Brains) but, he has gone and deserted me for the pub! Can't blame him, am feeling like I need a pub visit too. It could be that after the drive you will find me propping up a bar near you, droning on and on about how nothing worthwhile is ever easy!

Touch wood though, the new GPS system will be with us tomorrow. Thank you to Martin Oatridge of Waypoint 1 for his discount sponsorship, we really, really appreciate it.

My hard earned City Centre Fund Raising Day is tomorrow folks. Please come and see us in New George Street, have a chat, buy a beanie pup and enter our 'guess the mileage' competition why don't you. We shall be truly grateful for any support you can give us.

Daily Update 11th June

Look at that vehicle....what a beauty! Soon we will have the sponsor stickers and Cape to Cape plates on the car and then I will put another pic. on the site for you all to see.

Still no GPS unit, it might be gone to electronic heaven. We will have to buy a new one (this 'budget' trip is getting very expensive!). I just hope there isn't an out of stock problem looming.

The challenge organisers rang today to check if all is ok and running to schedule (of course!). Whilst we were chatting I asked about the other entrants. A small group this year, because of the Gulf War several forces teams dropped out, so that makes a total of 27 people grouped into 8 teams, Steve and me included. I still can't grasp why this would make us team 9 though. A few other females have entered as well, one is a journalist from Southampton, apparently. A Daily Telegraph journalist has also entered on behalf of his paper. So.............Im thinking...........DON'T YOU ALL DESERT ME FOR A 'DAILY'!!! What pressure. I am now going to have to make my story three times more interesting to keep you all tuned in. Should I start using bigger words that I need a dictionary for? Should I write in 'third person'? Should I have a nervous breakdown? Should I start proof reading my copy? Nah, you will have to just put up with my down to earth ramblings I'm afraid.

Note to Steve: There are only mph marked on the speedo and our rules are all stipulated in kph. My maths was never good, though Mrs Coombes tried and tried, so don't expect me to calculate anything ok!

Daily Update 10th June

Goodness gracious! The high tech equipment from the Press Association has arrived today which will enable me to update this site from practically anywhere! Very, very impressive. I can just plug my camera in and download the photos of the day, write my update and press 'send'. Apparently, I can be miles away from a power point looking at fjords, the northern lights or even traffic jams and my details will wing their way to our technical dept (mate Phil) for you to peruse at your leisure. How about that. All I need to do now is to learn how to use it, erm!

There have been a few mishaps and misfortunes over the last week or so, starting with the unfortunate shingles, swollen eye episode. There has been a flame throwing hair appliance incident and a double ear-bash, head cracking moment with a car door to name but a few. As if this is not enough I pull into work today and Steve is looking at me through the windscreen with a 'look' on his face. Oh no, "what is it now?" I yelled. He shakes his head. Unfortunately, the GPS hand held unit that we were to borrow has gone up in smoke....POOF....just like that! These things are sent to try us.

Hope to show you all a piccy of our large and shiny vehicle in tomorrows update.

Daily Update 9th June

My faith in the younger generation has been given a real boost today. It is with pleasure that I add Hele School Sixth Form Committee to my sponsor list. Not only are they in the midst of 'A' Levels but they have found the time to donate £100 of their hard earned 'Prom' funds to our cause. This decision was made entirely from the 18yr olds sitting on this committee who wanted to show support to one of their governors. I have found that support comes from the most unexpected quarters and their generosity has made me extremely proud.

Back to the start, stop, start, stop arrangements...hopefully finalised today:

Friday 20th June - We leave Plymouth for Peterborough where the scrutineers examine our vehicle and determine it suitable to enter (hopefully!). A full 'challenge' briefing takes place here too.

Saturday 21st/Sunday 22nd June - Harwich to Cuxhaven Ferry. 19 hours of bobbing on the briny, such joy!

22nd/24th June - En route to Nordkapp, Norway by road.

25th June - Start of Cape to Cape Challenge, approx 6.30am.

25th/28th June - Drive, sleep, argue, navigate, drive, drive....

28th June - Arrive at Finish point in Jerez, Spain via the most southerly point, Cape Tarifa.

See, it all looks easy on paper eh!

Daily Update 8th June

Today we have been contacted by the challenge organisers who are concerned about our start date. Just when I thought we were all sorted its seems to be back to the drawing board, or computer, as the case may be. After 4 more hours of planning tonight and a quick conference call with Steve...this is what we think.

I have plotted 3 different routes between Cuxhaven, in Germany where the ferry comes in, and Nordkapp, Norway. Each route will take between 40 to 45 hours driving time and the distance to cover is roughly 2,000 miles. Even if we manage to drive straight through we shall not arrive in Nordkapp until early hours of the 24th June and then we come across another problem! The hotel rooms are not available to us until 3pm later that day so that means hanging around for several hours before we can rest properly.

So, it would seem that the sensible plan would be to leave on the 25th June with the whole group after a good nights sleep. As they are able to drive non-stop with their 4 drivers they will finish on 27th June but, the rules with just 2 drivers mean 3 eight hour mandatory stops. This means we will not be able to arrive at the finish until Saturday 28th and it's a shame because we would have liked to finish on the same day as everyone else. They might be out partying while we are still driving down!

I must admit that as I have never been to Norway before I shall appreciate the extra time up there for a good look around. We could now take the more scenic route as we shall need to drag our heels a bit to wait for the bloomin' hotel to open. Also, the whole day of rest anticipated in Spain will not happen either. We shall need to be back on the road towards Santander on Sunday 29th. It seems I won't need that sun lotion after all.

Hope to sound more upbeat tomorrow!

Daily Update 7th June

We have been sent plates for the vehicle with our team name and number on. I haven't seen them yet but hope they don't look too lost on the bumper!

Fund raising again today in the City Centre outside Oggy Oggy Pasty Co in Raleigh Street. Managed to take 'relief' staff today, namely my youngest daughter Hannah, and my friend Julie's daughter, Sarah. It was extremely good of these teenagers to give up their Saturday for Cancer Research UK when they would rather have been shopping with their friends. Julie was approached by a rather odd fellow today, asking for a kiss for his donation. Needless to say, she declined gracefully. I almost gave her the sack!

Daily Update 6th June

Fantastic news today, we now have our vehicle for the challenge!!! For the motor buffs among you it's a Toyota Landcruiser Prado 3ltr Turbo Diesel and, for those of you like me....it's very big and shiny!! The wheels almost come up to my waist and I'm so glad that I'm to be the torch or spanner holder in a tyre emergency. Tinted windows to mute the strong Spanish sun and air conditioning too, how posh. I had the pleasure of driving it back to the garage today and it drives like a dream. For a short person with a Napoleon complex (you know, likes to be head & shoulders above the rest) it fits the bill perfectly. The lads at the garage all ooohd and ahhhd a fair bit, about the car I hasten to add, not me. No CD in it yet but I did offer to sing as far as Torquay.
10,375 green bottles.........

Our customers are still popping in with their donations and pledges thanks to the Herald paper and we have raised two more red dots. I also had a letter from an old schoolfriend, she has been in touch via the garage and has been kind enough to send a donation and words of support. These gestures mean more than I can say....thanks Gill, hope to see you sometime soon.

Daily Update 5th June

I have been ordering the sticky posters for our vehicle today. We want it to be as bright and eyecatching as possible with all our different sponsors logos on.

The heavy duty coats I ordered for the extreme weather we could face have arrived. Mine is a small but looks like I am wearing the one I ordered for Steve. They are absolutely huge and big enough to camp out in. Plan B with those I think! My Dad has kindly offered me his hat for Dartmoor winter weather, it has ear flaps! I say no more, girls.

In work, customers have been coming in droves to sponsor us. One keen person was on the door before 8.30am waiting for Steve to arrive. It is absolutely wonderful that people have responded to the Herald article this way and just goes to show how well liked and known he is within the Plymstock community. One elderly customer has always called me Jackie, even though Steve keeps telling him I'm Janet, and over the years I have answered to most things but, since the Herald piece customers are really confused about who I am!!

Daily Update 4th June

Did you see it? Did you see it?
Front page of the Herald!!!
Well it was worth the wait. A lovely article about the challenge was printed on page 7. There were a few erroneous quotes, namely concerning my mother and father-in-law but, as the article highlighted our venture so well I am feeling rather smug about it. My daughters think I look like a Munchkin in the photo's though so that's a whole makeover planned! Steve sounds very wise and meteorological, I think he must have listened to the weather channel that morning. He won't live that down for a while.

I have my fingers crossed (again) that the exposure will bring in a few of those large sponsors. We still really need a more up to date vehicle which is up to the task. I shall be hot on the trail tomorrow asking for more support.

Daily Update 3rd June

Our thanks to Safeway Megastore at Billacombe for hosting our fund raising today. We have now managed to raise just over the £2,000 mark! There were some gentlemen donors who left very expensive aftershave wafts, and we spent a few seconds in appreciation each time.

Luckily the photo shoots have been done for a while...........my eye has swollen to twice the size due to the very nasty shingles virus! It's ok to approach if you see me out, it's not contagious just extremely sore. I soldier on regardless, AWWW!

Daily Update 2nd June

Todays update is dedicated to the memory of Sylvia Sutcliffe.

Sylvia was a much loved Deputy Principal of Hele's School, who has sadly lost her battle with cancer May 30th. Her bravery and positive spirit stays an inspiration to us all. She will be sadly missed by her colleagues, pupils and governors.

May she Rest In Peace.

Daily Update 1st June

1st June! It's all happening this month. Frantic preparations are still underway and it's countdown time. Gnash gnash.
Currys Superstore at Coypool kindly allowed us to stand in their doorway today with our donation buckets. We did very well indeed and raised just over £150. Their bubbly staff kept us upbeat all day and they have invited us to do a whole weekend of fund raising just before we leave for Norway. Many thanks to the people who donated today and especially, those of you who still gave even with large boxes of electrical goods in your arms, we appreciate your support.

The website hits are mounting up but you are all a bit shy! Where are those road trip music suggestions and mileage competition entries? C'mon it only takes a second to send me an email, let's hear from you all.

Fingers crossed that tomorrow brings news of a vehicle sponsor, it doesn't seem to be happening up to now and the nerves are starting to show! I also have two phone calls to make tomorrow which could bring good news, so please wish me luck.

For May's Updates - click here

We are still in need of a lot of help!

Read the article at thisisplymouth.co.uk