Alastair's Blog

We set off to Brisbane and 47 C for a few days in mid-December, and then drove down to Sydney to the fires 🔥 and smoke for Christmas with my two daughters and five grandchildren for the first time. While we were there we rented a house 🏠 in Manly for us all.

We made it to Sydney via Brisbane in our lovely truck and moved into our very nice house with the Stebbings family. It was great to see old friends Jeff and Glenda, (truck owners) and we had lunch with Margaret Ealand on the way South. We met up with Mary and Johnathon Lee, an old rallying mate as well. There was an awful lot of burnt bush and fried roads and signs. Eventually we got to cool, overcast, smoky Manly. Had a big family lunch in the Nelmes restaurant, the Cooks Garden in Turramurra, which was lovely, plus swimming in the ocean pool, great stuff!

We arrived in NZ on the Saturday and were picked up by my nephew Colin and found the shed and cars all in good order. The next day we all celebrated Mother's 102nd birthday at her nursing home. She was looking well, recognised me and was alert and chatty, but very confused. We all went out to lunch afterwards and then spent the night in Hamilton with Pete and Annie. The next day we saw James Caldwell and family who went to see Nana as they call her, they were on their way to Auckland for Jenny, Finn and Jessica to do a showbiz trip to the USA. Saw Mother again, who was still alert and then went back to Devonport. We were setting off on a trip round NZ the next day, passing through Christchurch, where I gave a talk to a paying audience for charity on my F1 career.

When we went to see Mother in Hamilton we stayed at the Huka Lodge one night. It's a beautiful place on the river at Taupo, lovely set dinner with Peter and Annie in the Lodge. Walked to see the magnificent falls as well. We stayed in Havelock North at Porters hotel and ate at Pipi’s Cafe. Lovely part of the world, it was where I lived before going to the UK in 1967 to join McLaren Racing.  

We had a busy few days after that, going to Wellington from Taupo, staying the night, and seeing old friends Peter and Lesley Maxwell. We caught the ferry to Picton, it was super windy but that's par for the course in The Cook Strait.

The racing career talk went very well and raised more than $10,000. It was a relief that anyone came, as it was 100 degrees!

After that we drove south from Christchurch via the famous Fairlie pie shop, heading to Mt Cook and found a plane sightseeing trip. As the weather was perfect, it was a fantastic flight, we we saw Mt Cook close up, with the famous glaciers and the west coast!!!

Our pilot recommended a lovely lodge for us, it had a great situation looking up lake Pukaki to the Alps and Mount Cook, beautiful place and view. Another lovely location where we stopped was at this lavender farm, lavender ice cream and lots of lavender products, once again a lovely place.

Me, in full flow!

Pipi's cafe at Havelock North

On the ferry

The flyer for the talk I gave.

Lavendar farm, with lots of lovely lavendar products - got the chance to ride this tractor!

We also enjoyed lavendar ice cream!

It was a beautiful day for a sightseeing flight.

Lake Pukaki and Mount Cook.

A perfect place for some refreshments

The lovely lodge recommended by our pilot.

The it got busy, we went to Queenstown and did lots of tourist things, we went up in a parachute towed by a boat on the lake, we went across the lake in the lovely old steam ship the Earnslaw for dinner on a farm and back. And we flew to Milford Sound by fixed wing, then on to a boat cruise up the Sound and back. Following that there was a helicopter flight to Glenorchy with a stop on a mountain top on the way, a jet boat trip up the Dart river and back to Queenstown for a famous Ferg burger. Went to see my friend Anthony race his Porsche at Cromwell, he did well, two 3D places. After that we headed north through Arrowtown, through the Haas pass and up the beautiful West Coast, and walked to see the Frank Joseph Glacier.

More lavender

Trying to film lots of dolphins patrolling the cove

In October, I took part in the Rally Round Africa classic rally, a 25-day, 6,700 kilometer trip that took us from Dar es Salaam to Cape Town, going through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Swaziland and South Africa. This time I took my trusty "yellow peril," the Mercedes SL. During the trip we travelled through lush forests,  awesome deserts, fertile vineyards, vibrant cities, legendary coastlines and fabulous game reserves – the four-week itinerary included six safari drives, and we were lucky enough to see Africa’s ‘big five’ game animals (lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros) and much more besides.

Tanzania

The Yellow Peril has arrived in Tanzania for the Rally Round Africa rally. Sadly one Mercedes had a big prang, driving in Africa is a bit haphazard. Just done the first day, done about 200k so far. 

Local Masai who danced for us very informally, they were having fun for themselves. 

Look, no hands! Going home with the makings for lunch.

Game park

In the rally now, all going well. Went to a game park and saw lots of animals, too many to list. Back of a bus with local heroes emblazoned. Note the machine pistols rampant.

Oops, local traffic failure!

The plane that flew us to the game reserve.

A pride of lions

Extra overflow seating on the bus!

A roadside basket stall in Tanzania & local produce on the roadside for sale. It's all lovely stuff but no room in the car. Seems heartbreakingly little trade for lots of stuff, but like all Africa the people are lovely and universally cheerful.

A fantastic Babao tree, this one is in leaf but we saw forests of them not; they can stay dormant for many years and then come back into leaf.

A zebra crossing......!

Malawi

The rally is going well for us. Seen many animals, too many to list. Went through Malawi which is a very poor country, hardly any traffic and none of the roadside hustle and bustle seen on the rest of the trip. In Zambia now for 3 days and it is a happy and prosperous place. Staying in the magnificent Royal Livingstone hotel on the banks of the Zambezi river. Hippos in the river and giraffes, zebra and antelopes wandering the lawns. Off to Botswana this morning.

Roadside charcoal selling, this is huge with thousands of them all along the highways. It's used for domestic cooking and is a huge business.

Fangio style Chevrolet Coupe on the rally, there are 4 of them.

SL sitting in the sun waiting for the roadworks, the car is going very well so far...

Happy tank repair worker.

Sabi Sabi Sands lodge

Have stayed 2 nights in beautiful earth lodge in Sabi Sabi on the edge of Kruger Park where we are going today. We only did one game drive and we saw the Big 5 as they are known in one evening. Cape buffalo, elephant, lion, rhinoceros & leopard, plus hyena, kudu, waterbuck etc. The Lodge was great with lovely rooms and we had waterbuck and kudu grazing on our bushes in front of the room and elephants tearing down trees outside reception for food. Food and staff were lovely. 

Game drive videos

Leopard on a tree. We wondered, did she climb the tree because the hyena were circling?

Leopard on the move. We might have annoyed her with the lights, anyway, here she is showing us the universal sign of contempt before settling down again.

Waterbuck by the pool. A female waterbuck, eating the thorn bush right by our swimming pool, oblivious to me filming her. 

Stay at forest lodge

Another day off at a great lodge, only one game drive but we were rewarded by a cheetah encounter with two brothers. They were beautiful to see and we followed them on their evening stroll where they marked their territory and looked for potential trouble before retiring for the night. 

Driving up the Swartberg Pass

Drove up this pass, great views from the top and good driving.

The Oyster Box Hotel

A charming old world hotel right on the Indian Ocean, complete with its own lighthouse and in-house singer - also interesting fans above the bar.

Giraffe crossing. We've had a zebra crossing, now we've got a giraffe crossing. It was intrigued by the Mercedes!

The end of the rally

Didn't do the rally on the last day. The regularities are just too boring, so we drove the beautiful main road through the wine country to the lovely hotel. Finish is in Cape Town. Great trip and some good memories.

Driving to our hotel to get some time by the pool, through thousands of acres of vineyards. This valley is a very handsome part of the world, bit windy though. 

Finished the rally, the little yellow hairdresser's car ran very well, well done Joe! We saw lots of game, stayed in some lovely places and drove some great roads. Did not do the competitive bits towards the end as were too boring but still made 3rd place in class. Car already with the shippers and we off back soon. Driving round the Cape, back towards Capetown. Beautiful beaches with lovely white sand and the mountains drop down to the sea.

Rally overview

Here's a compilation video done by our friends at Rally Round of the whole Africa rally, with background music.

The cooling bucket

End of the rally

Then the rally was over and the cars were put back in their shipping containers. We were off to Santiago, Chile tomorrow for 3 nights then back to NZ. We had a good time on the rally, saw some interesting sights and met Cubans. Strange politics, they are still trying to be communist but with increasing capitalism all around them. Trolley used to move freight in the mountains. Drove by Guantanamo. Permanent effigies of Castro & Che

On the naughty step

And then we were off to Santiago

In January 2018, Mother celebrated her 100th birthday and the whole family travelled over to New Zealand to join her and organise all the festivities. 

Singapore

On the way, I stopped off at Singapore for a few days. Here we are, eating at the cheapest Michelin restaurant in the world, delicious!

Been in Singapore for three days staying at the amazing Marina BaySands hotel. Three huge separate towers 57 stories high joined at the top by one boat-shaped platform with bars, restaurants and a huge infinity pool overlooking the city and ocean.

And this was a huge bowl which forms a whirlpool that drains through an enormous offset hole.

Devonport

The 100th Birthday!

Dorothy's 100 Year Birthday Slideshow from Any Audio Visual Limited on Vimeo.

Mother with her card from the Queen. 

Fiji Trip

Pukekohe at Hamilton Lake, took Mother there for lunch. Auckland sunset from Mount Victoria Devonport. Little plane that brought us to Vanua Levu. Fiji sunset. View from the room, the sea is hot, not warm! Moet for lunch at the poolside bar, lovely food and people. 

The Samurai Challenge classic rally in April 2017 was the first competitive UK-organised rally ever to visit Japan and I was lucky enough to be taking part with my trusty Porsche 912. You can read the story of my Porsche here.

About the Samurai Challenge

In this rally, crews competed in a series of regularity sections and special tests along a spectacular route of 4,660km (2,896 miles) from Fukuoka in the south to Lake Toya in the north, doing an average daily distance of 119 miles. This allowed us to enjoy an amazing variety of natural, man-made and cultural treasures, from primeval landscapes and brooding volcanoes to the brilliant, neon-lit metropolis of Toyko and the island home of the Kodo Drummers.

Fukuoka

We arrived in Fukuoka safely, reunited with the wee Porsche, had rally dinner with amazing artisan sweets which we saw being made. Learning to cope with space-age loos with indistinguishable controls! All the spot devices laid out, each car has one so anyone can track a car's progress on the web site http://rallyround.mapyx.com/.

Rally first day

Road works control man, very friendly with perfect English. Hole in the rock with lots of sea birds. Witch's brooms for sale, two people were buying them while we were there. A priest blessing the cars before the start.

Blossom trees

We are getting into the trip now. Lots of lovely blossom trees along the way, surprisingly run down rural countryside, a couple of race tracks which were good fun. Went to a park on a river, met some fake Samurai, had a boat trip and lunch. 

Blossom bridge shrine, with some other photos from the first couple of days of our trip.

Imperial Shinto Shrine

Kyoto

Koyasan

Fuji Speedway

Cedar bark thatching

Police

 

Tokyo

A look at some of the cars taking part in the rally

Sado Island

The rally is over!

Hokkaido ferry

Going home

Rally Schedule of Events

Late decision

Torrential Rain

From the Atlantic to the Pacific on one of the World’s Great Drives

I set off to San Francisco on the 8th of June to drive my newly acquired, never seen by me, 1962 Tatra 603 across America to Savannah with my friend Hayden helping with driving and hopefully not breakdowns! The Pan Am Classic Rally is mainly a competitive event for cars up to 1978 traversing the Southern United States from Savannah to Durango before heading up the Sierra Nevada’s and Rockies through the old cowboy territory and finishing up on the west coast in Seattle. The whole trip takes more or less a month, I last did it in 2012 and was really looking forward to doing it again, albeit on a different route. Here's the route map.

Here's the car

After a couple of weeks' work by Joe and Hayden's friend Ted, we are finally setting off from San Francisco to Savannah where the Tatra (AKA the Baboon) is to do the Pan Am rally, all the way back to Seattle on July 13th. So we have to travel 2,760 miles just to get to the start! Going to do this very quickly as Hayden needs to get back ??. Hayden and I with the Tatra, my first drive will be to Savannah. 

Hayden getting comfy in the car!

The trip from San Francisco to Savannah was going well.We started out from SF at 22:03 on Friday night. Now we're in Albuquerque at 18:25, 1,084 miles later having crossed Arizona into New Mexico. Average speed 63.5, no problems so far thanks to Joe and Ted, only 1,632 to go and 23 hours before we get to the start.

Aftermath of San Francisco to Savannah drive

We got here! All well went well until Atlanta, 300 miles short of Savannah, when one of the the fan drives in the Tatra flew apart! Came up with a temporary fix and drove slowly to the hotel but made it. 2,721 miles at an average of 65 mph non-stop, you know it makes sense in some way. Hayden and I having lunch today. 

The first day of the PanAm

Spartanburg to Knoxville

2nd day, Spartanburg to Knoxville. Now into the mountains with great twisty roads and lovely scenery. Lots of true Americana, quaint housing, poor people and towns but all cheerful and happy to see us. It is hard for both sides to communicate with the language problem ;) - saw a real living drive-in and lots of self-storage including a log cabin version, pictured below. Sadly the poor Tatra's engine problems came to the fore in the mountains so had to crawl up the hills often in first gear. Anyway the great news it is FIXED !!! So today should be lots better. Two cars have broken rear engines, one poor thing has only 6 cylinders. 

Drive-in breakfast menu followed by the vending machine

Lovely architecture

Hub bearings

We had a busy two days at this point, we had a good time in Nashville but on the way to Memphis where we had a day off, the rear axle noise which we pondered over on the run from California got worse, so sure enough, the right hand rear hub bearings were gone. Big job changing them. Spent our rest day doing this and other bits, including finding and fitting new rear shock absorbers and then on start-up had a new noise! The generator decided to give up the ghost ?? So then there was more frantic work. But we still managed to get to dinner on the banks of the mighty Mississippi and fit in some blues on Beale Street. Busy day off to Fayetteville today.

Across the South

We then had another two days making our way across the South. The Baboon (as the Tatra is nicknamed) still not charging so we are having to run on just the battery, but this is working well so may leave changing the generator until a rest day. It's so hot now, it's very unpleasant working on a hot car. Baboon got new rear shock absorbers in Memphis and is handling a lot better. Had a very rough, fast stage yesterday (fast because we got lost for a while as the road book was wrong again) and the car was great in the gravel, like a Porsche on steroids - just needs another 100HP! Saw some great sights again and can but wonder how run down and poor lots of America is but also hugely commercial with thousands of trucks on the highway and massive trains ?? going by all the time. In Oklahoma City now and is looking very prosperous and massively busy. Off to Amarillo tomorrow on Route 66, the famous coast to coast road. Cars outside the hotel last night in Oklahoma. 

Amarillo to Taos 

Amarillo to Taos - nice drive, change of state to New Mexico. Lovely hotel and really cute town with great bars, shops etc, big hippy vibe. Off to Durango in Colorado today. Nice shot of the Baboon at speed in Tennessee. 

Taos to Durango 

Did the Taos to Durango trip, once again nice roads and great sights. Damaged a rear rim on a big rock, so had to change the wheel on the stage, no easy task with the Tatra so we were out of time by the time I got it done. Good news, we are 5th in the rally but bad news, only 5 cars in it, but still it can't get worse! Had a day off in Durango so changed our generator but no success so still charging the battery to proceed. Then discovered RH rear shock absorber top mount had torn off, so had to find someone to fix it. Found a shop where a young Apache called Swift repaired the mount in minutes. Fantastic job! Apache police car.

Mountains 

It's been a busy few days driving and looking after the Baboon but there have been no big setbacks. We are into the mountains again and about to make the trip to California over the Rockies. Car is going well apart from the charging problem but we're getting by. Has been brutally hot day and night so the inclination to work on the car is very low, it will be good to get to more temperate climes. The scenery is just fantastic with huge views and ever changing geology - it is too much to take in at times. Have our big test now: how to cope with Las Vegas! 

Las Vegas 

Spent a day off in Las Vegas. Horribly hot and horrible place, it is a must to see just to experience it but I loathe it! Thought another visit would change my mind but no, it gets worse. We raced F1 there in the car park of Caesar's Palace many years ago. Went by helicopter to see the Grand Canyon, which was lovely but great to leave. 

Pacific Coast 

We made it! The Tatra has gone coast to coast twice now in a few weeks. Having crossed Death Valley and the mountains, we are now back on the Pacific Coast. Saw millions of almond trees, thousands of oil pumps and our first beehives. Went off route to pay homage to the James Dean crash site and got back on rally route to be fastest on the afternoon test, the Baboon loves the twisty dirt! Cold at last, jumpers on last night, fog this morning. Almond trees and grape vines. 

San Francisco 

Made it back to San Francisco after two trips across the USA. A few more days then Seattle and the end. Met up with cousins Joe and Peggy Odgers in Morro Bay, then had a nice drive through rural California which looks great, golden grass and lovely trees and all so prosperous, big contrast with what we have seen before. Crossed 13 states so far, 2 more to go to get to Seattle. Into San Francisco and a day off and the Fourth of July celebrations. Had a nice night with Tracy and Hayden to celebrate Tracy's birthday and then went looking round SF, took a cab for a tour round the city which was very good, saw lots of bikes from the shoreline, hundreds just cruising past and putting on a show. Sadly the fog spoiled the fireworks so the many thousands who came to the city were disappointed. Off north tomorrow on an easy day, but crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.

SF to Oregon 

Lots of driving, from San Francisco to Yosemite then Lake Tahoe, Eureka, then Rogue River in Oregon. Managed to damage the exhaust when doing some unplanned off-road driving as the road ahead was closed but had to give in and drive through anyway and made it ok. Spent two days with one muffler off the car making lots of noise but fixed now so still just not charging.  Car is running well but we are crossing big passes one after the other so we spend a long time climbing mountains. The scenery is just fantastic and has been ever since we left SF. Lake Tahoe is stunning and we are surrounded by mountains, lakes, rivers. Big Elephant at Blackhawk car museum. 

Sequoias 

Drove through miles of beautiful Sequoias. Strange bicycle with high mounted pedals. Californian roadside fruit seller, very nice, spent a while with him sorting out the world. Rural post office in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Welcome to Oregon sign. Roadside cannabis shop in Merlin, Oregon, where it is now legal. 

San Francisco to San Francisco 

We made it! SF to Savannah then the Pan Am rally up to the finish in Seattle, then back down to our start place, Tracy and Hayden's Wevo shop in San Carlos. Four weeks of trials and tribulations but also a great challenge to keep the Tatra happy and running and this was achieved. 17,126 Km, 10,641 miles in 4 weeks crossing deserts, climbing to 11,000 ft and crossing mountains in searing heat with no sign of distress or overheating. Our only real problem is that it's not charging, but this will be sorted now we have some time. The car was great fun to drive and you get to meet a lot of people who want to know about the car. Such a clever design and all made to be worked on in a sensible fashion. No rest for the wicked, off to Hollywood for the weekend to see the Eagles ?? and Fleetwood Mac play at Dodger Stadium then back to SF, then back to UK on the 21st. Got to get my hot rod going as well. Very smart rig on HW101.

Hot Rod

Finished the Pan Am in Seattle then drove the Tatra back to San Carlos. Got my Hot Rod out and got it running. Goes really well, went to Alice's Restaurant then to the beach in the fog again. Car is beautifully made. Note Tatra resting in the background. Went to Palo Alto for dinner and saw this crazy ice cream shop which makes fresh ice cream using liquid nitrogen. There's a girl in there operating the machine! 

Hotel car park and the Savannah river

The route

We had a busy few days before the start. I picked up the Rolls, which seemed ok at first, but rapidly went downhill and then stopped dead in the worst place in NZ to choose, the Harbour Bridge at rush hour!!! Very fraught time with police, huge traffic jam etc. Got rescued by old McLaren type John Storr who used to be Bruce McLaren's brother-in-law. He spotted us and very kindly towed us off the bridge to his business, the Bolt Shop, where I was able to eventually get the car going. The ignition had been damaged by the shippers by wrongly jump starting the car. 

New Zealand Herald interview

Meanwhile we had organised a meeting with the NZ Herald for pics etc but they had to come to us in the end. Mum looking and going great, note the matching outfit, now having to wear glasses reluctantly at 98. Better day today, next problem is my Escort which is also in the Rally, but more on this anon. You can read the New Zealand Herald article here.

Mum and I at the start

Towing the Rolls....

First day of the rally

Well, we had a big breakthrough - the Rolls ran all day! Badly, but it did not stop. All went well, a few little glitches with the organisation but nothing serious. Lovely weather and NZ looking great, lots of cows and grass and good roads. 

The Escort

The Escort does exist! Mother thought it was a myth but Tim has arrived from Nelson in it today after an epic drive, the old girl is looking good.

Nostalgia

The weather was fantastic, nice roads and a lot of nostalgia for Mother and me. We overnighted in Hamilton, where we lived as teenagers, saw old friends from schooldays and then drove to Matmata through Cambridge and Lemington where we had a small farm and I went to primary school. It's all built over now. We went to the Hobbinton set and had lunch and a tour, mum and I dodged the tour which was a good move. We ended up in Rotorua with all the smells and steam. Pouring down this morning, Mum and I outside a hobbit house.

We had fun visiting and running round the track at Towpaw, now called the Bruce Mclaren Motorsport Park. Went to the buried village and a random shot of an urban Pukeko in downtown Rotorua. 

The next day was a good one, it started out looking miserable but soon perked up and stayed nice all day. We had a good drive and three average speed regularities which we were best at, what a navigator! Here's the Rolls posing with a logging truck.

The two mountains Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe were visible in the morning over the beautiful and huge lake Taupo. 

A scary tunnel on the road, rough and unlit, reminded me of Iran! 

Picture of Mother below getting her time card stamped at the day start in Taupo. 

The sign at the self styled republic of Whangamomona were we had lunch in the very interesting old pub, and picture of the Rolls outside the pub.

Escort outside the pub. Note the old Space Station logo in the window.

Another island

More busy days. More rushing round race tracks and regularities, we spent the night in Palmerston North before heading to Wellington and a day of taking in some culture and Mother getting to see her Grandson James and her great grandchildren. Went to see her old family home in Feilding on the way and visited Te Papa, the fantastic museum in Wellington, visited the Britten motorbike there. On Sunday we took the ferry to the South Island and got served the NZ delight, scones with jam and whipped cream! Rainbow over Wellington Harbour. 

Another photo of Mother, the Guinness World Record holder as oldest active navigator.

And here we are, having a well-deserved rest after a long driving day.

The wild west coast

We arrived at Punakaiki Pancake Rocks after a good day's rallying on dirt roads. We came to the wild West coast, all good. Had a bonfire on the beach, mum good, tucked up in bed now. Here's a short video showing this wild west coast, with some surfers taking their chances.

Queenstown to Te Anau

Helicopter trip over Fiordland

Teratonga Race Track

Radio New Zealand Interview

Special award for Mother

At the finish

In October 2016 I set off for the Classic Persia Rally, a 6,000 kilometer drive across the once mighty Persian Empire from its westernmost reaches in Istanbul, through the empire’s ancient capital Persepolis and across the Persian Gulf to finish in Dubai. This was a 19 day trip, with average daily driving distances of 500 kilometers. For this trip I took my little 1968 Porsche 912, which is a 150 bhp, 2 litre, 5-speed manual, flat 4 cylinder with air cooled twin Weber carbs. It has a short wheelbase with full cage, stripped for rallying.

The route

In Istanbul, we stayed at a fantastic hotel, the Pera Palace. This is the hotel of the Orient Express, this is Hemingway’s hotel, the place from which all the great travellers set off on the long road east. From there we enjoyed 4 days of great driving and stunning landscapes, passing through Cappadocia and Lake Van, before crossing over into Iran. We then spent a couple of days meandering over the mountains of northern Iran before heading southwest into Iranian Kurdistan which offered great driving. We then maee our way along some great back-roads through the Zagros mountains to Esfahan, arguably one of the greatest Islamic cities in the world.Then on to Shiraz, itself a fascinating place – and then on to the ancient capital of Persia, Persepolis which lies in ruins after it was set alight by the hoards of Alexander the Great in 330BC. The final stretch of the journey took us down to the Persian Gulf and we boarded a ferry for Dubai. After taking in some of the worlds greatest historical cities, Istanbul, Esfahan and the ruins of Persepolis, steeped in mystery and intrigue and full of old-world beauty, it was a big contrast to suddenly find yourself driving in the modern business empire of Dubai. 

Here is the route:

We crossed over to France on the Eurotunnel but then had a bad day 2 - stuck on German autobahns for hours like one huge M25, but we finally made it to Slovenia across Croatia and then Nis in Serbia. We reached the Turkish border and on to Istanbul.  

Istanbul to Ankara

We got into huge traffic in Istanbul on the Sunday night, but got there in time for the welcome dinner. Here's the car dressed up in its rally plates. We crossed from the west to the east across the magnificent bridge over the teeming Bosporus - my old New Zealand mechanic, Tim, was on the rally as support, that's him changing a plug on the Porsche. Went over some good roads to Ankara - and the adventure had started!

Cappadocia

The next stopping point was Cappadocia, we saw some fantastic sights and stayed in a lovely hotel there. Cappadocia is world heritage site and is a semi-arid region in central Turkey, known for its distinctive “fairy chimneys,” tall, cone-shaped rock formations clustered in Monks Valley, Göreme and elsewhere. Other notables sites include Bronze Age homes carved into valley walls by troglodytes (cave dwellers) and later used as refuges by early Christians. The 100m-deep Ihlara Canyon houses numerous rock-face churches. We had two punctures and a new tyre, but otherwise the car was running well and the weather was perfect.

Here are some photos of the spectacular Cappadocia sights.

Mount Nemrut

The next three days were very busy. Had a great trip up Mount Nemrut to wonderful statues, erected around what is assumed to be a royal tomb from the 1st century BC. The actual mountain is made of small stones stacked by the billion. On the way to the Iranian border we were sent back as there was an incident (!) going on on the road, so we did a big loop on a hard-to-find, almost impassable road but the little Porsche was magnificent again. We made it across into Iran without incident to Tabriz, went to the market and then had an easy drive to the shores of the Caspian Sea. We then set off over the mountains again for another very full day's driving.

Tabriz

We arrived at Tabriz and had a nice quiet day. Went to the historic bazaar in the morning, this is a lovely old building, with nobody hassling us to buy, which is a nice change. There must be tourist police enforcing this but we saw no sign of it. The next stage was a drive to Astara on the shores of the Caspian Sea, passing very close to the Azerbaijan border. We had no problems but could see the watchtowers and lots of barbed wire. The hotel was close to where we stayed on the Peking Paris rally where I and my friend Hayden spent the night changing the headgasket on my Alfa 6C in horizontal driving rain. It worked and the car finished well.

The bazaar at Tabriz

Leaving Tabriz, the next stage was driving to the Caspian Sea. Here's a photo of the Porsche, posing by the Caspian Sea, just to prove we'd been there! 

Astara to Zanjan

We then took a different and longer route to take in the famous lovely old village of Masouleh, spent some time there then took a very rough mountain dirt road up to join the rally route proper. Good fun and gave the new navigator a taste of fast dirt road driving. Sadly we lost one car permanently when the steering broke on the Bentley, they are continuing in a hire car. The pre-war Lagonda has broken two rockers in the engine and was driving on 5 cylinders but they've now put it on a truck to Isfahan where parts are being carried and we have 3 nights so hopefully it will be up and running again. 

Traditional dress and the old village of Masouleh.

Zanjan to Sanandaj

A quiet day on good roads across Kurdish Iran so we decided to go off piste on more interesting roads for a while. We investigated a mud village and when we had to turn round in a farmyard the family all came out and insisted that we park and come in. They were very friendly and loved having visitors, gave us tea and tried to get us to stay for lunch but we managed to compromise on fruit. They were delighted and so were we! The red fountain is signifying the blood of the 3rd Iman who was assassinated in 680-ish. There are huge processions going on over two days which we have have got involved in as they block the roads. These involve lots of men chanting and marching to huge drums and stylised ritual self-flagellation with sometimes the women trailing along behind.

The mud village.

Invited into the home of a local family to have tea and fruit. Those are my feet!

The red fountain.

All the men wear these baggy trousers, so I thought I'd try a pair for myself!

Some of the processions we encountered along the way.

Isfahan

We spent two days in Isfahan, Iran, looking at fantastic architecture, lovely gardens and meeting and talking to the locals. They were all delighted to see us and the cars, a very nice experience. Following our 2 day rest, we drove 600k over the mountains on dirt roads to Shiraz. The little Porsche ran well after a bit of attention in Isfahan. Some dirt roads but mostly fast Tarmac, we went to see a lovely waterfall on the way. Once again, everyone was delighted to see us. Here's a weird and wonderful tunnel we drove through en route.

Isfahan.

The central mosque in Isfahan

The waterfall

Lots of beehives, they put masses in the same place rather than spread out, it must work. 

The market at Shiraz

Pasargadae and Persepolis

Shiraz to Bandar Abbas

This was our last day of driving on the rally. 650km on good roads, fantastic mountains and terrain all day, it is easy to get blasé about all this beauty but today was stunning for hour upon hour. We got pulled over by the cops but all in good humour and we got let off with a lecture on speeding in Farsi! We aw these strange pointed buildings on the roadside and worked out they are wells for travellers and especially for drovers with their animals. The two we looked at had what looked like clean water in them. Saw a "look out for camels" sign and sure enough there were some. 

Pointed buildings by the roadside

The Porsche posing by the Persian Gulf, just to show we made it. Great trip, lovely scenery and people and the Porsche was great as well. Off to Dubai tomorrow by plane then back to UK Saturday. 

The next trip

The next trip is the New Zealand Haka Rally in November - 30 days round both islands with my 98 year old Mother as navigator again, she is in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest active rally navigator now.