A big 7 days for kit this week. We finally have our springs fitted, all nice and shiny and yellow. Along with there, our Heavy-Duty Koni shocks are now on, made in go-faster red. Along with the bright gold callipers and silver discs, the wheel arches are starting to look bloody smart!

            We have also sorted the turbo, which has been refurbished by Turbocentre in t’ North; the mystical land of rugby league, teacakes, whippets, flat caps and Freddy Flintoff. A lot of swearing and bashing was needed to refix the turbo, but finally it was on.

Only once it was on did we notice the oil-return hose was kinked, due to it being far too long. This was because we had stupidly put our faith in a cheaper aftermarket part, rather than a Land Rover original part. So, the whole assembly came off and was rejigged and refitted, again. This is a mistake we won’t be making again.

New bolts arrived from A2 Stainless, which we are badly in need of, as every time we start a job now we unearth a veritable bounty of rusted bolts. Joyous. We also took delivery of our new water and turbo hoses from Twisted Performance, which are built to a higher spec than the original pipes, but they are also a blend of bright purple and chrome, which of course endears us to them no end.

Finally, we fitted a brand new aluminium intercooler, specially made by Allipsort. Again, the practical side is that it can boost cooling by up to 20% over standard models, leading to a performance increase. The more important aspect to consider here is that it’s shiny.

            With all the new shiny kit going on, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a good week all round. Well, on Tuesday Carl put paid to that notion by attempting to drive from Bucks to Devon, in order to purchase our rooftent and assorted camping kit.

All went well with our rented Transit van until the return leg of the journey, at which point the van gave up the ghost in the middle of motorway roadworks. The fault would later turn out to be a faulty fuel pump and diesel leak.

Carl is a sensible chap, so he tried to contact the breakdown agency who covered the rental van, only to be informed that the cover had run out for this particular vehicle only 2 weeks earlier. It was by now getting late.

Being the sensible fella he is, Carl put in a call to his trustworthy friend Tom. Tom, being a bit ill and a bit preoccupied with sleep at 12.30am, duly hung up the phone and turned it off, thinking he was being called up by drunken friends.

After this slight break in communications, Carl was finally repatriated to his bed at 5 am, having being picked up by the parents. A less than impressed Carl then rang the hire company. Frank words were exchanged. Refunds were promised. Apologies were made. We’ll hold off naming and shaming for now, but not long mind.

On a more positive note we are delighted that following a couple of extremely generous offline donations, the total raised now exceeds £2000! Thanks to all those who have donated – our trip has a serious aspect to it and it is fantastic that so much money will be supporting such important work of our two charities.

It’s been another manic couple of weeks, with end of October now the earliest likely leaving date. More problems have been found with the car – but we are working 10hour days and will get there. It won’t be long now. Thanks for reading.