Rich and I set off for London on Saturday to meet up with some fellow ralliers. The meet had been organised by Tom at the Fat Cat Cafe in Bow. This was great for people from London, but battling through London traffic in a 1 litre car with a dodgy cooling system wasn't the best. The engine got hot, really hot. We also got lost, and at one point in the middle of a massive crossroads, we lost all engine power. We limped through to the other side of the junction to a hail of horns from our fellow motorists. As I was in particularly good mood I gave them a few pips from my air horn and a few friendly gestures. Note to self, air horn and gestures don't generally calm people down. Anyway, we parked the car and had look under the hood. After a couple of minutes chin scratching we noticed a pipe had come off the air box, the other end of the pipe went to the carburettor, so we thought it must be fairly important and put it back on. The car started and ran fine, we are now officially mechanical geniuses. The car broke down, we diagnosed the problem and fixed. We are invincible... ish.
Eventually we found Bow Wharf and rest of the ralliers, we got there around 4pm. It was really good to meet up with a few more teams and quite reassuring as lot of these guys haven't even got the car yet. Don't know wether this is good thing or bad thing. On one hand this time is letting us fix our car, but on the other hand this time is letting us damage our car more. Anyway Send-a-cow gave us a talk about what they are doing in Africa, which was really good. I didn't realise as part of the deal the cow's first female calf must be given to another family in the village. That familyis chosen by the women of the village depending on who they think is the most deserving. The cow's make a massive difference. In some villages the increase in income has helped found schools.
We also met Tom and Jen who are two of the people organising this event. Worryingly they are also both planning on doing the rally on a couple of mopeds, carrying spare fuel on their back.
Spoke to Ren and Mel, who are doing an amazing job fundraising. I think we need to change tactics as despite Rich's furious letter writing we are not getting a huge response.
Celebrity PA Rebecca Loos was also at the launch. With a huge pair of sunglasses and a mediteranean tan she certainly managed to bring an air of elegance to the whole event.
Oh, and in the last post I thought we might have seen the last of leaks. Not only had I forgotten about the leaking petrol tank, but it seems we also have a leaking radiator. After a couple of hours parked outside the Fat Cat Cafe, despite lots of admiring comments by passers by, the Panda decided to embarass us and itself by wetting itself. Like angry parents we quickly dragged the sheepish looking Panda away from the party and took it home.