Africa overland expedition

Day 14: Friday 3 September 2010 – Rodez, Onet le Chateaux

Rodez, situated in the centre of the Averyon region in the south of France, is the heart of the ‘olde world’. The historic town of Rodez is surrounded by Bastide villages, medieval towns and the just too many offerings of traditional local faire to try in a week.

The “Boudicca Travels team” have thoroughly enjoyed their unscheduled week in Averyon, visiting astonishingly old and beautiful places like Albi, fortified Cordes-sur-ciel and Sauverterre de Rouergue, whilst savouring typical French traditional dishes.

Whilst the week has been busy and fun filled from a ‘tourist’ perspective, it has obviously bought with it concerns about this delay in the schedule. Due to circumstances out of their control, the team have had to delay their departure from Genoa (Italy) to Tunisia twice before. Last week when the little yellow Lightweight’s gear box played up, minimizing gearing to 2nd gear with overdrive, the team had no choice but to take ‘Boudie’ to the Land Rover garage in Onet le Chateau.

There she rested up on the ramp for the week whilst waiting for Carlos Barreiro, the Landy specialist, to return from his summer leave. Carlos is as passionate about Landy’s as the team is, and was visibly excited to be able to work on a 1974 Lightweight. However, patience had to be applied again, whilst a tiny spring and synchromesh parts were ordered from the UK. The part arrived at close of work yesterday (2 September).

On arrival at the workshop this afternoon, Martin and Bronnie were thrilled to see Carlos and Fernand Teixeira heads down in the gear box, working with precision. Whilst no promises have been made, they expect to be able to take ‘Boudie’ back to camp at 18h00. The ferry from Genoa to Tunis has been rebooked for 10 September.

This is the time to offer sincere and grateful thanks to the team at Car’s Services Rodez. Fernand, Carlos and Cathy Bourdillat have gone out of their way to assist the Boudicca Travels team during the past week. They are masters of craft and have shown immense willingness to ensure Boudicca is ready for her African challenges. Land Rover Global – you should be proud of this team!