Day Sixteen Sunday the End of the Journey

Well this is it the last day of the convoy the boat docks on time and we all file off in our vehicles. We cannot escape customs officials though, even in our own country. Abdul & Dave (Shinybeast) get pulled for inspection, the vehicle is thoroughly inspected and all relevant paperwork checked. The rest of the vehicles are waiting on a nearby car park and convoy leaders are in constant contact with Shinybeast. The whole of convoy are concerned but no one talks of moving on, some of the vehicles still have an eight hour drive ahead of them and the Irish lads ferry isn’t till two in the morning on the following day (some long journeys still ahead for some). There is no talk of moving on as the whole of convoy is one happy family, we started this together and we are definitely going to finish it together. It’s not long before the word comes that Shinybeast is through customs and everything is clear, they round the corner and pull up to a great deal of cheering and clapping from the rest of the convoy drivers (as I said one big happy family to the end).

We all say our goodbyes on the car park after the obligatory group photo’s in front of the vehicles. After the photos it’s a great deal of hugging, back slapping and handshakes all around, we say our goodbyes to friends old and new, some we will see again on future convoys but for some this may be their last (Bob’s being saying this for his last three now, but this time he means it). These friends will all have special memories of each other from Michael’s music to Sean’s urban fashion, from Ray’s bird of prey spotting to Bob’s unforgettable weather forecasts (most of these are in jokes on the convoy, there is so much more that goes on convoy that you just have to go on one to understand)

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Steve & Peter (Convoy Leaders, Monster Socks) on behalf of myself and the entire convoy. They managed to take ten vehicles and twenty drivers from Newcastle and return every single driver and vehicle safe and sound just over two weeks later. They managed to navigate us through different countries and cities, negotiate border crossing and arrange the tolls and hotels. Special thanks to Steve for his excellent radio communications throughout the cities, his directions were invaluable for not getting lost in the cities. Also a special thanks to Peter for his fantastic negotiating skills in securing some of the best accommodation on convoy ever, at knock down prices as well. The Boppers and others on the convoy agree it’s been the best convoy that they have ever been on, once again thanks Steve and Peter.

It’s a shortish journey home for Ray & I (Boppers) it only takes us about 3 hours, a little traffic in the Tyne Tunnel and its off down the M1 across to the M6 via Kirkby Stephens (was it really only sixteen days ago that we last travelled this road). We make good time and are soon transferring our clothes and presents from the vehicle to our car at Christian Road Delivery Office in Preston, then very soon we are rushing home to our loved ones Liz and Mandy.

I hope that you have enjoyed the blog I have tried to make it interesting and informative about what happens on convoy, I have tried to add some humour but also some insight into the individuals that go on convoy. As I stated at the beginning of this blog, convoy is not easy nor is it a jolly, it is very hard work and draining both physically and mentally (the sights that you see in some of these countries is heart wrenching). You drive many miles on roads that leave a lot to be desired, you stay in motorway services and eat out of the back of your vehicle every day and you get tired and irritable and can snap at fellow convoy drivers. But ultimately it is those same friends each and every one that helps you out and when you are down or upset they set about cheering you up and raising convoy spirits. Everyone feels down at some point on the journey and it is the camaraderie of convoy that pulls everyone through. I really do hope that reading this blog has encouraged you to go on a convoy with the CWUHA or make a much needed donation, in the words of so many convoy drivers it really is a life changing experience and one that you will never forget.

In summary this convoy started in earnest sixteen or seventeen days ago for some, but the work to organise and collect the aid has been on-going for many months now. Ten vehicles carrying over 25 tonnes of valuable aid crossed Europe to two countries much in need Moldova & Transdnistria, they visited places that survive and look after children in appalling conditions with little or no money and support, conditions that most of us cannot imagine (another twenty now have those images ingrained in their minds now). The convoy drivers have seen sights that should not be seen in the modern world, they have seen things that need to be consigned to the past and the CWUHA is working hard to make this happen. There have been good times as well as bad times, there is despair about the places that we have visited but from that despair there is always hope, we are making a difference. They have delivered good aid to these places that are much in need of the basics of life and it seems like a drop in the ocean, it seems like a thankless task but in the words of the starfish poem.

"You can't possibly make a difference."

The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and picked up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean.

He turned back to the man and said,

"It sure made a difference to that one!"

Well we sure made a difference to not just one child this week but to hundreds, so by my reckoning on this convoy we must have delivered close to a thousand smiles. A job well done, congratulations to every single convoy driver.

Until next time over and out.

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Fifeteen Saturday Fish & Chips and the Lost Radio

As we travelled further than we had expected yesterday we get the chance of a bit of a lie in today. There is no breakfast in the hotel so Truckdoctor puts the burners on and we have a breakfast of tea and coffee and a mixture of biscuits from everyone’s vehicles. This is what happens on convoy everyone shares from tea or coffee to milk and biscuits all provisions are thrown into the pot for everyone to dip into.

After that it’s a short trip to the ferry port, it only takes us about an hour or so to get to the ferry port. We left in plenty of time in case we hit any traffic around Amsterdam, but as is always the case we hit no traffic problems at all and are early to the ferry port.

Getting early to the ferry port is not a problem as we still have a couple of things we need to do. All the radios, toll boxes and toll receipts need to be collected from each vehicle. This is always difficult as sometimes things get swapped between vans. After the round up we find that one of the radios and one of the toll boxes are missing, everyone is dispatched back to their vehicles to search once more. The toll box is found on Convoy Leaders van after another search but there is still no trace of the radio. We take the decision to have lunch and then we will all check our vehicles for a third time. There is a really good chippy at the ferry port which is also a fish shop as well, so in we all pile and order fish and chips or in some cases just chips and mayonnaise.

We all return to our vehicles for a further search for the one last remaining radio, suddenly the shout goes up that it has been found. Where had it been found, it was found once again on Convoy Leaders vehicle (good job we are no longer handing out medals).

Then it’s up to the ferry terminal to see if we can get onto the ferry early. One convoy driver is dispatched to go on as a foot passenger, as these usually go on before the freight does. Francis (The Pilgrims) is dispatched for this role; we do this so that they can book the table for all 20 drivers to sit down together in the restaurant. The restaurants on board are very busy and part of the ferry price includes a buffet style meal for the convoy drivers. But before we know it we are being directed onto the boat, we drive on and are in the Drivers Lounge tucking into pastries and drinking tea and coffee well before Francis gets on board. We still cannot book the restaurant though as there is no one there to take the booking (the best laid plans of convoy).

We manage to sort out the restaurant and we all sit down for our final meal together, it is both a happy and sad time for the drivers, sad because tomorrow we will be separated from new and old friends that we have been together with for the last 15 days. Happy because we have met these friends and been involved in a great journey delivering aid to many needy children, happy because tomorrow we shall return home.

The ferry crossing is a choppy one and everyone on the boat looks drunk, it is a task to get your food back to your table without dropping any, banging into someone or tripping over a table. Some retire early to bed as their sea legs aren’t quite up to the task while some sit and chat awhile about their experiences over the last two weeks and their final leg of the journey tomorrow.

Not long to go now and see ya soon

Paul (one half of the big bopper)

Cuppcini state orphanage and school

The day of our main aim had arrived and with much anticipation Douglas, Francis, Jack and I left to meet the Head teacher of a Moldova state school.

We were to meet with the principal Vasilie of the state school number 2 who we had brought aid for.

Vasilie the principal of the school we were going too had brought a young lad of 14 with him to translate for us as he spoke no English.

We left the capital city and headed north through the city, which in its self was an achievement as the right of way and all common sense seems to leave, anyone who gets behind the wheel of a vehicle in Moldova.

We arrived at the school after about 2 and a half hours, along what can only be described as the worse road I have ever been on pot holes, craters, I thought at one point we were on the moon, as the moon was probable smoother.

The school was built for the military, concrete and steel, not like schools in the uk.

We parked up and were invited to a meal in our honour, which for those with so little was a very humbling experience as they had gone out of there was to really offer us a vast amount of food and hospitality second to none.

Once we had eaten we offered to unload what we had brought from the UK, we handed over a manifest, of our cargo to the principal and his face light up, beams of smiles and gratitude, followed by a warm handshake and many many thankyous in Romanian.

Vasilie was overwhelmed by our generosity and Paul our interpreter told us that if it was not for the generosity of people like the CWUHA then they would still be in need of many of the basic life things we take for granted on a daily basis.

To use the everyday things in life are taken for granted clothes, iPod’s and modern technology to those in Moldova, a coat on your back and shoes on your feet are sometimes impossible to obtain.

The school was clean and well maintained and we were shown around the class rooms and explained what they were trying to achieve, in educating the young, this was difficult for them as there is no money available for basics.

 Vasile was a physics teacher, who cared deeply about the education of the children in the school, but when your hands are tied and you have no funds available to by basic things how can you do your best when you are limited by the basic things we take for granted.

The school was designed to teach trades to the young, giving them a start at a working life.

Vasilie told us that in the winter the temperature goes down to – 30 degrees and the coats we had brought would be of great benefit to the children.

The school housed 33 orphans in the complex who lived at the school and was also educated at the school.

We were shown to our rooms and the reality hits you of how much help they need as although our rooms were clean they are in desperate needed of beds, wardrobes carpets, a Vac, my own bed had no mattress or springs in it, they had used chicken wire wrapped around up and down the top and bottom to provide support.

A bed, a simple basic thing, the children had all gone home so we were unable to meet with them but there were a few there, who amazingly to us found pleasure in the simple things in life.

Vasilie said he would start distributing the aid we had brought straight away, which just goes to show that they need it more than ever and with a little generosity of people in the world we could make life easier for all.

The most memorable moment was the look on the face of a small child who’s father was tugging at a teddy bear tied to the wing mirror of the van, he was unable to remove it to the disappointment, of his young daughter, I reached into the van and found her a small brown teddy bear and gave it to her father, her face light up and she smiled and started stroking it with great delight,  such a simple object, but if we all gave just a little  help to those in need we would all live in a better world.

Simon Burns

Day Thirteen & Fourteen Thursday & Friday Combined The Motorways and the Donau

Thursday starts with us leaving the Owl hotel in Hungary and our plan (fair winds permitting) is to get into and out of Austria and see how far we can get into Germany.

Nothing of major interest happens today and I mean nothing, we are on motorways all day today.  The miles just keep clicking by and we see little of the country that we are passing through except for the motorway service stations where we take our rest breaks.

Today we travelled for 720 Kilometres and the only real thing of note was that we crossed the Donau five times. The Donau is the German name for the Danube.

As the day progresses we realise that once again we are going to be able to get into a regular hotel of ours in Parsburg Germany. The good thing about using these hotels regularly is that they get to know us and so are usually able to offer us a discount, we know the standard that we are getting and more importantly we know that they have secure parking for all 10 vehicles.

Friday starts in much the same vein we are early to our vehicles and on the motorway for another day of just clocking up the miles and getting us closer to home. We pass out of Germany and into Holland the last country before we sail back to Newcastle.

These couple of days are probably the worst days on the whole convoy, at least on the way out on the motorways we had something to look forward to. We knew we would soon be delivering the aid, we knew that we would soon be meeting the children that so desperately need the aid, we knew that soon we would be delivering smiles. On the way back it is a totally different matter, everyone just wants to be back at home with their loved ones. The miles just tick by; the radios which were buzzing with chatter on the way out are quiet now. The convoy driver’s thoughts start to turn to home but they are also thinking about what they have done, the good work they have already done and the good work they still have to do.

We drive a little further than expected today as for the past two hours convoy leaders have been calling hotels to try to get us all in, most are full but others are charging over 100 Euros per room and are unwilling to offer a discount. Then the call comes that they have found rooms in Utrecht for 70 Euros which is about half an hour away. When we get there the place from the outside looks like it is a Chinese restaurant but inside it is very plush. We quickly learn that the rooms should have been 130 Euros each and that Peter once again managed to negotiate them down to 70 Euros. Once again well done Peter, he has played a blinder with all the hotels on this trip and has managed to get good prices at nearly all of them.

Today we travelled for 690 Kilometres and didn’t cross the Danube once.

Until tomorrow and see ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

When Irish Eyes are Smiling

On the 9^th September late in the evening the trucks rolled into Chisinau after an eleven hour stint at the Moldovan border. It was cold wet and miserable just like we felt but the only thing to keep our spirits up was the fact that we didn’t have the aid delivered yet. The next morning we believed was to be the final part of our journey to deliver the aid. It started with a short journey to the Transdnistrian border where we were held up for around two hours while the customs and police crossed their T’s and dotted their i’s. There was five trucks going to this part of the country and our first stop was to a secure compound managed by one of the charities in Tiraspol.

The three English trucks off loaded their aid there under the watchful eyes of the customs while the two Irish trucks Anthony McCrave, Michael Gallagher, Rory Duggan and John Wallace were sent on to their final destination which was Victors Psycho-neurological Hospital. On arrival we were informed that we would not be off loading the aid until the following morning as the customs had to be present to break the secure seals on the truck doors.

After being introduced to Victor who runs the hospital and some of his staff, we then got a tour of the facilities. You could see there was plenty of work done to the buildings but more to do. As for the patients/residents of Victors to be honest I have seen men, women and children with similar degrees of mental disabilities of about 70% of Victors residents as my sister is a manager in a mentally handicapped hospital in Ireland. However the difference in attention, facilities and financial support is worlds apart. The other 30% of patients in Victors was horrific both physically and mentally handicapped boys and men. I couldn’t imagine where you would start to give these people and quality of life, but in Victors they try.

That night there was a hospitality dinner set out for us with the different members and representatives of the charities. We were made very welcome and we were all afforded the opportunity to speak and mention what we thought of the work being done. The following morning, Saturday 10^th we arrived back in Victors to off load the trucks while our English counterparts were taken away to meet a government representative. They were hoping to help us offload the trucks but that unfortunately was not to be. However there was plenty of help at hand including some of the patients of Victors who got stuck in.

We know that the aid we off loaded that day was probably less than 1% in a lifetime but all them 1% add up and the excitement on the lads faces would be on a par with a child on Christmas morning. After the trucks were empty we sat down on the pavement in the blazing sun surrounded by the lads from Victors. Michael got out his guitar and banjo and played some tunes and sang some songs. It was then more than any other time we knew we were happy to be there and we know they were happy to have us there. Everywhere I looked around everyone was happy, laughing and singing, me and a couple of the boys from the hospital were dancing, the sun was shining like never before.

I know we had arrived

I know our work here was done

Irish eyes were smiling.

Anthony McCrave CWU Ireland

Day Twelve Wednesday The Van Waltz, The Sick Note and Abdul’s Thoughts

We go down for breakfast and provisions are in keeping with the standard of the hotel. We have meagre pickings of fresh fruit including Strawberries, pate and cheese, five different types of bread, eggs and omelettes freshly cooked, bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms as well as hot tea and coffee (you don’t believe me when I say that convoy is hard work). A lot of convoy drivers take this opportunity to stock up on provisions for the day; they come down with sandwich bags and squirrel away bread, sandwiches, fruit or cakes to keep them fed throughout the day.

We are all in our wagons and ready to roll when the directions are relayed that we are turning left onto a dual carriageway to exit the hotel. This is nigh on impossible at this time in the morning some make it out left but others opt to go right and see if they can turn around at a roundabout or at a less busy junction. As we all head off in different directions you suddenly see vans appearing on a flyover above you, coming down the road in the opposite direction or on side streets turning around. It looks like chaos but it is well controlled and all drivers find safe places to turn around and get back on the same piece of road. Once again the radios become invaluable for this to help the less experienced drivers out. The biggest confusion is which vehicle is which, the two Irish vehicles are easy to spot and identify, there are two BT vehicles so they are not too difficult but there are six Royal Mail vehicles in the same livery with similar number plates.  It leads to a lot of confusion even though some of the vehicles are flying their countries flags, Scottish, Welsh and, English flags are the best way to identify which vehicle you should be behind (that and some of the slogans on the back of the vehicles can still be read from the Moldovan border)

We switch countries from Romania to Hungary and as there is a long queue at the channel for the trucks to go through we nip into the car lane which is empty. We do this because we are now empty so all it usually takes is a quick look in the back by customs officials and off we go (sometimes cuddly toys and sweets are used to help this along). We sail through customs and didn’t even need to part with any sweets or teddies. Then it’s a quick stop to pay the tolls for another country, these are a major outlay for the charity (don’t forget this is for ten vehicles), some countries will give us the money back afterwards but most will not.

W travel through Hungary and it is back to the single carriageway crazy roads, as we trundle along at 56mph cars are nipping in at every opportunity to overtake us and get on by. You get used to it by now but you must keep your wits about you at all times. We eventually hit the Motorway in Hungary (that’s it now its Motorways most of the way back to the UK now) and we recognise where we are we are just up the road from the Owl Hotel. It’s a simple decision to make and we stay the night in the Owl. That evening Michael (Flintstones) nearly completed his set by having played his music in every country except Holland (hopefully that will be rectified on Friday), he gives us a wonderful rendition of The Sick Note which has us all rolling about with laughter. We should have Michael on every convoy for the value of raising spirits.

Finally today a few words from one of our convoy virgins, Abdul (one half of Shinybeast). This is my first convoy and I have to say I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. The whole purpose was to bring a smile to the faces of the children and we did that. To know that these kids know the problems and deformities they have but still their smile is there for all to see. I hope this isn’t my last convoy it has been the best twenty days of my life (thanks to Abdul Raheem Kalifah, CWU Watford No.1 Branch for these lovely words.

Catch ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Eleven Tuesday Vampires, Attempted Coup and Old Friends

We wake up fully refreshed despite our poor hotel conditions and it’s off to the Transylvanian Alps today, everyone is looking forward to this one today. We are on the road and very quickly in the Alps; the views here surpass all the scenery we have seen so far and then some. All cameras go into overdrive and the only radio chatter is look at this coming round the next bend, we have lakes and dams as well as craggy mountains and forested hillsides, Abdul (Shinybeast) sums the views up by stating “this is simply beautiful”. It’s as much fun for the drivers as we go onwards and upwards and even get the opportunity to stop up here to get some even better photographs and switch drivers. Everyone thoroughly enjoys today and it has probably been the best driving day that we have had or are going to have.

Obviously being in Transylvania thoughts turn to vampires, concerns are raised and garlic is dished out at the rest stop just in case. We know that vampires don’t come out during daylight hours but we are not taking any chances. Then a great debate springs up over which screen vampire we would want to be bitten by, the three vampires out of Van Helsing get a mention but the clear winner is Kate Beckinsale out of Underworld that is until Ricki chips in with a late entry of Brad Pitt from Interview with the Vampire. In the interest of fairness and equality a draw is declared and the search to see if Brad and Kate are hiding in the Alps begins.

During the day as we progressed through the towns, we took a couple of wrong turns and Rory and John (Irish Rovers) took this opportunity to attempt to take control of the convoy and become convoy leader for the day. At the first town they jumped up the running order from eight to four and at the next town Convoy Leaders and the Simpsons took a wrong turn so that put them into second place only the Proclaimers stood in their way now. Unfortunately the Proclaimers held the Irish Rovers off with blocking tactics of driving down the middle of the road and following the right directions. Sorry Rovers better luck tomorrow. At the same time we lose Anthony and Michael (Flintstones) who are running at position six, they very quickly appear at the back of the convoy in Truckdoctors position number 10. There is talk of conspiracy with the Irish lads attempting a coup and taking over the convoy from positions Convoy Leader and Truckdoctor.

We have hit a mixture of roads today from the winding mountain roads, to bumpy city TIR routes to roads that have brand new tarmac one minute and become a dirt track the next. There has been a great deal of European money spent on the roads in Romania, and regular convoy drivers see the improvements year after year. Then something that no convoy driver driving in Romania has seen before appeared, a motorway it was brand new and at times our 10 vehicles were the only vehicles on it. We trucked along nicely on it and were proud to christen the CWUHA’s first motorway in Romania.

We arrive at our hotel for the evening just outside Cluj Napoca in Romania and again it is not up to our standards. Again only four star and six months old, glass elevators in the foyer and power showers in the rooms (complete with a stool in the shower for some of our older convoy drivers to sit on, Ray was very appreciative after a long day on the road), LCD TV’s showing Champions League football and even a mini bar in each room (honestly this convoy just keeps losing the plot with its hotel choices). Convoy Leaders play a blinder with negotiations though, the rooms should be 90 Euro’s a night but after a bit of haggling and explaining who we are and what we do the price is knocked down to 60 Euro’s a night (well done Peter).

Finally a funny thing happened in Romania this afternoon. We were parked up somewhere between Bacau and Targu Mures in the Transylvanian mountains having a cup of tea. When a rich Geordie voice said “What are you doing here” followed by “I know you” to which Jim & Duncan (Proclaimers) said “We know you”. The mystery man was no other than Terry Scarr an old friend of CWUHA who the Proclaimers travelled with over 10 years ago to Bulgaria. Terry told us that he and his mates had delivered aid to villages around Bacau. We then took them down to meet Bob (Truckdoctor) and Jack (Bulldogs) who had also travelled with Terry all those years ago. What a small world it is and it’s great to know he and his team are still on the road (thanks to the Proclaimers for writing todays finally).

Stay tuned for more and see ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Ten Monday Emptying the Petrol Station, Convoy Idiots Hat and Anthony gets Sacked

The long journey home begins today and we are all up bright and early ready for the mini buses to pick us up to take us to the compound where the vehicles have been stored. There are no major problems this morning as we all pile into the minibuses fully loaded with all our cases, bags and presents (hats, dolls, pictures, vodka, brandy, wine and chocolates to name some, we must have cleaned Chisinau out). We all sort out our wagons and try to secure all our breakables as securely as possible (on the way back in the empty wagon all our personal stuff can move about as it is not as tightly packed as on the way out). The Boppers are last to sort out their wagon and we earn medals for this (I am started the return leg as I started the outward journey).

As we approach the border we come across a petrol station and the decision is made to fuel up (and not just with diesel). Can you imagine trying to fuel 10 vehicles up in a small petrol station with only one attendant? There is only one word for it chaos. Vehicles need to fuel up on different sides, we all use different cards (supplied by Royal Mail, BT, Eircom and An Post who pay for them, thanks for that), and they won’t start the pumps again until the vehicle has paid for its fuel. This chaos isn’t helped by the fact that it is the last chance to spend your Moldovan money so everyone is coppering up to clean the petrol station out (The owner must think it is all his Christmases’ come at once).

This was also the opportunity for convoy leaders to present the convoy idiots hat (yes they found a suitably stupid looking hat, pictures of it to follow), it is a pointy hat with flaps on and a big red star on the front of it. This hat will be presented on a daily basis to the biggest convoy idiot and must be worn at all times. For my services to international hand gestures on Saturday night with the police I am the lucky idiot to be presented with the hat. I don the hat and as we are fuelling up the attendant starts speaking to a local that is fuelling up, I don’t understand any Moldovan but I just manage to pick up on one word “ridiculous” so I assume they are talking about me and the hat.

Then it’s off to the border, we are unsure what to expect, 11 hours to get in how long it will take to get out no one knows. We do the obligatory hut shuffle, showing papers at one then going to another to pay and get papers stamped then going back to the first hut to show your stamped documents (it’s like some crazy ant trail with convoy drivers walking in every direction and crossing over in the middle). Eventually we get through and all the vehicles are put into a line so that they can be X-rayed by a mobile X-ray vehicle. Convoy drivers start to get worried some have left their cameras and mobiles in their cabs, they hastily rush back to retrieve them just in case ( there are radiation signs everywhere and everyone stands well back just in case). Is it really paranoia or just a bit of light banter to pass the time, for me I think it is the latter. We get through the Moldovan side in a couple of hours then it is off to the Romanian side where there should be no problems. But once again it is a series of huts for stamping of paperwork and checking of document, again just as we think that we are through and about to enter Romania we are held up by a final hut where they want to see the paperwork from the X-ray machine on the Moldovan side and the vehicle documents (much scrabbling about ensues as the x-ray paperwork is again fished out and the vehicle documentation is collected from another hut where the road tolls are being sorted out. You really need to see how these borders operate to believe it they are crazy.

We truck on through Romania and as it gets later we start to look for one of the hotels that we passed on the way out, we find it and it is nowhere near our usual standards, only a four star with balconies overlooking the forests, bathrobes and slippers in the bathrooms and sauna and Jacuzzis downstairs and to top it all off some of us have to share a king size bed as well (this convoy is not an easy life).

Finally as we sit down in the restaurant a local girl is singing on the stage, this continues throughout our meal, a little later and after a small amount of encouragement Michael (Flintstones) is persuaded to get his musical instruments out once more. He does a couple of solo songs as Anthony (Flintstones) attempts to act as his roadie, I say attempt because on Michaels first song Anthony gets distracted and moves the microphone he his holding for Michael away so we cannot hear his singing. Then on the same song he forgets to turn over the sheet with the words on that Michael is reading from (Anthony is then sacked for the second session and replaced by Rory (Irish Rovers). A great time is had by all you can't beat a good old fashioned sing song.

Until next time see ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Nine Sunday and a bit of Saturday Night Convoy Meal, Convoy Idiot Winner and Presents for Home

Saturday night is convoy meal night, it is an opportunity for all the convoy drivers and sometimes some guests to get together and chill out. We are on our day off and will not be in the saddle behind the wheel all day, it is a welcome relief not to have to drive or think about driving. We all sit down and get to swap stories in a little more detail; it is our first opportunity not only to hear about the places and the people that everyone has visited but to also hear about some of the exploits that our convoy drivers got up to. This meal has been paid for by the charity to thank the convoy drivers for all the hard work and effort that they have put in, also as Peter Watson from Simpson Millar was there he generously agreed to pick up the drinks tab. Thanks to both organisations for this.

Tonight the night that Convoy Idiot is announced, at the beginning of the meal all the names and acts of stupidity are read out and medals awarded, it eventually comes down to a two horse race Sean and Myself. Convoy leaders decide that as the medal count is that close they will delay announcing the winner until after the meal, so giving them time to award some more medals. And the winner is……….

It’s a tie, this year for the first time we have joint winners with 13 medals apiece they could not separate Sean and I. Apparently Sean made a late bid for the title on Friday night but I rallied during convoy meal and gained another three medals to even up the score. Everyone agrees that it was a tight and hard fought race but that we were worthy winners. Pictures to follow of the award ceremony with all of our bling on (there is a rumour of a hat being bought for convoy idiot, we’ll have to see)

I make an early start to build on my convoy idiot status outright that night, as we are walking back to the hotel we are stopped by the police. He asks us some questions and I try to explain to him that we are on a humanitarian aid convoy using hand gesture language. I draw a big circle in the air for humanitarian and pat my hand at waist height for aid (somehow he didn’t understand what this meant). Steve (Convoy Leaders), Simon (Bulldogs) and myself (Boppers) , who were all quite merry at this point continued to try to explain to the police officer (who has now been joined by another) who we were and what we were doing. It was only when I invited him back to the hotel for a sleep (again using hand gestures, this time two hands to the side of my head whilst tilting it in mock sleep) that he got really worried and let us go.

We all get the opportunity on Sunday to have a lie in as it is our day off, most are up at about 10ish and off into the city of Chisinau to see what they can find (we hear rumours of a huge market). Throughout the day as we stroll around we all seem to bump into each other in the markets or the cafes, everyone shows off the gifts that they have bought for loved ones back home as well as the people that have donated aid, the favourites are Russian hats and Russian stacking dolls (babushka dolls).

And finally a special note for Ricki’s mum Lyn, Ricki’s has not vanished, she is alive and well. She has been spotted in the local market with four brooms under her arm(we needed someone to carry our brooms for us through the market as we were loaded up with hats and dolls). I think she has been keeping her head down in case some of Seans stupidity rubs off on her and that’s why she hasn’t been mentioned in the blog for a while. Sorry if it caused you to worry.

Speak to you all soon and see ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Eight Saturday Congaz Problems, New Friends and Convoy gets back together

Sorry but there are a few things that I forgot to mention yesterday about our visit to the school in Congaz. As we were touring the school as well as meeting the wonderful children there, we were also shown some of the issues that the school has to endure. Firstly as we were walking around the school we were shown the dormitory’s where the children sleep, currently there are about 10 – 15 beds per room and the beds are the same beds that the school put in when it was built in the 1960 (yes the beds are 50 years old and they look it), they are in desperate need of new beds, mattresses and bedding (we took some but they still need more). The electrics throughout the school are inadequate and because of this their light bulbs only last a couple of days before they blow, this costs the school a fortune in replacing bulbs. The electrical problem also causes issues in the classrooms when they try to use say 2 or 3 of the electric sewing machines, it puts such a drain on the system that they cannot use any other electrical equipment, so they can only currently use one sewing machine at a time (I don’t know how they will get on with the computers with the electrical problem). Another issue that they have is that they have had new double glazed windows supplied and installed by a German charity but unfortunately they didn’t have enough money to seal them properly. This means that the wind and the cold blows through the gaps, so defeating the object of double glazing (the winters around Congaz are very bitter with the temperatures plummeting well below zero regularly). There is also a problem with the water supply which again is inadequate and often fails, this means that the children can only wash and shower at certain times as well as being restricted on using the toilet. These are but a few of the issues that the school has to deal with, so with the feeding of a child on 4 meals a day for just over a pound go together in failing to meet the basic needs of the children (food, warmth and shelter)

The big time critical issue is the fact that currently the school can only deal with children up to 16 but others with the right facilities can take children up to 18. As I mentioned yesterday they need the equipment to be able to offer this further schooling. The have the rooms and teachers to do this, they have the drive and determination to approach the Moldovan Government to authorise it; all they need is the money to buy the equipment and tools. Rest assured we will look into it; our aim is to try to ensure that those children that we saw today can be secured at the school for a further two years before next May.

The journey back is uneventful and quiet as all the drivers contemplate what they had seen the day before, they think about the children and the people that are doing everything that they can to try to make it a better life for these children. They think about how they can help and the new friends that they have made today and how kind they are. We were offered everything they had, water for shower facilities (the children have it restricted), beds in their medical rooms for the night because they were the best beds they have, they fed us three lovely meals (they only have over a pound per child per day), they even gave us fried eggs, chips and cheese especially because Steve said that he only eats cheese and chips. They gave what they could and it was much appreciated. We return to the hotel and say our goodbyes to our new friends, we promise to keep in touch and we will, there is a lot of work still to do.

Some of the other vehicles return and it the same story with all the other drivers, they all look shattered but pleased with themselves about the job that they had done today. No one moans, no one whinges they just have that same look on their face a look that switches from sadness to happiness and back to sadness as they remember their day.

Speak soon

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Seven Friday What we are here for delivering the aid

This is it, todays the day where we get down to the real business, the reason we have travelled for five days and crossed six countries, todays the day we deliver the aid. Both Bob & Steve and Ray & I are very lucky to be able to deliver our vital aid directly to the institution where our much needed aid is to be used. We are going to a special needs school in the village of Congaz to the south of Moldova. We know very little about the school other than it is a boarding school for both boys and girls with ages ranging from 8 to 16.

We set off following the car that has arrived to guide us to the village in it is an interpreter who also helps at the school, the director of the school, Ian Young or radio man in the car and the driver of the car who also works at the school. Before we set off we were warned that the roads would be very bumpy but that we should be at the village in about two to three hours.

Part way into the journey we stop over at a roadside café and the director (who speaks no English) with the help of the interpreter begins to tell us a little about her school. She tells us that all the children are either orphans or have only one parent who has alcohol or drug abuse problems. All the children have either learning difficulties or some form of mental of physical disability. All of the children in her school board at the school and were not allowed to go into mainstream schooling because of their specific needs. All together there are 145 children that board at the Congaz School, some stay all the time 7 days a week while some go home to their families at the weekend only. We are told that they have to provide four meals a day for just under a pound. We are told that the children are waiting and are eager to see us (the first tears of the day wells up)

We are off again and the roads get worse, much worse as we near our destination. Then we hear over the radio that the next village along is Congaz where the school is. We pull into the school entrance and there are a group of young children that are there going about their daily routines, they spot us and start to wave and shout spasiba which is Russian for thank you (more tears well up). We quickly park up and jump out eager to meet the children and give them some of our sweets, we offer a huge bag of sweets to these lovely young children and in they reach and very carefully pull one sweet out of the bag and say spasiba. Yes a full bag of sweets is presented to these children who very rarely see or get sweets and all they take is one sweet and every single one thanks you (try that back home).

It doesn’t take long for word of our arrival to spread and very soon it seems like the whole school is milling about us and our vehicles, again sweets are dished out and again only one sweet is taken, even if you mistakenly offer a sweet to a child that has already received one they will very quickly show you that they already have one and reply spasiba.

We start the business of unloading and the older children are used to help to offload the vehicles while the younger ones go back to their classrooms. Bob and Steve’s vehicle is first a curtain sided BT wagon as Bob is reversing the vehicle into position we are shown where the aid will be stored for the time being, I am asked if it will be OK in here and I tell them they have to move things about and stack it high for it to all fit in. Back outside Steve unlocks the padlock on the curtain side, the director and interpreter are amazed to see that the vehicle is entirely full of aid for them; all they can say is WOW. The vehicle is quickly emptied and they are particularly pleased to see new beds and a printer, when we tell them that we have six computers on our vehicle they are totally amazed. Our vehicle followed and again was quickly emptied by an army of willing helpers, we go back into where the aid is stored and it is full to the rafters over 5 tonnes of glorious aid transported and delivered.

After we have unloaded the aid we come to the part that some people both love and hate it is the tour of the establishment. Love it because we get to meet the children for whom the aid that we have just delivered will make major difference to their life hate it because it pulls at your heartstrings and makes grown men cry.

We go to the first class to learn that this is the graduation class and all of the students are 15 or 16 (they all look about 12 because of how small and timid they look). They graduate in May 2011 and in their time at the school will have learnt a great deal of life skills, skills needed for them to live and thrive in the wider community. They learn to read, write and speak Moldovan, Russian and Gagauzian (the local language), they have also been taught both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabet, they learn basic mathematics as well as Moldovan history, they learn basic road safety and about traffic lights (even though there are no traffic lights in the village), they learn some sewing for the girls and some basic agricultural skills for the boys. This is not just about education it is about trying to give these children a chance to thrive. They try to use individual programmes for individuals as their learning needs are very different, they try to help the children as much as they can on a one to one basis. They tell us that some schools have the opportunity to take these 16 year olds for a further two years until they are 18 and teach them vital job skills (woodworking and the use of tools as well as further agricultural training for the boys, further sewing skills as well as cookery classes for the girls). Unfortunately this school does not have the equipment currently to be able to do this so next May 2011 these children will graduate and have to go back to their families and/or try to find jobs for themselves. Some of these children don’t look big enough or capable enough of starting secondary school, never mind being thrust into the adult world (tears in the eyes at the time and as I write this).

It is the same for every class we go in, the children look four or five years younger than they actually are, they all look timid and unconfident in themselves. All these children without the help of the school would be in broken homes with alcohol or drug dependant parents, they would be out on the streets getting up to no good and worse and they would have no education and therefore no education. As we get the tour of the school a misty look comes over the convoy drivers (convoy virgins and experienced convoy drivers alike), I have seen this before, they go quiet and thoughtful, they think about loved ones back home and their own children but most of all they think why is this allowed to happen in this day and age (full tears as I write now). They look at what the children have to put up with, they resolve to make a difference. I am very pessimistic about his I don’t see it as all the children that we haven’t helped, I look at all the children that the CWUHA have helped in the past and will continue to help in the future.

This has been a very person account of the Congaz school that we visited today and I hope to have accounts from the other places that this convoy has visited. I am sure they will tell similar stories and portray similar emotional experiences. It has been difficult to write but I hope that as my other blogs have been it portrays the CWUHA convoy as it really is full of highs and lows.

Today Bob & Steve, Ray & I and the CWUHA charity did a good thing, today we made a difference to 145 children and today we made 145 children smile for a while.

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Six Thursday Backwards and Forwards, the 20 Feet Incident and not forgetting the Borders

A very early start this morning as the local police say that are vehicles must be moved from where they are parked by 07:00 prompt or we will get a hefty fine. They tend to be very prompt with their timekeeping when it means that they get some money. So it’s up at 05:30 for Breakfast at 06:00 and into our wagons, ready for the off at 07:00. The local police are milling about at about 06:45 ready to fine us but it’s no money for their Christmas party as convoy moves off just before seven.

We get to the Romanian border in good time and have to have our vehicles weighed, paperwork checked and stamped. This is quite difficult for Sean as he didn’t understand the rolling axle weighbridge that you just need to drive over slowly for it to register your weight. He kept trying to stop his rear wheels on the weighbridge, this was the case even though the Romanian official, and a group of convoy drivers kept telling him to keep rolling until he was completely over the weighbridge. It eventually took him four attempts and a great deal of shouting by the officials and fellow convoy drivers before he eventually got it right (not helped by Anthony (Flintstones) who as Sean’s rear wheels came onto the weighbridge kept shouting stop and Sean did) this earned Sean another medal he is now serious competition for me and is within a couple of medals of catching me up in the league table.

Well we thought that we had got through the Romanian border without any problems until we came across two cabins spaced about 20 feet apart. We had to present all or documentation at the first cabin only to be told that we would need copies for the second cabin as the first cabin would need to keep one set of our documentation (complicated stuff to follow I know but that’s borders). Peter promptly set of for a garage half a mile up the road that conveniently had a photocopy machine that we could use (for a small charge of course). Paperwork in hand and passports verified that their faces matched Monster Socks drove their vehicle the 20 feet to the next cabin to present the same paperwork again. Unfortunately this is where I then earned another medal, I just happened to walk across the 20 feet to Monster Socks vehicle to ask them a question when shouts of no and lots of arm waving by one of the customs officials telling me that I had to come back to the first cabin and could not proceed across the 20 feet or so. This earned me a stern telling off from the customs official and all the rest of the convoy drivers were sent back to their vehicles to ensure that any further infringements would not happen (that’s borders for you).

Anyway we finally all got through the Romanian border without any further rule breaking and travelled down the road which was more potholes than road. We all had to snake our way through this dangerous territory which looked like something resembling a battlefield, we all managed to do so but there was lots of rocking and rolling along the way.

We have now been met by our helpers in country whose task is to try and ease the border crossing, this crossing could take some time all we can do is wait. A couple of hours later and boredom has set in myself (Boppers) and Steve (Monster Sock) decide that we would write some graffiti on the back of my vehicle in the dirt, we come up with “Yeti onboard 90 years of age”. This was so much fun that we decided that we would do an apt slogan for every van. Please see below for a selection of some of them.

Four hours in and the boredom has really set in, our helpers are working really hard and they have a team of people trying to speed up and smooth our border crossing. The boredom though has led to a positive, convoy leaders (monster Socks) have been reading the manual for the new radios and found out that some of the radios have a slightly different setting on them (there is a more technical aspect to this, it’s complicated and very boring) this has led to the issue that some people up and down the convoy have been getting some static on the radios. All the radios have now been changed so that they have the same settings, so the radios should work even better than they did before.

We are through the border at last, the time to get through both sets of borders we think was around 11 hours and we have been informed that it should have taken 18 hours. Our thanks go out to the hard work of the people who are working on our behalf in Moldova. While we have been sat around getting bored and passing the hours they have been hard at work for the past 11 hours getting paperwork translated, customs clearance, making phone calls and generally getting the job of getting our aid and drivers across the border. Once again or thanks go to the many individuals who give up their time to help the charity both at home and abroad.

So we hit the road and it’s a proper convoy now, a police convoy, we have a police escort with his blue lights flashing and as we hit Chisnau he puts his siren on and blocks the traffic at all the red lights so that we can drive straight on through. All the locals are standing and staring, we must have made quite a sight, 10 vehicles hazards on flying through the city.

And finally we had a lovely moment as we came over the border and whilst we were refuelling. A Moldovan family pulled up in a battered van and started staring at all our teddies in the front of the vehicles. One was offered to the young child in the vehicle, a great beaming smile promptly followed from the youngster and the lucky teddy got a great big hug and a stroke.

First of many smiles delivered

That’s all folks see ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Five Wednesday More Medals, Even Better Panoramic Views and a Jamming Session

Day five and we had our first rains last night; we get up to a misty and fresh day. Jack (one half of Bulldogs) earned his first two medals last night. The first for walking through the wrong door into the hotel kitchen rather than the door to the outside and the second for disputing the medal and saying that the medal system is a load of rubbish I am still currently leading the medal table but Sean (The Simpsons) is coming up fast and collecting medals by the hatful. The competition ends Saturday night when the grand winner will be announced.

We set off and very quickly are surrounded by the Carpathian Mountain Range, we get little glimpses of the enormity and beauty of these ranges as the mist slowly clears. They are enormous (where we are some of the highest peaks exceed 2,500 m (8,202 ft)).and make the mountains in the UK look like little pimples. We are hoping that the weather is a lot clearer on the way back so that we can see the mountains fully and get some stunning photographs.

We hit a couple of main towns today and that means some proper navigation again. Communication is vital through the town as instructions are coming thick and fast and being passed down the line. Lefts and rights at the light, which exit to take off the roundabouts also what the name of the next town is that we are heading to and the correct road number that we need to be on. All this has been made possible with the generous donation of a full set of 13 brand new radios from BT which was secured just before this convoy started and we have tested them to the full and they work a treat. Well done to the CWUHA representatives and BT for sorting out this vital piece of convoy equipment.

The feud with the Proclaimers has ended today; peace negotiations have been on-going since the lollipop knifepoint incident and diplomatic relations have improved. Today at the rest stop there was an exchange of sweets between the two parties (humbug lollipops, Wurthers originals and sherbets lemons). All past misunderstandings have been forgotten and in a joint statement by both parties they stated that they look forward to a long and pleasant partnership.

We come to a stop for our meal break on a patch of wasteland next to a petrol station. The backdrop to this meal break is the lovely mountain scenery (see pictures below).

As we wait for our food to cook we start to hear the gentle sounds of Irish music and at first think that one of the Irish wagons has left their music playing. But we very quickly realise that it is not that but is in fact Micheal (Flintstones) playing a live jamming session with David (Shinybeast). We all gather around and listen to the gentle music as our food cooks with glorious scenery behind us. (It is very hard this convoy lark). We are going to try to persuade Michael to play some more, especially on Saturday night when we are due to have our convoy meal.

After this rest stop we head of into the misty mountains, the weather has changed considerably from 28 degrees and glorious sunshine at the rest stop to 12 degrees and raining five minutes later in the mountains. The plus side to this change in the weather is the views and the driving experience; we are both in the best positions in the cab for this experience. Ray is the passenger and has is camera out and is snapping away to his heart’s content. I am in the driver’s seat and enjoying driving these wonderful roads (pot holes permitting) including hair pin bends and long downhill stretches through the forest. It’s like a gentle Sunday drive, none of them boring motorways here.

We finally arrive at our hotel for the night and find to our delight that it has its very own Irish bar, the place was packed. The only two things that were Irish was a flag on the wall and the Guinness in the pumps, that is until we arrived with our Irish friends and suddenly it really was an authentic Irish bar.

That’s all folks see ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Four Tuesday Medals, major cities and Ray cooks

Well we leave the lovely Owl hotel today, all the convoy sat down to a meal together last night and a few social drinks (not too many as we are up early as usual). Bob and Steve (Truck Doctor) decided to be adventurous and asked for the local tipple, this was duly delivered to the table and a few hardy souls had a slight sip (Bob only charged a couple or Euros for this honour), the less hardy of us had only to sniff it to decide it wasn’t for us. The unanimous decision was that it tasted of cheese.

We started Tuesday off with three medals being won in quick succession, all in the space of about 15 minutes. Firstly convoy leaders decided to set off with their rear doors open, they said it was to distribute the aid more easily but the rest of convoy was having none of it. Second one went to David (Shinybeast) for being late, this was only realised after the rest of the convoy had set off. Thirdly as we joined the motorway The Simpsons vehicle struggled to pick up speed and warning lights appeared on the dashboard, then the engine stopped, the tried and trusted method of fixing things came over the radios. Turn it off and back on again and lo and behold that solved the problem (the consensus among the other convoy drivers is that Sean selected the wrong gear and stalled the engine).

Todays the day that we have to navigate our way around our first major town, Szeged in Hungary. All the new drivers were warned about the problems that we may face and that the important thing was not to panic and to try and keep eyeball on the vehicle in front at all times. This is the very reason why convoy running order is set up so that there is one experienced vehicle followed by convoy virgins, this minimises the possibility of a convoy virgin getting lost in the towns. One of the other big problems about navigating through the towns is that you have to use what is known as the TIR route which is the route that vehicles our size and over have to use. This often means that you are in a traffic jam with loads of other HGV’s snaking through a maze of industrial estates. We successfully negotiated Szeged, with no problems whatsoever and no one got lost. Let’s hope that all the towns are negotiated as successfully.

We have now crossed the border to Romania and that means the end of the smooth comfortable motorways. It’s all single or occasional dual carriageway roads from now on in. The plus side is that there is definitely a noticeable difference in the roads so far, they are better maintained with less potholes and ruts in them. Hopefully the rest of Romania will be like this. Unfortunately the drivers on these roads still haven’t improved, they drive like suicidal lunatics at times, coming at you from all directions, undertaking, overtaking on blind bends and using the centre of the road as an invisible third lane (and that’s just the HGV’s).

We now hit our next major town on our route, a biggie, Arad in Romania. It looks like I spoke too soon before about all of them being navigated through successfully. We didn’t do too badly though, The Pilgrims and Truck Doctor missed the TIR route and ended up getting stuck in a traffic jam in the town centre of Arad. Not too much of a problem as we all regrouped just outside town and they only ended up about 10 minutes behind (they still got medals for this though)

The winner of the limerick competition was announced and as expected the convoy leaders overruled the Irish lad’s technical complaint and announced that one of the limericks that was disqualified would be the winner. The limerick went something like this

There was a man from Preston called Paul

Whose mistakes were always big but never small?

If he wasn’t snapping your key

He would be flattening your battery (pronounced bateree for rhyming reasons)

And his medals would fill a whole wall

And the writers of this winning limerick surprise surprise was none other than convoy leaders

We get to our hotels at the end of the day and 16 of us end up in one with 4 in one just down the road. Its three to a room tonight so everyone organises who will go in which room, we all just keep getting closer and closer as the convoy continues.

And finally a momentous event occurs today. This occurrence will be of great interest to Liz, the CWU Education Department and the Regional Lifelong Learning Project Workers as well as all of Ray’s friends and colleagues. Today for the first time a very rare occurrence never seen before was captured on camera, as rare as sightings of the Loch Ness monster or Big Foot. Today at around 15:30 local time Ray cooked something, yes that’s true Ray cooked something. Even though he was just reheating and stirring pasta in a large pan, it was agreed that we could classify this as cooking. A truly great day and see the photo’s below for proof.

P.S. I haven't told Ray about this yet, it will be our little secret for now. Suggestive texts and E-mails are allowed though
Until next time see ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Three Monday Austrian Views, Limericks and The Owl

Day Three Monday Austrian Views, Limericks and The Owl


Sorry this blog is a bit late but I normally write this the day after in the morning when my creative juices are at their best and whilst Ray is driving. But today which will be tomorrow’s blog is where we start to hit the tricky roads and we have to negotiate some major cities. This needs both driver and co-driver to have their wits about them but more of this tomorrow.

Well it seems to be a trend of people lying in and missing their early morning wake up calls, this time its Bob and Steve (Truck Doctor) who sleep in, but it’s not for long and they don’t delay our early start. They did have an excuse though they had a hard day yesterday and did more miles than anyone else as well as Peter didn’t knock hard enough on their door to wake them.

The plan today is to put all our troubles behind us and cross the whole of Austria and get past Budapest in Hungary.

The views in Austria are glorious, see below for some of the photographs that the convoy drivers have been taking at regular spots when we stop for our brew stops and meal breaks. click on image to enlarge

At the last stop the convoy leaders shared out some of the sweets that they had been given. These are for giving to the children that we meet and to keep convoy drivers alert with a sugar rush. I managed to get a bag of toffees and a bag of lemon lollipops. This led to a rather unsavoury incident when the bag of lollipops was wrestled from me by Jim (one half of the Proclaimers) and I was then threatened at knifepoint by Duncan (the other half of The Proclaimers) all because their penknife was bigger than mine and the bag of lemon lollipops that I had was made considerably lighter. When I told The Proclaimers that I would be reporting this on the Blog they stated that they would get in first and deny everything and the larger penknife was once again produced.

Today marked the start of the limerick competition and today’s topic was my exploits over the first two days, there were some very good entries and I will be displaying the winning ones tomorrow. The Irish drivers were very precise on what made up a limerick and the dispute was over some disqualifications, one was not of the standard five lines and so could not be classed as a limerick as it should be a poem and another was said not to rhyme. The jury is still out on the technical aspect of the limerick, but convoy leaders decision will be final (one of the disputed entries was theirs, there is a good chance of an overruling of the Irish complaint)

On a good note for today we have just received our letters of invitation from the Moldovan Government, these letters ensure our safe and hopefully speedy passage across the border with the vital aid that we are carrying. This is great news for the convoy as it puts a lot of people’s minds at rest about our border crossing. The border crossings can sometimes be difficult if the right paperwork is not presented (this is the same for any country including the UK), this paperwork ensures that the officials on the border recognise who we are and in our case are signed by the minister for education. Many thanks go out to the CWUHA support back in the UK and the Moldovan government for securing this vital paperwork.

At the end of the day we achieve what we set out to do; we crossed Austria and passed Budapest in Hungary. We have ended the day at one of the convoy’s favourite hotels affectionately nicknamed The Owl (or to give it it’s proper name The Bagolyvar Hotel (we call it the owl because it has a statue of an owl on its roof). We check into our room only to find that myself and Ray have to share a double bed. Then we find the other room with another four beds in, yes our accommodation is two rooms, five beds and our own bathroom. Not all the convoy drivers are as fortunate as some of them have to share the bathroom (the worst is six to one bathroom, some tried to get into our rooms for the night). To check out the hardship that we all suffer on the convoy see the images below and check out the website. www.bagolyvar.net/

Over and out and see ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day Two Sunday Broken Keys (the mole) and Name That Tune.

Firstly I need to start off with an apology to our Irish friends, I made the mistake of saying this was their second convoy that they have been represented on when it is in fact their third. Thanks to the observant people in the UK for correcting my mistake.

The plan was for an early start as we were all split up in 3 different hotels around Koblenz, in our particular hotel there were thirteen drivers. At 07:15 on the dot eleven drivers were ready and loaded into the two minibuses that we had ordered. A roll call was ordered to find out who was missing and it was identified that Abdul and David (Shinybeast) were missing. Convoy leader Steve (Monster Socks) had to go up to their room and knock them up, they had both slept through their alarm. (Early to bed next time)

We all eventually met up at the hotel where the vehicles had been left and we hit the motorway in high spirits and hoping to get many miles under our wheels, with the roads expected to be quiet. Across most of Europe and particularly Germany no large heavy goods vehicles are allowed on the motorways during the day on Sunday. (From 10pm Saturday to 10pm Sunday) That means that all the HGV’s park up for the day and rest ready for Sunday night or Monday morning.

Our hopes of a flyer were partly dashed a couple of hours up the road, Jim & Duncan (The Proclaimers) announced that their red warning light for their fuel had come on so we needed to find fuel. We all pulled into a service station and started to fuel up, through a series of unfortunate events (which in the interests of convoy confidentiality cannot be disclosed here) I ended up in the convoy leaders vehicle to move it away from the pumps and unfortunately when I returned the keys to Peter (Monster Socks) half of it was still in the barrel of the ignition. (I don’t know my own strength sometimes) After a great deal of looking at by all the technical expertise of the convoy (engineers, mechanics, brain surgeons, we have the lot on convoy) Francis (The Pilgrims) made the final judgement that it was probably terminal and DAF Aid was called to fix the problem.

This particular incident has sparked some debate as to whether I (The Boppers) was in fact a mole that has been sent on convoy to deliberately sabotage the convoy. So far in my attempts we nearly didn’t make the ferry at Newcastle on time, we got a flat battery on the ferry and tried to delayed convoy with this particular incident. This has led to a great deal of suspicion from my fellow convoy drivers and some are not letting me anywhere near their vehicles and believe me to be cursed.

Anyway back to convoy, the decision was made to leave convoy leaders behind and for them to wait for assistance. New temporary convoy leaders were appointed and Jack and Simon (Bulldogs) stepped up to the task and led the convoy admirably.

We were flying along nicely when it was a call came over the radio that Bob and Steve (Truck Doctor) would be leaving us to go back to the convoy leaders. The convoy leaders had just realised that the paperwork that we needed for us to get the boxes that sorted out the tolls on the Austrian roads was on board their vehicle. If we were to go on to Austria then we would need this paperwork and the boxes. As we didn’t know how long the convoy leaders would be before they were back on the road Truck Doctor was despatched to go and collect the paperwork.

Then there were eight, the remaining convoy ploughed on and we passed away the hours with a pop quiz. The full range of music stored on everyone’s music players was broadcast over the CB radios and the first to get the artist or song got the promise of a beer. The Simpsons and Bulldogs led the way on this. We had music from all eras to suit the age range of the convoy from the sixties to present, rock to pop and Irish music to Cliff Richard. Everyone participated and a great time was had by all (Except Monster Socks and Truck Doctor).

The eight of us made it to the Austrian border and secured rooms for all of the convoy in a hotel in the services. It was a tight squeeze and some had to share double beds to fit us all in but that’s all part of the convoy experience (You have to make friends very quickly). At this point good news was received that Monster Socks and Truck Doctor were on the road and had ended up only a couple of hours behind us so they were well on their way to re-joining the convoy.

Finally the convoy was back complete again, looking tired but not defeated Monster Socks and Truck Doctor arrived at the services restaurant to a great cheer from the rest of the convoy. Apparently Monster Socks had a tough time waiting for their vehicle to be fixed, when Truck Doctor met up with them the pair of them were stretched out on the grass with their tops off and sunbathing.

And finally we had our first medal ceremony today. (These medals are awarded for outstanding examples of stupidity or the biggest cock up of the day) Apparently because of my services towards stupidity over the first two days I was awarded a special double medal (usually plastic but this one was metal, with a pink ribbon and a big number 2 on it) This now means that I now lead the medal table with five medals in total (I am away out in the lead for the title of convoy idiot)

Until next time

See ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)

Day One Saturday (and a bit of Friday) Flat Batteries and traffic jams.

Well we all met up on the ferry port for what we thought was a 18:00 sailing, but we were the last vehicles on the ferry and it was sailing out of port just after half past four. Because of the rush getting onto the ferry the famous red books ended up locked on the vehicle safely in the hold.

The red books are a set of folders one per vehicle that holds all the vital information and documents that you need on the convoy. Things like the running order, and CB handles of the convoy as well as contact details for the whole convoy (Including dates of birth, no one can lie about their age on convoy), the route that we hope to take and the letters of invitation from the countries that we are taking aid to, the manifest and customs papers are also included. Basically everything that you need is contained in these books.

First thing to do on the boat is to find your cabins dump your overnight bags and then it’s the all-important first convoy meeting. This is where the convoy leaders go through everything in the red book and how convoy will run, but unfortunately the red books were still in the vehicle so Steve (one half of the Convoy Leadership and Monster Socks) had to try and explain as best he could, he did a fine job.

It was our first opportunity to chat with our four Irish colleagues who again rely on the vehicles being supplied by Eircom and An Post, who also release the drivers from their duties as well. All this is done with a great deal of support and help from CWU Ireland. It is only the second year that CWU Ireland has sent vehicles on CWUHA convoy so all the drivers are convoy virgins. You can rest assure that if the aid is anything like the aid that they brought in their first year it will be greatly appreciated.

The convoy leaders wanted to get a flyer today and put some serious miles under our belts while we were on good roads (all that went to pot straight away and the day continued to frustrate us) The day got off to a bad start with our vehicle the boppers having a flat battery, we got the ferry crew to try and help us and they came out with a battery pack to start the vehicle with. After much debate over whether to use 24vols or 12volts (we told them 24) they connected the cable to 24v and we tried to start the vehicle. No success, so the crew decided to switch the pack to the 12v setting, connected it to the battery and with a shower of sparks and yelps of surprise blew up the charger. We eventually push started the vehicle with a fork lift truck pushing it and Ray behind the wheel.

We just got going and had built up a head of steam when we hit our first traffic jam of the day, this was caused by the Dutch shutting an entire section of the motorway between a couple of junctions (Yes the entire motorway, on a Saturday, during the day). They also neglected to put up any diversion signs to tell us how far the motorway was closed for and how we would get back to it, but never fear we have the trusty Sat Nav to help us through such things. Unfortunately the Sat Nav just kept telling us to turn around and John Cleese started to get very angry (That’s the voice on the Sat Nav). Eventually Mr Cleese started sulking with us for not taking any notice of him and forgot to tell us where to turn off the motorway we were on to get back onto route. This sparked the debate of human evolution over technology as the convoy leaders thought they should be turning off but because the Sat Nav was telling them not to they didn’t turn off at the junction. Then 10 seconds after the junction Mr Cleese smugly informed the convoy leaders that they should have come off at that junction (1 – Nil to technology). The Sat Nav was switched off and put on the naughty step for the next couple of hours.

We eventually got back on track and ploughed on to Germany and proceeded to hit another traffic jam, they like the Dutch had decided to close a motorway that we were routed to use (How inconsiderate of them, surely they knew of the important aid we were carrying). This time good old fashioned paper maps were used to find us an alternative route and we came through this leg of the journey with flying colours (human evolution pulls one back to level the scored at 1-1)

Eventually we approached Koblenz slightly off our intended route, slightly behind time but the convoy was still in good spirits none the less, the banter is lively over the radios and the Irish are having the Crack. The Sat Nav scored a late winner for technology (Technology win 2 – 1) by locating a couple of nice hotels for us to stay in for the night.

It’s been a long day (the reason why this blog is a bit late) with many trials and tribulations but nothing deters convoy.

And finally today is a very special day for one of our convoy drivers, it’s Ricki’s (one half of the Simpsons) wedding anniversary, but not just any wedding anniversary, it’s actually her first wedding anniversary. That’s commitment to the cause above and beyond the call of duty, spending your first wedding anniversary away with 19 other men and sharing a room with someone that’s not your husband. Congratulations and cheers to Ricki and her husband for being so understanding.

Keep on reading and see ya later

Paul (one half of the big boppers)