We are at the halfway point time wise this evening so in 18 day we will be in Paris all going well and “Touch Wood”.

The last 3 days the weather has been fairly inclement and very cold for summer if travelling on an open car. The storms I spoke about a couple Blogs ago have not let up and just keep rolling across the steeps, and we are driven through some big ones in the last few days. Penny at least has a roof that we use to reduce the moisture we soak up. I do however feel slightly sorry for the people without a roof, however it was their choice to travel without a roof. Today we were been told that it only got to 10 C so we have been very well dressed all day. The weather for tomorrow is 19 C so it sounding better all ready.

A couple of days ago as we past through the town of Irbit, Julie and I visited a Motorbike Museum as it was the home of Russian Irbit Motorcycle production.

The weather today was kinder with a bit of drizzle from time to time but still very cold for a Queenslander used to Sunshine, as it was warmer at home today and it mid winter there.

Just after lunch today we had the most surreal experience. We got diverted into a town and onto the local sports field and treated like Royalty. As we entered the sports field with the road lined both side with locals we were directed to follow the running track around the outside and drive up on to this specially constructed podium above the crowd. We were then introduced to the 1000 odd people at the field in both Russian and English.

We left the town feeling quite overwhelmed by the whole experience for the drive into Perm for the overnight rest to be welcomed at the hotel by a similar number of locals and more cheering and music.

Yesterday also saw us cross the line that marks where Europe and Asia meet.

The true heroes of this rally are the Sweeps.

The sweeps are the 10 mechanics in 5 four-wheel drives that provide the mechanical support to the event. For the people with issues, these boys are like gods and angels.

The sweeps vehicles are loaded with their own personal tools and various parts and pieces they think might come in handy along the way.

The role of a sweep is that they drive the same route as everyone else along with also manning time controls early in the day. They then follow along behind tidying up the carnage at the back of the group, to help get people going again and driving to the overnight stop. If the repair job is one that can’t be done on the side of the road then you are advised to call for the truck to take you the overnight stop.

When the sweeps arrive in camp or at the hotel they get inundated with requests for help and immediately start work on helping and fixing cars welding and replacing head gaskets and patching broken sumps and the like; with this process going on until the early hours of the morning.

This group of blokes have the amazing ability to operate with very little sleep working until the early hours of the morning then on the road again at 7 with the rest of us to start it all over again – day in day out; for the twelve days until the rest day in Novosibirsk, where they were given the day off and everyone got help from the Russians.

So Guys; thanks for the help in getting us all this far. Without you, I think about 30 cars would still be in Mongolia somewhere!

Today was a 690 kilometres drive with a couple hundred kilometres of dirt road and time controls from Novosibirsk to Omsk.

The day started with a gala send of from Novosibirsk in the main Square as it was celebrating 123 year since it started.

The drive after we left town was as flat as it gets anywhere with the only high spots for the day being the bridges over Railway lines and other roads.

As we drove along the tarmac we watched the storms rolling along to the north of us in the direction of our planed dirt timed sections.

We were nearly at start of the first time control when we meet car coming back as the section was cancelled due to the slippery condition so it was back to the main road to Omsk to finish the day.

The rest of the afternoon was spent overtaking the numerous trucks and slowing for storms as we drove across the flattest plain with cereal crop farm of all different standard amongst the swamps and tree.

My past experiences driving in Russia tells me we have days of this ahead till we get to Southern Poland.

I think most people enjoyed the easier days driving after the busy time fixing cars on the rest day and the gruelling time in Mongolia.

As we cross Russia and I’m back in Blog mode I’ll try and cover some of Mongolia over the coming days.

This is the first rest day since we left Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia and a well earned one at that.

I have been too tired each night till now to henpeck out a blog ready for some Internet that has only been good enough for emails of a night.

Penny has been going very well so far to date, save for a couple small steering niggles since the middle of Mongolia. On a sand track one day I bent the steering damper and have had limited steering with only about half the total angle of normal till today. The steering damper had started to leak and was failing at it job from time to time with the slight wobbles. This in turn made a steering arm lose in the stub axle. This was corrected on the side of the road the first day in Russia.

I had made arrangements for a steering damper to meet me in Poland but that was proving to be to far away, so today in Novosibirsk I got a shock absorber from one off the support trucks and with the help of some very kind Russians in a work shop under a block of flats we modified my mounts to take the shock absorber which on the drive back worked a treat and Penny drove the nicest she has for about 5 days.

This workshop was and absolute hoot of a time. The music in the workshop was provided by a old windup Gramophone and old 78rpm records. The needle and records were that worn the music was grating and I had to get it turned of so I could work.

The owner of the workshop had a passion for old WW 1 and 2 guns and jeeps so I was shown that collection in the workshop.

The workshop was filled with lathes and mills for doing all sorts of metal work so in a coupe hour the jobs was done and Penny was washed ready for the trip across the steeps of Russia.

At the end of the job the men assisting me on the repair would accept no payment of any form at all because they felt it was a privilege to help out with fixing such an old car.

While I was at the workshop Julie was around town shopping for some clothes and bits and pieces for some crews that were to busy fixing to do there own shopping

The afternoon has been spent resting and getting supples for the next few big days across Russia to our next rest day in Kazan in 5 days and 2800 kilometres

Over the next few days I’ll endeavour to put up some photos from the trip across Mongolia.