Why?

It was at Beaulieu 4x4 Show that we met Frank from Sahara Travel. It all started to become clear to Annette what was
involved in a “trip to the desert”, and to my delight she lapped it up, becoming almost as excited as me. It was July 2003,
we decided that we would need time to prepare the Discovery so would not travel until the winter of 2004.

Eighteen months is a long time to wait when you are as excitable as I am. I used my normal ploy to ensure that I could not
change my mind, I told everyone. Family, friends workmates and even people on the forums. I couldn’t change my mind
now, not with everyone knowing. I kept the reality of the journey alive by spending money, lots of money, on preparations,
mainly to the vehicle but some on other equipment for the trip.

In the last three months all that was left to do was to book the channel crossing and the hotels through France to our
meeting place In Orange, 70km north of Marseille, the port from which our real adventure was to begin.

And the yacht? Oh yes, that was cut up and burned in the summer of 2004.