2011 - BRIDGET THE MIDGET

Out of Africa

17th December 201118th March 2020 By roychinnorNo Comments

Waking a little after 8:00 am yesterday, the 16th December 2011, I was surveying the snow that had fallen overnight and recalling my drive in Clanwilliam only ten days earlier in 50°C. What am I doing here at home, in time for Christmas? Regular readers will know that I was met in Grunau, Namibia, by no less than ten South African MG enthusiasts in six MG cars; two midgets, three MGB GT’s, two of which were V8 versions, and one MG TF. What they may not realise is that the round trip for most of those people was over three thousand miles each. To me, that is truly the mark of friendship that is always proffered by the members of the MG Car Club. The welcome group was headed by Bruce Henderson, Chairman of South Cape MG Car Club, in a MG Midget and consisted of Ricky Cooper (MG Midget), Kevin and Jenny Loader (MG TF), Rob and Theresa Mercer-Tod (MGB GT), Stewart and...

The Easy Bit

8th December 201118th March 2020 By roychinnorNo Comments

Arriving in Kongola mid-afternoon I saw several signs for lodges but for some reason wasn’t particularly drawn to them. Just as I was about to turn around and retrace my steps through the town I spied another sign for a lodge some two kilometres further on. I drove along and turned off onto a dirt road following the lodge signs. A further two kilometres down the dirt road and I came to a collection of crude buildings, a sign stating ‘Car Park’ and what looked like a gateway. I was just about to squeeze past the gateway when someone called out. I asked which way the lodge was and he said to take my bags out of the car and put them by realised how fortunate it was that I hadn’t squeezed past the gateway, for there was the river. Being so low down I wasn’t able to see the water from inside the car! This was the entrance to the...

Hurry Up Africa

1st December 201115th March 2020 By roychinnorNo Comments

After leaving Songea I overnighted at Mbeya ready to cross the border into Zambia early the next day and then drive to Mpika, a distance of some two hundred and fifty miles. It rained from early evening all through the night and was still raining the next morning. This was to become something of a habit over the next week. I got up at six o’clock the next day, in darkness because of an electricity outage, washed and packed the car. Leaving at six-thirty as dawn broke; we motored up to the border only to find that it wasn’t open until seven-thirty African time, which meant shortly after eight o’clock. Fortunately we were processed through Tanzanian immigration and customs in a little over half an hour and made our way to Zambian immigration. They appeared very efficient and stamped my entry visa within minutes of our arrival; I thought at last we had found a border control that knew what they...

Songea

26th November 201115th March 2020 By roychinnorNo Comments

The drive from Morogoro to Songea was fascinating and I dearly wish that I had more time to spend in the area. Shortly after leaving Morogoro, with its lovely mountain scenery, we entered Mikumi National Park. Our route took us some thirty miles across this park and even though I needed to get on I still saw hundreds of Thompson Gazelles and numerous giraffe. From the far park gate to the turning for Songea the scenery was really interesting, lush, green, several hill ranges and mile after mile of grasslands. The small round bushes that festoon the Massi Mara remind me of the wool balls that appear on a badly washed jumper. The final one hundred and fifty miles from Mikambo to Songea were truly beautiful, and the first one hundred of them have to go in the book of ‘roads I must drive my MG on before I die’ However the state of the road deteriorated into potholes and some sections...

Pheonix….

23rd November 201115th March 2020 By roychinnorNo Comments

I spent most of the week waiting; waiting for others to do whatever they do and deliver various parts to me. The damage to Bridget, following our journey from Moyale to Nairobi, is so severe that all I can do in Kenya is to replace the parts that are preventing us from completing the run. The rest will need to wait until we are back in the UK when I will probably remove the engine and gearbox, strip off all the individual panels, repair, replace where necessary and re-spray the entire car. The spares that Moss Europe have so kindly sent are a new fuel tank, fuel line, brake line, rear shock absorbers, rear light cover and a roll bar link. Locally, I have sourced a temporary windscreen replacement and a new exhaust pipe from the olive joint back to, and including, the tailpipe. I have now been able to re-construct the probable cause of the majority of the damage and it...