sample: This is a book of not one emigration, but two, with a third one coming up. A story of humour, frustration, adventure, and insight into local life. Surviving deluges, making a debut into Greek motor racing, and many other things. Watching grapes being trodden in the olden way, and being invited to join in to all of these things.
No to an extract:
The dreaded Classic Acropolis Rally
Whilst trepidation at the thought of it has not exactly been keeping me waken at night, it is rather on my mind.
It doesn’t matter from my point of view if I get us lost or we are not on time, but any mistake I make reflects on us both, and whilst it is largely my responsibility, it is the driver that gets the glory or otherwise as the case may be.
At least when we used to do motor racing in the UK, once I had got him started in the car, all I had to do was timing, etc, and the responsibility for the position in which he finished was his.
Still he is muttering about doing some races, (races I am comfortable about) one in Rhodes late summer, and a couple on the mainland. These I can be more relaxed about.
I have been practising what I have to do regarding calculations for the rally, and whilst I know some of the things in theory, I will not know until we are there how different it will be to the ones we did in Cyprus.
We leave Paros on 1 May, on the Blue Star for Athens.
We arrive in Piraeus on a very hot and humid day, the Lotus having no air conditioning, so cooling is from open windows. We have to find our way to a hotel in the vicinity of the Acropolis. This bodes badly, as it indeed proves to be.
Richard has put different brake pads in the car for the gravel parts of the rally, but these really do not like road use in traffic in Athens, in so much as they are screaming each time he uses them. I want to hide. Similarly he has been working up to an engine re-build, which will be done after the rally, but for now the car does not like idling in traffic and when forced to, takes revenge by emitting great gouts of thick black smoke.
We are dreading the task of finding the hotel. The only good thing about this is that most Athenians are still on holiday until the end of the week, so the traffic will be light.
Richard had received the hotel brochure some weeks ago, but unfortunately the organising secretary forgot to tell us that the hotel had been changed, so in the event we rush around the small streets near the Acropolis, with the car overheating, backfiring, gouts of oil smoke coming out of the back and the new brake disks squealing for attention. When we finally arrive at the wrong destination, we phone the secretary and she tells us the name of the one we are really staying in, and says that it is just down the road !!
We are already hot and harassed and another frenzied half an hour of rushing around squealing and smoking (pollution now has returned to Athens) does not help the shining hour, so finally we park the car to give it a chance to cool down and I go on foot to find exactly where the hotel is. (I know we are close, but want to be certain we do not miss it, and can get there without hostile one-way systems that we cannot beat)
That bit is easy, then I discover there is no secure car park, parking is on the main road outside the hotel, but I am assured that the 24 hour staff will be watching the cars. These are the cars for the foreign competitors, who need to stay a night before and two nights after the rally. This enables us to meet each other, and to re-establish contact with the Norwegians who we last rallied with in Cyprus about a year ago, and where they will be going to compete again after this rally.
We later discover that some of the other foreign (i.e. non-local to Athens) competitors sensibly get a taxi in Piraeus to drive in front of them to lead them to the hotel, for which they obviously had the advantage of knowing the correct destination.
There is a briefing this evening explaining things to everyone, handing us the road book and answering any questions we may have.
2 May and we have to be ready from 8.30am at the Acropolis bus station, and when getting ready I discover I have left the calculator at home or lost it, so will have to use Richard’s mobile which has a calculator built in.
On the way to the Acropolis, the car is far from running well, and after parking Richard starts trying to analyse the problem, which he soon does, and which is a broken O ring on one of the carburettors.
I am despatched to find out how long we have until our departure, and am told about half an hour, but not to worry if we are late.
Richard starts dismantling the carburettors, all the baggage has to come out of the boot, all the tools are unwrapped, and spread unceremoniously on the tarmac, and Robert (with the Mini Cooper, who has driven in it to here from the UK, and who has previously done the Monte Carlo Rally twice) helps him. Meanwhile the brass band is playing and sending off the first cars. I try not to panic.
Eventually I send Robert off, as it is time for him to start (we have missed our start time), and eventually Richard gets the carburettors back together and we leave last of everyone (we should have left 21st, as that was our number out of the 60 entrants) All of this is done with him having a large surgical dressing over the site of the operation on his face. This is from the tumour that was removed only a week ago, and which was not going to stop him from participating in the rally!
We get the paper, which tells us what, and roughly where, the special stages will be, as we are clocked in, ready for departure. The special stage paper tells us how many metres have to be done in how many seconds, and sometimes these will be flying starts and others standing starts and you do not know which, until you get to the start of the stage.
By the time we are actually leaving, there is no way we can concentrate or worry about the tests, we firstly have to find our way out of Athens which is now heaving with traffic, and secondly, try to catch up with the others before the controls close.
Predictably we take a wrong turn and end up lost, and as the temperature is around 30 deg, and we have the windows open, it is easy to shout to the taxi driver alongside, “ Korinthos?”, and get appropriate directions including them holding their noses to indicate the amount of smoke we are chucking out.
I know from the map that if we can make it to the main Corinth road, I can get back to the Road book instructions, (which tells us where and when to turn, known as the tulip ) and thus still arrive at the control, so whilst worried, not really too much so.
Then just as we are getting the route sorted out, Richard when changing gear, finds that he has an unattached gear lever in his hand. I simply do not believe it. He is in second gear, and it is impossible to do anything regarding changing gear, so we have to wait until we reach somewhere that there are motor-type businesses, in the hopes we can find someone to do some welding for us.
We stop, the tunnel cover has to come off, tools come out, things get chucked around my feet, then we find a ‘bodger’ who welds it up. The car is a mess, nowhere for my feet, we are well late, but going again.
Disastrously, some 15 minutes later it breaks again!!!!!
