After the sun came fog for some hours, then a bit of snow on the edges of the road as we got near the Frejus tunnel (left) which is 13km long and takes you from France to Italy.

Most of the day was travelling on motorways and autostradas, but in the evening we did some 'World Cup' sections which were more competitive. They consisted of narrow tar roads which climbed up and down the Ligurian Hills.

We left Beaune at 9:15 am and arrived here in Firenze at 8:45 pm so 11½ hours on the road covering more than 800km.

Day 4- 5 Ancona (Italy) to Kamena Vourla(Greece)

5-1-2012

Line up for the ferry from Ancona to Greece (left), and Ancona seen from the ferry

1was wrong about not needing the rally jacket. Greece was cold and rainy. We travelled 160 Km inland to near Meteora where they has a section that climbed a mountain with snow and ice on the road.This was Mark's first experience driving in these conditions and he now knows how slippery ice is!!

Last night they had us in 13^th spot. The day 3 results had us 8^th. At the start of competition they decided we are 9^th so we started  9^thtoday.

left: No service crew, except Mark and me!

Car is going well.  It's competitive with most vehicles except the Porsches which are very serious about winning. They have also entered a Toyota ute to carry spares for them.

Our car has some vibration in the back (we hope dirt in the wheels) - will know when we start tomorrow. Tyre wear seems OK at this point.The clutch will slip if provoked so we have to take care with that.

Most excitement today was when a number of cars including us took a Keep Left which was 150 metres before the real Keep Left. I thought it was a bit soon but all the wheel tracks did go that way and the 240Z that Mark had in sight went that way.

Well, 3 tenth down we saw other cars coming back and Mark turned around immediately to at least get the jump on the other two. Next thing, one of the very fast Porsches came over a crest heading down the road at us.Both Mark and the Porsche braked hard and changed direction.

Unfortunately Mark went left and the German in the Porsche went right. We had a very low speed head on.No damage to us, but a bit more to less robust Porsche.Probably not a friend anymore.

We have passed through some very spectacular country. I am getting a few photos but it's a bit hard as we are past most things before I can get ready.

Day 6

6-1-2012

Day 2 in Greece was the best rallying we have had so far. I'm told that we are using the roads that the Acropolis Rally uses and I have to say they were pretty good stages.

1. our Datsun; 2.Cauwenberg&Castelein's Porsche 911; 3 Lloyd & Scott Mercedes 280; 4 Atherton & Henchoz Volvo 144; 5 Newtown's Commodore. (All action photos from official website)

We had been worried about a vibration in the drive train. We had swapped the rear tyres to the front and put the spares on the rear to try and even out the tyre wear. The interesting thing was that the vibrations moved from the rear to the front. We were still trying to work out what was happening when with 4 minutes before we started a section we noticed a front tyre was going flat. I suspect that the tube had gone flat and that the tyre only stayed up while the valve still sealed the rim. Anyway, we now have a flat tyre we need to get mended and all the vibrations have gone.

On the first competitive section of the day we were stuck on a slippery hill when the cars in front of us, two Volvos and a 260z were bogged and blocking the road. I believe we could have driven it easily if they weren't blocking the road, b

Day 2 in Greece was the best rallying we have had so far. I'm told that we are using the roads that the Acropolis Rally uses and I have to say they were pretty good stages.

We had been worried about a vibration in the drive train. We had swapped the rear tyres to the front and put the spares on the rear to try and even out the tyre wear. The interesting thing was that the vibrations moved from the rear to the front. We were still trying to work out what was happening when with 4 minutes before we started a section we noticed a front tyre was going flat. I suspect that the tube had gone flat and that the tyre only stayed up while the valve still sealed the rim. Anyway, we now have a flat tyre we need to get mended and all the vibrations have gone.

On the first competitive section of the day we were stuck on a slippery hill when the cars in front of us, two Volvos and a 260z were bogged and blocking the road. I believe we could have driven it easily if they weren't blocking the road, but once we stopped, we too needed a push to get up the hill.

At Customs, the Australians were taken aside to have our passports stamped. Citizens of the EU went straight thru. Carnet (i.e., the car's passport) had to be stamped and there was a small problem that everyone would have had that we were exiting the country without any import stamp! After a minute of conversation in Greek they decided they would book them in as well as out.

Health wise we're good. I've taken a bit of skin off a knuckle where the window winder is close to the roll cage, and Mark has kicked a toe (while wearing thongs to dinner) and slammed the boot lid on his thumb when rushing to change the flat tyre. Nothing serious.

 Coming up: Waiting to depart on the ferry to take us to Egypt..The ship has been charted just for us so is pretty comfortable. We each have a 4 berth cabin to ourselves. There is no choice of menu, they serve fixed courses and that's it. They did also serve a reasonable white and red wine. (Other Greek wines I've tasted since being here are really not to my liking).

We were told some shipping had been cancelled due to very high winds (Force 10 and 11) but other that rolling about a bit and a howling noise when you go near an exit, it's not affecting us too much.

I'm told the ship has internet so that will be the next test!!

Next: Ferry to Egypt