Bonkers to Budapest Blog June 2009

Hello everyone,

You’ll all be glad to know that the photos from Bonkers to Budapest are now finally online!

http://blog.wackyrally.co.uk/galleryjune09/

I’m having a bit of trouble making an online version of the slideshow. So for now all the photos are in a  simple gallery form for you all to browse.

Enjoy
~ Jezz

Now home and still a bit tired looking back on a great rally just some final words I forgot to mention when standing up, a mention to the Cod Squad whos moving driving range was fantastic, the outbackers for launching their boat successfully, the monks for not getting arrested  and the black pariah for being such great people. And thank you to everyone who had a kind word there were so many of them I cant now recall them all.

The rally can bring out the best and worst in us and as usual we learn a little about ourselves, for instance 7 tequilas 5 jager shots 2 pints and vodka and soda can make you incredibly drunk and violently ill in the morning, just thought Id pass that on. So apologies to everyone I spoke to  Monday night as it was very likely to be utter nonsense, then again I think most of us was speaking the same language : )

As usual the organisers hit mishaps on the final day, the Wallettes van had to be hot wired by a ratty looking Hungarian to get it going for our final journey home. Of course as we were in Budapest we got ripped off but hey thats just tradition in this city.

A last thank you to everyone who took part and we are very pleased that so many of you enjoyed it so much, we sincerely hope to see you again next year and in he meantime Im going to put together the Norwegian rally.

And finally top respect to Team Disco who’s prize money went to the rainbow trust charity, brings a tear to my eye thinking about how nice people can be. Maybe I’ll show the same charity when it comes to marking, but then again probably not.

~ Ali

The final scores are in and prizes and awards were handed out at Becketts bar last night in Budapest.

1st – Team Disco
2nd – Golf Course
3rd – Gert Lush

It was a very hard fought competition at the top but in the end Team Disco were able to do enough on the end day to keep their position at the top.

Other awards were given for a few different categories:

Wackiest Car – The South London pirates with the Black Pearl
Longest Drive – Sprinter Saurus (for driving through an extra country on the first day -they made and extra stop in Holland)

Congratulations to all!

Our final night together at Beckett’s Bar in Budapest.

Through the Wacky Rally grapevine I have found out that the blog was not working on Internet Explorer. I have fixed the problem by removing the problem post. So please again enjoy the story and pictures from the start.

We’ve made it! I am currently sitting in Becketts Bar, an Irish pub in Budapest.

Not everyone has arrived here yet but everyone is within close proximity. I bet  they’re all just making themselves look pretty for the Bonkers to Budapest award ceremony that’s about to take place.

So the winner is…… I can’t say just yet! I’ll keep you posted.

There was a certain eggy quality to our drive from Santa Christina to Ljubljana.

Here’s a few choice pics from our evening at the end of day 3 in Santa Christina, Italy.

Here are some more pics of day 2 of the rally: Anermatt to Santa Christina. There will be day 3 photos uploaded soon.

The final day kicks off from a Ljubljana cark park. Our destination: Bonkers to Budapest.

I also have some shout outs from some of the guys down here in Slovenia:

Starkies & Hutchster Team:

Hi to the family in UK & NZ thoroughly enjoying the trip – last day today, hopefully the beast makes it, who said a bmw fuel pump wouldn’t work eh! Jamie’s farts are getting worse by the day – too much beer, but other than that it’s all good! J & J xx

The South London Pirates (with the Black Pearl):

Aarrrrr  yeah old dogs, boarded another vessel  and took three prisoners. The wenches are cooking and cleaning and generally keeping the place ship shape.

Much merriment, pillaging , poor cap’n dan got attacked by a savage egg, but he’s getting over the emotional scars.

We will be sailing for Budapest to divi the spoils.

AAARRRRRRRRRR!

Team Dark Knights – Spent the evening fighting crime around Slovenia

Rob from the Bling Bling Pimp Machine – Send a shout out to my bitch

War & Peace:

Greetings to all the crew in the Eclipse offices. Hope you’re all having fun Monday morning at work! Nat says hello to Sarah and the pip. Jay says hello to everyone in stag and hen. And hello from me to all fellows geeks – is James keeping you all in check?

Team Dark Knights – Spent the evening fighting crime around Slovenia

It looks like yesterday’s challenge was a bit too easy as a lot of teams got full marks. Well done to all the top teams on day 3 – everyone obviously had a cracking time.

Also today Ali and Rob have awarded the bonus points. There is a total of 1000 points on offer for each team:  Up to 250 points for the paint job on the car, up to 250 for attachments to the car, up to 250 for fancy dress of team members and up to 250 for any additional wackiness / going that extra mile with effort. – Congratulations for Team Disco, the Black Pearl, Golf Course, the Credit Crunch Bunch and the Outbackers for getting top marks on the bonus points. They really have impressed us all with their work.

We now have a leading team coming in to the final day. So it’s all eyes on Team Disco, who have the 1^st prize in their sights. They need to make sure to do another day strong performance in the day’s challenge.

Here are a few cracking photos, from last night, that we poached from the teams. Much eggcitement was to be had at the England Bar in Ljubljana, Slovenia where our teams were enjoying getting smashed and scrambled.

Day 2’s journey took us from Andermatt in Switzerland through stunning mountain passes to the skiing village Santa Christina in Italy.

Better late than never, here are some choice pics from day 1. Shed loads more photos will be uploaded tomorrow.

We have arrived in Ljubjana, Slovenia for the end of day 3 of the rally. Ali, Rob, Nat and Haz have been marking today’s challenges while Jamie and myself had shut ourselves off in our hotel room to get up to date with the photosorting work.

Apologies again for the lack of updates in the past day. Me and Jamie have been working away sorting out photos all day today so I can finally give a proper update of wacky proportions.

So, 7 teams getting full marks for day 2’s challenegs. It’s still all to play for for the grand prize.

Its the morning of day 3 and our hardy drivers are turning up looking surprisingly cheerful considering they nearly drunk the bar out of beer. Many teams checked out the local nightlife which consisted of local mountain folk wondering what the hell had hit them. Team Disco provided entertainment for many of the revellers late into the evening right up until the local bobby decided the locals needed a few z’s. Quite what he made of it we’re not sure.

Santa Christina is a stunning venue and the suites make our stay that much more comfortable. With the dolomites looming overhead on this chrystal clear morning we’re really looking forward to todays drive which is bound to prove as stunning as yesterday, and there is a little surprise for one of our ralliers today ;  )

We say goodbye to a marrows tale which has died a death in Andermatt and is now the proud possession of a Swiss forecourt attendant. The occupants remain with us in the Black Pearl proving pirates do have a heart.

~ Ali

Hello everybody,

As you may have read in the earlier posts, us organisers have been having a hectic day. So my apolgies that there haven’t been any updates since this afternoon.

We arrived in Santa Christina, Italy at 7:30 and jumped straight in  marking the scores for day 2’s challenges, collecting photos and a few blog posts.

I’ll have some big updates for you tomorrow once I’ve finished sorting through the photos (there are some brilliant shots from the guys and girls over here in Europe). But for now I will leave you with some shout outs as I’m going to head to bed because I am kn-ackered.

Phil from the Cod Squad have a message: Cod, Malk and Phil had a snowball fight at 10,000ft today and Cod and Phil teed off on the roof of their car. – Hi Shiv and Xander. xxxx

Malk from the Cod Squads says: Hi Margs and Anna and Sian – xxxxxx

A massive shout out to Harry Burton from team disco who turned 24 today. We hope he had a fantastic day out on the Swiss and Italian roads.

A cryptic message from Team Disco: Hoof hoof, trot bag scoop fynes master general, disco in da house, bringing it to you massive! Gorringerino in your face (and Kenny bo bos). Team Disco rule OK. Jive safely…

From Blood Sweat and Beers: Yet to find another car that hasn’t bitten our dust  . . . looking forward to another day of everyone sucking on our exhaust pipes.

And a message from me to send best wishes to my house mate Flo who is leaving England to travel and adventure. We will all miss him in the Waterloo house. – And also a kiss for my girl Hannah. I love you baby. xx

To carry on from my previous post… We stopped at a small garage at the bottom of the pass. Rob successfully used his French communication skills to get a mechanic on site. We then followed the mechanic to a bigger, better garage down the road.

At first the situation wasn’t looking good. A few laughs and some head scratching by the mechanics didn’t seem to help us. But after Rob pointed out that we’ve got a right-hand drive car, things seemed to improve.

With the combination of an accelerator cable designed for a Suburu, a mini cable from a motorbike, a coat hanger, part of our broken cable and a cable tie, we are back in action. Next stop is Santa Cristina in Italy about 170 km away.

Let’s just hope it all holds together

Today myself, Nat, Haz and Jamie in the War and Peace car have been in convey with the other organizers Ali and Rob in the Bling Bling Pimp Machine.

A couple of hours ago we stopped for lunch on the Fluela pass, just outside of Davos in Switzerland. After having some grub at the top of the snow topped mountain we returned to our cars to find that the accelerator cable of our Renault Espace (War & Peace) has burned and melted tight inside its outer shaft.

Looks like we’re not going anywhere without an accelerator? Not on Wacky Rally. We were very fortunate to be in the company of Allistair’s Allstars and Kelly’s Heroes (part of a stag group doing the rally) on the top of the mountain. With the help of the guys from the stag party we have rerouted the broken cable through the glove box.

So now with a combination of the passenger accelerating and the driver doing the rest, we can drive the car. We have Jamie in the driving seat while Natalie works the accelerator cable. I’m sitting in the back giving moral support and working the laptop. Harriet has decided to bail and jump in to the pimp machine – she says her vertigo was bad enough, but combined with the broken car, she can’t handle it. hehe. So far this bodge is working ok. Jay and Nat are making a good duo.

As I write this post we have stopped in the next small town and are getting some advice from the local garage. I’ll keep you posted when I know more.

I am writing this from about 2400 meters high sitting at the top of the Fluela pass, we are about half way through day twos route and everything appears to be going well…. This morning started with us taking the wheel off our peace and war wagon to try and fix the breaks (minor problem in the mountains of course!??!) and half a dozen of us pretending that we were expert car thieves and trying to break into Team Black Pariah cars because they had locked their keys in the boot. They now have a broken back window for the rest of their trip (that’ll be chilly today with no back window and zero cred points to the would be car thieves!). The good news is that everyone made it off the start line, the rain has stopped, the cloud is lifting and miracles of miracles even a little sunshine is showing through here and there which will only add to quality of pictures from today’s photo challenge (keep your eyes out for some of them on the blog).

We are off down the other side of the hill now trying to stay a mile or two ahead of the rest of the rally. With one more big pass to go for us on today’s drive and up to 4 more for the teams that choose the big mountain route here’s hoping that the running repairs hold out for all the teams and everyone makes it to Italy before midnight

~ Rob

After 1 hours sleep and several pints of blood lighter we rose bleary eyed after a night of full of mosquito attacks, that high pitched whine will live with us for a long time to come.

With the rally underway, we were thankfull for the sunny start in Lille, a marked contrast to 2008 where we positively got drenched on. The teams, as usual, are a mix of jolly hardy souls and the slightly unhinged, the organisers come under the latter. We were very impressed to see the effort teams had made with the cars, especially the dancefloor in team disco!

The drive to Andermatt was thankfully uneventful for the Bling Bling Pimpmachine which meant we got to Switzerland fine free. The weather unfortunately was not so uneventful and we were a little gutted to see the days best scenery covered in a veil of greyish cloud. Very tired and after a long journey, it was nice to see the pretty village of Andermatt, with tales of woe coming through from different cars, we were unsure of how many would make it even on the first day. Thankfully by midnight, all cars had checked in and a round of applause welcomed our all girls team the Wallettes, midnight and the organisers made it to bed, I don’t remember my head even hitting the pillow.

Day 2 and the gods have finally been kind to our ralliers by moving the clouds to reveal the majesty of the swiss mountains, with some bodge jobs and the Black Pariah with a smashed window (having left the keys in the boot) all cars left for Santa Christina. Snow spattered mountains welcomed the cars to the first of the days passes as they try to get photos of the ridiculous and pointless.  Our very own car, war and peace, is suffering from over heating (nothing to do with Nat hoofing it uphill in first) and a stuck brake disc which we can only hope lasts till we get home.

Currently writing this on top of the Fleulapass overlooking a half frozen lake drinking coffee all in all this is a very good day. We are just waiting for the evenings shenanigans where no doubt ralliers will try and convince us chickens from a long way off look a little like goats and the such.

~ Ali

Day 2 kicks off from Andermatt’s train station car park. There is definite chill in the air as the cars gather to get an update on the scores so far and receive their challenge sheets for today’s action.

Despite the cold, the fog is clearing and everyone has a smile on their face. Big smiles from Gert Lush, Pink my Ride and Team Disco as they scored top marks from yesterday’s challenges. So the day 1 prize has been split 3 ways – this should make for a good lunch and coffee for the competition leaders.

Also, a quick note to say, that as I’m writing this post up in the windy roads of the Swiss mountains, the sun has come out and the weather is glorious. The scenery here really is outstanding.

Everything is still to play for at the top of the table. It’s looking like we’re going to have a heated competition this rally.

If you can’t find a team name in the list above, don’t worry. Not all teams have submitted their sheets for marking.

Here’s a few pics from last night at the Gotthard Bar in Andermett. Everyone looks happy to have made it!

A good few miles of motorway driving today, which takes us from the flat planes of northern France to the mountains and valleys of idealic Switzerland. A shame it started to rain as we crossed the Swiss border!

We’ ve all ended up in the beautiful mountain town, Andermett. Usually a skiing town in the winter months, but for tonight it’s transformed to Wacky Rally headquarters.

The teams have been arriving with their various items of foreign produce and stories to tell. Our glamour girls, Harriet and Nat have been taking the scores for today’s challenges, Ali and Rob have been pimping it up in style, and me and Jamie been slaving away collecting photos and blog shoutouts.

You’ll all have to wait until tomorrow to see all the new pics, as I still need to sift through to find the gems. But for tonight, I leave you with shout outs from the teams:

The guys from Will it Drift are loving it and doing well. Dodgy says ‘Jade, I love you’.

Good vibes from the three car crew, Alistair’s Allstars, Kelly’s Heroes and Carry on Kelly They’re reporting that on the whole, all is good. Sounds like some clutch trouble. All are enjoying dismantling the cars as they go, lightening the load to increase the miles per gallon. Dissapointed that the French waitress didn’t come with them. Phil liked the stern treatment at the border control, but not as much as the stern treatment harriet (one of our scorers) gave him!

The Credit Crunch Bunch – made it safe and sound despite lots of smoke. The girls are scared! (That includes Alan)

War & Peace – The Hippies made it after 9 hours, torrential rain, indoor swimming pool in the car (Leaky Windscreen) and a slight case of over heating on the run up the mountain!

Phil from the Cod Squad says hello to Xandre, Shiv and Mum – Hi from Andermatt, having a great a time, love Phil.

Team Dark Knight – Getting on it like theres no tomorrow. Deeb says Hi to Mim, love you lots. Dad says hi to Tina, behave yourself while I’m away.

Team Disco –Shout outs to all our sponsor Level 2 funksters. A special message for captain slow: the bus is still working.

Mellow Kilted Fellows– Despite missing the start by 2 hours they’ve made it here. Had a great night in Lille and have arrived safely in Andermatt. Enjoying the local beer. A few rattles in the car but no complaints.

Clare from the Three Must-Get-Beers says: Hi Marie, Hopefully you’ll be able to see some photos of our team at last. And Iain, also from the beer loving crew says: Hi charlotte, hope we’re embarrassing you lots, with love.

Steve and Therese from the Black Pariah send their love to Daniel, Donna, Nicola, Matt and Christina: Hello from mum and dad, we made the first day and survived!  Phil you owe me a tenner.

There’s lots of happy vibes from team Le Mon. Mark is gutted that his girlfriend Millie is only 200 miles away in Crans-Montana but cannot see her because our rally doesn’t venture there. Lots of love Millie, Wooja Wooja Wooja. Neil says hello to everyone in Worcester and Norway. And Leonie says hi to everybody, especially mum, dad and stinky sister.

Troy from the Hoffs sends a big shout out to everyone who’s looking on in. We made it through the first day – overheated a bit. Aqua planes, need to change the wipers. Kept the speed up and didn’t get wet. – The Honda is doing us proud. – Glenn says hello to his work mates at PC World in Portsmouth: hope you’re enjoying working while he’s enjoying his time in euope.

Some messages from Eastbound and Down: Chris says hello to Landau UK: hope you enjoyed your manic Friday while we were cruising across the beautiful Europe that isn’t the UK. PS. This is always the final countdown!!

From all the team in Eastbound and the Hoffs: Happy birthday Anne. Miss Cooper it’s all about you.

Starkies and Hutchers arrive late tonight to tell us about their story so far. They broke down last night half an hour from the registration at Lille but despite the set back they got there at 1am. Unfortunately their car wasn’t towed to a garage, it was taken to more of a car depot. So Friday morning was spent ringing around trying to get a fuel pump – which isn’t an easy thing to do when you don’t speak French! Luckily in the end, a fuel pump from sn old Beamer was found which fitted their Volvo – a bargain at 60 euros and a bottle of JD. So today the S&Hs left Lille at midday and got here at 23:45. I think they should be given a medal.

Before I sleep I want to send a shout out to my beautiful girlfriend Hannah: I hope you’ve had a good night out baby, sleep well xxx

And finally, a shout out from Hayden and Dan from the Black Pearl:  Arrrrrrrrrgh!

An early morning start in a Lille today and it’s looking like a beautiful day outside.

Fancy dress costumes and fancy dressed cars are out in force to welcome in the start to Bonkers to Budapest 2009.

Everyone is in good spirit this morning despite the early start, except of course for a few blurry eyes!

Today’s route takes us from Lille in the north of France to Andermatt in Switzerland. Each car has been handed a yellow envelope containing today’s challenge. Teams are awarded points each day for completing various tasks. I can’t give too much away, but I can tell you that digital cameras are a must. None of the challenges are speed related.

Good luck ralliers.

So here we are at the Cafe Oz in Lille. It’s still gorgeous weather outside.

But us wacky rally organizers aren’t getting to enjoy the sunshine. We’re inside getting everyone registered for the upcoming fun.

As I’m writing this post, already half of the teams have arrived and said hello. And it’s not even dark yet. So it looks like everyone is very organized this year.

Rob and Harriet have been on the prowl taking photos around the pub. See if you recognize any faces.

The sun is shining as we arrive in Dover. Waiting to get on the ferry we’ve bumped in to 4 other Bonkers to Budapest rally cars.

Here we have Sam from Eastbound and Down with our crew member Harriet, sitting on their banger bonnet.

Next we have Troy and Glenn from the renamed Knightrider team.  Introducing the Hoff’s. Looks like it’s all going well for the Hoff’s, apart from a loose number plate that they’ve had to stick back on.

We bumped in to Tim and Nick modeling their banger from Blood, Sweat and Beers. They’ve made it Dover successfully even though they left everything until the last minute.

And finally, we met Mark, Roger and Gary from Will it Drift. Sounds like they’ve been through the wars already. Where to start?!… After leaving the lights on overnight, resulting in a flat battery, they acquired the help of a 4×4 to reverse bump start their car through a neighbour’s garden. Also to make matters worse, they tried to disable their renegade back windscreen wiper and, in the process, ended up smashing the back window… Which is now gaffer-taped to the max!

~Jezz

Even with Ali trying his best to delay us by leaving his passport at home, we are off!

We’ve packed the cars, filled up with diesel and now after a relatively stress free morning, our two organizer cars are on the road. Next stop dover.

Please remember to take lots of photos everyone, I want your best pics for the slideshow at the end of the rally.

Safe journeys

~Jezz

Its the day before the madness, teams are undoubtedly putting the last touches to their cars, panicking about fancy dress costumes and probably wondering if their friendships will last the next 5 days or so. We are working our little butts off putting the last of the challenges together and making sure the points system is fair and works for everyone, I have just replaced Robs crappy 1st place prize trophy with something worth sticking in the back of a cupboard hopefully this time the winners wont lose the trophy in a nightlub.

One thing is for sure no matter what happens on every rally there is a story to tell and rows to be had. We are trying to fool proof the challenges so there is no cheating or loop holes this time so we wait and see what ingenious ways they can come up with to win the prestigious first prize.

~ Ali

Hello ralliers and co,

I’ve put the finishing touches to the new Wacky Rally blog and made this page live!

The new blog should be a welcome improvement over the blog we had running last year. I’ve made the design cleaner and bigger, so we can fit more content on the page without confusing anyone!

Leaving a comment should now be easier as well. There are big red links underneath each post which make it very easy for you guys and girls to leave feedback.

If you have any comments / suggestions, please feel free to leave them below

~ Jezz