Miles: 15
Countries: UK
Stops: Colchester
Playlists: N/A
Today was the second day in a row without any rain - a rather pleasant surprise - so we rolled out of bed and got cracking. We started by doing a trial run of setting up our tent, then hosed it down to make sure it was nice and waterproof. It turns out that it's much bigger than we thought, but overall it's a solid piece of kit and I'm sure it will serve us well.
After getting some caffeine into us, we headed back to the scrapyard with a boot full of alloys to trade for some spare parts. Tools in hand, we found a donor Fiesta to pillage some suspension bits from. With a bit of elbow grease, and borrowing the one sized wrench that obviously wasn't included in our kit, we came away victorious with both a front and rear shock and spring.
After another quick stop at the store we headed back to base to wrap up the last few outstanding things with the car.
May broke out the paints once again and added a green brain injury ribbon to the hatch, and also decided that the leftover gold paint would look killer on the wipers. At the same time, I fiddled with some more electronics, dropped the mattress in to complete the in-car bed, and started packing everything into roof rack-friendly bins for the long journey ahead.
We ended the day with a lovely meal in the shadow of Colchester Castle, and are as ready as we can be before we head off on this wild journey that awaits us tomorrow.
So long Colchester, and thanks to everyone who we've had the pleasure of meeting and interacting with over the last week. Everyone from shop keepers, to gas station attendants, to neighbours, to random drunkards on the streets - you have all been lovely and very supportive.
And an especially big thank you to our hosts, who helped us get the car, stored it for us, took us in, fed us, and, most importantly, put up with us this week - you have been amazing and we will never forget this.
Cheers.