July
2005. Pre-Expedition - Colin Javens-'Getting all emotional'
Days to departure: 98
I
was once told that, 'If you want to feel as if you are flying
as high as an Eagle, make sure you are not surrounded by Turkeys!'.
Right now I feel as high as an eagle. Not only have I got a
great team supporting me, Jo, Caroline, Trustees, friends, family
and some great supporters. I have now got a full and very, very
capable expedition team behind me.
Jo
and I met a young Australian girl called Chrissy Prydun at Heathrow
airport 1 hour before she departed for several weeks of voluntary
aid work in Ghana. Chrissy was the final applicant for the role
of working with me during the expedition to help me with my
everyday needs. Chrissy seems to have all of the qualities we
where looking for in a successful applicant, from previous experience
with working with people with spinal injuries to plenty of experience
travelling abroad, plus a good sense of humour and the ability
to fit in with the expedition team.
Since
my accident and although I strive to be as independent as possible,
I have been thrust into a position that means that I pretty
much need somebody to be around me, nearly all the time, just
in case I do need something. Generally the way it works now
is that a PA will work with me one week and then have a week
off. Being reliant on somebody else for even the small things
like putting on a jumper does take a bit of getting used to.
(Its funny, probably the only thing I don't have to rely on
anyone else for is driving, which provides me with an immense
amount of independence. Maybe this is why it is so important
to me?) I find that in everyday life when making decisions I
am always conscious of the likes and dislikes of the personal
assistant who is with me for the week or whether they will get
on with my friends. For an example, if a friend said lets go
camping and I knew my PA would absolutely hate it, I would be
reluctant to go or if I went, I would be very conscious that
she would definitely not be enjoying herself. Therefore having
Chrissy on board who has the same aspirations and who I know
will get on with the team will be absolutely great. I think
it will be a huge factor of this expedition that I will not
have to worry about. Welcome aboard Chrissy.
|
The
Land Rover Enthusiast Show at Billings Aquadrome
14-17th July
What a fantastic few days. The beginning of the month
was all about the preparation for Billings show. John
Lloyd at Land Rover was very kind enough to say that we
could utilise an area of Land Rovers stand at the show
and this is what we did.
Caroline
was the instigator of the whole idea and it turned out
to be a great one. We had both expedition vehicles present,
which was fantastic to introduce them to each other. Chris
(Dr) had picked up the Disco from Steering Developments
and skilfully drove it down with the steering having been
lightened and the push/pull accelerator/brake in place.
The object of the four days was to increase the awareness
about Driving Home, to source the vehicle equipment we
need and to build up relationships with a number of key
businesses that were potentially going to help or sponsor
us.
|
 |
It
was an excellent opportunity to meet Tim, Claire and Phil from
Trek overland and David from Howling Moon who have very kindly
leant us 2 roof racks, 2 roof tents, 2 awnings and a rear tent
that I will be sleeping in for the duration of the expedition,
which is absolutely fantastic because they are very robust and
great quality. David who manufactures the tents in South Africa
is also redesigning the tent so that it will be easier for me
to wheel into. Thanks guys.
The
dynamic duo from Discoparts, Mark and Robbo have provided us
with all the recovery gear we will need. So when we are stuck
in the desert somewhere trying to get ourselves out we'll be
thinking of those guys back in the UK.
We
were able to source most of the equipment we needed for the
support vehicle which Paul from Footloose4x4 took back up to
Peterborough after the show for all of the difficult bits to
be fitted.
| We
also made a staggering £2150. Partly by a large donation
from Land Rover as a result of their off-road driving course,
selling raffle tickets and through selling Driving Home
T-shirts (which are fantastic), which where designed and
donated by a certain Ms Barlow from Gilgil.
It
was great to have both vehicles and pretty much the whole
team there. Everyone worked extremely hard in the fantastic
weather to increase our profile and as a result we met
some fantastic people (if any of you guys are reading,
I would like to say hello to all you guys). So thanks
to the team for all their great work.
|
 |
Discovery
Hand Controls at Steering Developments
Following the show the Discovery went straight back to Steering
Developments to await my arrival and for me to get into the
vehicle to have my first fitting. I met Chris and Jo there and
was introduced to Grant and Paul. Paul is the number one man
who is working on the Discovery and between him and Chris they
had soon lifted me into the driving position (with out my trousers
coming down. Great). After all the days, weeks and even years
of planning this was very exciting for me to actually sit in
the driving position.
From
my previous experiencing of adapting my van I knew that adapting
one vehicle is never the same as another vehicle so I thought
that the adaptations may not be ideal straight away so I hadn't
set my hopes too high. And unfortunately I was right.
What
we found out was that due to my lanky legs, the tight doorway
and the lack of room as a result of steering column being in
the way it was quite difficult to get me in. That was quickly
resolved by Paul saying that we could fit a detachable steering
wheel (I was thinking great anti theft devise and we could have
some fun with that in Africa). They had also lightened the steering
but I found that because my triceps no longer work I had great
difficulty of turning the steering wheel at the furthest distant
away from me. This should be resolved by attaching a smaller
steering wheel to steering column. It seems that they can work
around any problem. It is really exciting to think that I may
be driving the vehicle in the next week and a half.
Its
been another busy month but thoroughly enjoyable. Here's looking
forward to our first team training weekend covering first aid,
the effects after a spinal cord injury and a self awareness
course kindly donated by Objective. Also I have an opportunity
to test drive the adapted Discovery on a disused airstrip so
tune in next month to find out how we are getting on.
