Day 10

We continue to change drivers and each get a bit of sleep, we haven't seen many cars or lorries on our journey and we start to wonder how many British cars have made this journey and we assume we are certainly the first to do it in a London cab with the bonnet held down by gaffer tape!!

We finally find a petrol station to fill up but there are groups of stray dogs following the taxi, we wonder if we'll ever get out of this country and pray that we don't brake down. Luckily we reach motorway and the roads improve, we navigate through Bucharest centre at around 6 in the morning and finally reach the Bulgarian border at half ten in the morning having set off from Budapest 24 hrs earlier!!

The border is much less busy and we have no trouble getting in - unbelievable considering Betty is now held together by string and gaffer tape!

We drive down the Bulgarian coast (realising on the way that noding your head means no and shaking it means yes!!) and reach Burgas in the afternoon. What a drive! Tanya who works at the hostel gets us some soup and omelette to eat and listens to how we set off from Hungary 30 hours ago and didn't stop in Romania! The worst part of the journey is over and it's next stop Istanbul!!

Mileage: 2,416
Meter Cost: £4,842

Day 9

The most intense day of the rally so far. We wake up early to find the post office to pay our parking fine (and almost get stuck in a steep underground car park in the process) then hit the road to get out of Hungary and into Romania.

We knew it would be a long slog getting from Budapest to Bucharest but nothing could prepare us for what turned out to be a 30 hour marathon drive after some hairy moments in Romania. We approached the border and the fun and games started - after getting through passport control we had to buy a permit to drive on the roads and we soon realised that the taxi was attracting a lot more attention than we hoped as a group of gypsies stop us and demand money as we're paying for our permit. The Romanian Police seemed to turn a blind eye as we slammed the doors and hit the gas all looking a bit scared to say the least.

As we ventured further into Romania we realised the truly attrocious road conditions that people had warned us about. We were in a desolate area with only wooden shacks and horse and carts for company - if we were to break down here there would be serious trouble and we had given up on the Sat Nav and so were navigating from the road signs. It didn't take long for us to decide that we should drive into the night taking it in turns to drive Betty out of Romania for our own safety and pray that we didn't experience any difficulties.

However, as Paul was driving along one of the awful roads, a huge pothole made the bonnet pop up in front of the windscreen so we couldn't see a thing!! Paul thought quickly and stuck his head out of the window before guiding Betty onto the hard shoulder (which is also used for overtaking in Romania). This happened 3 times before we eventually had to tie it down with some gaffer tape, string from our Dare 2 B hoodies and some tow rope!! The nightmare of Romania continued as we drove up steep mountains into the night with the road conditions deteriorating we realised this journey would take some time and we were running out of Diesel.

Day 8

Woke up to a parking ticket on the taxi, although only a 10 pound fine.
We went for a bit of breakfast before coming back to the hostel to meet Andrew who owned the hostel. We had a chat with him for some Budapest newspaper articles and he kindly said that he would also do an article for the backpackers magazine in Budapest. We also took some photos outside our hostel (Domino Hostel) which we'll put online when we get the laptop up and running again!

We then took a stroll around Budapest and took in the market, the thermal baths, which we enjoyed in our dare 2 b capri shorts! We strolled over the bridge and took in the parliament buildings and had some goulash for dinner. As we enjoyed a pint of "Bit Burger" in the 'For Sale' pub we overheard a familiar accent and realised that 8 guys and girls from Crosby had walked in - we got chatting and found out they had read about our trip in the Liverpool Echo! Thanks to Tom, Bernadette, Jeremy and the rest of the gang for a great night out - we'll add the photos when we get back home so keep checking back.

Long drive tomorrow to Bucharest, we've been told that the roads get rather interesting as you leave Hungary, so we're looking forward to that adventure!

Day 7

Set off early and out of Salzburg, following the road past Vienna to Budapest. The laptop was playing up, so we only had sat-nav to the Austrian border. We drove out of the snow after about 50km which made the going much easier. Dave managed to misplace his mobile phone somewhere in the hostel, which was only realised as we approached the Hungarian border. To top the day off we were pulled over by the Austrian police as we were missing a motorway permit for that section of Austria, and were promptly fined 120 euros.

We soldiered on through the Hungarian border (buying a permit on the way!) getting increasingly funny looks. We crossed the Danube and drove along side it for a while before hitting the lights of Budapest.

As we drove over the main bridge over the river we were impressed by the vibrancy and architecture of the city. Using the good old paper map, we found our way via a scenic route to the hostel and checked in for the night. We popped out to get some Florints and some food before hitting the hay.

Mileage 1527
Meter cost £3,054

Đay 6

Still lots of snow about in the morning as we head into Salzburg centre for a bit of culture, we were unprepared for the snow and felt compelled to buy the stupidest hats on offer. We went up to the fortress, and looked around the squares and churches. We decided to immortalise the day with a 'historic' looking photo which involved us dressing up as Austrian gents and generals...photos to follow!

Had a spot of Wiener Schnitzel for dinner, and then handed out some leaflets and talked to the people in the hostel bar and common room.

Day 5

Spent most of today on the road trying to get to Salzburg, unfortunately the Sat Nav CD is stuck in Pilky's laptop and so we once again have to rely on paper maps to navigate our way. It soon becomes apparent that the weather is not going to be kind to us as we drive through a terrible snow storm in Germany which almost stops us in our tracks.

We stopped off at a Service Station along the way for a rest and the biggest sandwiches in the world but we forgot to switch Betty's lights off and Pilky was too preoccupied making a snowman on the bonnet to notice. We turn the key over and the battery is flat!!

Luckily a kind German guy jump starts us and we're on our way. On the way to Salzburg we pass the thousand mile mark and enter snow 4 inches deep, after snow ball fighting and a night out in Salzburg centre we hit the sack.

Mileage 1,067
Meter Cost £2,134

Day 4

Off to Frankfurt today - bad start though as the Sat Nav still refuses to load the European maps. We decide to head out of Brussels (courtesy of some 'creative' driving by Dave) and stop to get it sorted out. We stop in Hooegarden near the brewery and have a swap over driving - we manage to get the Sat Nav working and Ad takes over to drive into Germany.

We are greeted by a snow storm and truly atrocious driving conditions, we also find out that Salzburg (next stop after Frankfurt) is one of Austria's ski resorts and is in ski season. A quick check reveals that our wardrobe consists of t-shirts and a few pairs of jeans!

We arrive in Frankfurt and head straight to the bar. We spot a guitar and a pair of bongos hanging on the wall - after a few massive bottles of Becks we launch into a rendition of Wonderwall and then some Pilky freestyling.

Can't upload any photos at the moment but there wil be more to follow. Off to Salzburg tomorrow - could be interesting.

Mileage 816
Meter Cost £1,632

Day 3

Woke up this morning to find a blizzard outside, we weren't sure if the ferry crossing will be cancelled but we drove to Dover anyway in true one ball rally style. Found a pub in Dover to watch Man Utd thrash Liverpool - Dave and Ashton nearly fell out.

Got to the ferry port with a few minutes to spare and loaded Betty on after some tight manouvering. We got on just in time to get a comfy seat and watch the start of the Arsenal game in what we thought was the ideal location until we were thrown out by security as it turned out to be a childs play room - we wondered why we were getting funny looks from concerned parents!

Docked into France only to be greeted by 3 inches of snow but we weren't too worried as we had our trusty sat nav - or so we thought. It turned out that Pilkys laptop was on low battery after playing Champ Man on the ferry. With 2 minutes to go until the European maps were downloaded onto the sat nav, the laptop decided to call it a day and switch off so we had to get to Brussels old school with our paper map.

Mileage - 497
Meter cost - £ 994

Day 2

Today we spent a bit of time in London. We headed down to White Hart Lane (Tottenham's ground) with our buckets to offer Big D posters and peanuts in return for a donation. However, our grasp of "The Knowledge" failed us and by the time we had figured out directions and got there - everyone had gone!

Determined to raise a bit of cash (and lighten the load of the taxi) we headed into the hostel bar only to find disinterested Americans who seemed more bothered about bitching about how much carbon emissions we'd be emitting on our way. Anyway, we managed to get a few quid from some Europeans and headed into Leicester Square for a night out.

After the night out we got the dodgiest taxi in the world and decided to jump out at what we thought was the tube station near our hostel only to find out we had another mile to walk in the freezing cold. It's off to Dover tomorrow for the ferry to Dunkirk, load the sat nav European maps on and cruise through France to Brussels.

Day 1

Yesterday saw the official launch of The One Ball Rally in a blaze of press and TV coverage!

We were lucky enough to have been given a send off by Big D babe Malene who brought Ormskirk to a standstill. Granda TV covered the event in their evening bulletin and thanks to everyone who turned up and donated - we raised over £230!

After saying our goodbyes we hit the road and headed to Clatterbridge Oncology hospital (where Dave got his Cancer treatment) to have a brew and a chat with the nurses, then it was on to London Town, with a couple of stops for a kick-about on the way. As soon as we checked into our hostel (thanks to Hostelworld!) Dave went live on air in a Radio City telephone interview, unfortunately he hadn't charged his battery and the interview ended abruptly after 2 minutes! After finally locating his charger, the interview continued.

We then had a bit of time to sample the bar downstairs, and beating the Yanks at a couple of games of table foosball, before hitting the sack.

We will be uploading photos and videos along the way, so keep checking back for more news.

Miles covered: 258

Meter cost: £516

One Ball Rally Send Off!

After months and months of preparation we are finally setting off on our journey to Istanbul on Friday! We'll be setting off around 2 o'clock from the Clock Tower - we'd really appreciate it if you could make it down before then to show your support as a few newspapers and Granada TV are covering the event. Our main sponsor Big D peanuts will also be present to give us a special send off!!

We hope to see you there!

One Ball Rally Launch Party Weekend

It was a busy weekend for the One Ball Rally lads! Friday night saw the One Ball Rally Launch Party in Revolution, Preston go with a bang - a great night was had by all and we managed to raise over £200 in the process. Thanks goes to all of the staff at Revolution for putting on a great night for us and a big thank you to everyone who made it to the party, we'll hopefully see you at the Clock Tower on Friday.

Hungover on Saturday, we headed into Ormskirk Town Centre for a fry up at "Kath's Butty Van" where generous staff gave us a ten pound donation! Then it was off to Colin's garage to fit the radio and sound system to Betty, well actually it was up to Lee(http://www.hondapants.com) to do all the hard work while we, once again, supped on a brew!

Pimp My Taxi!

With help from Colin, last Saturday we fitted an airhorn to Betty!

Well actually, we made the brews while he got the job done in about half an hour - cheers Colin!!