Tyrone to Gaza

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

The lorry is a 1996 Daf 45, does anyone know which hub he needs? It will be a hell of a job getting a hub from here to Tuisia/Libya. Maybe Donagh still has a few contacts in Libya  

It would be a courier job I'd say, but I don't think my cheque reached them on time before they left, so I'll put what I put in the original cheque to it.

And I think it's a front hub, are both left & right the same?

[Double Cross]

Longrusthefox wold you take your nonsense back to hoganstand.

FoSB. both hubs are probably different.

[Double Cross]

In a few years when you are old enough to have a car of your own, you`ll realise there is a big difference between a hub and a hub cap. Now run along to bed.

[gerry]

you tell him dc

[longrunsthefox]

You get the hub or whatever the hell it is to this lorry and I will bow to your ingenuity because your head is full of magic... unless you can get it to Gadaffi to give to then when they hit Libya

[Zapatista]

Let's all just hope those Israeli b**tards will let them in

Erm what have the Israelis got to do with anything? How can they stop them? or am I being really stupid?

I think this has become a great PR exercise as well as the great humanitarian exercise. Israel won't be to happy. Even though they are not travleling through Israel, Israel have a habbit of ignoreing borders and humanitarian causes.

[Donagh]

The lorry is a 1996 Daf 45, does anyone know which hub he needs? It will be a hell of a job getting a hub from here to Tunisia/Libya. Maybe Donagh still has a few contacts in Libya  

Funny you say that, actually I do. Well they'd be Maltese who work fairly often in Libya. What's the craic then, do we need to get this lorry part out to him? Getting something out to Libya would be manageable enough but I don't know shit about Tunisia. 

[StGallsGAA]

Can anyone find the link to the UTV live interview?  I can't find it on the website.

[give her dixie]

Well folks, the Tyrone 1 is back on the road again, and i'm now in Lybia....
You have no idea the trouble we have had in order to get to an internet cafe, buts thats another story........
We are now 30 miles from the border with Egypt, which we hope to cross tomorrow. From there, we will take 3 days to cross Egypt, and hopefully be at the Rafah border on Sunday. As of now, we have been assured a safe crossing into Gaza for 3 days, however, anything can happen between now and then.

So, since my last post, a lot has happened. After we crossed into Tunisia, we passed through the town of Gafsa, where thousands welcomed us with incredible excitement. Then the convoy was expected to drive a futher 150 miles to Gabes, but with 18 hours already drove that day, the convoy stopped on the roadside to sleep for the night, against the wishes of the police.....

We had a front wheel bearing gone, and after asking the police to return the 2 miles into town to get a hotel for  the night and sort out a mechanic in the morning we were allowed to turn around and return. Press Tv followed us, and after 1 mile we were stopped and not allowed to proceed. They wanted us to turn around and drive the 150 miles. We refused as we could not move much futher without more damage. The police were accompianied by the "secret police" who were horrible. We were made sleep in our vehicles and they kept their flashing lights on us all night. The following morning, they still refused to let us to return the 1 mile to town, and after 5 hours, they brought out a mechanic who did a botch job to get us going. We found out later that the reason we were not allowed to return was because there was unrest in the town after our visit, as the town is a hot bed for the Resistence towards the Govt. Anyone who had spoken to the convoy had been arrested and badly treated.  The police told us that we had not been arrested or prevented from travelling as the 6 police vehicles used to block us in had "broken down"!!!!!! Mysteriously, they all started ok when we were escorted to Gabes...

In Gabes, we were reunited with the convoy, who by this stage had all been taken to a stadium, bringing back memories of the national stadium in Santiago Chile, where Pinochet  took care of thousands of Chilean people in Sept. '73....... No one was allowed to leave the stadium, and those of us who managed to go to an hotel, were taken under heavy police escort, and when at the hotel, not allowed to leave. At 4am the following morning, they came banging on our doors every 15 minutes preventing us from sleeping. Very nice people indeed..... At the stadium, the lorry didn't get fixed, however, a low loader was produced, and we were taken on it to the Lybian border, which we crossed last Saturday.
We recieved an incredible welcome at the border, and everyone was quite relieved to have left Tunisia, which was a horrible experience for everyone. No one in the convoy is in any rush to book holidays in Tunisia, such was our treatment. But seeing as Israel pulls the strings there, what could we expect.
After crossing into Lybia, we were taken to the next town, and we had an incredible welcome. Again, thousands of people lined the streets to welcome us, and we were taken to a large boyscout complex, where we were well fed, and had beds for the night.
Sunday, the convoy moved on and we stayed behind along with a few others who had vehicle problems. Mechanics were laid on, and late in the afternoon, we were back on the road.
After driving 300 miles, we caught up with the convoy and stayed the night in an hotel which was a welcome sight..

Monday, we headed off again, and had a 300 mile drive, staying that night in our vehicles. Monday was "Revolution Day", and a public holiday. That night we passed by the town used by Gadaffi as a summer residence, and we could see the extravagent firework display as we drove along the motorway. As we were tight for time, we didn't get a chance to stop in and have a cuppa with him, but i'm sure he understood!!!!
Yesterday, we set off early and made our way towards the desert.  After 150 miles or so, we hit the start of the 300 mile desert crossing. After lunch, and fuel fill ups, we started to cross the desert. It was an incredible drive, with nothing but sand, shells of wrecked cars, and dead camels along the road........ We drove about 180 miles, and at sunset, camped for the night.

Today, we completed the drive, stopping once as I had a tyre blow out along the way. Thankfully we have a tyre van on the convoy, and with his air tools, we had the wheel changed in no time. It was a very hot drive with temperatures in the 30's, much like home right now I suppose.

Today we recieved sad news that a journalist on her way to cover our journey to Gaza was killed last night in a car accident. It has put a damper on things for everyone, and has re focussed our convoy. All our thoughts are with her family and friends.

This journey for me is now on day 20, and it seems just like yesterdy when I left Dungannon, although I have driven almost 4,500 miles so  far. It is one incredible trip. Greg and myself feel like we are driving the Pope Moblile as every town we enter people line the streets to greet us, and we are treated like the pope driving through Ireland in 1979....... People want to shake our hands, take our pictures, give us food and water, and to see the joy in their eyes is a feeling that will last with me forever. If this is what we are getting on this journey so far, the reception we will recieve in Gaza will be amazing. Apparently, over 500,000 people will be at the border to greet us!! Gaza is already is buzzing waiting for us, and hopefully this Saturday we will be there to deliver not only our vehicles and aid, but a very strong message of hope to them. We have also been joined by 100 trucks laiden with aid from Lybia. The sight of 220 vehicles snaking through the deset today was breathtaking. It would be very foolish of any Govt. to deny us entry to Gaza now.......
Anyway folks, your help and support has carried us this far, and it will be carried all the way to Gaza this Sunday, so stay tuned to the news for our arrival, it should be something else...............

Tyrone To Gaza

John

[Double Cross]

Thanks for the update John, good to hear you got going again. Keep us posted and get some pics up when you get a chance.
Have a safe journey.

[Doogie Browser]

Great to hear you are mobile again John, take care. 

[ardmhachaabu]

All the best, hope you make it

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Great to hear from you John, best of luck for the remainder.

[mylestheslasher]

Hope my Cavan air freshener is keeping those sweaty desert smells at bay Well done lads.

[rrhf]

Keep thon rocwell wagon pointed at Gaza John..