DIARY ENTRIES

Friday 30th Message from Chas (Robin Hood)
Robin Hood got home at 8.30pm, Sea Dog expected home simultaneously. Big rigs back and parked and the drivers making their way home. All pleased to be back but a great convoy and a terrific team. Watering the plants, a quick cup of tea and then to bed to sleep for many hours.

Friday 30th from Bev
The weather today is being kind to us and we (Seadog and Robin Hood) plan to be on the 16.55 ferry (local time). We heard Late Entry transmitting at 15.00 uk time in Dover having got on an earlier ferry. We are looking forward to getting to the truckers lounge for some food before the last part of the journey in the UK. Hopefully we will be home later this evening.

Thursday  29th from Bev
The mini convoy reached Bad Camberg in Germany last night at 8pm. The two heavies continued but Seadog and Robin Hood stopped for the night. We had lots of bad weather on the journey.

Wednesday 28th July Message from Bev
The mini convoy have stopped for the night in Graz, Austria. We had a good run today and the weather was nice too!

Wednesday 28th July
The flyers are home! Sunday and Monday were 10 hour, long days, on the backs of the HGV trucks in the Roma camp distributing aid to a seemingly endless flow of the poorest people.The drivers started earlier and finished much later, loading the trucks for the second day.
At the camp it was very hot, very dirty, sometimes scary, often comic. At one point I was in a tug of war with unseen, probably little, hands that had come under the curtains at the back of the truck and were trying to remove a box of clothing. The children were everywhere and finely tuned to every possibilty of literally getting away with it. The group of Roma porters were magnificent; they acted as minders and weight lifters, crowd controlers and child chasers. They were courteous and comic, helpful and protective.
For me the saddest sights were the old people, so thin, so frail and so sad. What a place to end your days.
Proceedings were enlightened by a certain amount of dressing up, even crossdressing: I turned round at one point, to find David with a multicoloured octopus on his head and Sue's outfit was ....well, lets just say she found novel ways to wear her fur accessories!
The teenage Roma boys seemed to find British head gear and neckties hilarious. They gave me a laugh and it definitely broke the ice between us.
Thank heaven for Lydia, our ex police, lady interpreter, who took the female convoyers under her wing and procured the key to the Red Cross shack where there was a reasonable toilet and a wash basin with soap. What did the men do? I never found out.
As a first time convoyer, I am full of admiration for the amazing amount of organisation that goes on before, during and between convoys. I was also hugely impressed by the "can do" attitude to problem solving. Would I go again? On Saturday night I was muttering never, never, never again, but the rose tinted spectacles are already on, I've had a proper cup of tea, and I'm remembering the good bits. SO, of course I would!

Wednesday 28th July From Bev, now driving home.
Busy and long couple of days distributing aid at both Konik refugee camps in Montenegro off the sides of the 40 tonners set up as different departments. Robin Hood and Seadog were distribution points for fresh food and flour, buckets and disability aids. Bill Loose set up as an opticians with the help of a doctor. Help and interpreters were supplied by UNHCR, Red Cross and locals from the camps to approximately 450 families. The trucks were re-loaded in the evenings at the warehouse. Last night meal altogether at local restaurant .

Tuesday 27 July
The airbourne crew and Private Chambury departed at 5am. Drivers left the hotel at 8.30am in rain, 15degrees for the warehouse to tidy, load goods for a women's refuge centre and reload the lorries with our personal gear before departing at 12.30pm. We drove through to Neum, Bosnia arriving at 7pm to stop for the night and a swim before dinner of local fish. Entertainment was provided by Den who proved to be a hit with the locals too! It was a good night and we left after breakfast this morning. Today we are travelling through Croatia with the new crew in Mr Flibble "Bandana Boys"! Also we have a new journey leader, Late Entry. It is a lovely day and all good so far!

Tuesday 27 July From Paul (Late Entry)
All has gone well on the aid convoy. We made the newspapers and the national TV news. Today the driving crews spent the morning tidying up the warehouse and preparing the trucks for the return journey. The airborne crew were excellent, they worked really hard and we could not have done this trip without them. After a visit to the hypermarket to stock up on a few local beers we left at 1 pm local time and had an uneventful journey through Montenegro into Croatia, with the border crossing done in under half an hour. We have parked up in Bosnia for the night at a hotel 100m from the beach. Now having a meal and a few beers with views of an idyllic cove. Hope to be on the ferry from Calais early Friday morning and home Friday night. All in all it has been a good trip with much needed aid reaching the people that really needed it.

Monday 26 July From John
Just got back to hotel after another very very long day. Too tired to go out to eat again, so grabbed an apple from the breakfast counter, updating you and then to bed!
After leaving the hotel at 6am we again picked up the trucks and got to the camp at 8am. Did circa 220 families ranging from 1 person to 13 in the family! Finally finished about 1945 to park the trucks at the warehouse and then back to hotel.
Den and Jonny Onion on Sea Dog gauged the distribution almost exactly and had just enough to give to the porters who helped us on both days. I was cooler today but still too hot for anything but shorts and a Hi Vis vest. It rained heavily whilst we were driving back to the warehouse and temperature dropped to a comfortable 22 degrees.
We will probably be leaving tomorrow but don't know how far we will get. Home possibly Friday or Saturday.

Sunday 25 July From John
10 hours at the Roma camp today, giving things out from the backs of the HGVs. Amazing experience. Same again tomorrow. So early night!
Terrible conditions in the camp but not once did I feel unsafe wandering around the buildings. Lots of children all enthusiastically wanting their photos to be taken. I couldn't imagine living a day here let alone a lifetime.
A very very long day. Up at 0530 and away to warehouse at 6am. Collected trucks and arrived at Konik 1 camp at 0800. *Jonny Onion* and Den did a roaring trade distributing onions, potatoes, peppers, oil and flour, quantities depended on family size. people then went down the line of the two artics collecting all the other items. A lot of confusion because the camp people had got the numbers wrong and we started to notice pople coming up twice. Soon a system was developed where we recorded their number and family size. We eventually got away from the camp at about 6pm, the drivers having to go back to the warehouse to load up the arctics for tomorrows drop (at the same place but to people from Konik 2). The drivers eventually got back to the hotel at 9.45 where a cold beer and a piece of pizza awaited. Can't believe how dirty we have got handling all the potatoes etc. just going off to have a shower and bed before another early start tomorrow.

Saturday 24 July From John
Another hot day, cooler at 38 degrees, but still very uncomfortable.
Took Sea Dog up to the flour warehouse (not much more than a house) where two very hard working chaps loaded us by hand with bags of flour and bottles of oil. They work 13 hours a day, 7 days a week with no holidays and all for 10 euro a day !! they were over the moon when we gave them a 10 euro tip!
Then on to the wholesale vegetable market where we bought and loaded 30 crates of potatoes, 80 bags of onions and 72 bags of peppers. The bags of peppers cost us 1.5 euro for a 5 kg bag averaging 80 peppers. I am now refered to as *Jonny Onion* !!
Back to the warehouse to sort, pack and prepare for the distribution tomorrow. We will be using the *shop* system as they did in Romania.
Just got back to the hotel for a very welcome shower in an air conditioned room. Unfortunately the computer station has no AC.


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