Saturday Oct 24: 11.25 - from Paul Barber

Finally arrived home at 9.30pm after a 5 hour journey in the car after parking the truck up in Swindon and dropping Steve Walsh off at home. both Steve and myself agreed its amazing how we can travel the length of Europe and hardly see a traffic jam, then as soon as we get back to the UK it takes us 5 hours to complete a normally 2.5 hrs journey.

This has been probably the most memorable convoy for me, for both good and not so good experiences.

The not so good experiences, firstly the tyre blow out on my trailer that also took out one of the air suspension bags and having to wait around in Germany for 39 hours for the repair to be completed. That delay put me a day and a half behind the rest of the heavies but luckily I managed to pull that back and catch them up at the Hungarian/Serbian border. That was then the start of the second not so good experience when we were refused entry in Serbia because unknown to us they were now strictly enforcing the rules that no food is allowed through Kelebia border. So after 5 hours trying to get back into Hungary, we made our way to the main border at Horgos, only then to be told that my tuck did not have the correct paperwork for the rice on board and that until we had that both myself and the truck were going nowhere. A big thanks to Nibsy who did everything in his power to get me through the border, but we had to make a decision for the good of the whole convoy and that was again to split into groups and send the other heavies on their way, so once again as Chas puts it on the convoy listing I was " Billie no mates". Thanks to those that kept me sane with the txts and phone calls and a supply of ciggies when I nearly ran out.

Chas and the rest of the convoy then arrived at the Horgos border and after identifying exactly what certificate was needed for the rice Graham Stewart and his team back in the UK swung into action. We were then told that it is normally 5 working days to get the certificate which would have meant me sitting at the border until Friday, but after great work again from Graham and the UK team we managed to get it the next day (Tuesday) and so after 72 hours at the border at 12pm on Tuesday we were told that I was free to go. We left the border at 12pm and arrived at the hotel in Gjakova Kosovo at 4am the next morning after a very long day and nights driving.

I must say that the rest of the trip was a very good one. It was great to see old friends from previous years and both to meet and work with the new convoyers, whom I must say did an excellent job.

I went out on a drop on day one of the deliveries with Charles and Doreen Lewry together with Roger and Chrisna Wilson and in all my previous convoys I must say that this was probably the best one I've done. Their experience and professionalism made the 3 drops we had that day, a very easy one. The one thing that really stuck in my mind and will always be there was at the last drop there was a gentleman who clearly had learning problems, he wasn't on the list but was obviously in need. All he wanted was a coat and a pair of shoes. We found a coat in the truck and passed it to him but then after he tried it on we realised it was a ladies coat but he wasn't bothered, we then found a really expensive mans coat that was both waterproof and warm and it fitted him perfectly. Whoever had given this coat had filled every pocket with socks, gloves, a hat, scarf and other bits and pieces. After looking for a pair of shoes that were the right size we found a pair of nearly new trainers that were slightly to big. This was not going to be a problem to him as he now had 3 pairs of socks from his new coat pockets so he just put all the socks on and the trainers now were the right size. Afterwards he was clearly very happy and was dancing around the truck pointing and showing off his new items. Sometimes when we do drops the people who we give the aid to, look disappointed and don't even acknowledge you, but the look of joy and gratitude on this guys face was clearly visible and that memory will stay with me forever, it also emphasises the reason why we go and do the job we do.

The other drops that I went on were all good ones, and I really enjoyed working with Caroline and John. Although it was their first convoy, their enthusiasm and determination shone through and hopefully they will be back with us again.

The drops that were made would not have been possible without the support and loading from the warehouse staff, who did an excellent job, Roddy, Dave Smith and the rest.

Also a big thanks to the MTS staff and the interpreters who without them we could not do what we do as effectively.
A big thanks has to go out to everybody though, because without the whole team, both drivers and airborne, none of what we were able to achieve the last few weeks would have been possible.