This has been one of the easiest drive of the journey so far as we only had 65.7 miles to cover. We were in Canada before we knew it. I suppose the hardest part was crossing the boarder from the US to Canada and having to answer questions about the car. The road number changed from R.101 to R.1 and now we were heading north once again and for Vancouver.
   
    As you approach Vancouver you notice the mountains in the distance across the bay area which are a sight to behold, that is if the clouds go away. Unfortunately the only time I got to see the mountains in all there glory was when I was given a poster of the area and the picture was taken on one of those better days.
   
    As we approached the city we had to find our way to my friends and as I had never been there before I think I did a pretty good job in finding the street "well actually we stumbled on it by chance" it must have been fate ! We were so relived to actually have a bed to sleep in I cannot tell you how it felt and also the car had a nice underground car park which was very secure so I had no worries leaving it there.
   
    The first evening we were taken out for a meal and we got to see some of the sights, I am very impressed with Vancouver. The people there are very friendly and such a clean place what with all the streets void of rubbish and even the air is clean, it just made me want to stay there for ever.
   
    Next day I had my work cut out trying to get in touch with my agents back in England to confirm the second stage of the drive and to get the car loaded into a container and shipped out to Australia. First thing in the morning I telephoned my agent and I was told of several agents in the US and Canada where I could take the car and so I made several more calls but had no luck with any of them, it seems that there are very few agents who actually deal with cars and even less that ship to Australia so I felt I had hit a brick wall and by this time the UK was in bed as there was an eight hour time difference so there was nothing more I could do but to apologise to Henk and Carol and ask to put up with us for yet another night.
   
    The next day I had much of the same and again the next and as time was starting to run out I decided to leave Vancouver and head for Seattle. At first I wanted to load the car in Vancouver but later decided to take it back into America where it would be easier to export it as America was where I imported it in the first place, plus I had to get all the paper work stamped out of America so on the fourth morning of being in Vancouver which was a Sunday we left. I was very sorry to leave but eternally grateful to my new friends. Cheers Donald!
   
    We thought it would be easy to leave Vancouver on the same route as coming in but unfortunately due to a slight error we went on a more round about way but eventually found our way to the boarder and were back on track heading south for Seattle. We headed for a town just to the South of Seattle called Kent and found a camping site which was quite close to the docks and made our new home comfortable.
   
    With only four days to go before we were booked to fly out and I still had not sorted out the shipping for the car, not that this was my doing but it is hard to pre arrange anything like this so a lot of phone calls had to be made both to England and America. I must admit I was starting to get a little apprehensive as the time was drawing near to leave and I even said that I would leave the car in storage and fly out on the said date only to return when the car could be put into its container then go forth to Australia but, I really didnt want that to happen. We werent too happy about the camp site either as it cost $22.00 per night and it wasnt all that great either. Now the budget for America was beginning to be eaten away wasting time.
   
    Two more days went by and we heard the car could be sorted out in a couple of days which was good news so I took the car to the US customs and had the appropriate paper worked stamped ready for the next day as we were also leaving, then we had a short but sweet drive around parts of Vancouver and headed back to the camp site where we got the car and trailer sorted out ready for shipping. I for one would be glad to see the back of this camp site.
   
    Next day we packed all the gear away and thank goodness it had not rained for a few days so the tent was nice and dry and so too was all the other gear, so at least I know all will be dry and fresh when the car arrives in Australia.
   
    We left the site and made our way to the docks which were only 12 miles down the road, as we had good instructions to find the container place we were there in good time but as we soon found out, the container was not and so we had to sit around and wait for what seemed to be an eternity. We both found things to do but still time dragged on until at last the container arrived and I drove the car into it when it was ready and watched as blocks were wedged and nailed around each wheel to stop it from moving within the container. That was all I could do for now, I hate to leave my car to the fate of others but I have little choice. It is due to leave from Seattle and first be transported south to San Francisco then on the eight of July it will leave America and be on its way for Australia arriving if all is well in the first of August, a little longer than I first anticipated but that cannot be helped.
   
    As the journey is taking a bit longer than first realised we have decided to return to the UK and wait until the car has arrived in Melbourne then fly out to greet it on the third of August. Then the second stage of the journey will begin. I anticipate the Australian leg to take about six weeks to complete and an approximate distance covered will be some 11,000 miles. I would like to take this opportunity to thank ever one who has been involved in making the first leg of this drive possible but, also I want to thank Bruce, Carol of San Jose, Mini Mania of Milpitas , Nancy Schaub Llama Ranch and last but not least Henk, Carol and Donald of Vancouver. See Ya in Australia ! Duncan Mortimer xxx