Welcome to the July 2004 update of BigSky Adventures. With six months to go, Maggie has moved home from Inverness, Scotland to Binfield, England.

Debbie takes up the story…

I was finally introduced to Maggie yesterday, on return from a business trip.  Martin had collected her the previous week from Inverness and had been eagerly waiting to introduce us!  I had seen various pictures and video clips of the ‘Tory Queen’, so I felt I already knew her.  She looked the part – complete with huge tyres, roof tent, ladders, sand shovel and a gazillion of stickers from all the countries she has visited.  From memory, I think she has already done three overland expeditions, so ours will be her fourth.  Surprisingly, for the 140,000m she has under her belt, she looks incredibly ‘strong and fit’. 

Martin proudly showed me around Maggie – first the passenger seat (which is where I’ll be spending a lot of time next year) and then eagerly the drivers seat.  He had previously warned me that Maggie was not a ‘comfort girl’ – but definitely an ‘adventure girl’!  Admittedly, my expectations were low, but when I finally sat behind the wheel, I felt pleasantly surprised at how comfortable I felt.  That’s always a good start, considering we are going to be spending many, many hours/days/weeks/months with Maggie! 

The back of the car was loaded with plastic containers, fridge, tools, water filter, shower, netting and other bits ‘n pieces.  I could see the excitement in Martin’s eyes as he talked me through the role and function of each item.  I absorbed all the information and tried to visualize how Maggie would look once we had prepared all the kit and were ready for our adventure.

Later that day Martin opened the roof tent (to air out) and was merrily pottering around with cleaning the plastic containers and fridge!  Our first practice outing will be next weekend when we go camping with friends in the New Forest.  That will sure give me a flavour of things to come (on a gentle scale)!  I’m looking forward to bonding with Maggie and experimenting with exciting things to come.  Notwithstanding, Martin sharing a lot of his time with the lovely Maggie.