Furka Pass this morning. Poor old cows!!
I have to tell you about our last day of competition. After 50 test sections over 33 days, we finished on top of the ‘croix de coeur’ ( cross of hearts) in the Swiss Alps. What a place to finish! Tilly charged up the mountain on a very bad dirt track, with me looking (well, actually not looking) down the side of the mountain. I think Gunther wanted to make it a good last time, but we had to slow down to pass a 1936 Bentley Sport and the valuable seconds were lost. Not that it matters a jot on place 33.
But I think our crowning moment was really on the stage beforehand at Graubunden, a circuit with witches hats or those orange cones. There was a target time of 40 seconds which no one could manage. Unlike previous witches hat trials, we were given the circuit plan in the morning and therefore had plenty of time to study it. This was going to be dead easy. We watched several cars do the circuit and started off, joking with the marshal before taking off to a count down from 20 seconds.
Gunther drove up to the first cones then we slalomed around left, right, left then…..
“Where do I go?” Gunther yelled
“Um” my mind went blank, as we pulled to a halt, “I think we go…..”
A female marshal was sort of pointing behind us with a perplexed look on her face.
“Go there…I think” I began but we were surrounded by witches hats in all manner of lying down, standing up, pointing left and right. It was like being in the middle of a mine field afraid to move in case you got blown up.
Gunther began to back the car up but by now we were taking up way too much time. Finally he just cut across the grass towards the finishing line and we passed the marshal again who was shaking her head in disbelief.
The moral of the story is that when you take your wife on a rally, you may get your sandwiches made in the morning but the witches hat is better off on her head than on the road.
So I think we came 33 overall which considering our various flat top excursions is pretty okay. Besides which the experiences were by far worth more than a place that no one asks about after 5 minutes.
And a big thank you to our friends in St Moritz who stood in the cold for an hour this morning to wave us good bye. A royal farewell!!!
Keep Matilda Waltzing 
Ah, the power of being a witch, the spells you can cast…
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Btw, what a fabulous effort, you really had to grind it out there for a while, but as you say, the memories you get in adversity and the people you meet because of your misfortunes, will last you a lifetime! Not to mention the others in the rally as well. It’ll be great dinner party conversation when you get back.
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That is very true and we will probably bore people for years with the stories. So look out!!!
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Congratulations on an epic trip, to finish well and still talking to each other. Gunther you can
apply all your experiences and knowledge into the preparation of the car for the next one !!
Enjoy your time in Paris
Bruce and Edwina
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Thanks Bruce. Tilly is nearly there and really ran very well. She’s a great car thanks to you and Gunthers hard work. She will need some TLC when she gets home though!!!
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Congratulation on your epic journey- will be thinking of you as you drive into Paris. Well done- you are s pair of champs!!
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Thanks Helen. Tomorrow it’s all over bar the shouting!
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Congratulations!!! Can’t wait to be bored by your stories… Should keep some excitement going down under for years… Enjoy Paris and a well earned Parisian coffee … Minus garage and car parts 😘😘😘 now for the book Jill?
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We’ll be there today, with car and hopefully we won’t need any parts!!
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This has been a great blog Jill and very entertaining for all the Austmark crew. Congratulations to you both, you made it.
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Thanks Peter. All over red rover. Can’t believe it!!
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You finish what you started. Well done. Congratulations– grandpa and Midge
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Thanks Dad. There will be one last blog.
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