24th August

On route Cannes to Luxor

Over Crete at 11,000 ft as I write this, the plane is going well on autopilot so not much to do. Crete is a dry sort of place, and mountainous. We are about to turn right to track over water to the coast of Egypt. We have a tail wind, as we have had all the way 19 knots at the moment which is a help. We flew down the coast of Italy, see about half but missed some due to cloud. This flight has been 6hr 13min so far, 3 hrs 40 to go. It has been very comfortable, we have had a couple of muesli bars each, and a sip of water, so no need for any empty bottles. A bit better than some earlier flights where the co-pilot was constantly pissing! 

Our stay at Rick and Mireille’s was great. They could not have been more hospitable. We spent most of the day off getting the plane fixed, and ensuring the HF radio worked properly. We succeeded, so for the first time we will have a working HF. This is necessary for the long over water legs where we will be out of range of the normal VHF. I left the sat phone at home but Brett isn’t worried now that we have a working HF. Last night for our last night in France Mireille cooked a magnificent meal of baby chicken and potato on the veranda. In view of the trip today Brett and I had decided that we would eat only moderately, very hard to do with a meal like that in front of you! A great meal and great friends.  

We overnight in Luxor, and then straight on to Muscat, Oman. Brett is not too keen on Luxor but we have heard great things about Muscat so we are looking forward to a day off and some exploring. Its going to be hot though, its 17 degrees up here at 11000 so it has to be 40 plus down there. Very hot.......

Will report again on route Luxor about ten hours we think...  Just changing to Cairo radio, Egypt here we come.  See you

The first view of Egypt

Down the Nile to Luxor

From the toe of Italy  south