The first working day: early in the morning we went to the centre of distribution to organise ourselves and the five Amaroks, standing there in a row waiting for the big tour to start. But first we have to pack everything into the back of the cars: food, kitchen stuff, water, tools, spare parts, advertising material and all our personal belongings from clothes to a sleeping bag for everybody. We manage to get every Amarok filled to the roof, but there is still some space left for driver and co-pilot.
At 2pm the first official meeting. Mark Warsaba, VW manager for the West of Canada, the German Consul General Hermann Sitz, the representative of the IHK Sascha Bardens and media representatives from Vancouver are present to welcome the team at the VW representation in Vancouver. Also the working force of the distribution centre is present and Joachim Franz explains the expedition and the motives lying behind the awareness tour.
After some interviews we drive back to town, just to experience that taking Diesel is not the usual thing to do in Canada. Petrol station after petrol station offers everything except Diesel. At the same time, the hunt for a suitable petrol station gives us the opportunity to test the cars with a full load.
Finally we head to the popular Stanley Park to do some film and photo shooting – and experience many people taking note of our cars, taking flyers and asking for more information about the expedition.
At the end of the day we head back to the VW distribution centre to park the cars for one more night – tomorrow we will be back early, to leave Vancouver and head towards the USA.
Filed under: Uncategorized, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Move the world, stefan hippler
God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE 