What to pack: Duct tape, our most versatile piece of kit. One day it's needed to strap on our exhaust, the next to bind a wound.
Two thick hessian doormats to use as sand ladders.
A hammer to smash the windscreen in an emergency.
Porridge, for breakfast and to bung up a leak in the radiator.
Large can of WD40 to double-up as a defensive weapon when sprayed in someone's face.
Set of spare keys taped to the chassis.
torch
Leatherman
compass
peanut butter
clingfilm
winch
shovel
tow rope
spare windscreen wipers
matches
phrase books
fire extinguisher
high-lift jack
mosquito repellent
Lucinda Williams's CD Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.
Oh, and a nail file. Preferably metal so we've two weapons on board.
Day 1, Copacabana Beach, Rio. Nobody told me that volleyball was part of the vehicle scrutineering process... Caroline Readings, my co-driver and navigator, cheerfully informs me all our electrics are blown. We spend the next 24 hours scouring Rio's back streets for spares and trying to fix them.
Day 2, Ouro Preto. Our first stop introduces us to caiphrinhas - a delicious but highly alcoholic drink made with freshly-pounded limes, rum, and buckets of sugar. It hits my system like an express train.
Day 5, Iguacu Falls. A tropical paradise for my birthday, which involved a hair-raising boat ride followed by a bbq with champagne and vodka chasers. I suffered horribly at the dawn start the following morning. Serves me right.
Day 8, Bolivia. One of the many casualties as we rally the Sundance Trail. Engine mountings were torn off, shock absorbers broken, springs bent out of shape, but TC - the nickname for our Toyota Colorado - takes it all without a hitch.
Day 9, coming in to Potosi. Our first tyre blow-out. At home we have bad hair days, on rallies we have bad tyre days.
Day 11, La Paz - Puno, Peru. To cross Lake Titicaca, we get our very own ferry! Brilliant!
Day 14, rest day, Macchu Picchu. Not exactly a rest day considering my alarm goes off at 4.50 a.m, but no way do we want to miss seeing one of the wonders of the world.
Day 25, Welcome to Chile!
Day 30, the Atacama Desert, Chile. Extraordinary vistas of vast salt flats, glassy lakes that change colour from blue to black with the shifting sun, and snow-topped volcanoes. It was like driving through the pages of National Geographic.
Day 38, Ushuaia. The most southern rally point in the world. We are only 1,000 kilometres from Antarctica and it feels like it - it is freezing. We get a cheering fax from Rainforest Concern, who we're raising money for, they are a fantastic bunch and their encouraging words mean a lot.
Day 55, the Finish! We hit Rio at 6 p.m with 14,139 extra miles on our odometer to be sprayed happily with bubbly. We can't believe we've made it without a single scratch to our car. Careful lady owners, indeed.
Day 56, Rio. Caroline and I collect our Award, "Best Ladies Crew." Just don't ask how many ladies crews there were....
