Clock ticking for girls before Mongolia trip

Clock ticking for girls before Mongolia trip

12 June 2013

THE Taillte Tank Girls are on a final fundraising push before their hair-raising 10,000 mile trip across Europe to Mongolia.

Roisin Mohan, from Downpatrick, is joining Elaine Taylor and Aoife Raleigh in the Mongol Rally 2013 for an adventure in some of the most remote terrain on the planet.

With the cars taking part having to be no younger than 2004, and with a 1.2 litre engine or less, the search was on for the little car that could go the big distance.

This major milestone was recently overcome following a donation of a Nissan Micra from Bob Mullan Motors. Now public donations can be made to The Taillte Tank Girls in the foyer of ASDA Downpatrick on Friday.

The only all girl team taking part, they will be raising money for homeless charity Homeplus NI Ltd and Cool Earth, a global charity that protects rainforest communities.

In the midst of visa preparation, vaccinations, and research on the most inhospitable terrains they will face, Roisin said they remained undaunted.

“We are about four-and-a-half weeks before the launch and we are just finalising all the paperwork,” she said. “There has been first aid training and Aoife has been taking a mechanics course in Belfast Metropolitan College.

“There are desserts and two mountain ranges to get through. We are expecting a break down, multiple times.

“Those who have done this rally before said when they have been driving through what looked like desolate bits of ground, once you stop the locals come out after five minutes.”

Despite this Roisin said they were aware of the magnitude of some of potential problems and had made Embassy contacts.

“When in Iran we have to let the government guard to stay with us and leave us at the next border, so we are now in convoy, which won’t be good for our filters.

“In Istanbul there is also quite a lot of civil unrest.

“We are wary about planning too much as we have to be quite flexible.”

Undaunted, the Taillte Tank Girls can’t wait for launch day at Dover Castle on July 13.

“The more we talk about it the more excited we get, we cannot wait,” said Roisin. “Our parents want to know as little as possible and our friends are so jealous.

“There are finishing parties each weekend in August. We just have to make sure we get over the finishing line by September 19.”

The Taillte Tank Girls — named after the Celtic goddess of safe passage — are holding a fundraising raffle as well as organising a Masquerade Ball in Belfast next Saturday. For more information visit their website on http://ttgmongol.com/

Here, via a satellite tracking device, the girls’ progress on the Mongol Rally can also be traced.