Tires swapped over from the previous flat and we continued our route North.
On the way we saw many bee hives and honey stalls.
Bluestar did some impressive climbing that morning.
After lunch we were merrily on our way and did a few more hours of driving when we stopped at the roadside services for a quick break. As we were pulling up, an awful, very loud, grinding sound was coming from the steering rack. One of the power steering pipes broke and was pissing hydraulic fluid all over the floor…
Andrew tried bodging it with a bit of self amalgamating tape, gaffer tape and jubilee clips, but the pressure in the power steering system is too high and it leaked again in no time.
In the meantime it was getting late…
Out of desperation Andrew removed the power steering pump belt thus disabling the entire power steering system. It meant that we could drive without causing any more damage to the steering but it was very hard to point the beast in the right direction…
It was dark by the time we left and we were exhausted in need of an action plan and people who could speak English and Albanian.
We had heard about a campsite run by a dutch family about 80kms away so headed there. The family were away but had some Albanian friends running it for them in the mean time. We arrived very late but they welcomed us in. The next morning they were really helpful in finding us a decent mechanic and came along to help with translation. The problem was fixed with a few hours. We squeezed in a bike ride while waiting.