First day headaches

posted by: Nick L | on: Thursday, 17 April 2008, 18:54

So it has begun. The 2008 HOPE not hate tour is under way. Well, actually it is not quite, the proper launch is tomorrow in Liverpool but for me it is. This afternoon I met up with the bus which looks even more splendid than last year. It’s a different bus – the pride of their fleet we were told – and I can understand why. This year’s 1969 Bristol Lodekka is five years younger than last year’s model, is completely open top and … much more importantly to us, can travel at 43mph as opposed to 30mph we endured last year.

Of course, we were met with brilliant sunshine in Liverpool today so perhaps my euphoria might be tempered after experiencing some rain. According to our driver, Kevin, the open top bus means the rain pours down onto those below. Hmmm, look forward to that!

It was good to be back with the old team again. Ros from the Mirror, Gregg the film maker and Chris the Mirror’s photographer.

Ros, Gregg and I travelled up from London together and we were all in quite good spirits when we pulled out of London. Ros had brought a copy of the itinerary and all looked fine. And then the phones began to ring and the emails came in. The tour is certainly more ambitious than last year’s but as a consequence the amount of forms and paperwork we have to fill in and the number of rules we have to comply with is quite incredible. I’m sure they are all quite justified but one thing we are not is event organisers. As Ros and I struggled with the mounting problems Gregg dozed seemingly oblivious to it all.

We perked up when we saw the bus, all beautiful, bright and clean. I remember being slightly disappointed when I saw the bus last year but I have to say my heart jumped this time. I hope it was just the bus not the distraction from the mounting organisational problems we were encountering. The sun had come out and off we went for a spin, first to the Liver Building and then across the Mersey towards Wallasey. We had a slight hiccup when we were stopped by the police after being caught on CCTV filming around by the Mersey tunnel but after a quick review of the footage and an explanation of what we were doing (ie we weren’t filming for any dubious reason) we were sent on our merry way.

So, the tour has begun for me. Read tomorrow’s Daily Mirror www.mirror.co.uk ) for details of our route and a taster of just some of the celebrities who will be joining us along the way. We hope to have a daily video of our trip, which can be found on www.hopenothate.org.uk.

Until the formal launch tomorrow….