armed with tea leaves from the subcontinent. My eyes light up; others seem indifferent, reaching for the treasure chest of alcohol bottles instead.

A hundred yards is regarded as a good walk in Namibian’s book. Now, remember that we sleep in trucks on the Tina Turner Tour? Right, well today we are not parked as cosily as normal – our lorries are parked approximately one hundred yards apart. If you live in Europe, and are happy to approximate

  There’s been no need to “turn” Namibian, as it happens. In fact, he’s up and about, eager for exercise, like an asthmatic gazelle. The weather remains unfavourable, the mercury up to about 1 degree by late morning. Midday on the Tina Turner Tour passes as miserably as the earlier hours. ‘I can hear my

If I can survive standing next to a trailer in Hamburg in this temperature – even without the wind chill – a stroll down to the South Pole from Patriot Hills ought to be a doddle. Anyway, if it wasn’t for the nearby rumble of the A7 Autobahn, one could be forgiven for thinking that

Not all of us are drinking tea and having early nights on the Tina Turner Tour; a number of colleagues were seen leaving the catering room at 9am this morning, looking wine-smudged and unsteady. The recycling bin was full of empty bottles and cans. Very rock ‘n’ roll. Now, how nice to have the bicycle

Truck manoeuvres start before 6am, and Namibian has a flat battery after boiling his electric kettle to make my tea. It’s a reciprocal deal: he makes the tea in return for following me to gigs. It is, therefore, a bit mean that I make him go in front into cities, I suppose. It’s for his

Berlin, Baby! This idea of letting “Namibian” drive in front was, is, and always will be daft. One either has a nose for directions or… Well, let’s just say that Namibian doesn’t. But we have a “safety net” system of very basic Tesco walkie-talkies: Namibian heads into a city, ostensibly following a map, and I

Incessant, driving rain and a filthy windscreen hamper progress to Antwerp. That, and searching diesel stations round northern France – heavy trucks need road tax for Belgium. I’m now back on the European leg of the Tina Turner Tour…and there are no White Cliffs of Dover until early April; we will be touring solidly on