 | Home > Events > Summer Off Road Adventure Weekend 19 - 21 July 2013 |
 
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| Mountain_man Member Since: 09 Dec 2011 Location: Right side of Offas Dyke Posts: 756  
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Must have been after I took her round behind the ruins. She said it was quite rough.  |
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22nd Jul 2013 6:27pm |
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| tookaphotoof Member Since: 18 Mar 2013 Location: dordrecht Posts: 1279  
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Yeah, brought a tent with me, forgot the poles. Brought a lovely camera with me with a tripod. Forgot the baseplate so I couldn't mount the camera. So not much photos taken from me as I need The tripod a lot with it. My wife thought I forgot to bring a house with us with all the comforts she needed, but in the end she admitted she had a great time! First time I took 2 dogs to the UK. Simply amazed how dog minded the Brits are. Had endless conversations about them in town. I must thank most of you on the campsite for feeding one of my dogs. 
Next time if I attend such a weekend I'll leave them at home though. |
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23rd Jul 2013 7:40am |
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| party monkey Member Since: 31 Dec 2010 Location: Oxon. Posts: 1311  
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Right, I reckon this post might win the record for longest (and possibly most boring) post on this forum.
Here's a picture diary/blog of the weekend.... I warn you now this is a loooooong post... Grab a coffee first! “Take your tow bar off, it will hamper your progress on the drive round” was the general comment that James, Mark (still can’t quite bring myself to call him ‘Pikey’ yet) and Tim all said to me within minutes of us arriving at the wonderful sunny setting in the Welsh Black mountains on the Friday evening. “It’s my rear recovery point”, was my reply, which, when translated, really meant, “I’ve been in the car for four hours, stuck in traffic jams with a ten year old who is tired, hungry and whiney, I want to pitch the tent and sort out some food before the light fades too much so I can relax a bit. Even though I’ve got the socket set in the back, I WANT A BEER!” So, with all that in mind, I blatantly ignored what would turn out to be very sound advice! The plan for the weekend was based on an overland expedition theme and centred around a guided drive around route, then activities/talks and practical demonstrations on the farm land itself on the Saturday and then off out into mid Wales for a guided laning trip on the Sunday. The vehicle of choice for almost all of the participants was a Defender. We were fortunate to have the full range of wheel bases, which would give some insight as to how each variant would cope with different obstacles. I’m guessing that we also had pretty much the full range of engines, numerous body styles and… dare I say…. less Grey than on previous trips I’ve been on! The one exception (or perhaps the rose amongst the thorns in Mark & Evelyn’s eyes) was a twenty four year old Toyota Land Cruiser, that I understand they had bought blind from the web in order to fulfil their dream of travelling to India.  Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Most people had arrived by late evening on the Friday, although Allen and his family had travelled over in their 130 on the Thursday from the Netherlands. Allen seemed to have forgotten some of his camping and photographic gear but had brought along his two Airdales, both of which were lovely multi-talented creatures, with one being an exceptional food thief and the other, a potential finalist in the Dutch dog street dancing championship. Click image to enlarge We all gathered around the camp fire on the Friday evening to enjoy a couple of drinks and the banter started to flow as we reacquainted ourselves and got to know the folk we’d not met before. There was a broad mix of experience and abilities in the group, ranging from off road guru to novice. Despite having been on a small number of laning trips and off road days in the past, I still very much consider myself to be in the novice category and on a steep learning curve. Saturday morning arrived. Okay…. What happened to the sunshine that the rest of the British Isles was basking in????? Click image to enlarge At the drive around briefing, James was keen to point out that there was no pressure or obligation on any one to do anything they didn’t want to do. Be that attending one of the afternoon talks, or indeed, tackling a more challenging obstacle on the drive around course. Whilst the lead vehicle would stop, talk through and then demonstrate their suggested route/approach to a more challenging obstacle, we were also encouraged to stop, hop out and assess for ourselves if we felt it necessary, rather than just ploughing on regardless. Off we went into our allocated groups and were allocated a running order and CB channel. Tim was leading our group in his Puma 110 USW, followed by Allen+family+dogs in his Puma 130 DC, then the experienced Jeroen+Shane in a Tdi 90 SW, My son and I in the Td5 110 SW and finally, the offroad and winch king himself, David Bowyer in his Tdi 90 SW, which judging by the amount of dials/meters, switches and lights inside the cab, looked like it was fitted with a flux capacitor and was capable of time travel. All three wheel base variants in the same group…. Nicely planned. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge To break up the drive around course and to encourage us to get out of the cab and work together as a group, there were two challenges set along the way. The first was to construct a temporary crossing of a shallow ditch (but imagined to be 1m deep and endless to stop the smart arses just suggesting we drive through it or around it) with non uniform sized tree trunks, ratchet straps, waffle boards, a shovel and a pile of earth and guide all our vehicles across within thirty minutes or so. Our vehicles were safely guided across our makeshift bridge either by crawling over or adopting the Clarkson’esque ‘speed is best’ approach. I think Allen was slightly concerned I may run him over as he guided me across.
Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge On to more challenging drive around obstacles involving sharp turns that required a bit of thought and shunting for the 110’s and 130 but the 90’s in our group got around with relative ease. Click image to enlarge We then headed back towards the area set aside for our second challenge and this involved us crossing for the second time, a reasonably deep gulley. There were no dramas crossing this gulley the first time around and yet it took me three attempts to get through on the second run. Due I suspect to a lack of initial forward momentum that was further hampered by that bl**dy tow bar of mine acting like an anchor – DOH!... Don’t you just hate it when other people are proved right! I finally made it to the challenge area, having partly covered my son with flying mud from the spinning wheels. A friendly voice came over the CB suggesting that maybe my son should take over the driving! I took this light hearted suggestion with good grace and cheerily responded with a friendly wave with a small number of fingers. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge David introduced our second challenge, which was to navigate our vehicle through four temporary gates in any sequence we chose but with the driver blindfolded and receiving basic directions from their passenger. After a bit of planning and walking the course, off we went with David walking alongside us to given my son a touch more comfort. We didn’t do too badly, making it cleanly through three of the four gates. Not a bad effort, just a bit more work required on our ‘lefts’ and ‘rights’ After this challenge, we continued the drive around course tackling the more challenging obstacles from the opposite direction to before. Click image to enlarge We then finally came back to the challenge area where we discussed the function of the central differential lock and indeed the types of traction control present on some models of later Defenders. James & Tim first demonstrated becoming cross axled with just TC present and then with both TC and diff lock in. It was then our turn to experiment with our own vehicles. We had a good group for this as we had both the wheel base variations so the point we lost momentum varied and also vehicles both with and without TC (and Mr Bowyer was just showing off with his a torque biasing differential!) Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge That was the end of the drive around morning and we headed back down to the camping field for a spot of lunch and to swap stories with the other group. Most of which was centred on the Land Cruiser getting frequently stuck and the whoops of delight from Mark and Evelyn as Mark (Pikey) got them free The weather had remained overcast all morning but the sun was just starting to make an appearance. In a way, not a bad result to do the morning activities in slightly cooler and shadier conditions. So, to the afternoon informal talks/demonstrations…. With a drink of choice in hand, we all pulled up a chair ready to hear James’ talk on the do’s and don’ts with recovery gear and what you really need/don’t need depending upon the situations you may chose to put yourself in. Tim and David had signed off for the day and set up prime heckling spot whilst cracking into the wine. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge David Bowyer then gave us a winching demonstration. For those of us without a winch, it was certainly an eye opener and there was one of the current ‘non-winch’ vehicle owners making noises about a winch now going on his shopping list. Not sure what DRL’s might look like in a winch bumper though ! Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge The final talk of the afternoon was from David Gunning, the founder of BushMechanics. The emphasis of his fascinating talk was how to effect temporary repairs using basic materials in order to get you to a place where a permanent repair could be made. Equally, the importance of getting to know your vehicle and general good house keeping to spot potential problems before they became an issue. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge After David’s talk, we all tucked into a delicious BBQ. Thanks to Jim for chef duties, Mark’s better half for the delicious puddings and whichever sheep it was that made the ultimate sacrifice for our fantastic lamb kebabs. With a glass/bottle in hand we then joined Mark for a brief talk and slide show on how the guys plan their own overland trips, together with a few photos from their time in Portugal and Morocco. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge That was it for the day, so we set ourselves up around the campfire, chatted away, had a quick headlight photoshoot and then chatted some more. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Sunday morning and amazingly, we’d had some rain overnight. It was overcast and the mist was evident again. What was it about this valley and it’s own micro climate?? Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Today was our guided laning trip and at the briefing, the groups were changed around a touch. We were now in James & Mark’s group in Mark’s 110 with Mark & Eveleyn in the Land Cruiser, Jon in his TGV engined 110 carawagon, Tom & his partner (eek, forgotten her name) in a Tdi 90 and Steve & Rachel in their Puma X-Tech 110 USW. Another range of Defender variants and the wonderful Land Cruiser. Our line up being likened to an episode of ‘Wacky Races’ Click image to enlarge Our transit routes to/between the lanes where almost as much fun as the lanes themselves. A beautiful and peaceful part of the world with stunning scenery. Peaceful that was until Mark in the lead vehicle applied his somewhat squeaky brakes. We even managed to play a short game of CB name that tune on one downhill transit route. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Mark & Evelyn in the Land Cruiser had to leave us part way through the Sunday in order or Evelyn to get to Bristol aiport to catch a flight back to the Netherlands. We were not too far into the morning’s lanes when the Toyota’s ground clearance and approach angle caused them to get stuck and bury their tow bar. No glum faces in that vehicle, more whoops of delight at getting stuck once more. Mark & James soon had them moving again and at the end of a later lane we said our goodbyes and they headed off to Bristol. The sun was now beaming we continued on and parked up at a lovely spot for a quick lunch. Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge My son had resorted to playing his Ipod in the cab just before we stopped for lunch and so to liven things up a touch for him, it was suggested that perhaps he ride the rest of the lanes in the back on one of the inward facing seats. He jumped at the chance and was rewarded with a much more interesting ride. Steve and Rachel behind us must have been treated to a rather amusing show. Click image to enlarge After the last lane was completed, we headed back to the farm camp site. Steve and Rachel and my son and I diverted briefly to stop at a local Abbey ruins for an ice-cream, to soak up yet more amazing views and to get some clues for the coordinates of a geocache that was hidden somewhere on the farm close to our camp site. Once back at the farm, we trotted off to successfully find the geocache. Tim, had promised my lad a ride on his Can-Am, so off they flew around the farm and as suspected, the comment afterwards was ‘that was great, can we get one please dad?’ After explaining that a Can-Am like Tim's was perhaps just a touch too optimistic a request on his Crimbo pressie list, we relucatantly started to pack away. Most people were heading home too but some folk were staying the Sunday night aswell and it was very very tempting to remain in this idyllic setting but work and school on the Monday dictated otherwise. I can’t thank everyone enough for an incredibly well thought out and executed, fun weekend. When’s the next one…. ?? Click image to enlarge Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated Jon - 110 td5 [sold]. Currently Defenderless.Last edited by party monkey on 28th Jul 2013 4:42pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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23rd Jul 2013 11:15pm |
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| Pickles Member Since: 26 May 2013 Location: Melbourne Posts: 3781  
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Party Monkey, Hello from Australia....BEST post I've read for a LLLOOONNNGGG time....it was so good, I thought I was there.....wished I was....looks like it was a ripper trip.
When we lived in England, a long time ago, we were near Hereford, not far from the Black Mountains? Thanks for taking the time. Pickles. |
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24th Jul 2013 3:34am |
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| LandRoverAnorak Member Since: 17 Jul 2011 Location: Surrey Posts: 11324 
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Agreed, what an excellent write-up
David Bowyer is a legend  Darren
110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia |
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24th Jul 2013 6:51am |
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| SteveT247 Member Since: 21 Feb 2011 Location: Central Posts: 491 
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Great write up and photos PM.
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24th Jul 2013 8:04am |
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| tookaphotoof Member Since: 18 Mar 2013 Location: dordrecht Posts: 1279
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It was nice getting to know you Party Monkey.
Hope you don't mind, but seeiing your son smashing his face straight into the grass at the campfire really made me laugh. On a side note... That street dancing dog you mentioned, is actually the famous food thief.  |
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24th Jul 2013 9:46pm |
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| Lou Sparts Member Since: 15 Apr 2012 Location: Kent Posts: 1501 
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Great write up and pics, thanks for posting.
2005 Td5 90 XS
Steve |
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24th Jul 2013 10:06pm |
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| TJ101 Member Since: 30 May 2007 Location: Taunton Somerset Posts: 3748  
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Jon,, What a great write up,, says it all really
Certainly a excellent weekend, with some great company, makes it all worthwhile, would seam everyone enjoyed it My group for the drive round Click image to enlarge Then for the local scenic lanes Click image to enlarge Click image to enlarge California F1, 75th 110 "Kermit", 50th Ann V8, 90 V8 Hybrid, 55 Series 1 Main Brian James Trailer Dealer for South West UK |
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27th Jul 2013 12:35pm |
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| tookaphotoof Member Since: 18 Mar 2013 Location: dordrecht Posts: 1279
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Nice photos Tim.
I hope to be able to develop my photos coming week. |
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28th Jul 2013 9:28pm |
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| sc70 Member Since: 29 Jun 2010 Location: Tregaron Posts: 261 
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looks like you all had a great weekend, gutted to have missed it
 www.Equi-Trek-Tregaron.co.uk
Main Dealers for Equi-Trek and Brian James Trailers |
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30th Jul 2013 9:59pm |
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| tookaphotoof Member Since: 18 Mar 2013 Location: dordrecht Posts: 1279
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Didn't find the time to develop them myself. Took them to the lab. Got them back.
Made some big mistakes with the lightmeter. Note to self: don't keep swapping filmbacks with different iso.
Anyways, first three, more to come. Hopefully Marc can tell me the name of this delicious meat...
501cm 198 by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr Click image to enlarge 501cm 201 by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr Click image to enlarge 501cm 196 by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr |
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1st Aug 2013 3:45pm |
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| TJ101 Member Since: 30 May 2007 Location: Taunton Somerset Posts: 3748
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??  Wallace  California F1, 75th 110 "Kermit", 50th Ann V8, 90 V8 Hybrid, 55 Series 1
Main Brian James Trailer Dealer for South West UK |
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1st Aug 2013 3:52pm |
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| tookaphotoof Member Since: 18 Mar 2013 Location: dordrecht Posts: 1279
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Love Wallace...
Anyways, had to try to repair the next three photos. Can't get them better as they are, unfortunately: Party Monkey getting instructions. Click image to enlarge 501cm 199 by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr On the next day, Tim got us all stuck on during the mini expedition...
501cm 203 by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr No, I was just joking. photo taken from the other side.
501cm 206 by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr Thanks Tim for pointing the family to Haye-on-Wye. Lovely single lanes and breathtaking views. Click image to enlarge 501cm 213 by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr 501cm 208 by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr 501cm 209 by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr 501cm 210 by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr |
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1st Aug 2013 5:54pm |
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