- Joined
- Feb 2, 2013
- Messages
- 17,108
As usual for me the pics and vids are all on somebody elses's device but i hope to add some later . So for now i would just like to say thank you to Nick for inviting me to meet Roy who is a gentleman in every sense as his patience and pleasant , skillful attitude towards recovery gave testament to when the muppet in the black truck got it wrong , and David who was kind enough to show us some lanes on Sunday 
As an overview until pics become available , we arrived late Friday night to a camp in the Snowdonia area (i'm no good with Welsh names) , dark and cold so not much to do but set camp , heat some stew and meet before bed .
Next morning we headed out to a Forest , met the Ranger who gave us a general idea of where we can go and places we might want to avoid (because i don't have a snorkel) and away we went , so many tracks i'm sure we didn't drive half of them .
I wouldn't call it extreme off road but it was challenging enough in places that i managed to lose a side step , blow out a tyre valve and put a minor crack in a wheel arch flare , but hey it was fun . My valves stick out to much so they will all be replaced (recommendations welcome) . Rock/tree sliders are on the "to do" list anyway , and don't buy a black truck unless your willing to work at keeping it looking good and shiny , I've had plenty of practice at that .
All of the above might have been avoided but we only worked out when it was time to return to camp that my centre diff lock isn't working , but again it was fun and a big thumbs up for how capable the 80 is even with open diffs .
Not extreme but i wouldn't want to navigate that forest in the dark . Nick's saw come in useful to , post that up mate i gotta get me one of them i was astonished how good it was
It was dark when we got back to camp but we had plenty to talk about so Nick did his chef thing while i heated my pressure cooker on the coleman then we chucked some logs on Nicks BBQ and gathered under his awning with chairs to eat and for a few hours of banter .
The night brought wind and rain but i think everyone slept well (strange that i sleep longer camping than i do in my own bed at home ?) so we woke to a very wet morning later than some of us expected to . It didn't matter though , no rush drink your tea pack up in your own time because today we meet Roy's friend David who was taking us laning . A 40 minute drive and we met David at a sort of takeaway road side cafe which had a shed with a wood burning stove in it at the side so you could warm your bum while eating your bacon and egg butty
Thinking on it now i hope somebody thought to take a photo of that place , it was very obviously a new modern building but built in a rustic style which brought Romania to mind . Great menu and great food anyway followed by a good day of giggles opening and closing many gates marked "not suitable for vehicles" until it was over too soon and we had to say good bye with promises to meet and do it again . And we will for sure , even supergran who hates being cold was sad to leave so a huge thank you to all for that because finally she accepts off road 4x4 is as much if not more fun in the winter which is grounds for celebration in itself
As an overview until pics become available , we arrived late Friday night to a camp in the Snowdonia area (i'm no good with Welsh names) , dark and cold so not much to do but set camp , heat some stew and meet before bed .
Next morning we headed out to a Forest , met the Ranger who gave us a general idea of where we can go and places we might want to avoid (because i don't have a snorkel) and away we went , so many tracks i'm sure we didn't drive half of them .
I wouldn't call it extreme off road but it was challenging enough in places that i managed to lose a side step , blow out a tyre valve and put a minor crack in a wheel arch flare , but hey it was fun . My valves stick out to much so they will all be replaced (recommendations welcome) . Rock/tree sliders are on the "to do" list anyway , and don't buy a black truck unless your willing to work at keeping it looking good and shiny , I've had plenty of practice at that .
All of the above might have been avoided but we only worked out when it was time to return to camp that my centre diff lock isn't working , but again it was fun and a big thumbs up for how capable the 80 is even with open diffs .
Not extreme but i wouldn't want to navigate that forest in the dark . Nick's saw come in useful to , post that up mate i gotta get me one of them i was astonished how good it was
It was dark when we got back to camp but we had plenty to talk about so Nick did his chef thing while i heated my pressure cooker on the coleman then we chucked some logs on Nicks BBQ and gathered under his awning with chairs to eat and for a few hours of banter .
The night brought wind and rain but i think everyone slept well (strange that i sleep longer camping than i do in my own bed at home ?) so we woke to a very wet morning later than some of us expected to . It didn't matter though , no rush drink your tea pack up in your own time because today we meet Roy's friend David who was taking us laning . A 40 minute drive and we met David at a sort of takeaway road side cafe which had a shed with a wood burning stove in it at the side so you could warm your bum while eating your bacon and egg butty
Thinking on it now i hope somebody thought to take a photo of that place , it was very obviously a new modern building but built in a rustic style which brought Romania to mind . Great menu and great food anyway followed by a good day of giggles opening and closing many gates marked "not suitable for vehicles" until it was over too soon and we had to say good bye with promises to meet and do it again . And we will for sure , even supergran who hates being cold was sad to leave so a huge thank you to all for that because finally she accepts off road 4x4 is as much if not more fun in the winter which is grounds for celebration in itself
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