Romania bound (east bound and down)

[chapel gate]

Looks like fun....

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That should shift that stubborn moly grease from under the finger nails..

 

[StarCruiser]

…nobody drowned their cars which is always a bonus!

Haven't a clue what you mean there Josh…sorry.

Poor Chas!
HMS Phoenix sails again.

 

[Josh Tagg]

Well what an awesome day its been, the famous ridge run is now completed! Weather set off to a good start for the trip, we headed out me george and clive. Hit the track with the sun shining, quickly began to think "this is the most off road i've ever driven!". But following clives wheel tracks we did just fine, diff lock got some proper use for a change. He then showed us the forest run way down (Shayne you have done this he said), was very slippery as it was now raining so the 80 just basically found its own way down the track, i managed to get it wedged on a tree stump but clive come to the rescue and we were on our way. The last bit of the forest run part is great, fast flowing with plenty of puddles, was a bit like a rally course! I couldnt recommend anyone enough to experience this, green laning in the uk just doesn't compare!

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[fbnss]

I'd so happily go back there, its amazing, as is Clive and Auras hosppitality.

ps, is it this bit?

 

[Shayne]

was a bit like a rally course!

They couldn't get their 80's to drift corners but i had great fun doing it in my 90

 

[fbnss]

always a problem with a superior vehicle, its harder to make it lose control and have fun

 

[Michael Montgomery]

You guys have all the fun lol

 

[clivehorridge]

I'd so happily go back there, its amazing, as is Clive and Auras hosppitality.

ps, is it this bit?

No, not that one Nick. The one you drove (in the vid) is about 3 km back from the ski lift. The one Josh is on about is a descent close to the ski lift, but it has a left bend that Aura bottles out on.

It one of the photos Josh posted but looks nothing like that in real life. The track is about a foot wider than an 80, with what looks like a near vertical drop-off. Shayne and Helen will remember it, and after that bend the track drops down through the forest very steep, very slippery clay, and very washed out.

We both skiied down it today, I was diagonal for most of it...

I’ve got a bit of phone video somewhere, I’ll probably post it on the Romania 2018 thread, if I can find it.

Good day though...

 

[StarCruiser]

…has a left bend that Aura bottles out on…… very steep, very slippery clay, and very washed out.

We both skiied down it today, I was diagonal for most of it....

Lynn would have kept her company but only outside the vehicle…

 

[Shayne]

with what looks like a near vertical drop-off. Shayne and Helen will remember it

Ah i know the one , its not that bad just coz Helen was on my lap with my drivers door open ready to eject herself

I bet part of you is relieved im not there with the wet ground to play with

always a problem with a superior vehicle, its harder to make it lose control and have fun

It takes a lot of control to force loss of traction on a narrow track bordered both sides with consequences and a good predictable vehicle to do it in

 

[Josh Tagg]

What a day it's been, honestly we've had it all. Set off to the Transfăgărășan, Chas was running out of electricity, we ploughed on for a while but then it got really bad and he lost all lights. We stopped for a better look, pulled out some tools and took the plug out the back of the alternator, slightly more awkward than mine with ac and an intercooler fitted. Plug was rusty so cleaned it as best we could with what we had, made little improvement unfortunately. We drove the road, was spectacular photos don't do it justice. In the end we swapped batteries Clive for Chas and got him home that way, didn't want him with no electricity in the wet and dark! But then. Just meters from home. Chas found a ditch, but fear not Clive had a plan, hook up my rear winch (never used in anger), pull it sideways over a plank of wood and back to safe ground. It was sat on the trailing arm and the rear wheel a good foot off the floor, no problem pulled it straight out I couldn't beleive it! So our day started at half 8 and ended just before 11pm, beers from the fridge are slowly going down! What a day

 

[Josh Tagg]

Here is the moment

 

[StarCruiser]

Once again Chas is the hero of the hour. You probably weren’t aware of this, but Chas, at any moment, selflessly puts himself and his trusty steed in difficult, sometimes dangerous situations entirely without concern for his own wellbeing. Why you might ask? It is of course to allow his companions to practice their skills, recovery, Bush mechanics, first aid, navigation, CPR… Every scenario, however haphazard it may seem has been carefully chosen with pinpoint precision to allow his companions to hone their skills. At no point will one be aware of when the next challenge will be provided by the ultimate educational aid, Chas.

We shall celebrate Chas for his unselfish actions in bringing about great learning in the Landcruiser community.

Chas, a legend in his own lifetime.

I salute you Chas. Hats off to you buddy.

 

[clivehorridge]

Once again Chas is the hero of the hour. You probably weren’t aware of this, but Chas, at any moment, selflessly puts himself and his trusty steed in difficult, sometimes dangerous situations entirely without concern for his own wellbeing. Why you might ask? It is of course to allow his companions to practice their skills, recovery, Bush mechanics, first aid, navigation, CPR… Every scenario, however haphazard it may seem has been carefully chosen with pinpoint precision to allow his companions to hone their skills. At no point will one be aware of when the next challenge will be provided by the ultimate educational aid, Chas.

We shall celebrate Chas for his unselfish actions in bringing about great learning in the Landcruiser community.

Chas, a legend in his own lifetime.

I salute you Chas. Hats off to you buddy.

I can’t believe there was no damage done. That ditch is over a meter deep, and concrete on the track side. His rear wheel was just suspended in thin air, supported only by the trailing arm resting on the concrete. We got a piece of 6x4 about 5’ long wedged under his rear wheel, facing back down the slope with another cross timber to support the high end of it. We got Chas to recverse onto the timber to lift him out, but there was a concrete block protruding which stopped him coming back any further. Josh’s rear winch did the trick beautifully, pulling at right angles, allowing the wheel to pass the block and for Chas to reverse more, getting the wheel up to the track concrete level. Then we just dragged him sideways, away from the ditch. Next, he just had to steer the front end out of the same ditch, but it was much shallower at the front and he was away, easily.

Almost as epic as the “Epic” rescue, if anyone remembers Crispin’s antics a few years ago!

 

[Josh Tagg]

Truly fantastic day yet again yesterday, Clive has described it better in the romania post as I can't remember the names. We had a lovely walk up to the stones, one was called the sphinx, you can vaugley make it out haha. Typically excellent views from the top. After the original road was closed to get to where we wanted Clive remembered a detour so that was what we took, an excellent forest track which considering the conditions was well used by normal traffic! We then had a nice steep climb for a shortcut, rear diff lock in and basically point it to the sky with your foot hard down on the accelerator-as usual the cruiser didn't even break sweat, I was amazed how easily 3 ton of car flies up ridiculous hills! Then the views from the top well I'll just stop talking and show them, breathtaking. This was also our bbq spot, I could hardly move after we'd ate that much! A day to remember that's for sure.

 

[StarCruiser]

Some cracking pics there Josh, the clouds making that last one particularly dramatic.

 

[Josh Tagg]

Yesterday was exceĺlent. In the morning managed to get chas' s car sort of healed, got both batteries charging so fingers crossed it gets him home! Then set about the day, Clive had some forest tracks lined up, lovely tracks with a great variety of terrain-dust rocks bit of muddy slopes. Nick it's the one you lost brakes on haha. At the bottom of it we stopped for a bbq thin sausages for starters followed by chicken drumsticks and tatties (snuck a beer in too). Also managed to loose a shoe in the river chasing a bottle so was much to the amusement of others me running down the river with one shoe on chasing the other haha. Then went on to a skiing village (Clive will have to help with names) very traditniol restraunts which were lovely. The last stop was a gorge which provided excellent photos probably my favourite of the holiday. But as the saying goes all good things come to an end and this morning we had to leave. We could easily have stayed for many more weeks. All I can say is the biggest thanks to Clive and Auro who are lovely people and made us feel so welcome, we couldn't recommend it enough to visit and experience it, we'll certainly be back again, we've both decided it's been our best ever holiday! We're now back in hungary, had pan made pizzas and a couple of beers now off to bed knackered !

 

[fbnss]

And now imagine driving back from where you had the bbq with f all brakes!

 

[clivehorridge]

Yesterday was exceĺlent. In the morning managed to get chas' s car sort of healed, got both batteries charging so fingers crossed it gets him home! Then set about the day, Clive had some forest tracks lined up, lovely tracks with a great variety of terrain-dust rocks bit of muddy slopes. Nick it's the one you lost brakes on haha. At the bottom of it we stopped for a bbq thin sausages for starters followed by chicken drumsticks and tatties (snuck a beer in too). Also managed to loose a shoe in the river chasing a bottle so was much to the amusement of others me running down the river with one shoe on chasing the other haha. Then went on to a skiing village (Clive will have to help with names) very traditniol restraunts which were lovely. The last stop was a gorge which provided excellent photos probably my favourite of the holiday. But as the saying goes all good things come to an end and this morning we had to leave. We could easily have stayed for many more weeks. All I can say is the biggest thanks to Clive and Auro who are lovely people and made us feel so welcome, we couldn't recommend it enough to visit and experience it, we'll certainly be back again, we've both decided it's been our best ever holiday! We're now back in hungary, had pan made pizzas and a couple of beers now off to bed knackered !

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Good to hear you made it across the border to Hungary without any hassle Josh

We thoroughly enjoyed your company, and it’s always great to have a good excuse to take the truck out and put it through its paces again. When taking you around places, I realised that I haven’t visited many of them since last years’ visit

That’s quite sad really, with everything so close, but it shows that this year has been a busy one, so mostly the weekends have been used to crash out.

The slightly OTT restaurant is called “Coliba Haiducilor” at Poiana Brasov. Good traditional food, good prices and loads of it, always big portions.

We were sorry to see you leave this morning, and likewise that the holiday was over (for us at any rate, work tomorrow )

Also thanks for putting your work hat on to try to help Chas out, as you noticed, I’m useless when it comes to electrickery.... still think it’s either the split-charge system, or the 80’s own 12/24 Volt system thingy.

40 Ohms resistance across the 2 (disconnected) +Ve battery terminals makes no sense, unless you don’t want the drivers’ side battery to charge...

Enjoy the return journey and if possible, we’d really love it if you would come again. There’s more to see, I promise you...

 

[Bmonck]

Looks like a cool trip. Will follow you guys down that way one day. Cheers for the photos and commentary.