wallowing in frozen mud

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GBR 9th November 2006, UK

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We had great fun with Simon at 4play offroading in the most idyllic setting south of Bristol complete with a lake filled with trout!
The weather was perfect, although perhaps if it had been a bit wetter, then we would have got stuck in the mud a bit more. Simon is a fantastic teacher, we both really felt like we learnt heaps. It was great to be able to drive our own Dino through the course. He did exceptionally well.
We then set off for Devises to set up camp for 2 days. By this stage the temperature had dropped and we hit well below zero overnight. Well, put it this way, the tent froze, our water froze, we froze! Well chuffed there was a pub nearby. During the days we drove around Salisbury plains to practice a bit of offroading on the byways. Once again, way too dry to cause any real difficulty, other than a couple of big puddles.
Our next stop was Chertsey, near London. We caused quite a stir in this predominantly geriatric campervan site. They were all snuggled up with their double glazed windows, heating and sky TV, while we were huddled over a Coleman Duel Fuel cooking curry.
We met up with friends, Vanessa and David, with baby daughter Rachel, (overlanders from 1999) who gave us heaps of great tips, thanks guys. We did a lot of re-packing and "downsizing". I mean, a wok…what was I thinking? Basically everything worked well, after it had defrosted, of course.
We spent the last day trundling around some more muddy tracks. After causing yet another stir in a car park somewhere cooking sausage sandwiches, we headed back home on Sunday night. Wicked sunset….did anyone see it?

The bottom image on the right is from a card, drawn by Claudia Meyer, that Vanessa and David gave to us whilst in Chertsey, quite appropriate really.
Ally driving the 4play course

Lunch on Salisbury Plain

no problem tours

right See more images of our 4x4 course and camping trip.

right See more images of how the work is progressing.

right Go to the equipment page to see the details of what we are doing.