Happy Easter one and all 

Spring has sprung and another great British Bank Holiday weekend is upon us, Gale force winds Torrential Rain and snow storms.  

Travelling up to Napton on the Thursday afternoon I thought cunning plan as will miss the traffic only to be stuck in a five mile tailback. Doh! the best laid plans of mice and men. We got there eventually Just as Chris and Melissa had pulled in so sneaked behind them tooted and promptly blew my Horn Fuse must remember when upgrading things to do the fuse as well :), so a new record My Bonnet open before I had unhitched van. 

Got it all set up looked for a level spot which promptly sank, ah well head was up and everything works and a water feature in Awning is a talking point I suppose. Fish and chips saved any cooking and sat down and relaxed with Chris and Melissa. Then Andi,Chris and Heather arrive Chris (Brutus) and I help Andi with the new Olympic sport putting an awning up in strong winds while he got everything else sorted. Yes I forgot to phone him and tell him what the field was like. 

On the Friday another fresh spring day strong winds and rain,  but these Ssangyong owners are not to be deterred by a little gust ok all three vans felt like they where taking off at half three in the morning so a cuppa and tab called while we waited for the wind to pass.  Then daylight and more arrivals Gareth and Vikki, Tony Dor and there merry clan and ssangyong Steve all arrived where set up and assisted or laughed at whichever seemed most appropriate at the time. 

The new bags for the awning are very very nice and will help protect the awning and look a lot smarter than the cardboard and bodge tape that they where stored in.

A lull in the storm came so marquee erection was the rapid event with lots of securing ropes and everything pegged down. The heavens opened once one was put up so a cuppa break was decided on then the next lull came so both marquees where quickly up and the tea urn and heaters quickly in place. 

Most decided on take aways as having just arrived its quick and easy then followed catching up and a few social drinks and a quiz before bed was calling. 

Saturday yep its wet and windy surprise surprise, but never to be deterred a quick modification to the marquee remove floor bars from one door and a musso or Korando can be driven in no problem :).  Following this and one Korando and three Musso's later they have their fuel pump timing all checked and adjusted in the relative comfort of the marquee.. 

Chris and Pat Brooks appeared as day visitors and stayed for the traditional Saturday Night Takeaway and Chinese auction and raffle, a few more wee bevies and once again another day has passed. 

Sunday morning up with larks to watch Grand Prix :) and its all white outside woohoo.  This soon melts sadly and the wind dies down and the weather brightens as I Must pack up and go.  

Hopefully one of the others will continue and describe their off road adventures and the visits on Sunday and Monday 

All the best and happy driving  

Scenic 

Continuing on from the excellent report from Scenic, we had a great time off-roading as normal, getting covered in mud both from the muddy lanes and  each other kicking up the very wet soil.
The track we picked has been done before but was a lot wetter than we had encountered before and gave us some nice opportunities to get it sideways.

Gareth (Spitfire4) was the only casualty along the way when his 4WD decided it didn't want to play any more, but with some swapping of vacuum pipes he got mobile again. Sunday night saw us all together in the marquee for a few bevies, with
Gareth being presented with a present from Heather of a copy of "Shaun the Sheep" comic book which she actually chose for him herself. This sparked off the rather amazing sight of Gareth surrounded by a swarm of kids sitting
either on or around him as he flicked through the book. He then topped off his evening by winning a huge bottle of Grolsch in the raffle which he dispatched in seemingly impossible time. A quick quiz saw out the evening,
with most of us wrapped up in blankets to ward off the cold, even though the
fan heaters were working overtime.

All too soon Monday morning came and it was time to pack up and go. Everyone packed up their vans and then moved them up to the car park as soon as they could to avoid getting stuck in the now muddy field,..except one..Chris
(Brutus). Chris had decided to park his "bungalow" on the softest bit of the field on Thursday so by now it had sunk into the field by quite a bit. Even hooking up my Musso onto his Korando wouldn't shift it, I did have only 4WD high available! ( my excuse and I'm sticking to it). Rescue came in the form of Tony (Twin-dragons) who hitched up his Musso and
eventually pulled it free, much to the relief of all the remaining club members, since another group of campers were waiting in the wings to help out with a Range Rover !! Well done Tony for rescuing not only Chris's  van but also our street cred
too! Note to Chris.not a good idea to park the heaviest van in the club on the softest bit of the campsite.
The marquee was deftly dismantled amid the snow showers and stowed away in its new bags, which are superb! So much easier to handle!
We all said our goodbyes and off we went..roll on the next one..

Andi
 

 

 

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