My weekend at Bruce in the UK

[delicat]

Just got back from the UK this weekend and thought I'd give you a little tease on the amazing weekend I had at Bruce's place, aka MysteryMachine.

I have to say, Bruce was a great host and he was keen to take me along with a few of his buddies to drive some lanes in his part of the country, Bristol.

I realized that we kinda baby our dear Delica a little too much. The 4x4 day put a good beating on the new MudMonkey which was being christened on that same day. But she held good and had some good mud bath...

I'll put more pictures and video later on but as I said, this is just a little tease until I get more time to follow up.

Cheers and thanks again Bruce!
David

[patty]

Is Bristol made entirely of clay or something, zero traction

[delicat]

No, this was a lane that was so over used that over time it dig itself to the point where the side of the lane come to the middle of the window... You basically needed 33" to get through and it got to a point where even those wouldn't be enough! Pretty fun ride!

More to come, soon...

[deLOOKA]

welcome back David.

thanks for the teaser.

Isaac

[delicat]

Here's a few pictures of my weekend in Bristol. We met a few of Bruce's friends and a couple other nice guys that tagged along. Couple Pajaros, couple Roovers and the first mud trip for the new MudMonkey. We were out for a full day with not a single problem.

Directions.jpg (91.87 KiB) Viewed 3754 times

The day included some well known attractions and some sweet hidden lanes. We went by the megalithic ruin of Stonehenge, the Silbury Hill burial grounds, the Avebury sanctuary which I believe are all more than 4000 yrs old...

Stonehenge.jpg (19.88 KiB) Viewed 3753 times

Nice boots Bruce!.jpg (64.92 KiB) Viewed 3753 times

Avebury.jpg (48.6 KiB) Viewed 3751 times

In the UK they have what they call laneways which are usually very old roads dating back from as far as Roman times. They sometimes consist of asphalt but mostly gravel. Sometimes you can't even see the laneway as it's overgrown with grass or trees but you can always find them on the GPD.

Pajeros in the country.jpg (99.41 KiB) Viewed 3749 times

Pajero peacefully cruising.jpg (108.32 KiB) Viewed 3749 times

Some of them travel through military exercise ground and as you drive through a field you might get passed by some military tank, weird! Those laneways will also travel along and through farmlands which at times end up like mini canyon dug by tractors, which makes for some very deep and muddy trails... Other times you'd think you're in the jungle as the trail seems to disappear within the forest, fun and not good for your paint so good idea to get some mud before the branches...

Must be a kit truck!.jpg (75.85 KiB) Viewed 3746 times

More to come...

[jessef]

Nice pics and vid.

Mud monkey is spinning like crazy.. Bruce.. man you NEED to convince yourself to get a set of lockers.

[delicat]

A few more videos... These were taking about 1hr out of Bristol in what they call the super lane. At time it's over 2' deep of mud and water, makes for some interesting driving. To get through these lanes you pretty much needed 33" tires as the 31" weren't making the cut. So Bruce and the Pajeros had to drive beside the lanes, only problem it got pretty narrow at some point and as you can see in the first video it was very easy to get dragged down the deeper lane...On the 3rd video the Land Rover figured a way to splash me pretty good!

[mararmeisto]

Wow! Looks like they're not mucking about over there. Well, actually, it looks like they ARE mucking about! Makes our forestry roads look a wee bit tame.

[konadog]

Love this post - great stuff, thanks delicat. Must have been a blast!

[coaxial]

looks like a fun trip! the new mud monkey looks great.. and man.. what a nice landrover. I want it

[delicat]

Another quick little video of the MudMonkey stuck in deep mud. Wish I had videos where the MM was blasting through difficult, muddy, rocky, grassy trails but that was when I was inside the MM and didn't feel like getting out just for a video...


I have to say, those Land Rover guys didn't really know Bruce or anything about a Delica and they were quite amazed how it performed. They didn't really care for the Pajeros but that weird looking Van was very surprising!

[BCDelica]

Awesome David, thank you very much for sharing your pics and video!!! Can't help but wonder if you came home with a 'Canadian lift' for the white delicat?

My son and I both laughed, big time, were in your second video a big mud pie plops off the Mud Monkeys licence plate. Classic Delica offroad moment. And holy catwoman, that orange rover is pretty unstoppable.

Thank you!
Kev

[delicat]

Hey Kevin,

Getting ready for the big trip yet? Funny you mentioned about Bruce's lift... I came back with 3 out of 4 shackles (left overs) so I'll have to make the 4th one and figure out the bolts to link them. But I came back with so much more goodies... The best part will be shown off once it's installed but mystery for now.

At the end of the day, the best thing I brought back from Bruce weren't the material things but my experience. (and the videos!)

On a side note, has anyone seen this sporty Smart car? Ok, for those who don't know me I'm only 5'6" so you get the idea how low this car really is!

Sport Smart.jpg (80.33 KiB) Viewed 3541 times

But back to Delica, a few more pictures...

Nice angle for the Canadian flag!.jpg (95.24 KiB) Viewed 3539 times

Me love mud!.jpg (98.32 KiB) Viewed 3538 times

David

[konadog]

WOW! The shots just keep coming on this post - right on delicat! Never seen those sporty Smart cars, but I like 'em! I assume it's a gasoline motor for fast starts? I heard recently that in a not-so-smart-a-move, the Smart cars availible here in Canada will be switching from diesel to petrol to make them more palatible for the US market - Too bad. Thanks again for the great post delicat

[BCDelica]

Hello David, were ready for the move but have to sell our house first. That and deciding on which offshore bank to put a bit of money into (suggestions welcome) is all that's hanging over our heads. It's very liberating getting rid off 'stuff', though I do miss my Delica. Was your trip business or pleasure, or both?

mystery for now

Oh boy, now your a student of Bruce. Though when we get to see it, we all will be impressed no doubt. Everyone will be wanting those shackles ya know.

That Smart coupe is just too cool for North America.