Only one casualty in over 4000 off road miles (over the group) which was a sliced tyre on a sharp rock edge. No breakdowns and no bodywork damage (other than clipping some plastic back in place).
Would thoroughly recommend it. just about 2,800 miles in total. Enjoyed it so much that 2012 options are currently being discussed.....
We didn't use a tour company, just a couple of roadbooks and some common sense. Bodsys Brake Bible
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31st Oct 2011 12:30 pm
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Member Since: 06 Jan 2005
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Great pictures …can you please post some more information about your trip? I am planning to take family there summer 2012. Will drive all the way from Malta
31st Oct 2011 12:49 pm
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It's great location potential for family trips. Will try to put some info together for you. Bodsys Brake Bible
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31st Oct 2011 5:43 pm
ruggedpeak
Member Since: 10 Jun 2010
Location: UK
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best thing ever in the UK at least......!
And definitely better than an Oztent
I'd almost forgotten about the mid week smoking FBH's, especially Mark's pouring smoke, steam and whatever else out like Thomas the Tank Engine half way up the mountains Tony
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31st Oct 2011 7:46 pm
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Pyrenees Trip 2011.
OK, not a trip account, but a summary of days that may be of use if you are thinking of doing something similar.
We bought some roadbooks from [url]http://www.vibraction.org/ [/url] and used RB1 and some of RB2. Some of the group were able to have a recce earlier in the year and found a link route joining the two.
The roadbooks were fantastic and when you buy them, you get access to any updated information that other users have put on their website. Can’t recommend using them highly enough. It’s run by a couple as a pastime and they do a great job. No, I’m not going to copy it for people, if you are serious in doing this, then you won’t mind the €50 for the roadbook and guidance from them.
As Advice on the RB’s, RB1 was a nice easy route, spectacular views and heights Some challenges, but nothing of concern. RB2 became more technical, but as said, none of it was reaching the ends of the capabilities of the D3, I’m hoping for more challenges further in the roadbook . There was no requirement for Winches or any recovery gear at all on this occassion, but having said that, please don’t forget to take recovery gear as you don’t know what can happen.
21/10 - Started on Friday afternoon, left Shropshire around 17:20, later than anticipated. Drove down to Hampshire to meet Stu, arrived around 21:00. Loaded up Stu’s stuff, had dinner & crashed out ready for an earlyish start.
22/10 - Loaded up Spare Tyre & headed out around 5.50am to the Chunnel
Arrived in time for Chunnel at 8.42, over in Calais around 10.15 CET
Drive down to Bossost, Catalunia for our first campsite which we arrived at around 22:00 Had fuel/food stops on the way.
End Co-Ord 42º44.942'N 000º42.011'E
23/10 – leisurely rise & checking out kit/fine tuning for a Prologue day. Left around 12:00, got back around 17:00 stayed at the same site as we did a loop of the roadbook. Filled up at end of day.
End Co-Ord 42º44.942'N 000º42.011'E
24/10 – First day proper – out by around 9-9.30 Truly spectacular views, ending up at Espot, Catalunia. Plenty of Defender Taxi’s around here…. Pitched camp (once we found one) by about 18:00 in the pouring rain, which continued all night
End Co-Ord 42º35.556'N 001º07.783'E
25/10 – Seems the rain dampened most peoples enthusiasm to get out of their tents, but a touch of food shopping in Espot before leaving around 11.00 for another day of stuning views and sunshine. Stopping off at Torreta de L’Orri to get a good view of the world, Ending up at a great wooded campsite refuge Xalet de la Basseta. Damn it was cold at 1700m overnight.
End Co-Ord 42º25.086'N 001º17.272'E
26/10 – All out by around 9.00 – A cold, but clear and short day, ending up for Tapas, Cervesa at Hotel Os de Civis before heading into in Andorra proper around 3pm. Found a campsite after winding our way through the chaos of Fuel, roadworks and no parking in Sant Julia de Loria and Andorra la Vella. A quick brush up & then a walk into town for some cheap alcohol (4 litres of 47% Bombay for €43…, can’t pass that one by…).
End Co-Ord 42º30.117'N 001º30.972'E
Then a well-deserved Meal out at Mama Maria.
27/10 – out around 8.30, a long day ahead. High up in the low cloudbase made for some interesting navigation especially when GPS wouldn’t work for the first hour or so.
Quite rocky ascents/descents and our only real casualty of the week, with a tyre sliced through on the edge of a rock. Final Location Gosol, where we found a Chalet (still heavily Raining) for us all at a reasonable price. Arrived around 18:30
End Co-Ord 42º13.779'N 001º39.680'E
28/10 – We knew this would be a long day to get to our original final destination of Rippol, so everyone up and ready to mosie on out by 8.15ish.
The routes this day were the most technical we had driven, but still nothing that the D3 couldn’t overcome with ease. However it was much slower going, so by 17:00 when we reached the roads at el Burquet (not far from Vallcebre)
Stop Co-Ord 42º10.683'N 001º47.751'E
We decided that it had been a great day and we would stop. No ‘Last Lane’ syndrome for this trip, thanks. The original plan was to get to Rippol, but that was unrealistic off road as it had been raining most of the day and was slow, more challenging driving. Originally decided to find a camp site at Guardiola de Bargueda, but then one of the group gave us an easy alternative & we headed 110km south to Barcelona instead
End Co-Ord (Location protected )
29/10 – Aiming to leave around 10am so we could get the 01:05 chunnel back, we changed 11 wheels between cars that even Ferrarri or Maclaren would have (not) been proud of… So we left at around 12:00 instead.
It’s a long LONG drive back to Calais, but we also wanted to stop at the Millau Viaduct on the way back. Eventually got the 03:05 chunnel back to blight (which was delayed once loaded! Because of the timeclock change) Still, gave us a bit longer for a kip!
Got back to Hants around 4.30am (5.30am old time and 6.30am old CET time).
30/10 – Got up, split out the kit again and around 11.00 headed on my way back up to Shropshire. Arrived home around 14:30.
So, including my stint from Shropshire & back adds 400 miles to the overall mileage and the costs for Petrol, but for the week, for two of us we paid out…….
Food - £127.06 + €196.60 (Half of the € was on the last nights meal!)
Fuel – (excluding to/from Shropshire/Hants) - £45.73 + €593.63
Chunnel - £133
Extra driver Insurance - £67.10 (includes £30 admin fee…)
Tolls - €144.50 (€57.90 down and €86.60 back)
Campsites - €159 (No fee on the Friday night)
Total Per person (based on 2 sharing) = £186.45 + €546.87
Quite reasonable given the type of expedition it was and that it was also a recce for a future family expedition variant
We did have the Engel which helps for food shopping and we ate well
Biggest cost (not surprising) was Fuel, but then again we covered 2254 miles (+400)
If on a tighter budget, you can avoid the Toll roads, but generally you’d probably want to stop somewhere en-route so savings would be affected.
€ Food costs can be cut 50% without too much problem, but part of the experience is to eat locally too.
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2nd Nov 2011 1:37 pm
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That is great information you have posted…thanks.
Just need to ask you one question, are these routes have frequent travelers on them?
2nd Nov 2011 2:10 pm
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The routes are all tracks that people drive regularly. Some of the RB2 ones have less driven routes, but equally they are all pretty well maintained overall.
If you are on std road tyres, then RB2 may have some issues, but we had people on all types of tyres, AT, ATR, AT2, MTR, STT so none of them 'Just' road tyres, but some more road biased ones as well as the usuall MTR/STT mud tyres.
The Police also patrol the areas (as we know ). In summer it will be busier, but in October, it was very quiet with only the occassional Tractor or Log Felling team or national park vehicles on them.Bodsys Brake Bible
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. Courtesey of Stu.
Ps nice pics
. There was no requirement for Winches or any recovery gear at all on this occassion, but having said that, please don’t forget to take recovery gear as you don’t know what can happen.
)
