It's been a long time

It's been almost 3 weeks since Pepper got her paws muddy. Which means that she starts to shake and has little fits and her bottom starts to get wrinkly. Luckily for her there is a Series outing planned for this weekend at Bontebok Ridge, which Pepper is taking us along on. It looks like this:

TRAIL
The trail is mostly sand and promises to be very interesting especially if the rains of two weeks ago repeat themselves before the weekend. - Pepper should enjoy that.

CAMPING
Special permission has been obtained to camp at the trail - this is normally not allowed so please make use of this opportunity as it may not be available again. There will be wood and washing water provided, as well as a pit latrine. There are no other facilities so this is 1 notch up from a total bush camp. - That's fine for Pepper, but not for some of us!

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Wild Olive 4x4 Eco Track and Bontebok Ridge Reserve
Wild Olive Eco Track is part of a 600 hectare working farm set at the foot of the Limietberg Mountains. The farm is divided into two sections; the lower section, comprising of a 100ha of arable land which is dedicated to livestock and vineyards.
The grapes grown are wine varieties, with the red cultivars: Pinotage, Ruby Cabernet and Cabernet Sauvignon and the white cultivars Clairette Blanche and Chenin Blanc.
The upper section of the farm has been set aside for ‘Bontebok Ridge Reserve’ which forms part of the Renosterveld Conservancy, to preserve the endangered Renosterveld and its indigenous animals within the Cape Floral Kingdom. We have reintroduced several species of antelope to the reserve, such as eland, wildebeest, hartebeest, springbok and bontebok, the latter of which until a few years ago, were
critically endangered.

Another exciting development on the reserve is the quagga breeding project which is being run in conjunction with South African National Parks and Iziko. The aim of this project is to recreate a species which was once thought to be extinct, but recent research has established that it is in fact the same species as the common planes zebra but with a paler rump. Through selective breeding the aim is to
achieve a replica of the quagga and then reintroduce them back into Karroo and Mountain Zebra National Parks.
The 4x4 trail has been built on the lower section of the farm, utilizing an area which is populated mainly with exotic vegetation, with a few pockets of indigenous flora which we’ve been careful to avoid! Our aim is to in time remove all alien vegetation to enable the natural flora to re-establish itself. The trail is not over commercial and retains a quite and tranquil outdoor feel. The use of the track is normally by invitation only or used under supervision by a trainer.

Which is all fine and dandy for Pepper, but for us it is a different story. The weather forecast looks like this:

Forecast: Friday, 13 May 2005
Min: 12°C Max: 15°C
Weather: Cloudy, general rain (100%)
Wind: fresh north-westerly

Forecast: Saturday, 14 May 2005
Min:8°C Max: 13°C
Weather: Cloudy periods, widespread showers (80%)
Wind: moderate south-westerly


Forecast: Sunday, 15 May 2005
Min:4°C Max: 19°C
Weather: Partly cloudy
Wind: light north-westerly

Advisory
VERY COLD AND WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ON THE HIGH GROUND OF THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN CAPE ON FRIDAY, WITH SNOWFALLS LIKELY ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING. THESE CONDITIONS WILL SPREAD TO THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS OF THE EASTERN CAPE BY SATURDAY MORNING, WHEN CLEARING WILL TAKE PLACE OVER THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN CAPE.

Which is scary.

Kate will end up looking like this:



Although without the smile.

and Pepper will end up looking like this:



or like this:



Although without the monster tyres.

I AM VERY SCARED. IF THERE ARE NO MORE POSTS AFTER THIS ASSUME WE NEED RESCUING.
images courtesy http://fuerapiche.eresmas.com/fotos3.html

Pepper and her aunt 2

Pepper's aunt had just told me that she hates 4x4ing. Which reminded me of the time we went to Zevenwacht wine estate. The trail has some steep gravel inclines and declines, a couple of tricky rock sections (difflock needed for some) and a sand pit to play in. The views of Cape Town are spectacular, and it is only 45 min from town.
You can taste wine at the wine cellar if you are so inclined, or laze on the grass and have a picnic.



Or go offroading ith 2 crazy guys, one in his 110 2.8 (fast, big) and one guy in a little Suzuki SJ410. These guys were crazy crazy. At the end of the day, when they were a bit bored, they decided to make their own trails.

Crazy guy Jacque



Crazy guy Gary



And then drive up them.

Katherine has a photo of the Landy with its two front wheels in the air. We all got a turn to accompany the crazy guys as they tried this obstacle, fast and faster until they made it. Which generally entailed a lot of wheels in the air at once, or a lot of dust. I have a video of Kate getting the dust treatment, which is very funny.

But the whole point of this story is that Katherine actually drove. And enjoyed it. Even though at most times she didn't know where the front wheels were pointing. Here is Katherine hanging on for dear life while crazy guy Jacque pilots crazy guy Gary's jeep around and around the sand pit. The screams could be heard for miles...



One last picture of the cutest car in the whole world, before her little makeover, although she was wearing her new shoes:

The next day

On Sunday we went to a farm in Phillipi to play with the Cape Land Rover Club. You might ask what type of farm and my reply will be "I don't know." All I saw was sand. And no, you cannot farm sand. You can mine it, which is what they do, but not on Sundays. Otherwise there would be a conflict of interests. "I want to drive over that dune!" vs "I want to put that dune into a truck!"


vs


After that philosophical debate, lets get down to the nitty sandy. We deflated right down to 0.5 bar after a test run of that pressure at Melkbos the day before. We made one long convoy, with a brand new Discovery Series 3 driven by the chairman Pietie leading the way. The first hill was attacked by many and conquered by all, with one or two requiring more than one attempt. Space!: The Final Frontier being one who's captain needed to re-aquaint with the instrument panel and maximise the nebulising space-time froggle womp. In other words, "Put foot George!" "Again, this time in second!"

Here is an oh-so-pretty collage of Space! doing what it does best - driving over, down and up sand dunes.

Clockwise from top left: - Looks like you should have gone right George!
- Sand.
- Look at that awesome car. I mean the Discovery 3 sneaking its bottom into the picture. That little hill was actually really steep, so Pepper went down it in reverse!
- A view of Space! from outer space.





Here is Adam and his Series 1 being piloted over through the galaxy of sand.
If anyone wants to moan about the non-original tyre and rim setup then they should know this: Adam searched high and low and eventually found some original 1953 rims with the date stamp and everything. His car just doesn't have them on for two reasons: He doesn't want to damage them playing, and two, that original skinny tyre setup is rubbish in sand.



Pepper's little boots walked over everything with consumate ease, the very low pressure helping a lot. She attacked and conquered all the obstacles that the other newer cars did, and so she got a bit cheeky and decided to blaze some trails. Which ended up in:



And:



The long, ropey like things attached to various parts of Pepper are not there because she is pulling someone out, it's because she got stuck. Again and again. Which is fun!

The captain of Space!: The Final Frontier decided to jump ship and pilot a far more technologically advanced universe conqueror. This was done with gay abandon, resulting in the co-pilot fleeing for his life; he was found much later in a foetal position, muttering something about roll bars or something.



Actually all I did was steal Space!: The Final Frontier while everyone was busying themselves with food. I took Adam for a drive where we both marvelled at how comfortable the vehicle was. At 100 km/h. On a sand dune! Ha ha.

One last (badly composed) photo of all the vehicles that had fun that day:



All in all a fun day, no breakages (I think) and cheap too (R0.00).

4x4 challenge

That just about sums it all up. Monster cars, monster obstacles, lots of noise and mud and roll-overs. Pretty standard stuff for a challenge.

This is Dave Radcliffe's crazy jeep. He wins most challenges quite easily in it. It cost around R750 000 to build up but still can't make him coffee in the morning! And it is probably the best example of a tricked up jeep in this country, but won't even come close to anything in the States. Sorry for us!



Another woopsie: This Jeep rolled onto its roof and was then pushed upright by a whole bunch of really strong guys because it flipped right back onto its roof again. Ha ha







There were some funny cars, some awesome cars and a couple of Landy's for Pepper to speak to.




Some puppies that were there too. One day I will have a puppy like that to drive around with me in Pepper when Kate doesn't want to come wiv.




We went driving on another part of the track, one which I have done about a million times so I decided to try and do it as fast as possible. The result: not many photo's. We did get some though because I would race off and then stop when I was stuck or thought it would be a cool photo.

Spash! Ah haaaaa aa! I like driving in mud and water and making big splahes. Pepper, on the other hand, does not. The next day at Phillipi the starter motor died because it had got water in it. Pepper's diffs need draining and the swivel pins need draining, cleaning and refilling. All for a splash!




Pepper also like to show off and drive over things that other cars can't or their drivers are too scared to. That makes it fun for her when she goes to play with Space: The Last Frontier because either it can't drive over fun lumps of clay or through muddy bogs of slime or it won't. I don't know which it is (can't or won't) but I suspect the latter.

This photo is one of a series of three, but someone who will remain nameless did not load all the images I gave her. And someone's sister deleted everything else (again) that was worth looking at. So you, the viewer, had just better count your lucky stars that there are any images on this site. The pitfalls are great, the hazards numerous but when you persevere (and do it myself from now on) the rewards are incredible.

AAAAAAAAAAAH!

Pepper's dad has a spreadsheet of how much money has been spent on her. It was added up yesterday and the figure has morphed into a whole new scary beasty. It is very big and scary, and so I won't do that again for a long time. But considering that Mike van As's challenge vehicle cost R400 000 to build up, or Mike Porter's suspension cost R50 000 I am not doing too badly.

I think what Pepper should do is go and play at the challenge at Melkbos this weekend, and then go and play in the sand on Sunday in Phillip with the Land Rover Club. So there should be a couple more photo's to post next week. And a couple more things to fix!

You can look at a picture of the White Knight in the meantime, the meanest monster 4x4 in the whole world!


Oops:



Apparently that hole is full of engine oil and stinky water and stuff, and the driver had to sit in it for a while until they recovered her. Sorry for you!

Please be patient

While I move photo's around and generally mess everything up. Fanks a lot.
I am still busy, these things take a while. Sorry for all of you!

Pepper and Friends

Here are more pictures of Pepper and her friends. This one is of her in Buffelspoort near Montague. Lots of old and new Landys.


And here is another one of her and her Mom and her Series friends. I have called the photo McSeries.


Pepper is going today to get a free Waxoyl treatment, which will include all sorts of cool things like cavity treatments, paint protection, engine cleaning and all sorts of cool stuff. Why is it free, you ask? Because Pepper is cute and her dad asks nicely for things! This post will then lead on to another which I will call "Benefactors of Pepper"

More stories about Pepper

As requested by her aunt.

Pepper is currently sitting in her garage. She is scared of the petrol price increase, which puts her favourite tipple at R4.93 per litre. That is quite expensive for one that drinks the stuff at an alrmingly quick rate. She also has a funny knock emanating from her front right hand side, which could be something to do with the front right shock absorber or a spring shackle bush. In any case she is too scared to do much driving in case she breaks.

Here are two pictures of her friends, both driven by people called Mike.

This is Mike van As's Green Mamba. It is a Series 3 on Range Rover running gear with a 4.6l V8 from a Range Rover HSE. It runs on 35" Goodyear mud tyres and eats most obstacles.


And here is Mike Porter's Beasty. It is a LHD Series 2 running on Discovery running gear with a 3.9l V8 under the hood. There is a Scorpion Racing Extreme suspension kit where it should be and a 4.6lV8 with Roots supercharger waiting to be transplanted. One of the neatest Landy's you will ever see.

Mods that Pepper has

Which follows on from: Money That Has Been Spent.

4x4ing is not about driving your car over things and up mountains to see pretty things. 4x4ing is about spending money and breaking your car and then spending more money to ix it. I chose the perfect vehicle to spend money on. It seems that there is a black hole which sucks figures out of my bank account whenever I go near Pepper.

Mods are stupid things that people do to their 4x4's to make them break down more often so that they can have more fun fixing them. And so that they can spend more money. My list of mods is short because my bank balance is small.

Extended shackles, 15 inch steel rims, 31x10.5 Pirelli Scorpion Mud Tyres, extended axle breathers, spare wheel carrier with jack attachment, CB Radio with 109 inch aerial, bonnet mounted compressor, canvas canopy and frame. Here is a picture of some expensive mud tyres:



No mods to the engine yet because that would be like modding a fried egg to open beer cans. It won't ever work. Similarly my engine won't ever use less fuel or make the car go faster. Although it does have a paper air filter instead of the usual oil bath type. It seems that I now have to create a new post about my Pepper's specs. Specs are not what nerds wear but what the car is all about. Like engine size, kW at the wheel and crankshafts and conrods. Pepper's aunt and mother don't believe that there are things called conrods, but one day when I open up Pepper's insides to do reconstructive surgery I will show them a conrod.

Mods Pepper wants: Pepper would love to sit on a Disco S1 chassis and running gear and have a 3.9l V8 in her bonnet. She would also like 25 inch Simex mud tyres and all sorts of other nice things. But all this requires lots of $$$. One day she will have all the mods she desires and then she will eat obstacles up before breakfast.

From this post you can see what DAD posts are about (conrods, breaking things and money) and what MOM posts are about (pretty pretty and lovely and nice). So neither mom or dad will have to sign their names at the end of the post. Read some posts and test yourself! Sometimes dad hijacks posts and corrects spelling and puts stuff in about breaking things. But those are easy to spot.

Pepper and her aunt.

Pepper has a father (Andrew) and a mother (Kate). Andrew's Israeli sister (Katherine) is therefore Pepper's aunt.
Pepper's aunt has had very few 4x4ing experiences (two), but both have had a great impact on her life. Kat's first time was in the Cederberg on the Kromrivier trail. We were in a Land Rover Discovery Series 1. 3.9l V8, Old Man Emu suspension, upsize tyres. More than capable vehicle. And yet, Kat thought that the driver was trying to kill her even before the trail had started. She decided to climb out and walk. And walk and walk and walk. The trail is about 20 km long. It is difficult, hot and rocky. Sounds like fun if you are Pepper's dad. Not fun if you are walking. The upside of Katherine walking next to a 4x4 doing a trail is that a million photo's are taken, some of which are bound to be good. They will be posted because they are pretty.
Kromrivier

Katherine's next 4x4 experience was in the Matroosberg to see some snow.
Matroosberg
or
Matroosberg on 4xforum

The first time Pepper went to see the snow it was sunny and fluffy and warm. Next time it was windy and wet and cold, which made it more fun for Pepper, but less fun for those stuck in the back under a leaky canvas canopy. Up the mountain we went, over and through and in the mud we fell until eventually we got stuck. In a blizzard with 70km/h winds, sleet and cold cold cold. Pepper's dad jacked her up while the remaining members of the party either decided to lie down and concede defeat or fetch rocks. Those that fetched rocks got cold and wet. Those that hid and cried and moaned also got cold and wet. But eventually after much cajoling Pepper decided that it was time to go and hopped out of her little hole. And not five minutes later another Landy appeared out of the gloom. If only we had sat and waited they could have towed us out...

So those are Katherine's two 4x4 experiences. They aren't all as hard core, but she chose the best two to come along on.