Devon lanes & touring weekend - thanks

[mrmule]

That B&W of Craig cracked me up!

[ghop99]

That B&W of Craig cracked me up!

Due to him going a shade of white I have never seen before I thought I would spare him and put it into B&W! Mind you if it had been me, I would have gone the color of his van I think.

[axeman]

nice video greg really clean sharp video and photos.

nice to see every one again and put faces to the user names.

neil

[silverbullet]

Ok so Devon's got a reputation for being scratchy but some of it was just ridiculous...like the Darien Gap expedition in parts

Erin had a great time both on the lanes and camping out (roof tents are the way forward!) and special thanks to Julia for the "tactical assistance" on several occasions. Kids, eh?

Thanks to Mark for the ride on Sunday, lots to think about there...

Great to see everyone, faces both familiar and new, there's no mistaking a syncronauts meet

P.S. The DJ is near death, rattling like an old Tranny over 3k so that's coming out again, big ends are shot. Pity since it pulls really well and seems to return good mileage even with the wind brake up top

[HarryMann]

Greg, abs.fab! That''s a good record of our Saturday drive out and captures the weekend's atmosphere really well

Still here today, just toured yesterday up to Tarr steps for a good wheel wash, across some very different looking Ex moors (due to the rain this year), to Porlock where the vis and views across Bridgewater Bay to Wales were such that it seemed within touch. After a good runaround on the springy turf amongst the heather and gorse, Ian's Erin said farewell to the other girlz and they left for home.
The five of us then set off for Lynton, via the Oare road's many fords, stopping at the ancient beauty spot of Robber's Bridge.



Photos and many ahhs! for a goat and her newly born kid that we came across perched right up on the Valley of the Rocks, even young Lucy was up there with us, to see the first faltering steps of the kid and uber protectiveness of the nanny as we edged by between the rocks. It seemed it wasn't yet happy jumping down off the ledge we presumed it had been born on, but a lot of nuzzzling and encouragement was going on... magic.



Cream tea'ed out, we drove on, battling with German tourists in anything from Massive Mercs to Super Sprinter Monster MobHomes on that precipitous coast road. Eventually getting to Blackmoor Gate, we said goodbye to Rob and Frankie who stayed in convoy till arriving back on the trusty M5 at J27 again.

One junction for us, 20 odd for Rob! Although there'd been rain over Taunton and the Somerset levels to match Sunday's Dartmoor downours, we were glad to find a drying campsite after just over 100 miles of touring.

[silverbullet]

Forgot to say:

Apologies for lending Max my CB handset as we left. Hope she hasn't worn it out yet

[PetenAli]

We had a great and much needed weekend. As with many other comments above it was really good meeting so many people we've only spoken to on here.

Love the video Greg - we have a little bit of video but you've captured the essence of it all.

Good memories are going out with Axeman on Friday and a drive of a Volvo engined Syncro Doka (a bit of a revelation), Em getting unstuck the first time she got stuck, the whole of Saturday and meeting up again with people who are rapidly becoming good friends.

Big thanks to Mark for sorting our CB (still not sure how you did that - PM on its way) and especially to Clive and Jenny for all the work that must go into organising it all.

What a great little site as well - shhhhhhh!

[HarryMann]

Well Ian, pitty Erin missed The Nanny Goat and Newborn Kid (no, not a pub we visited) up on The Valley of the Rocks and a shame that little-end turned into a rattly big-end (hoping you drop it out before a hole appears in crankcase)....

Max says thanks very much for the new instrument of torture, and she's working hard on not inflicting her sadistic side on everyone...

Seriously, it was v.helpful for the rest of the day and she was quite touched by the gesture.

Yesterday, all our troubles seemed so far away, but it's raining cats & dogs today...

Roger & Julia left yesterday, Max, Jenny and I, went to Rosemoor RHS gardens nr Sth Moulton and walked around those splendid acres in a strange warm drizzle, light one minute, heavy & very wet the next. Staying till closing time tells a story of its excellence and world stature. Max demonstrated her encyclopaedic knowledge of plants and their Latin names... Genus, Species and Variety. Jenny's not bad too

Another gem find was the tea-room/bakers in Torrington town centre from another age (the 50's)... Sit-down pot of tea and Cornish pasty for 3, a cheese twist and another pasty to take away = £4-60 Chips beans and pasty £1-80

The Green Lantern - Highly Recommended, 5 stars for value and atmosphere - make sure you get there before 2pm, if you want the extended menu.

[lhd]

A big thanks to everybody for making it a great weekend for our first Syncro trip. Thanbks to Clive and Jenny for aranging it all and some fantastic driving.
Can't wait for the next one now.
cheers Rob.

[silverbullet]

Here's a random one from the filling station on Monday morning, while we were faffing about and confusing Roger (sorry about that, I deferred to Julia's authority and common sense)



A few more later!

[cpsyncro]

well to start off a big fat thank you to all that helped arrange a fantastic weekend the kids loved it and we did too and more thank you's to all that helped me out of that lane very thankfull fo all your help and that video was brill my kettel never looked so good lol and thanks again to ritchs wife for looking out for the girls we crant wait to see you all again very soon

[silverbullet]

Atmospheric shots by Erin (wonky horizons corrected by Dad!)

Before it got really jungly


Look! A vista! Sunshine!


Arthouse touring in the rain shot


Getting claustrophobic...


On't moor


Another fine view


The brooding mass of Bonehill Rocks


The storm chasers!


Bowling along down to the North coast

[silverbullet]

Blazing sunshine and blue skies at home! Time to clamber up the wagon and put up the tent again to get it dry...then contemplate taking out that engine

a shame that little-end turned into a rattly big-end (hoping you drop it out before a hole appears in crankcase)....

Max says thanks very much for the new instrument of torture

Thankfully it didn't get any worse Clive, but it's got a good old death rattle once warm and working over 2.5krpm. It's back in the naughty corner and won't turn a wheel until the engine's sorted. Penny to a pound it's #1 big end down to the copper unless there's a blocked oilway in one of the others.

Max is more than welcome, we won't need the handset for a while. I'd hope that we'd all treat each other similarly in these moments of minor crisis?

[HarryMann]

My infamous yellow peril says it's No.3 or 4 and more like stretched bolts or end play than seriously worn shells.. just IMHO, never really sure.

The brooding mass of Bonehill Rocks
The storm chasers!

Brill!

Cracking image this Ian, again IMO....

[HarryMann]

Max.Charismatic left yesterday for Wales, after a very nice joint effort at a beef casserole and roasted veg with Jenny ... also after helping clear and clean the site, which is slowly drying out now.

PS. Forgot to mention that AndyMc did a cracking curry + tarka dahl on Monday night with Julia's rice'n before leaving Tuesday, even 3-year old Lucy went for it - quite delish, with more PIMs & snackimodo's (PIMs No.3 I think) from Julia and Jenny. complete with very local spearmint.

Finally cleaned everything up onsite today (Thurs), repaired our caravan floor and windows, paid Jackie (thanks everyone for disbursements paid and gratefully received), arrived home 10:05 pm a bit knackered, after a blazing hot day down there at Kentisbeare!

Think we'll be listing all the h'organisation h'itnerary and h'arrangements for next year, so anyone can run it... starting Thurs with that great communal steak at the Wyndham arms. A pretty full week, the driving seemed a success...

Ian, your big above ground steel barbecue pit, is now stored for next year at Post Cross (adj.Rogers), with some starter wood drying in de vings, many tanks