We will be leaving from Gwebert Road at 9am.
The boys from Eastgate Mazda in Bristol arrived at 7 am this morning to give our cars a check over, but I don't think that they had planned for John's water leak and Chris' oil leak!! It looked like something from the RAC Rally - mechanics working feverishly whilst the drivers paced around looking worried!. And they thought that Gary ought to have a new exhaust, but he wouldn't hear of it!! (Or was that hear it!) After a quick check up (the cars not us) the cars were washed (hurrah!) and then breakfast was consumed rapidly to set off as near to 9 o'clock as physically possible.
With a slightly altered route, and two additions at the start - Beryl and Tony in their Bronze Mk2, and John in his BRG Mk1, we set off.
We took the bridge over the Severn Estuary - it cost us £4.20!! - and we thought the Humber Bridge was expensive! Chris Cook and John Mason (JM from now on!) were in trouble at the bridge courtesy of MAXXIOM.... Chris passed through the toll and then as JM got to the tolls Chris said "She was a bit of alright" which left JM apologising profusely to the toll booth attendant.
We then got slightly lost as the Welsh decided not to put signposts on the roundabouts, but all was well with a quick stop, map check and then by Chris Cook relaying the messages to the back of the convoy.
We were again stopped by the Police..... no, not to buy raffle tickets!, but to allow a VIP to pass. It looked like the Duke of Kent but can you believe he never waved back!!
Then onto the Mumbles. Tony Hayes joined the convoy here and Beryl and Tony departed. Photos were taken with a 'Larger than life' RNLI man. Eileen seemed to enjoy her cuddle and I don't know what Steve was up to when JM borrowed the RNLI mans head - He started to caress Johns body until someone pointed out that the real RNLI man was stood at the other side of the car park having a break. Onto the actual Lifeboat Station for a quick photo call... Here the cars were surrounded by about 150 school kids who were so impressed with the cars they offered to polish Steve's (We think that they were finding the school trip boring!) and even the schoolteachers were photographed in Steve's car!!
Tony led the way from here with JM relaying the directions all around the Gower Peninsula. JM did attempt to give the Welsh name of a town but gave up after "It's left towards Ab..errr..." His pronunciation of Llanelli was perfect though, as were the roads when we travelled down a wooded hill with the beautiful smell of wild Welsh onions, and then through fields smelling of something we decided we did not want to know the identity of! The sun came out and official coating with SPF 15 began.
We had another altercation with the dreaded sheep... they had been shorn and were obviously very confused as nine fives drove by, but true to form they refused to move and we drove slowly round them.
The wildlife thing is getting ridiculous we have even taken to following signs to try and find a different species! A small brown sign with a little duck on. All we keep hearing now is "Follow the duck!!" which was one of the hints to keep back markers on track.
We would just like to re-iterate what a godsend local knowledge is. Tony has directed us through the most wonderful roads and has made suggestions of alternatives when the route was difficult to stick to. So if you are thinking about assisting, come and do it.... it makes it so much more relaxing for all of us if we are not frantically trying to read maps, look at the scenery, and most importantly drive the cars.
Lunch if you can call it lunch at 3.15 pm was had on the beach at Pendine. We watched all the young kids (OK, Steve!) performing tricks and then we had a little dabble when we left! Mark even managed to fill Gary's car with sand on a particularly close spin!! You'd be surprised where sand gets!! And thanks to the man at the beach who was promoting the rugby matches that had taken place earlier in the day...after several photos taken for his worthwhile cause, he made several donations for our cause in the form of prizes for the raffle!
And a final meander to Cardigan afterwards saw the convoy split into smaller segments, but all reconvened at the very friendly hotel, and then afterwards in the Black Bull!
And can you believe that a little Mariner Menace met us at Cardigan!?! What are the odds!! But surprisingly Jules was persuaded into staying the night and travelling onwards to Scotland...but don't tell his boss, as Jules is meant to be poorly!! (I think he's poorly because Jeremy Clarkson named his MGF on his TV programme 'JULIAN'...I mean....JULIAN!! 0:)
Still, tomorrow's another and longer day, so ta-ta for now...
Team 'Members'
Now for the vision thing !
Clean
at last!
All
washed and ready to roll
Think
Steve should have shaved!
Additions
to 'Team Members'
OC
Members of 2012 ?
Just
how nice is this!
Rugby Club
helps
Team
donuts (z) - Gazzer in a spin
Formation Driving at its MX-5 best! you can almost feel the speed...