Sunday night and Widget, Bernd and I are relaxing in the delightful sitting room of our self-catering cottage in the Peak District.
We've had a couple of days' laning already with one final fling tomorrow and all I can say is, upgrading the Discovery for a Defender was so much the right thing to do. Yesterday we descended Stanage Edge and despite taking over an hour to cover one short rocky stretch, the silver Defender seemed simply unstoppable. Even the slight knocks and bumps we did encounter seemed less of an event to the three Defenders.
The weather had been variable to say the least. Yesterday we met up in driving snow, yet by the end of the day I was wearing sunglasses when driving.
As well as some good laning we've had numerous refreshing brews whilst on the lanes, along with that most crucial element of Land Rover ownership, a nice bit of cake, and some Frisian sugar bread brought by Bernd from Holland. It comes close to crossing the border between bread and cake but if push comes to shove I'd have to go with calling it bread.
As we were staying near Bakewell we took the opportunity to try out a genuine tart too. A little sticky when warmed up, but easily shared between three and very satisfying.
The three Defenders have performed pretty well throughout. Widget's has a nasty grumbling bearing somewhere, and the rear door on my car is a bit tatty, but those issues aside, together they make a discreet yet capable convoy. No frills no limits motoring which is what a Land Rover is all about. Bernd has had no problems. Continental efficiency I guess.
We did encounter a few other laning convoys today, which gave rise to some rambling discussion about the merits of big knobbly tyres. And selective dentistry.
We came to the slightly mathematical conclusion that, based on our observations today, the number of knobbles on a tyre is inversely proportional to that of the driver's teeth, whilst the frequency with which they wash their Land Rover is, by contrast, directly proportional to how often they wash anything, including themselves.
But overall, a successful weekend, come rain, snow or sun (and we've had all three)
We've had a couple of days' laning already with one final fling tomorrow and all I can say is, upgrading the Discovery for a Defender was so much the right thing to do. Yesterday we descended Stanage Edge and despite taking over an hour to cover one short rocky stretch, the silver Defender seemed simply unstoppable. Even the slight knocks and bumps we did encounter seemed less of an event to the three Defenders.
The weather had been variable to say the least. Yesterday we met up in driving snow, yet by the end of the day I was wearing sunglasses when driving.
As well as some good laning we've had numerous refreshing brews whilst on the lanes, along with that most crucial element of Land Rover ownership, a nice bit of cake, and some Frisian sugar bread brought by Bernd from Holland. It comes close to crossing the border between bread and cake but if push comes to shove I'd have to go with calling it bread.
As we were staying near Bakewell we took the opportunity to try out a genuine tart too. A little sticky when warmed up, but easily shared between three and very satisfying.
The three Defenders have performed pretty well throughout. Widget's has a nasty grumbling bearing somewhere, and the rear door on my car is a bit tatty, but those issues aside, together they make a discreet yet capable convoy. No frills no limits motoring which is what a Land Rover is all about. Bernd has had no problems. Continental efficiency I guess.
We did encounter a few other laning convoys today, which gave rise to some rambling discussion about the merits of big knobbly tyres. And selective dentistry.
We came to the slightly mathematical conclusion that, based on our observations today, the number of knobbles on a tyre is inversely proportional to that of the driver's teeth, whilst the frequency with which they wash their Land Rover is, by contrast, directly proportional to how often they wash anything, including themselves.
But overall, a successful weekend, come rain, snow or sun (and we've had all three)
