JeepClulb Netherlands - 7/8th & 9th Sep 2012

[Sven]

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Our story begins on Thursday the 6th of September. At around 7pm, me and Lisa set of in our XJ for Dover. A quick McD at a service station and we arrive at our B&B in Dover at around 10:30 PM (Clare House, Folkestone Road. Cheap and decent). After a good night sleep we got woken up at 5am by the sea gulls. Ahhh, the pleasures of the coast. Anyhow, at around 8:15 we meet up with Stewart, Alison and Ellie at the local service station, to make our way to the ferry, where we enjoy a nice cooked breakfast in the brasserie.

 

After landing in Calais, at around 11am (local time), the trip through France, Belgium

 

 

and Holland go without a hitch and we arrive at the camp area around 4pm. Pitch the tent

 

 

go through the technical inspection (A marshall has a quick look underneath, to make sure there is not a steady stream of oil coming from your vehicle) and continue to the registration area to announce our arrival.

 

 

That evening, we have a nice BBQ with few bevies and admire the local scenery (surroundings as well as the number of jeeps, a lot of CJs).

 

 

After our BBQ, there is the official opening with a night drive. This is essentially a green laning tour, with the help of tulip maps. A Dutch woman is kind enough to take the lead so we don’t have to explain to Lisa and/or Alison how to read the tulip maps. Unfortunately, after about 1 mile, she breaks down. Making sure she gets towed back to the camp site, we continue our journey, this time lead by Bart (Thanks Bart!). Let me tell you, those Dutch guys don’t hang about. They are gunning for it! But in the dark it is quite entertaining. Especially since it must have been pretty dry lately, the dust thrown up by the vehicle in front of you is unbelievable and you need to keep a respectable distance to let the dust settle.

 

 

At the end of the drive, we end up at the ‘pay and play’ area, where we have a quick drive round but we head back to tent fairly quickly. It’s been a long day.

 

On the Saturday morning, after breakfast, there is a briefing and we decide to go for the green laning tour.

 

This is again with the help of Tulip maps (what is it with tulips in Holland  :icon_eek: ) but Alison has had a quick course last night and we are on our way. 10 minutes later we are hopelessly lost and it takes us around an hour to get back on track. The rest of the day goes a lot better, we have to check a few times, but don’t really get lost. Alison did a good job there! There are some entertaining lanes, but since Holland is a rather flat country, there is little in the way of hills and/or challenging bits.

 

 

Also, according to the organisers this tour should take around 5 hours, but that’s Dutch speed. At the speed we are going we are looking closer to 8 hours. So, at around 2pm we decide to call it a day and use our satnavs to get back to the camp site.

A cup of tea later (or was it a beer?) and Stewart and I decide to go and play in the mud.

 

 

See video: (you might want to turn the sound down if there's kids around)

 

 

That night there is a BIG BBQ arranged with music after. All in all an enjoyable evening.

 

The next morning, we decide to slowly pack up, because we have to set off around midday in order to catch our ferry. We say our goodbyes and set off.

 

The only mishap, is the oil leak out of the transfer case of my XJ that transpired at a Belgium service station.

 

 

I decided to continue the last 60 miles to Calais, get on the ferry and make a decision in Dover whether to drive home or call the AA. In Dover the oil in the T/C was pretty low, but we topped it up with some (almost) matching gearbox oil (some lubrication is better than none) and make it all the way home.

 

Tired but satisfied.