Next big trip ideas?

I can well recommend the 'ring - it's awesome fun. Go on a weekday evening as it's quiet then, on weekends it's just crammed with tourists, who are far, far more likely to crash into you, or cause you to crash into them. Mainly physco locals on a weekday evening... On their bikes or in their track prepped Golfs/Polos/Alfas/Beemers etc. None of them will hold you up, just remember to keep to the right and try get out of their way as soon as you can. Also beware, although it's a once in a lifetime thing so this didn't bother me, but a single lap is 19 euros! 4 laps for 60.

But anyway, what was this socialism thing? I joined a few websites and the like, but never ended up going to secret meetings about re-enacting Guy Fawkes' plan for real or anything... Unfortunately really, that sounds like a bit of a lark. Although I'm not sure I could kill all those people, I'd have to give them a good bombthreat warning...

Have you driven long distances like that anywhere hot before? We did like 6 hours in the car in the south of France, and without A/C it'd have been seriously uncomfortable heh! Although the TG boys did it so I'm sure it won't be that bad.

I shan't worry about that as I will be in a 1984 diesel Merc.

No they were more interested in boring people to death.

Yeah... more than 12,000 miles in a 1973 VW camper around Australia. Most of which was very hot and of course the best aircon we had was opening the window. Or closing it and putting a towel across it to block out the sun.

Yeah... more than 12,000 miles in a 1973 VW camper around Australia. Most of which was very hot and of course the best aircon we had was opening the window. Or closing it and putting a towel across it to block out the sun.

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Ah, s'good you have experience of it. For us all it was a bit of a body shock heh. Every now and again someone would just say "Thank god we have aircon" - out of the blue.

I was thinking of doing that this year but didn't have the time. Next year I'm determined to do it but I'd do it via

(started last week) which is purely for charity unlike the ridiculous entry fee the Mongol Rally charge. Maybe we could have a URCM convoy to Mongolia?

Better have a big budget, you'd be looking at a minimum of around £800+ a time shipping from one continent to another after including all taxes.

I'm driving the Shite Old Touring to Czech in a couple of months. Just need to fix the AC, I'm confident the car won't have any problems as I'll give it a service first. Looking forwards to it.

Well, an idea I've had for ages and ages, is to drive to Oz. My sister worked in a place in the outback for ages - dunno if you've heard of it - place called King's Creek Station - nearish King's Canyon, not a million miles from Alice Springs.....and one day some guys turned up in an English registered car - they'd driven the whole way (I think with big boat assistance for the watery bits) and it took them about 6 months. When I first heard about the Mongol Rally I thought "great - do that with all the rest of them to get to Mongolia, and carry on". You could still take in the 'ring on the way, possibly.

When you say "in a container" - on the same ship, or separately? Would that involve waiting much for it to arrive the other end? If you're in Darwin have a look at the museum where you see box jellyfish in big glass display cabinets. And remember not to go in the sea afterwards. Back on the car note - is there not just a car ferry type thing - or is that basically what you're on about?

You seen the North-West of Australia? Granted, there's virtually f*ck all there, but I've been told that there really are God's own beaches there, up on the Indian Ocean - a world apart from the uber-tourist-clogged East Coast.

Might've been near the place we stopped for help when SWMBO got bitten by a poisonous spider, (that had been hiding under the passenger seat where we stored the water bottles) whilst driving in the middle of nowhere. I got the VW up to 120 kph when that happened.

Not sure, we looked at sending our VW Camper home and Ro-Ro (amongst all the Vauxhall VXR8s) would've been cheaper but on the condition we stripped everything out of the inside as it was counted as 'posessions'. In a container you can just leave everything as it is. I suppose it's a bit easier in a car as you don't have the fitments and fittings do you so Ro-Ro would work in that case.

Yes I've been in that museum and went out on a yacht (owned by an aussie who we got talking to in a bar) to watch the amazing pre- monsoon sunset, cans of VB in hand. There were dolphins popping their heads up all around us. We had to wade a little into the water to hop onto the yacht, after which the owner said 'ah just realised that was a bit stupid what with the stingers'

Yes the North West is one of my favourite places. The West as a whole is amazing. It's almost as big as India yet the population is only 2 million (1.8 million live in Perth so the rest of it is, shall we say, quiet). Everyone raves about Cable Beach in Broome but we got there and thought... yeah so? But by then we'd got totally spoilt by other beaches only accessible by corrugated dirt roads that really f*ck your car up. There's this place called Monkey Mia about half way up the West Coast that is about as commercial as it gets over there and it was still only a tenner to camp overnight and have full use of the same facilities as the people staying in the plush hotel bit. Plus the little shops and pub down there are reasonably priced and staggeringly even the petrol is a lot cheaper than it is on the main roads! Given its remote location and the attraction of swimming with wild dolphins in crystal clear turquoise waters they could whack all the prices right up and people would still flock there.

I'd recommend anybody to visit WA for a holiday.

Ah right - my vague plan to drive to Oz included just "hopping on a car ferry" - sounds like I'd need to budget a bit more if I wanted my car to join me the other side, then.....

Sounds idyllic - oddly enough, WA's the only part of Oz I haven't been to - done bits of the middle (not Ayers Rock, mind you - down from Darwin, but not anywhere near that far down), Darwin, various East Coast bits (never the Gold Coast, mind), never done Sydney, been to Adelaide a couple of times, Melbourne loads (shitloads of family in Victoria), but never seen the west. And my sister was living there for a good few years, had a flat in a reasonable part of town, reasonably paid job in corporate travel, then jacked it all in, flogged the flat, upped sticks and left to come back here and work in a Youth Hostel in the SW arse end of Wales.

Yeah good trip, similar route as I took in the TI to Budapest, but you'll turn left at Nurnberg and avoid Austria's police completely. If you stop at Wurzburg services, enjoy the view but don't be fooled by the apparent cheapness of the food. That's the cost of 10 grams or something. They weigh it once you get to the counter and then you vil pay ze price.

On that trip I got a steady 300 miles to a tank even when a whole tank was used at 120mph+. Back home I really struggled to better 270 miles to a tank even if those miles were 100% motorway. British petrol? British road surfaces? British headwind? Or maybe the Nankangs I fitted when I got home...

What's Ro-Ro?

Roll on-Roll over.

isn't it roll on roll off? something like this

my MR2 came over in a RORO but rather than parked inside it was parked in a container with another MR2

You're probably too young to remember the Herald of Free Enterprise, which is what I suspect what Carl's version refers too.

cheers, clive

I remember it all too well, watching the images live on TV when I'd just been on that thing a week prior.

Get your shit together and organise a circular rally, preferably in Europe and Asia. I'm too short on time to build a car for a rally then leave it at the other end ;).