Off Road Training

It has been such a long time since I have driven off road, that I would now rate my skills as novice.  With that in mind I decided to put myself through a 4x4 training day at Woodhill 4x4 Park.  Colin at Trackwise was my trainer for the day and he was excellent.  He took me through a wide range of tracks and scenarios through the forest, gradually building up my confidence in equal measure with illustrating to me the off road capabilities of the Defender.

Some of the tracks left me exhilarated and wanted more but my overwhelming impression was the capability of the vehicle.  It tackled inclines and terrain that at first glance seemed impossible, for a car that is also road legal, to negotiate. I know that the tracks and trails that we will be on in the South Island will not be as extreme as the ones at Woodhill 4x4 park and that does not matter.  We now know what the car is capable of and are now really looking forward, even more so to the trip.

Below is a short video of the highlights from the day.

Landrover at Woodhill from David Kinane on Vimeo.

Roverland Hamper

I was expecting a delivery today.  I have ordered 4.5t D shackle and bridle strap for the car.  But the courier who dropped off a package for me today, left a nice surprise from Roverland.  A hamper.  Thanks Roverland these condiments will make our Christmas table very bountiful and what's left over will be taken south with us!  Now how can I make use of that wooden crate?

Recovery Points

On Wednesday this week I took the car to Top of the Range to have the recovery points fitted.  The process was fast and efficient.  I will be back.  I especially like the front bumper unit that they have developed that is made of 6mm steel, allows for a rear mounted winch to be installed and has an integral under guard for to protect the steering rods and the front diff.  Apparently when it is complete the bumper unit looks like the standard Land Rover unit I currently have.

Nitro Filled Tyres

When the car went in for its 1000km service I was asked whether I wanted to have the tyres filled with Nitrogen.  I was told that Nitrogen filled tyres can provide fuel consumption efficiencies of up to 30%  A grand claim for a car like a Defender that has all the aerodynamics of a brick!  I am keeping an interested eye on the fuel consumption and I have found so far that for urban driving I am getting about 500km per tank.  I filled up two weeks ago, after our trip to the Coromandel  and driven exclusively in and around Auckland.  Today I took the following photo...

On this current tank I have done 542km and still have a quarter of a tank to go.  On the face of it it the fuel consumption savings look like the investment was worth it.

Prepping...

It's been hot today, a typical hot still Auckland summer day, wonderful. Strange then to be fitting snow chains on such a day! I have been waiting to find an opportune moment to fiddle about with the additional recovery attachments that I have purchased to go with the Hi-Lift jack and also have a go at fitting the snow chains before I actually need to.

I got out all of the Hi-Lift jack accessories and assembled them as if in preparation for a recovery, all good. I now feel confident about how it all fits together and now I just need to find a tree to winch off of to put the theory into practice.

The chains were a little trickier. The Snow Sweat Chains pictorial instructions were written by someone who already knows how to attach chains, heads up here guys, your written text needs to be a little clearer. I am glad that I spent the time fitting the chains as they had got seriously tangled in the bag and working out what needed to be untangled from what, has now given me an intimate understanding of the chains. In fairness to the guys at Snow Sweat, now that I have fitted the chains once, the instructions make sense, but prior to this they did require several read throughs!

I am not expecting to have to use the chains on our trip to the South Island next month, well not in snow anyway, but if it rains some of the tracks could get boggy, so better to be prepared. The highest elevation we get to is 2500m so we might encounter snow. What ever happens, I now feel better prepared than I did this morning.

On Wednesday this week I am taking the car to Top of the Range to have front and rear recovery points added and then next Sunday I am off up to Woodhill for a day of 4x4 off road training in the car, will take the Go Pros for that trip. This will be the first serious off road trip the car has had... I am really looking forward to it.

MInce Pies

Little by little our trip to the south island in January is taking on epic proportions!  The car will be so full of stuff that it will be a surprise if we make it up even the slightest incline!  Well if we get stuck we will have plenty of supplies to keep us fed.  Chief amongst these supplies will be a large Christmas cake and plenty of mince pies!  I have had the mixture marinading in brandy and sherry for over a month with other little ingredients thrown in to make the mix special.  Here is a time lapse video of the first batch of many more to come being made.  Enjoy!

Mince Pies - 2013 from David Kinane on Vimeo.

Carpet Purchased

I purchased some large black carpet tiles this weekend, to cover the MDF shelf I had previously built. I had intended to cut the tiles to shape and install them this weekend, but the garden took over and I have not been able to get to the car.  It has not been washed either...

You can see how when the tiles are installed it will make the false floor disappear.  Maybe next weekend.

First Out of Town Trip

Having had its first 1000km service and taking almost 6 weeks to get to 1141km total distance travelled, we went to the Coromandel for three days and covered over 800km in just three days.  Although we did not take the car seriously off road, we have started to nose into the rougher parts of the public road network, so that meant a lot of gravel road driving, nothing too tricky or challenging, but fun all the same.

Our first run was from Tapu to Coroglen, one of the three roads that crosses the penninsular, the other one we want to do is further north and is known simply as the "309"  The reason for purchasing the car is to allow us to nose deeper into the parts of New Zealand that it is not often easy to access, except on foot.

Once out there we want to photograph birds, take timelapse photography clips and anything else that takes our fancy.  So in the spirit of our intended purpose, here is some footage and photos from the weekend, that getting to the back blocks allowed us to take.

The car performed really well and was a really comfortable easy experience.

You can see the photos of the birds that I photographed on my Flickr photostream.




coromandel vimeo from David Kinane on Vimeo.

Defender Owners

Today I took the car in for its 1000km service check up.  I had the tires filled with Nitrogen as apparently this can lead to a 30% reduction in fuel consumption, but driving a brick like a Defender I am not sure that the savings will be that great, but we will see.

I have had great pleasure in driving the car over the last 6 weeks and in that time I have witnessed three distinct things.  Defender owners tend to acknowledge one another as we pass.  I like that, it is like being part of an unofficial club.  But it has got me thinking because the other reaction I am getting from my friends about my owning a Defender 110, range from questioning my sanity to howls of laughter.  Is this why Defender owners wave to each other?  Are we mad?

The other reaction I get as I drive around town is the pedestrian stare.  The car does catch the eye and they are sufficiently different and rare that they do attract attention.  Whether that attention is one of envy or hilarity is hard to gauge.

Once I picked up the car after its service, there was a clear difference. The acceleration was noticeably smoother and quicker, the ride seemed smoother too, must be the nitrogen lifting the car slightly off of the road!

I have now made the 1000km mark, so now the open road and rough roads beckon.  We are off to the Coromandel this weekend...  Go Pro's charged and ready to go!

I Hate Rattles

I spent some time this morning creating foam templates of my tools so that the box that I store them in, under the shelf I started creating yesterday.  The point is that I hate rattles whilst I am driving, the incessant chink of metal on metal annoys the hell out of me.  When we rent campervans, the first thing we do is de-chink the chattels so that the journey has less white noise.  Here is a short timelapse of me prepping the tool box to be silent!

I Hate Rattles! from David Kinane on Vimeo.

Prepping the Defender

I am really enjoying driving the Defender, it has a presence on the road.  People stare as I pass.  Most likely they are wondering what that old car is doing on the road.  I am sure owning a Defender polarises opinions, but I do not care.  I have always loved this iconic car and have wanted one for as long as I can remember.  So in Auckland traffic, reslpendent with Remuera Tractors that probably go no more off road than the school sports field, the Defender and I stick out a bit.  We do not so much as cut a swathe through the traffic, we propel in front of us a force field that just seems to clear narrow streets of smaller cars, they just seem to dive for safety behind a phalanx of parked cars and let us pass through.

City driving is not without its issues however, I have yet to execute a parallel park in space anything smaller than an articulated truck might contemplate, High Street might pose a challenge too far.  I have yet to work out what the true weight and height of the car is.  I did not park on the elevated parking spaces at Sylvia Park this weekend for fear of falling through to the next level!  In addition to the above, the clutch is heavy and my atrophied muscles of my left leg are finding this a challenge as I recuperate from my back injury!  But despite that, I am still loving it and am itching to get past the 1000km service, which I shall be booking this coming week, so that I can finally stretch the legs of the beast and take it where it wants to go, where the roads are barely there or there are no roads!

In preparation for our planned off road adventure in the South Island, I have been purchasing equipment but I have also been preparing the Defender.  One of my regrets is that I did not specify solid windows in the rear of the Defender when I ordered it.  The rear of the car offers no privacy and the sliding windows offer scant security.  I intend to tint the rear side windows at some point in the future and convert them to solid panes of glass to prevent casual theft.  In the meantime I have been creating a false floor so that I can place goods out of sight.  I have installed a sheet of MDF into the rear and am now looking for some black carpet to cover it with.  So in the future when we are out shopping we have a space to place goods that are out of sight.

The other purpose for the shelf is for me to be able to store goods, whilst we are on the road that we do not want access to all the time.  So under the shelf will be the recovery chains, the box with the tools in and the box with the cooking equipment in.  Take a look at the work in progress, still got to find the black carpet.

Off-road Accessories

I have been collecting a few bits and pieces to enable us to be self sufficient off road, well I hope so!  I have opted not to install a winch on the front of the car, opting instead to have some recovery points installed at the front and the rear.  My logic here is that I hope not to get stuck!  But just in case I have purchased some recovery kit that will enable me to get out of trouble from either the front or the rear of the vehicle.  I have purchased a Hi-Lift Jack and a recovery pack so that I can use the jack to pull me out of trouble from either end.  I have yet to get a land anchor or sand ladders, but will review that situation after our South Island trip.  I have also purchased a 2.5kg dry powder fire extinguisher, some snow chains, more for the mud, but I am told that even in summer some of the high passes can be covered in snow.  I have also purchased a range of tools.  It all adds to the weight of the vehicle it has to be said.

Motorway Drive

I took the Landrover for its first motorway drive today.  I have done 500km of urban driving so far. Today we allowed the car to stretch its legs with a trip to the Botanic Gardens.  Check out the the time lapse.

Landrover - Time lapse from David Kinane on Vimeo.

Finally behind the wheel....

We have had the Defender 110 for over two weeks now, but I have yet to drive it!  I have spent the last 5 weeks on my back with a herniated L5 disc.  The car has been calling to me, reminding me that it wants to be used and stretched to its potential.  That will come.  First I have to do 1000km to allow the greasy bits to bed in, have the initial service, then it will be off to Woodhill Forest for some off road fun.  However,  I first need to get behind the wheel.  My injury has prevented this,  check out my garden blog to see how.

So today I felt strong enough to climb into the cab, start the beast up and go for a drive.  And the destination?  Repco!  I wanted to get some recovery straps and a fire extinguisher, but they were out of stock.  Why do I need this equipment?  We have booked the following off road adventure for January. In the intervening time I will be getting to know the beast and refreshing my off road skills long dormant.  In the meantime, enjoy the first video of many.

110 arrives

The car has finally arrived.  After 5 months of waiting.  The personalised plates I ordered for the car arrived the week before the car did.  Once off of the boat the car was then taken to the dealers to have the additional extras fitted that made up our order and then, yesterday, the car was delivered.

The colour is just great, I was worried that it would be too military but the green is fantastic.  It currently has 30km on the clock and I have yet to put any rubber on the road.  I have been incapacitated with a back injury for the last three weeks.  It is a delicious irony that the car arrives, is capable of taking us off road to the most rugged of locations and I can not even drive to the local shops!  It is the ultimate definition of frustration!

Fortunately I am healing.  The GoPros are charged and ready to go.  The boonies await!

The Fun Begins

Back in May we ordered a brand new Land Rover Defender 110.  We could have purchased straight off of the lot a 7 seater, but did not want to have two seats in the luggage area that we would hardly ever use.  The intention is that this vehicle will be our primary vehicle and will also use it for off road adventures around New Zealand.

We had hoped to have the vehicle in August, but this has turned out to be way too optimistic.  But today we have learned that the vehicle, dubbed Thor at the moment, has been build and is awaiting transportation from England.  The dealer says that the car could be on the 17th August sailing or the 23rd August sailing. 

So now we are expecting to take delivery of our Defender in the last week of September.  It will be Aintree Green, like the one below but with side runners, upgraded headlamp and grill option plus the bull bar.