Land Rover Activity Day
Land Rover – Two Wheels and Four
Rob Howard / 17.12.2009
Although that showpiece event had to be cancelled in the current economic downturn (it was due to take place in Mongolia) Land Rover’s commitment to the outdoors and adventure is as strong as ever, and the press day I was attending reflected this. It wasn’t just a chance to ride the bikes, there was a lot more going on which was incorporated into a mini competition for a range of journalists from publications as diverse as mountain bike and motoring websites, lifestyle magazines and Farmers Weekly!
Our vehicles for the day were the classic Land Rover Defender and some of these came from the Land Rover Experience school which is based at Eastnor, using the tracks around the 5000 acre estate to provide visitors with some 4x4 fun and tuition. We’d get plenty of both at Eastnor, where Land Rover has been testing for 50 years and there is ample room of all kinds of outdoor activities. (The estate will host Mountain Mayhem in 2010, held the first Mudrunner race last October, and there are more muddy running and biking events planned for next year.) Our day would include driving and bike riding, some canoeing on the lake and would finish with a ride on the longest zip line in England.
Those lucky enough to arrive the night before had the chance to enjoy a luxurious stay in Eastnor Castle itself and if you ever get the chance to visit I’d recommend it. The castle is still privately owned and is only open to the public 30 days of the year, but is well worth a visit. (See some of the photos in the gallery.)
On a misty morning we were paired up in a Defender and off we went. Having never driven a 4x4 of any kind before I was kind of hoping we’d have an instructor in the car or to draw a partner from the motoring press, but it didn’t work out that way! Luckily there was an instructor in the car when we set off round a skills course as my first drive in a 4x4 was on steep, muddy and flooded tracks where the task was to hit tennis balls hung from the trees with the wing mirrors! I did get most of them and managed to get out of a deep pit on the driving navigation task. It could have been worse; one of the other vehicles did have to be pulled out, and the delay this caused sadly meant we had to give canoeing on the castle lake a miss later on. That someone was stuck wasn’t a real surprise. After the wettest autumn ever the conditions were as difficult as they can get.
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