The Nissan Owners Club ran a night nav exercise in the hills and swampy areas near York. Many people turned up - I forgot to count (but it was their trip anyway) but the following members from West Cost 4x4 were there: Other people that I know and are probably members of the clubs present were also there: Plus lots of others - too many to count... A PathFinder, a Troopy with a 6.something litre diesel, etc. Day One - The Night Nav

First job was to register and set up camp. Some of the West Coaster's had met on the top of Greenmount Hill - the rest were following a bit behind.

A sausage sizzle was put on by our hosts - much BBQ'd food and other refreshments were enjoyed by all before heading off in pairs to do the navigation exercise.

Basically, there were two courses and a general-knowledge quiz to complete. I have no idea who won or even what the criteria were - that wasn't really the point of it.

Some of the participants got lost about 600m from the start line and ended up in a large muddy area (more on that below). Others were supposed to be following night nav experts but got lost on the main road.

All in all, a good course taking a couple of hours to complete even at the (almost) reckless speeds some of us were traveling at.

Back at camp once the driving was over, more food and merriment was had before heading off to bed.

After much urging by Gadget (who wanted to be up and playing ASAP) the rest of us dragged ourselves up, packed, consumed conscious-producing liquids and headed off to the mud pit just down the road. Before heading off, we found a visitor that had spent the night under Andy & Anne's tent.

The mud area consisted of lots of deep holes and some other slippery stuff. Gadget fastened a tarp on the front of his car and headed in.

He was followed by the V8 diesel-powered troopy and they went off across the tundra.

After the trailblazers had gone through, the rest had a go. Those without larger tyres or difflocks had a harder time, except in the main channel which was relatively shallow and easy for everyone. I got stuck when I ran out of wheel height and had the axles sitting on the ground. Froggy had much the same thing happen but also was having problems with water in his EFI system. Other recoveries were required with Gadget doing a lot of the work .

At this point we divided into two groups - some were headed home at that point while the rest of us headed off to Talbot Rd to revisit Big Pete's playpen.

When we got there, Andy went straight in and straight down - the ruts were just a bit too deep for the indendent front-end on the Feroza.

Gadget drove around the downed Feroza and headed deeper into the playpen. He was driving through a part we had previously been through with relative ease but obviously someone else had been through with larger tyres and cut it up a little since then. The going was tough (to the point of Gadget getting stuck). The recovery requiring two vehicles strapped together to provide a large enough anchor for Gadget to winch himself out.

There was a small track just beside the one Gadget got stuck on. It looked pretty firm (and felt that way on foot) on the bottom but it wasn't. I found out the hard way but Gadget did manage to make it through from the other direction, but did require both diff-locks in and the audio from the video file of the event makes it sound like he is trying very hard.

After this, we had a quick look over the other side of Talbot Rd but then headed off home due to pressing social engagements. But, we will return.