29th October 2012, 04:35
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| BHPian  Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Mumbai
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| A day in the mountains - Elan Valley (Wales) Prologue: Friday morning, 7 AM, on the way to Jaguar Castle Bromwich factory Me: What plans for tomorrow ? DB (Colleague): I am thinking of going for a drive to Elan Valley in Wales tomorrow since I think this is the last weekend we have good weather, then its going to get snowy and icy and basically shi**y.. Me: Hmm..good, what is it about ? DB: Its a nice driving course, part of the Welsh rally, I think I am going to have fun just driving around and chucking my car into the corners. Me: I want to come along then, but my car needs disc and brake pad replacement, don't think I will be able to get it done today evening. Silence for sometime, DB is driving and wondering if he can get hold of one F-type for the weekend, that would be a dream come true. I am thinking what if I cannot go on a drive, if I go with DB I can have a good photography day out. I ask DB, he agrees promptly and asks me "I hope you are not easily scared, I am going to drive like crazy!!" (Of course within speed limits which is 60mph on those roads, but the dips and climbs combined with tight hairpins make it a scary experience). So all planned out, we are going to leave at 7.30 in the morning on Saturday. Around 110 miles from Coventry is where the course starts, we planned to reach there by 11. All of this was planned with a big BUT. We both were hoping that we are not pulled into coming to office for "weekend support" on post build diagnosis on the F-type. Fingers crossed, we finished Friday and headed home making ourselves available "on the phone" if there is any problem  DB prepared his car up for the Saturday since we were in no way going to ask for a F-type after refusing to come to office. He drives a VW Golf GTi MK5. Gorgeous red coloured car, modified suspension, engine remapped to give 310 bhp (stock gives 245bhp I think) and various other trim bits changed. I made sure my camera's battery is charged and memory card has enough space. Next, downloaded the itinerary file and loaded it into my Sat Nav. We started off at 7.30 AM sharp, after 100 miles of combined driving on the motorway and twisty A44, we reached the start of the course. From here on, I will let the pictures do the talking This valley is home to 3 dams built on a reservoir that supplies water to the city of Birmingham. That's as much trivia as I cared to gather from the various boards, I was more excited to capture the beautiful views!!  Dam 1 and the reservoir embraced by the mountains around it.      Dam 2 and successful attempts at slow shutter speed photos!!       DB got contemplative!!  Dam 3    ..and the machine   Beautiful scenery, what a great blend of clear blue skies, green pastures and the stream. In one word, SERENE!!     Last edited by dgupta : 5th November 2012 at 02:01. |
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6th November 2012, 10:39
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6th November 2012, 11:00
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| BHPian  Join Date: May 2007 Location: UP 16
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6th November 2012, 11:06
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| Senior - BHPian  Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: LandOfNoWinters
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| Re: A day in the mountains - Elan Valley (Wales) Great pix, never understood the British greed for more sun - when you can see how bright and sunny it is in the snaps! By the way you learnt Welsh language by now?  |
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6th November 2012, 18:02
| #5 | ||
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Mumbai
Posts: 69
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| Re: A day in the mountains - Elan Valley (Wales) Quote:
Quote:
Welsh: I learned one word ARAF = SLOW. Painted all along the course on the roads and sign boards. The only word I learned and found hard to abide by the instruction | ||
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