I thought winter was over? But a chilly breeze greets us as we cross the border, once again, into Germany en-route to Fursten Forest offroad terrain. It is grey and slightly drizzly as we follow the TGB 1314 for a couple of hours on the highway through Holland. Top speed of the car in front is 80 km’s an hour! Yes, you read that right! But rather (bizarrely) it is strangely relaxing chugging along being passed by one truck after another. Definitely a great form of de-stressing while you watch the rest of the world flying-by at great speed…

By late morning we arrive at the camp feeling rather mellow (if a little deafened by the gorgeous sound of the venerable Land Rover diesel) and stash our kit in the sparse apartment block (ex-barracks). The mobiles start ringing as everyone arrives from numerous different directions – some due to navigational error, others by blind luck. After a quick planning session – ‘let’s go find some mud’ – we head for the quarry and forest tracks.

Well… mud was hard to find. The ground was still frozen solid and the bit of sleet and rain that fell didn’t make things any easier. Terribly hard sand, slip off the sides and into the tracks and you certainly felt it (or at least the car did!). A totally different picture to what we experienced just a few weeks before, where soft mud and water were the order of the day…

This time it was certainly challenging. In certain areas we had a lot of grip and managed to conquer small hills that had defeated us in the mud before. But in other sections the tyres would resemble slicks as the hard clay refused to be spun out of the tread. This naturally resulted in a stationary churning-of-wheels and zero forward movement.

Attack again!

This time in second gear (low range) with more momentum; trying to bounce over the ridges and avoid a  cross-axle position. More gas. Less gas. Maybe third gear? A different path, or maybe a fast approach and steady climb, or a steady approach… and so on….

Fascinating stuff!

And good for hours of entertainment on the same small patch of dirt trying out different ideas, trying not to break the car on the stone-hard ground… The only thing that stopped us eventually? Was the sun. Or lack-of…

That night, after the typical schnitzel dinner, we drove a route through the forest surrounding the base in the vicinity of the town of Fürstenau. A nice 25 km route laid our by Ruud that went right through the forest surrounding the town, along small tracks and farmer’s fields with starlight and at least 25 deer visible in the headlights and the searchlights of the vehicles behind us. Enchanting and mesmerising…

Didn’t sleep too well that night. Although being used to camping and roughing it, somehow a hard concrete floor and thin sleeping mat allied to a (nice) cold temperature kept me tossing and turning until 3am. Or maybe it was the fresh air? Or the imminent arrival of spring?

Nonetheless, the next morning saw us all raring-to-go! Seven Land Rovers ready for the mud (clay, some steep sandy hills, deep holes) and Rob’s (very special) Volvo TGB 1314. An incredible car (truck) that seemed to ‘disdainfully’ creep over all obstacles that we were throwing everything at! Compare three or more three attempts in our Defender, with smoking tyres (from the stone-embedded mud) compared to a slow clamber up the hill with no fuss at all…

Suffice to say that we kept the car in one piece (as always); having tested the axles (incredibly strong), the winches (8274 is fast; if not as strong as the hydraulic winch at the rear), steering guard (now with a subtle bend in it) and the good old engine and gearbox (overworked but magic).

Big grins all round!

An enjoyable,albeit (always) short, getaway. And good fun to be playing in the (almost) mud again! Check out some of our pictures…

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