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Photo of The Week: Hidden Valley, Scotland

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We had never spent much time in Scotland before we left the UK. We had planned a short tour with the Land Rover in 2008 but ended up in Morocco instead. Later in 2011 we planned a cycling tour through the Outer Hebrides but again, I ended up in Africa instead.

When our good friends Si and Ed mentioned joining them and Si’s brother in Glen Coe for a weekend, we jumped at the chance. It was a few months before our departure but splitting fuel costs helped a lot! We all jammed into the car for 4 days climbing, camping and hiking in the rain.

This photo is taken using a well placed rock and timer on our Leica at the start of the hidden valley. Another great day out with good friends.

Posted by  |  24/01/2014 | Categories: Photo of The Week | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

You Don’t Know Africa…

No this isn’t some rant or ego boosting ‘I’m better than you’ blog. Its just an interactive game to test your knowledge of the great continent’s countries… so relax.

I got 20 countries in 1:28 and the full 48 in 3:30. Both in the 1st go. See how you get on and leave your times in the comments. Go on, it will be fun!

Go play at: http://youdontknowafrica.com

Posted by  |  20/01/2014 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

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Photo of The Week: Lake District Recovery, England

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Losing traction on a short rock ledge, the vehicle was close to a rock outcrop. Several attempts with waffle boards were made to gain traction but ultimately didn’t work. Deploying the ground anchor gave the 30cm of pull required to gain traction with the front wheels and free the vehicle… James was very pleased. First time used and now always carried. Great piece of recovery kit if a little heavy.

Posted by  |  17/01/2014 | Categories: Photo of The Week | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Mongolia – Part I: The Wild West

How we scraped through the border to make the national Naadam festival, stumbled upon Kazakh eagle hunters, found hidden petroglyphs and met the ‘Frenchies’

Kyrgyzstan had been eclipsed by Tajikistan, in terms of hospitality and friendliness. But now we were entering Mongolia, a land famous the world over for it’s unmatched hospitality and warmth. I couldn’t keep the smile from my face as we crossed through the border, the excitement hard to contain.

2013 07 09_0804

Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  13/01/2014 | Categories: Overland Adventure | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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Photo of The Week: Pembrokeshire Sunset

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In 2011 we set off from Milford Haven in west Wales with two 50 litre packs containing everything we needed to sustain 10 days on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.

This photo is one of many clifftop sunsets we saw as the sun dropped into the Atlantic ocean.

Posted by  |  10/01/2014 | Categories: Photo of The Week | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

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Photo of The Week: Happy New Year! Stanage Edge, Peak District UK

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Descending the icy rock garden of Stanage Edge on a winter afternoon in the Peak District, England.

Happy New Year from Sirocco Overland!

I hope this week’s ‘Photo of the Week’ finds you all healthy and well, it just so happens that this Wednesday falls on New Year’s Day.  So what adventurous plans do you all have for 2014? We are working hard to save money and fix up the truck/trailer for a 5 month half loop of Western Australia and the Northern Territories later this year. Let us know what you’re up to and what you’re planning, leave your comments below.

Posted by  |  03/01/2014 | Categories: Photo of The Week | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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January 2014 Desktop Calendar

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Something new for 2014, a series of desktop calendars for your use on your work or home computer. Just right click and save the image to your hard-drive then open it up and save as ‘desktop background’. Its pretty straight forward and a functional tool for those who want it. I did have a series of these all lined up earlier this year but we left them on the laptop in the Land Rover during shipping! So, anyway, a new year and a new start.

Posted by  |  30/12/2013 | Categories: Desktop Calendar | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

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Photo of the Week: Col de Iseran, French Alps 2009

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Church, Col de Iseran

As a former competing cyclist the lure of the French Alps drew us there in 2009 for a more relaxed driving holiday within Europe.  Alongside driving the old military roads on the Italian border and the highest accessible point in Europe I wanted to drive some of the Tour de France main mountain passes in the region. The col de Bonnette, col de Parpilon, Col de Izord etc.

This photo is from the top of the Col de Iseran in late August. There is a TDF Museum here also but it was closed when we arrived as it was late in the season.

Posted by  |  27/12/2013 | Categories: Photo of The Week | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2013 Photo Collection – The Selfie

selfie

Pronunciation: /ˈsɛlfi/
(also selfy)

noun (plural selfies)

informal

 A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.

Selfie made it into the Oxford English Dictionary this year so we thought we would trawl through what we had and post a few of the best ones up from 2013. We don’t take these usually but the GoPro had a habit of catching that ‘Selfie’ whenever I set up the time-lapse. Read the rest of this page »

Posted by  |  23/12/2013 | Categories: Overland Adventure, Photo of The Week | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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Photo of The Week: Cadair Idris, Wales 2007

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Seeing as the UK and Europe may be expecting snow this Xmas l thought a little winter scene might be in order. Back in 2007 when we had the old Land Rover 90 we took a week off work and devised a route from south to north Wales encompassing as much off pavement as we could. The forecast on the run up to our time off didn’t look favourable with plenty of rain and low temperatures. The forecast was correct and we battled our way through mud and self recoveries all alone in the Welsh countryside.

Mixed in with our 4×4 plans was a walk up Cadair Idris and Snowdon. Even though it was spring, recent weather had brought the snowline down to 600m. We didn’t know the mountain particularly well, but we pressed on anyway. This photo is of Lisa on the south side of the cwm about 1 hour from the summit.

We made it back to a sodden roof tent just before it got dark.

Posted by  |  20/12/2013 | Categories: Photo of The Week | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment