Hello, so I decided to make a new thread just on the adventures of our Panda Demitri, to keep it separate from the other thread which is effectively a build/restoration thread.

Though I'd hoped to update this as we go along I'm starting with basically a 3000 mile review on travels so far, as... well we've been out and about and I've not had time to write up what has been going on! I did think I had written up something on the first trip but can't see any evidence on here.

First big trip out after completing the work was planned for June 2016, Jennys bro had booked a hostel in the Cairngorms (The Lazy Duck) so we decided we would load the boats on the car and drive up there for around a week.



We set off on the Wednesday, staying with my sisters in Edinburgh Wednesday/Thursday night then north to Aviemore on the Friday. Despite the fact the car was virtually loaded to the roof with booze, camping kit, clothes, food, firewood and even a firepit made from 5mm thick steel we welded up for Jennys bros birthday (see below) Demitri performed faultlessly . Once you factor in the weight of the very sturdy roof rack and boats I think it is fair to say he was carrying more than he was designed for!



The only noticeable thing on this leg of the journey was a slight vibration, which I could not work out the cause of at all, worrying but nothing I would loose sleep over.

We set off to 'The Lazy Duck' Hostel fairly late on the Friday, it had been a heavy couple of nights in Edinburgh, in hindsight this late start really cost us! We headed north using the bridge further inland as it was really windy and could have caused issues on the main bridge. As we continued up the M90 the vibration began to get worse and worse... I pulled off at 'Bridge of Earn' and had a proper look over the car. What I found was the rear wheel on the right hand side of the car was very close to the front of the wheel arch, while the one on the left was much more central . I was now VERY worried, given I had taken the axle off, rebuilt it all and put it all back on, could something I had done been completely wrong, dangerous even?! I could not see anything that looked bent or damaged, and all the bolts I could see seemed tight. I asked a local if he knew of any garages that would be open (it was about 4.45pm on a Friday at this point) and he pointed us in the direction of a garage in the town.

The garage were very helpful, they put Dimitri on the ramps and had a good look over everything underneath but couldn't find anything wrong with it at all. They said in their opinion it was probably just the car being overloaded unevenly and was safe to drive. I was a bit sceptical at this, given the fire pit was on the other side of the car but felt much more comfortable knowing it had been checked over by a mechanic and deemed safe.

We stopped for fuel for the first time in Perth, about 270 miles into our journey and we had used up £27 worth of fuel, pretty impressive given how seriously overloaded the car was :slayer: .

Continuing North on the A9 the vibration was getting worse and then I heard a different noise, the tyre was just starting to catch on the wheel arch . We pulled over into layby 85 on the A9, just south of the Dalwinnie junction (but in the Cairngorms so that was achieved) I had a quick look and it was pretty grim.



At this point we had to call the RAC, 40 miles short of our destination . Still it was quite a pretty place to breakdown!




The RAC arranged for a truck from the Blair Athol garage to come and collect us, they took me and Jenny up to the Lazy Duck and then towed Demitri back to their garage, which was in a town we had passed 20 or so minutes before. Annoyingly as it was the weekend they would not get chance to look at the car until Monday.



The recovery driver seemed like a good sort, happy with his lot in life driving around such a beautiful area picking up dumb tourists, though apparently when I was getting kit out of the car he did ask Jenny why she puts up with me driving her around in such a silly car, suggesting she could do much better, cheeky bugger!

We had onward travel cover with the RAC which can be used any time within a week after the breakdown so on the Sunday we took delivery of an Astra SRI turbo thing for us to use until Demitri was sorted. Sadly this meant we did not get to use the Kayaks, which had been so much effort getting up there in the first place, and the Panda did not make it to Applecross, one of our goals of the trip .



We normally refer to Vauxhall hire cars as 'Nigel' after a couple we have had in south eastern europe but this one was all flashy lights and space-age lines, so he became known as The Nige-A-Tron. To be fair it was quick and very easy to drive over the pass to Applecross (something which would have been a proper achievement in poor overloaded Demitri) but the seats were designed by a sadist, my back ached and we could not wait to get back to the relative comfort of our panda .

I rang the garage on Monday and they did not get around to looking at it until last thing, when they did it turned out the ancient tyre had ballooned out of shape, I got them to fit a matching pair of new tyres (still got my eye on the continent ) but given the location there was quite a wait for them, hence being without the Panda for so long.

The rest of the trip was uneventfull from a car point of view, once we got the Panda back we stayed at Aberfeldy, briefly got the boats out on the loch but the weather was vile and we really wanted white water anyway! On the return trip we were due to call in at one of my sisters place in the borders to shear some sheep, turns out my sister had other plans and decided to give birth instead!

In short once we completed this 600 mile trip in Demitri, we ended up going back up North a fortnight later (another 380 miles) to shear sheep in the borders. On this occasion we had no roof rack, no boats and much less kit and Demitri was much happier for it, though at one point there were 5 of us in it .

Anyhow that's enough for today, back shortly with news of the next two 2016 adventures (and no we did not get to go to Spain in the end!).

Phiz

Great to see you out and about in Demitri, some pandas just run really well and he's one of them, (dodgy tyre aside), look forward to seeing more of your adventures!

Yeah it's been great fun so far and I'm really enjoying working on it too, pretty well hit the sweet spot between being mechanically simple with loads of space, while still being modern enough to be fairly efficient and hopefully reliable. If I pull my finger out over the next few days and get the heater back in in time for a good test drive over the weekend I might well take Demitri down to Somerset next week too, though might be a bit tight on time. Got a little more to write up from 2017 yet too. Then it's all visa application/ferry booking for the big trip. Got a few stickers collected too so once I've polished up the tailgate he might start showing his achievements

After 2 mostly successful trips to Scotland, we were on a bit of a roll with Demitri and our usual long Distance battle wagon (jörgen the Swede Beast) was getting some well deserved time off, just covering the commute and business use.

Come July and for Jennys birthday we decided to spend a long weekend at Llyn Gwynant campsite in Wales and given Demitri had already shown his ability to carry kayaking kit and the opportunity was there to tick off another country off we went!



So when we go camping we hardly travel light. Jenny insists on using her old Force 10 tent (even when we are on the motorbike ) but it is great, warm in the cold, cool in the warm and really spacious inside. I suspect this will be in our Russia travel kit.



The campsite was fairly busy over the weekend, got completely rammed, though by Sunday evening almost everyone had gone home, which is how I got this 'stranger at the urinal' shot... they could have pitched anywhere in the field!



While we were there Demitri even came to the rescue of a 5 year old golf, it seems they'd got a fancy fridge which plugged into the lighter socket in the car, they wrongly assumed that it would cut out if the battery got low . Demitri not only carrys jump leads but is also small enough to squeeze between the rocks to stop you getting on the camping field so could get right to the completely dead golf! I would have got a picture of this but the golf owner looked embarrassed enough already.

Off to the gift shop on route for a Wales sticker, to go with the Cairngorms one from the first Scotland trip!

So the Wales trip was another 230ish mile round trip, leaving just one more big trip for 2017, off to see the wolves!

So turns out there is a Wolf Sanctuary near Reading where you can go walking with Wolves and spend a day with the keepers. Jennys bro had arranged for us all to go there for the day for Jennys birthday so late August we did a 400 mile round trip from Manchester to The White Horse Uffington Campsite and on to The Wolf Conservation trust.

Campsite was good but pricey, though there was a serious incline in the main field which I felt the need to drive Demitri down several times while looking for a pitch :slayer: .



There were loads of pretty little thatched houses kicking around, I'd decided to get a 'Panda posing in front of cottage' picture but didn't do that well. So here is a late evening after pub dinner shot taken quickly as a tractor turned up in the middle of it!



And finally I can't go visiting wolves without a wolf based picture. We took loads but if you want a shot of a wolf looking beautiful and wild then read National Geographic, here is a shot they don't tend to include...




Yep a wolf on a big chain having a wee