Jump to content
  •  

Newbie Desert Drive - Maliha - Fossil Rock - 7 Feb 2020


Frederic

Recommended Posts

8 minutes ago, Muhammed Riyaz said:

Sorry, i can't join tomorrow.

Riyaz

 

Thanks for informing ! Take care and see you soon !

  • Like (+1) 1

"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you everyone for the awesome drive yesterday! Especially @Frederic for the general arrangements and good briefing and @Gaurav for the great instructions during the route! It was exciting and even challenging drive for a newbie level driver like me, but enjoyed it very much! You learn the best once you push yourself a little bit!

The grand finale on top of fossil rock was amazing! Would love to do it again!!!

  • Like (+1) 3
  • Thanks (+1) 1
  • Totally Agree (+2) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know you are at risk of addiction when:

  • Waking up at 5am on a Friday morning makes complete sense.
  • You’ll drive through ridiculously thick fog to get to a meeting point in the middle of nowhere hoping that you won’t be late.
  • You are already making calculations about what additional equipment you still need to buy.
  • You hate sand, but you start to justify that the sand in the desert is completely different to the sand at the beach.
  • You start looking into upgrade kits for your car.
  • Woe betide anyone that crosses you on Saturday if you don’t get your weekly fix
  • When you hear there’s no drive the next week, you are panic struck and start looking for drivers who want to join you so you don’t miss out.
  • You get up early in the morning and start sharing your thoughts (and don’t really care if anyone else find it interesting ;-) 

@Frederic, with his customary efficiency, had posted a drive report before most of us even got home. Not only that, he is to be congratulated for having printed out the names and cars of every driver, allocated them into convoys, preparing the briefing and sorting out the radios (including the new channels) -  @Gaurav @Rahimdad it must be strange only being left to lead the convoys 😂

As visibility in the desert is relatively important (!) and with almost 40 drivers having braved the inclement weather it was a relief once we finally got going to find that first moment when you hit the sand, the excitement is just the same – no matter if it’s Newbie Fewbie or (although I have yet to experience that) Intermediate or above. There really is something quite special about that first moment when you feel the sand under the wheels.

@Jeepie kindly gave me the wheel of our trusted little TJ and we rolled out as sweep to @Frederic’s ‘Wrangler’ convoy. Knowing that the Wranglers would never get stuck (hehehehe) we were on the lookout for the mighty Koleos @Denizzalbayrak and the magnificent Murano @Jun Zamora

Truth is, with one or two notable exceptions, these vehicles acquitted themselves well and their drivers must be complemented for, if nothing else, having balls of steel.

Talking of @Jeepie , yesterday was her day for winding me up (it seems), so I would like to personally thank her for announcing that the sweep ‘has a little problem’ over the radio as we approached Fossil Rock. Now let me get this straight: There is no embarrassment at all in getting stuck and I had not made it through the churned up loose sand first time, but it was overcome by some swift reversing out of it. Thanks @Javier M for, in any event, valiantly rushing to my assistance despite the fact we were already on the move. Your assistance was much more necessary at the top of Fossil Rock.

In the briefing we are always told, remain calm when you get stuck, listen carefully to the instructions, most situations can be driven out of by following the advice of the Seniors. The same needs to be said for tricky situations. The descent from Fossil Rock is exciting and exhilarating, and first time round for sure, launching your car over the side of cliff where you can see absolutely nothing of where you are going is … let’s say, a moment of faith.

As someone to whom people have been saying, ‘no, the other left’ his whole life, I get the whole confusion with turn left and right, but it’s moments like launching yourself off Fossil Rock that paying close attention to what’s being said require real attention.

Which leads me to @Javier M’s real save of the day. With no kinetic ropes in our tool kit (see point 3 above and guess where we will be this week), the magnificent (but definitely beached and stuck on top of a rock) Murano was recovered by a swift tug from (yes, you guessed it) a Wrangler!!

Safely down the hill the rest of the Wrangler crew @Colin Jordan @Rinelle Sanaani @Febin Frederic ended what had been another interesting and challenging drive.

Francesco, @Ahmedmustafa90, @balaji0007 thank you for the company and the particularly Francesco for the opportunities to help you out. Hopefully your wife did not notice that her car was missing so early in the morning …

As for the other convoys, once again, all we saw was smiling faces and massive grins at the end of the day. And that sort of speaks for itself. 

Till the next time in the sand …

Edited by Wrangeld
  • Like (+1) 3
  • Thanks (+1) 1
  • Haha (+1) 1
  • Totally Agree (+2) 1
  • Well Done (+2) 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good morning guys,

Yesterday's drive at Maliha Fossil rock was really awesome. For me as a newbie and driving  an AWD is quite challenging. But thanks God i made it .

Thanks Fred, Gaurab, Rahimdad, Shikumar , Mahmoud and everyone who shared us those informations during the early morning briefing, it really help a lot and the instructions on the radio ( Thanks  Frederic for lending us your units) is saving us newbies from being stuck  (i did twice :))

Thank you Javier for the rescue and taking me to the safer route . You guys really did great being patient with us newbies ! I look forward for more adventures in the coming weeks, months and years.

Definitely my Murano is not built for this type of thing. Hopefully i can find a pre owned jeep wrangler that would fit my budget.

 See you soon guys !

IMG_20200207_072946.thumb.jpg.5895a4e948cdf499115dabe27a43eba8.jpg

 

 

Edited by Jun Zamora
  • Like (+1) 4
  • Well Done (+2) 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of use