The Land Rally

Between 15-21st September Sean Mason and Melanie Clayton took their Land Rover 2,300 miles covering 8 countries in 7 days. There were 100 contestants entering, which was like no other event seen before. This non speed event comprising of 100 teams was part-competition, part off road drive, and part club-type social, together raising a substantial amount of revenue for charities and good causes as well as featuring guaranteed magazine coverage.
The Landy Rally
The entrance to the rally was paid for by Sean and Melanie, and the cost of fuel for the event was kindly paid for by UK Bankruptcy Ltd.
Starting in Calais, the actual itinerary of the Landy Rally included a run through France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. There was gentle off road driving on normally closed pistes at Val d’Isere in the French Alps and we be visited the Tax Free haven of Andorra. There was a fair amount of remote tracks to tackle in the Spanish and French Pyrenees (the equivalent to our greenlaning,) all culminating to a prestigious prize giving dinner back at Calais.
The Murry Foundation Charity
Sean and Melanie are also proud to be associated with raising money for The Murry Foundation; a local charity that bases its ethos on global animal protection and orphanage development.

You can find out more details about the event and  sponsorship on the web site:
www.europeanlandroverexperience.com

 
The day Before
Friday 14th September

 
Both worked in the morning then set off asap in the afternoon with the car already packed and ready from the night before.  Set off for our ferry from Dover.  Long drive with heavy traffic.  Missed first few ferries and had to get later one.
 
Over in Calais, found our way to our hotel (last night of luxury before all the camping) then dumped our bags ready to find our soon to be fellow competitors for introductions and route maps for the first day.  Met in the Café de Paris in Calais and met a few faces who we later came to know well.  Organisers and event co-ordinators Tom Mc, Badger, Laura and Rafe.
 
Few beers and few introductions then back to our hotel for an “early” night (was then around 1am!) ready for an early start the next day.
 
Day 1 Ð
Saturday 15th September

Off to our rendezvous for the departure.  Went through all of the list of regulations of safety and kit before departure.  All teams were issued with  our soon to be orange “uniform” which Tom had chosen that we all wear for the week!  We had to have a check of all of our papers for the Land Rover including insurance, MOT, kit on board for safety etc.  We then were issued with our first route map for day one and plotted our route for the first day.  We were meant to get from Calais and finish in Luxembourg (via Belgium) on the same day – we were really not sure how we would or when we would arrive.  We did not actually set off from Calais until early afternoon after the flag waving send off through Calais and via a trip to the wine shop on the way out of Calais to stock up with essentials!
 
The start was something really special.  A photo call first of all with around 35 vehicles all decked out and lined up, horns a blowing and flags a waving.  We made a lot of noise and then off we all went!
 
Most vehicles were carrying CB radios so that we could communicate between vehicles – very funny at times with the running commentary but also came in very useful later on in the trip with navigating dangerous routes and giving advance warnings whilst driving on the wrong side of the road during the greenlaning!
 
We learned in our packs that we had challenges/tasks we had to complete on a daily basis and other tasks for the week.  The tasks would form part of the points each team would score to produce a winning team at the end of the event.  Day one had the most tasks which were observation whilst navigating our way through the route for that day.
 
We had to stop in each country and try to convince a real police officer to allow us to have our photograph taken with them.  We had to then have a second photograph being handcuffed by a police officer.  This is no mean feat in seven different countries, speaking their language and when you are under time constraints – not to mention that most of the police officers looked as if they were going to arrest you when you asked or thought you were completely mad or terrorists – or both!
 
We also had to find a post card and stamp in each country and post it back to our finish point (Café de Paris, Calais) with a list of required and essential information on each card.  Again, not easy in certain countries where they will only let you buy stamps from a specific store at certain stupid times of the day.  All we wanted was a shop selling postcards and stamps to be open at midnight on a Sunday in the middle of no where with  a post box outside on the wall – is that too much to ask ??!!!!
 
Arrived very late in Luxembourg that night – about 6 minutes to spare before the camp site closed (that was another challenge – if you did not make it you were sleeping in the car that you had spent about 16 hours in!)
 
After fighting with the tent and blowing up an air bed with a useless pump (which hardly seemed worth it as we were only going to get about 5 hours kip) we headed off for a well earned rest to the on site late night pizza restaurant for a beer and a pizza and a bit of a chin wag about the day we had just had.
 
By all accounts, what had seemed like a tiring day was going to be small fry in comparison!
 
Day 2 Ð
Sunday 16th September

 Early start.  Hard days driving ahead.  Teams starting packing up and heading off around 6-7am to get some good ground.  We were heading for Aosta, Italy and had some miles to do but we had been told it was all worth it because of the beautiful mountain ranges which we would get to pass.
 
Problem was, it was such a long days driving that by the time we got to the mountains – it was dark!!
 
We travelled most of the journey with BJ and Andybloke – driving for Team Remember Chernobyl and had a great day.  We had a lot of communication over the radio with them, deciding on routes and stops and it was great to have them with us all the way.  At times when you are driving such distances you feel like pulling over and just stopping for the night but having called in to Tom and the others when considering it we were told that we really needed to make it to camp that night as we had an early start in the morning to get to Val d’Isere.
 
We drove for approximately 18 hours this day passing through the Chamonix tunnel around midnight. We saw rain as we passed through the other side which was very depressing as we had left lovely weather back in France.  We climbed the French Pyrenees during the night – very surreal experience but with Lara Live (BJ and Andybloke) behind us all the way and us talking to each other through it over the radio.
 
When we arrived at camp we were probably only about the 6th or so team through so we had actually done pretty well compared to some of the teams.  We were cheered in on our arrival. We started to pitch the tent (already by day two Sean had gotten quite good at throwing the damn thing up!) and then went to the bar where the teams were on a high with the day and the achievements.  The commaraderie between the teams was quite fantastic and admirable.
 
We drank beer and wine and mulled over the days events and the mechanical faults that some teams were experiencing. We had been lucky so far.
 
Poor team Monstar had experienced problems with their car. They and other teams who had helped them on their way did not come through until around 3am and they literally had a few hours sleep before being ready again in the morning.
 
Oh, forgot to mention that Tom had thrown in another task, that by the end of the week, we had to have made a model replica of our Land Rover to be judged at the end for more points!  We had to start to think about how to do that and where we would get the time or the materials when driving for all this time – we did not really have much time to even sleep!
 
Day 3 Ð
Monday 17th September

Woke up early in Aoasta for an early team meeting – think we were woken by Tom shouting at the tent actually telling us we had to get up – quite reminiscent of being at school!  Off to the shower block for a quick shower in basic block and then back into the orange clothing!
 
We had a quick photo opportunity with an Italian police officer and then off for the relatively short drive from Aosta to Val d’Isere.  Today was what we considered to be a bit of a “rest” day because we were doing some off roading on the ski slopes which had been opened especially for us.  Not the easiest place in the world to find (not with Tom’s maps anyway) but eventually we did.  Sean drove.  The scenery through the mountains was dramatic and awesome. Real sense of freedom whilst driving these parts.  At this point we were really pleased to be doing the trip – gives you that “glad to be alive” feeling whilst trying to raise money and awareness for your charity so – trying to achieve good things at the same time.
 
People had moulded into driving teams now – the same teams seemed to stick together which was, unsurprisingly, centred around the kind of Land Rover that you were driving.
 
Val d’Isere looked so different Green and lush as a ski region without the snow – but a whole bunch of crazy Land Rover fanatics instead!  The tracks were up to 3600 ft above sea level!  The climb up was quite something and coming down was even more fun!  Sean was discovering just the start of what his Land Rover could really do when off roading – this is what these cars were made for!
 
Great afternoon.  People were off doing their thing on the slopes and we had an outdoor feast laid on.  Very cold outside but great food and a bit of time for flying a kite (well, we tried) then back into the Land Rover to head off to the camp site on the edge of Val d’Isere.  We set up camp for the first time in day light – what a luxury!  We knew we were struggling for time and sleep and we had a stupid o’clock start the next day so we set about trying to map our route for the next day, started making our ingenious model for the competition, cooked something up on the stove (eat your heart out Nigella!) then got our heads down.  We left a note for BJ and Andybloke in Lara Live to see if they wanted to “buddy up” with us tomorrow for the drive out of Val d’Isere over to Andorra – yes, in one day!  The organisers of the 4x4 event on the slopes fell about laughing when we told them the distance we were going the travel the next day – they were convinced it was a joke!
 
Day 4 Ð
Tuesday 18th September

Up at the crack, in the dark and wet and had a quick organise and got packed up – we were getting super quick at this by now.  We even managed to make coffees for us and Lara Live and a cheese baguette whilst shivering and getting wet.  We set off – for what we thought was the scenic yet correct route to Andorra.
 
About 45 minutes later, we realised that in fact we were going the non scenic and quite dull route which would have involved about 16 hours of autoroutes so we turned around and started again – and how glad we were that we did!  The scenery was absolutely stunning and had we reached the mountains any earlier we would have missed the best part as we would have been driving through the French Alps in the dark.  We were so glad that we were enduring this just as the day broke.
 
This was by far both the hardest drive of the challenge but yet the most rewarding.
 
We stopped for a few photographs on the way to appreciate what we were seeing.
 
We caught up with Badger and Laura on the way too and had a quick breakfast stop off with them overlooking Lac Du Mont Cenis – breathtaking!  We travelled the next few hours of the journey with them, hooking up with Tom and Rafe on the way too.  Lunch was eventually pulling into a lay by with us getting out what we had that resembled food (and the odd beer) on the bonnet of Lara Live – French  bread and cheese and salami – perfect!  Blazing sunshine and some good laughs were had on this day, which kind of helped you forget for some time just how long you had been driving and you were still less than half way through your day!
 
On we went and swapped drivers and then swapped back then back again. Sean likes the off-roading but cannot really tolerate long distances (that’s a bit of a bugger then considering we were doing 3000 miles in seven days) so Melanie had the long stints of auto route driving.
 
By the time we reached Andorra, Sean would not let it rest that we had to get our police photo as we came over that border so insisted that we pull over that the border to see if we could get it. Melanie had been driving non stop for about 500 miles and 12 hours, as she pulled over and got out of the car her legs gave way!  Perfect timing though – over came the Police officer and there was our picture!  Being a woman sometimes does have its uses!
 
We then went to find the strangest camp site in the centre of the busy town of Andorra, off a dual carriageway, with very little grass … and very few Land Rovers!  Again, we had amazingly made good time.  We pitched up again then had a quick something to eat.  Our briefing that evening was about 1am and still some teams had not made it.  We got our heads down and knew that we had the great luxury of a lay in until about eight the next morning.  Some teams were heading off for a daring day doing some off roading.  We opted for a spot of shopping in the morning then a leisurely 300 miles in the afternoon to Spain – small fry!
 
Day 5 Ð
Wednesday 19th September

Lovely drive from Andorra through to Spain.  Frantic search for a post card, stamp and post box – eventually found one!  We did think we would be too late with this one to get it back in Calais for Friday though!  Worth the effort – there was £1,500 on offer for the charity of the winning team!
 
Really enjoyable day and chance to recover from the hellish day of driving yesterday – and what was to come tomorrow!
 
Day 6 Ð

Thursday 20th September
 Today really did become a true test of nerves for the co-drivers and skill and nerves for the drivers.  Today we buddied up on leaving Navarra, Spain with Marcello and Kaya of team Saroc.
 
We had a long day of driving ahead of us – we had to drive through the northern part of Spain using Tom’s (as yet untested) route map via some very hairy off road tracks and then drive half way up through France to just before Paris.  
 
We had a lovely morning taking in some beautiful scenery in northern Spain, green laning and generally enjoying the surroundings.  We then decided that we would attempt to take one of Tom’s untested and unmarked tracks.  The detailed maps for northern Spain are non-existent so we attempted to use what instructions we had and we thought we were on “the right track” so to speak.  After climbing for about 90 minutes up an unmade and unmarked gravel track until approximately 1500ft above sea level through deep ditches and over very narrow ledges (with extremely sheer drops approximately 2 inches the other side of the car) Melanie decided over the radio that it was time to call a halt and re-group and decide if we had in fact taken the right turns.  Kaya, being as level headed and sensible as he was, maintained that he was not at all concerned that we had climbed to such a height and we had not seen any other vehicle tracks for about 40 minutes and that we would be absolutely fine and that we should continue to climb.  The thought of going back down the way we came was not one that any of us relished (even if I was the only one that would admit it being the only girl amongst four men who would not wish to admit that they were scared to death – they must have been!) as the drops were very steep going down, even in a 4x4 was not nice – one wrong move and we would all have been over the edge and would have been gonners!
 
We pulled the vehicles over to look at the maps again – waste of time really as they were not really giving us any indication as to where we were!  Tom Tom and Garmin were both failing us!  Kaya went to see if he could get any help from an old farm house that did not look as if anyone could live there.  The farmer was no help at all and just pointed up or down the mountain – mind you, he did have a point – where else could we go!
 
Kaya did eventually start his own heart racing – by leaving the hand brake off of his Land Rover which saw it creeping towards the edge of the mountain!  Sean and I stood in front of it and pushed as Kaya jumped in and put the hand break on.  Even Kaya admitted that it got his adrenalin running!
 
There was nothing else for it but to tackle a three point turn up the mountain and head back down the way we came.  We had decided that it was too risky to continue up as the trees were becoming dense and we thought that we may not reach the other side (well, Melanie did anyway).

Down we went, Melanie walking some of it because she could not bear being the co-driver literally hanging over the edge.  Even walking down those steep tracks it was hard to keep upright on your feet!
 
This was white knuckle off roading at its best!  Sean and Kaya were in their element driving these routes – calm and cool throughout.  Marcello kept us going with apples all the way.
 
We had to stop off for lunch after this in a typical local eatery which was quite something.  No alcohol to calm those nerves as we were still in Spain, it was around 4pm and we had to get to Paris before the camp site closed at 10.30pm!
 
Off we went, hammer and tong to do our best.  Melanie drove the rest of the way doing the auto routes.  We kept in a two-some with Kaya and Marcello driving in the dark.  Very tired.  Eventually, when almost at our destination, we called to camp only to find that we were too late and the camp site had closed.
 
We pulled over to speak with Kaya and Marcello and we decided that we just needed to crash, so we found a hotel just outside Futuroscope, raided the back of the Landy for something to eat (all restaurants closed) and then crashed.  We had to start early again to catch up with the others at camp as we had received messages from Lara Live and Rafe that we had more tasks to complete whilst driving through the second part of France tomorrow so we had to collect our tasks and route maps.  Really tired but excited as nearing the end of our challenge.
 
Tom and the team really kept us working right until the end!
 
Day 7 Ð
Friday 21st September

 Great hotel shower and “cheap plastic breakfast” as Marcello put it, then back on the road to catch up with the others.  Lara Live was experiencing some problems so we had to leave BJ and Andybloke at camp to work it out and we then started to make our way through the second half of France, back to where we started.  Lots of auto routes, finishing off our model on the way,  completing our last tasks on arrival back in Calais.
 
Set up camp in Calais and as teams arrived back with the challenge complete, we made our way to Café de Paris to see how all the teams had fared. We had all completed an amazing task – some would say mad in such a short space of time.  The friends people made during the challenge and the comeraderie was just fantastic.  People were there for their charities to raise money and awareness – as we were for The Murry Foundation.  It was a great opportunity to get the charity name and logo out there and share what the charity does.
 
Sean and Melanie were really pleased to have received a great award for 4th place overall – not bad for a team with only two competitors on their first rally!
 
The evening celebrations were great.  Lots of fantastic awards to mark the achievements of the winners, but most of all for all who took part.  This was most definitely not a holiday but it was a fantastic journey and a real opportunity and challenge.  Some important lessons were learned by us and lots of other competitors we are sure, but most of all a huge amount of money and awareness was raised by the charities whose teams took part.  A truly fantastic way to raise desperately needed donations.
 
We have just received the itinerary for next year – for anyone who is interested in participating this takes part 1st – 12th June 2008 covering 17 countries and 12 days.  Further information can be obtained from www.landyrally.com
 
Sean and Melanie