Keg in the Alps 2012

I've just come back from the Alps with the Keg, straight after its tdi transplant so totally off into the unknown. We went with Alpine Rovers as they advertised a classic land rovwr tour but it was only my 101 their 88 and 2 boingies. We went to the Susa are and visited some forts ranging from Napoleonic to the 2nd world war.

First days lunch stop






















This is some forts cesspit




Going upto 10,000ft


At 10,000ft




Our bedroom



We had a great time and the Keg did us proud I forgot I planned 3 days to get to the Alps but I was going strong and the truck was going strong so I did it in a oner so door to door 24hrs.
Nuts
I took 2 days to go back and stopped off on the way.

On the way home



So with his new tdi he did 23mpg which is loads better than his previous 8mpg with the v8. If I kept the V8 I would of had to fill up 3 times as often and wouldn't have lasted on the mountain roads. Scary. So I am chuffed with the conversion. I just have a minor/major fault with the engines oil system. It didn't like getting too hot and the light would come on at idle, so I reckon it has a weak pump to sort out.

200Tdi or 300 Tdi? Five speed box I assume?

Love the shot of all the 4x4s lined up along the snow line - typical. Bet the tour went well, Alpine Rovers are a great company run by real enthusiasts.

That's the Thiepval Memorial. Knew roughly about it anyway but never the precise history, so have just done some research on it. Built to commemorate 72,191 British and South African soldiers who died in the Battles of the Somme in the Great War; very sad.

Tom Mc wrote:

200Tdi or 300 Tdi? Five speed box I assume?

Love the shot of all the 4x4s lined up along the snow line - typical. Bet the tour went well, Alpine Rovers are a great company run by real enthusiasts.

That's the Thiepval Memorial. Knew roughly about it anyway but never the precise history, so have just done some research on it. Built to commemorate 72,191 British and South African soldiers who died in the Battles of the Somme in the Great War; very sad.

Not quite it's a bit more horrific than that. It's actually 72,191 names of soldiers whose bodies were never found so they have no known grave. This was put up to remember them. Now that is truly shocking and I was adamant that we stopped off on the way back.

Keg has now got a 300tdi fitted to the original 4 speed Lt95 with overdrive. I wanted to keep the winch so had to keep the Lt95. It's part of the trucks characteristics. Cruising speed was 55mph which you might think was slow but after I got home I was ready to jump back in and do it again, How many cars could you do 16hrs straight in. I didn't even feel tired, it was just so relaxing no rush taking it all in.

Mike and Mandy were great from Alpine. I would highly recommend them.

You know what, when researching the Somme battles it actually stated 72,191 missing, but I thought this was a typo so changed it to dead. Little did I know, it is horrific.

More facts: The losses on 1 July were the British Army’s (this includes Brits and Commonwealth troops) worst ever for a single day: 60,000 casualties, of whom almost 20,000 were killed.

This is in just one day! How the hell can you possibly bury upwards of 20,000 bodies, even though a percentage had been atomised or quite literally 'blown to pieces'?

It is calculated that around three million men were involved in the fighting during the Battle of the Somme; some 1,200,000 were killed, wounded or missing in action.

Anyway, back to vehicles. As you propably know I have a 300Tdi & auto box in the Range Rover ambulance-soon-to-be-camper and it pulls like a train, so I would imagine a 300 + the LT95 is really good. As you say, if only in fuel comsumption it's already a winner, plus the extra torque makes it an ideal combination for the 101. Nice one.

Hi Robin , glad to hear you enjoyed youeselves, we enjoyed having you along too.
Yes it was a shame that the other series vehicles pulled out for one reason or another , and Mike spent the next few weeks telling the other Mike all about Keg
Acci and Mylo missed Milo very much after you left, i trust the vets went ok?

Hi Mandy (I assume!!!) ... how yer doing? The ol' bus is still rolling along I see.

It looks like that photo's in 3D and that Jack Russell is about to jump out of my monitor!

Hi Mandy Good to hear from you. Are you back already or are you on your week off.

I wrote the boingy comment for the OLLR lot. How did the rest of the trips go? I have some good pics of the 2 oldies and I will email them to you soon. It's the first holiday I have come home from where I genuinely just wanted to go back. I still do. I'm planning my next trip already. I think I could get into the hippy life.
Keg did well and got home fine but I'm going to swap the engine for another 300tdi.

Milo got on in the vets ok. They just wanted to give him a worm pill.





Speak to you later

Robin

we never want to come home Robin , but have to soon Yes Tom the old bus is still going strong but is going to get a rest next year ( new vehicle planned ..watch this space)
Pics will be great as we are updating /revamping the website soon,
Anytime you are down our way , please feel free to pop in