Gabriel goes off-road
There are very few things that Gabriel would cut short for his Saturday morning sleep-in. Come to think of it, there actually are none…until this past weekend. Take a look at what Gabriel got up to
I had agreed to attend an Off-Road Familiarisation Course with Land Rover at the Land Rover Experience in Inchanga.
I must just mention that I was loaned a diesel Freelander 2 by Land Rover Durban. Now, I know what you are thinking, I thought of the same thing too. More than you, I heavily toyed with the idea of not attending at all. I mean, how exciting can it really be, in a diesel Freelander?
That’s the thought that got me grinding my mental gears that morning. Yes I’ll admit, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Even worse, I hadn’t performed my ritual day-breaker…the first cup of coffee until I got to Inchanga.
Good heavens, was I wrong, or was I wrong!
Let me speak the truth and shame the devil.
You see, from the get go, it was all downhill! Seriously, it was downhill! We started on a hill, descending to the bottom in what resembled a scene from The Lord Of The Rings movie, where Samwise and Frodo had to negotiate their way on unforgiving rocky terrain of Middle Earth.
I think I even saw Gollum in the corner of my eye, crouching on the rock as I was getting ready to take the Freelander down this terrain. As expected and just like the hobbits, dark clouds of doubt and crippling fear set in.
I had to switch off my phone and radio, so I could hear not just every word from the instructor Cheyn Murton, but to even hear his eyelashes rub against one another when he blinked.
In the Off Road world, there’s a word that describes this overwhelming feeling. It’s called a “poepo-meter”! This is an invisible instrument that measures the driver’s levels of panic. I can assure you, my readings on the poepo-meter were red-lining.
Following word for word instructions from Cheyn, I placed all my trust in the vehicle and descended to the bottom successfully. Filled with newly found pride and excitement, that’s when I realized how much I had underestimated a freelander, especially in the world of top performing stallions like Discovery 4s, Defender 90s, 110s and the most desired “horse” of all in Middle Earth, Gandalf’s horse -“Shadowfax”, aka the Range Rover.
The freelander conquered ALL obstacles that were presented to it. From Hill Descent & Ascent, to a 30m long Mud &Water pit, ruts, it took it all… head on.
By the time this driving experience was over, I had a very weird and uncomfortable feeling of not wanting to go home anymore, but rather wanting to do the whole obstacle course again in the very same car.
Gazing at her, full of dried-up mud, dirty water splash residues, thick dust, and without even a flat tyre, I had a lump in my throat that I had to swallow.
A spoonful lump of respect and amazement, of how well this car performed off-road against its bigger and better reputed brothers and sisters within the Land Rover family.
- Gabriel