Patagonia Rally 2010

From the 2009 Route Survey: One imperative rule of soft top driving is never to use the soft top. Jim and I were discussing removing the Alfa’s soft cloth altogether as it took up space and served no purpose.  A tourneau we decided would be adequate. I have on a few occasions weakend to the wishes of my passenger - when the heat of the mid day sun belts down upon us, and have drawn up the roof – reluctantly – but under no circumstances for the reason we may get a little wet!

We left Bahia Blanca to sprint into Buenos Aries. We never make Buenos Aries that nightfall.  From midday onwards the most frightening storm of such a horrid magnitude started to tear itself across the landscape. A force from a nightmare Someone had woken. Coming crossways at us we first saw the lightening strike. Not as a bold flicker across the sky in one fork, as you would witness in England. In Patagonia we learnt this lightning will either draw brilliant vivid criss-crossing lines - a child with a coloured wand weaving to transverse the heavens; or explode!

And there is no spectacle like a glowing sudden shocking light, to light up the sky and bring daylight back to darkness. It is as if the Sun, as a spot light, has been switched on and stays on for what seems an eternity. And then it does not give the sun light of a dull stormy day as one would expect, but the strongest light brought back from the hottest mid-summer day.

Following, is a wind whipping up dust and then sand. Finally the lashing rain bends across the horizon waiting to bring down anything left standing. Jim and I could see this destruction and still nothing has reached onto our own path.   

Within a big flat Patagonia landscape it is like watching the horrors from the imagination of HG Wells moving towards you. Such was our fate.

And once the storm strikes, in shock horror you are forced to crawl across this big landscape. Our wipers could not deal with the force of lashing rain. Our electrics could not cope with the seeping rain.  Our tyres could no longer grip the road, and as we started to aquaplane we stopped to allow the storm to pass. Jim and I accepted defeat and the roof cover went up.

Sitting in the Alfa in a deserted and desolate lay-by, trying to pass the time of day under half dark and greying clouds in the company of rain making streams down our windscreen, we watching this almighty energy blow and puff until this storm had passed us by. Once no more than heavy rain we felt confident to press on.

The storm reared her head for a second time, so we obeyed and stopped. We pressed on like this all day starting and then stopped as the storm dictated.

Eventually the standing water came too much and having aquaplaned, sending my heat into my mouth, Jim and I, along with many others, pulled over into a service station, drowned as rats but pleased to be away from driving along a flowing out of control river.

We did, after many hours, and having watched Argentina footballers defeat Peru, endeavoured to carry on to Buenos Aries. The destruction on the road frightened us. Trees had been wrenched form the ground and lay broken. Electric cables went down and out. Telephone line no longer served a purpose, and if the pole had miraculously stayed vertical, then the cable swished whip like around their poles. Passenger cars had even turned over and lay across the road destroyed, reminiscent of HG Wells defeated war machines.

The respite in the storm was not to last, for the force was still howling around the heavens and came back again. This time, with our electrics wet, and our rear lights having failed, and seeing the carnage of the storm, stopped in the town of San Miguel del Monte to sleep in the car protected by the town built square. On reflection the soft top is staying in place.


Conrad Birch

Great Arc 2009

The Great Arc is running again in 2011 - find out more.

“We had a terrific time : probably the most enjoyable and sociable rally/tour ever. Lots of reasons : well thought out route - which in itself was meaningful- a small group of very pleasant people, the camping was a highlight, and fostered development of real and, we hope, lasting friendships.... You and your team are to be congratulated for a Super Holiday!”

Bibbi and Nowell Stebbings

“thanks for what was one of the best rallies we have done”

Peter and Sue Noble

”The Great Arc Rally - a fantastic adventure. Unbelievable roads, most beautiful sites, and the best and most luxurious camping ever!”

Michael Haentjes

“The Great Arc of the Himalayas was a dream of a drive. I cannot imagine any other way of experiencing the sheer breadth of territory that we covered, from winding rambles through verdant tea estates and spice gardens, to wending our way through tortured traffic in towns and cities. And in between, the tiny villages in which an outsider is a rare sight indeed, traversing a peaceful canal overhung with lush greenery, seeing the daily life of the true Indian countryside by day and bedding down in heritage palaces at night. From the chill of the hill stations in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, to the baking hot plains of Tamil Nadu and beyond, the Great Arc was a memorable distillation of the essence of India.”

Dina Bennett and Bernard Gateau

Tiger Rally 2008

“What a fabulous way to see so much of so many Far Eastern countries. We were incredibly impressed with the organisation and putting the whole route on GPS hand held units was a stroke of pure genius even my dog could have done the navigating. The route was quite stunning and in some places very thought provoking especially in Laos which is an incredibly beautiful country. We stayed in such a variety of hotels. In Cambodia we even had our own butler who thoughtfully provided tea and muffins every afternoon by our own personal pool. In other places the hotels were not as luxurious but always 4 or 5 star and situated in spectacular scenery or historic places. A truly memorable rally in which we made some truly memorable new friends, roll on the next one!”

Margaret & Roy Hatfield

“Well, what I can tell you Tracy is that our 120 is sitting in the garage bored to death. Popping down the road for milk or for Sunday lunch is hardly going to cut it, not after the mountains of Laos, the coasts of Vietnam or the ruins of Cambodia....”

Paul & Mary Kane

Himalaya Rally 2006

My 1925 Vauxhall 30/98, which I used on the Himalaya Rally, has been around the world a few times. It has a 4250 cc 4 cylinder long stroke engine producing wonderful torque. It has high ground clearance and is tough and fast. They were called “Empire” cars for the fact that they were used all over the British Empire as good all round vehicles. Victor, as he is affectionately known, has been up and down the length of Africa, across the Sahara to Egypt and the Middle East, into South America and China. He has never let me down.

Whilst on the Himalaya Rally, Victor nudged an Indian motorcyclist from his mount during a particularly dense traffic jam in the Punjab. As he lay on the dusty gravel road with his machine throbbing alongside him, a vast crowd formed a circle around us. Suddenly a large white stick was being wielded above the heads of the crowd and there emerged a khaki clad policeman into the scene of the accident.

I was beginning to look for my documents when he laid into the unfortunate motorcyclist, who was still sitting on the ground. To my surprise, the motorcyclist jumped up, picked up his bike and road off at speed into the crowd while the policeman urged Victor and occupants to proceed at haste from the scene!

Over the years, I have competed in many rallies around all parts of the world, the largest probably being the Peking to Paris in 1997. I was very impressed at the level of assistance given to the participants of the Himalaya rally, something I am quite unused to with other organisers. The route was very spectacular and the places of interest prolific.

Bill Ainscough

Serendipity – an advert in ‘Classic Cars’ for Rhythm of a Road Rallies (ROARR) driving from Islamabad in Pakistan up to Peshawar and onto Lahore crossing into India close to Amritsar. Up into the foothills of the Himalaya through the Indian hill stations of Muree and Simla, taking in Rishikesh and Dharamsala, into Nepal staying in Royal Bardia Park visting Pokhara and Kathmandu on up to Sikkim and Gangtok and finishing in Calcutta just jumped off the page.

We arrived safely, the hotel was beautiful, people friendly and very welcoming, the Bentley was the first car to emerge out of its steel box and started perfectly. The drive back to hotel was surreal, the local people expressed pleasure and respect for the cars. There was a diversity of cars on the rally, 1963 Triumph TR4, 1926 Vauxhall 30/98, 1968 Ford Mustang, 1930 Morris Flatnose Cowley, 1968 Volvo Amazon, 1974 NSU Ro80, 1973 Mercedes 350SL, 1961 Chevrolet Corvette, 1967 Aston-Martin DBS, 1954 Jaguar XK120, 1965 Rolls Royce SCIII, 1935 Bentley, 1955 Bentley Continental S1, 1953 R-Type Bentley and our R-Type. Nationalities included Australian, German, Italian, American and British. The Volvo Amazon and Ro80 were already veterans of the road since they had chosen to drive from Berlin to meet the rally in Islamabad, travelling over 3,000 miles just to reach the start.

After a couple of days in Islamabad acclimatising, visiting the Prime Minister for tea and waiting for the GPS systems to clear customs it was time to check out, load up and wait for the start flag. Equipped with GPS, road book / tulip route and maps we were sent off in style by the Classic Car Club of Pakistan, TV crews and news reporters.

Although there are highway codes, the key rule seems to be that everyone drives “on the horn”. The horn takes precedence over signals, flashing lights, road space, anything, it is the single noise that elicits a response: it says “I am HERE – what are you going to do about it?”.

Ever onwards and back on the road the next day, continually winding up into the hill stations in the foothills of the Himalayas and then spending as long winding back down again. Our first view of these magnificent mountains was the very peaks of the range shining brilliant-white in the peerless turquoise blue sky, needless to say we had to pull over for a photo-stop.

From Nepal we re-entered India and began another long climb up to the tea growing region. The road up to Darjeeling was again spectacular, but quite frightening especially when it began to rain, we were enveloped in cloud and mist on a single track road with a sheer drop on one side and minimal visibility. We just preserved, carried on driving, but very slowly as most of the local vehicles didn’t have / use their lights. Intermittently we emerged from the most to catch glimpses of the tea plantations and small villages, we arrived safely, and again the R-type took it all in its stride.

It has to be said the route we followed was absolutely spectacular, a challenge for both the driver and the car, the navigator required a degree of imagination and large doses of fortitude with the GPS.

We enjoyed the company of a great group of interesting people with a fantastic sense of humour and camaraderie. Our Christmas car list has grown incrementally.

 

Ian and Ros Johnstone, Himalaya Rally 2006