Monday 13th January 2025
Buggies today, so after a brief breakfast we headed to our local beach for an early dip, and as today is shaping up to be hot, swimming was a good option.
We had to be adjacent to Jolly harbour for 1330hrs so back at the “ranch” we had an early lunch or was it a late breakfast; bacon and eggs!!!!
Arriving a little earlier than planned, less traffic perhaps?? Still we had time to sort ourselves out; we planned to take towels etc., as we visit a beach only to be told in no uncertain way, now loose objects and the beach visit isn’t long enough to have a swim🥵. Eventually another two couples arrived and then we were issued with crash hats and had a safety talk including who is responsible for certain damage to tyre sidewalks, damaged frame etc., hey, these are off road buggies built especially for these trips surely all damage should be down to the business: have I got that wrong???
Once we had had all the briefings we were asked if we wanted to buy any face masks or goggles at un-realistic prices, we declined. Lee mounted a couple of “Go Pro” cameras on our two buggies and now we are ready to go. We had the guide leading the convoy followed by Lee then us and the Americans behind and a rear-gunner (employee) bringing up the rear. After a few minutes we realised we should have bought some goggles and a face mask!!
These buggies were quick and the tracks we went along were really bumpy neither of us had time to take in much scenery, I was 100% concentrating on driving and Christine was hanging on for dear life as our bones were being jarred and our eyeballs jumped around in our sockets, not to mention the dust we inhaled!!! Up hill and down dale we following these tracks, and on one section we drove down a 45-degree wear wall, very disconcerting as the approach looked as if we were dropping down a cliff!!! Eventually after passing numerous undernourished cows, tethered separately trying to survive on minimal parched grass we eventually arrived at the beach for a drink stop. When we took our helmets off we all had a dirt line across our foreheads; dirt below the helmet, clean under the helmet, even my glasses were covered so seeing was becoming difficult: we all regretted not getting some goggles at the start!!! The first half of this tour took over a hour and this break was very welcome, these buggies are not comfortable to sit in anyway but add in all the rocks, pot holes , ditches and steep hills, our bones ached and our legs were set in the bent position; as I said a very welcome break.
The second part was much shorter but still as “lively” as we wound our way back to the starting point. We really enjoyed the experience and on balance preferred this years experience to the one we did four years ago.
Now it was a question of finding the nearest beach to “clean off” and “cool off” so after consulting google earth, headed to Ffryes Beach, about 1-mile or 5-minutes away!! Hardly had we parked the car before we headed straight into the see, lovely, lovely, lovely.
Once clean and cooled it was “drinky-poo”, time so headed back into Jolly Harbour, found a bar overlooking the marina and thinking of tomorrow when we have chartered a boat for the day whilst laughing and chatting about our experiences in the buggies.
With dusk falling we headed off, first to the supermarket, then home. Driving here after dark is the worse of all nightmares, now driving during the day doesn’t seem so bad!!!
Stocked up with wine and food we enjoyed a quiet night in but even so, we were knackered and had an early night!!!
