All set - Page 3

Steady Eddy · 5th May 2018, 17:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravinder

I’ve arrived fine, thank you.

I shall post an update later tonight.

Good man, I look forward to your update

Dallas · 5th May 2018, 19:43

Blooming heck Rav

that is some journey you are doing, glad you arrived safely.

You and Keith enjoy your day tomorrow lads, I will look forward to the photos.

Ravinder · 8th May 2018, 21:26

Well, what a weekend! Good and bad...

So, I got down to Keith’s in Reigate at 4pm on the Friday. A little later then I wanted to. Traffic at the M25 was horrendous which set me back by nearly a couple of hours. But, i got there in one piece which itself is an accomplishment considering the amount of nutters i encountered on the roads down. The car drove fine but my ABS light came on again and I lost my speedo again

and it stayed that way for the remainder of the journey. I’ll need to get this looked at by the garage that recently fitted the wheel bearing as the problems started since this was done. In the end, I had to use my phone and sat nav to tell me what speed I was doing!

I took a couple of short stops on the way down to stretch the legs and to have a toilet break.
The weather was mostly miserable and damp most of the way until I got closer towards London where it was dry and considerably warm. I only spotted one 75 on the way done, too on the M74. What a great shame I didn’t see any more.
After 10 hours on the road, all I wanted to do was put my feet up.

I arrived at Keith’s house in Reigate and was I was complete awe. His house is simply stunning and in the most secluded place with stunning views in all directions. Very peaceful. A bit like Paul’s house when I went to visit him recently in the south west of Scotland.
Keith and his wife, Annette greeted me when I got there and kindly prepared my room for my stay there. Keith had booked us a table at a local Thai restaurant in Reigate high street for 8:15pm. It was meant to be just the two of us having a romantic meal but Annette wouldn’t have it and invited herself, too....

Dinner was good and we had a good old catchup. After, we went back to Keith’s mansion and had a drink before setting off to bed for the night as we had plans to get up first thing on the Saturday to pick up Keith’s ZT which was being detailed nearby in time for the national meet.

Saturday, I was up at 7am as per Keith’s request to collect his car. I’m not going to lie. I was still shattered after the drive down on the Friday and hadn’t quite recovered...

but, got up, anyway. Quickly washed my face and we jumped into Keith’s saab convertible for the 40 min drive to collect his car. The weathers amazing. Clear skies and the temperature was rocketing up fast. The ZT was looking very nice, even if it is grey...

the detailed had done a good job getting rid of the swirls on his car. Keith drove the ZT back and I followed suit in the Saab. I must say, the Saab drove very well and is super quiet. I quite fancy one myself, now...

Once back at Keith’s, I had a shower. By this point, the temperature was 20 degrees and it was still early. The plan initially was to go into London and do some sight seeing but I was quite happy to leave this until another time and we spent most of the day sitting outside the front of the house in the sunshine for several hours. We made a quick visit to the local Tesco to get some supplies. We had breakfast in the Tesco cafe. Unfortunately, the service and food was awful...

later in the evening. After that, Keith took me on a tour in the Saab with the roof down of course

of the local villages around where he lives. The views are just stunning in his part of the country and some the houses are just incredible. Annette kindly made us some big beefy burgers, chips and salad. I was stuffed.

flushed Down with a couple of cool drinks. The temperature was now 26 degrees and not a cloud to be seen. It was fantastic. Why can’t it be sunny and hot all the time...?

we made plans about what to do on the Sunday. We decided to get up early on Sunday and get the cars cleaned, get some breakfast and then head to the nationals meet.
Sunday came. We got up early as planned. Spent a couple of hours cleaning our cars.

The bad news...

While I was finishing cleaning, I got a phone call from my parents who went to Rome Just the previous evening for a weeks holiday. My dad sounded quite distraught. He called to tell me that they had landed in Rome late on Saturday night. They went to get on to the metro train from the airport where they got mugged. They lost a hand luggage, my mums kindle and my dads new phone. Also, they took both my parents debit and credit cards. Within a few minutes, 1,000 was withdrawn from their bank accounts. My dad said they only noticed all this shortly after. They were pick pocketed. A woman had approached them offering to help them buy a train ticket from the machine. While she did this, little did my parents know she was part of a group and was simply distracting my family. Another person went into my brothers back pack and stole a kindle and a separate hand luggage and a third person went into my dads pockets and took his phone and cards. They went to the police station at 11pm and didn’t get out of there until 3pm. The police said they couldn’t help and didn’t even take any details from my family. It was a complete waste of time. My parents called for some advise on what to do with their phones and cards etc to make everything safe. This was the first day of their holiday and all this had happened. I know this will ruin the holiday completely for them. We chatted for a great length. I then called around to sort out their cards and block the phones etc. My parents kept calling me throughout the day to get advise. Their getting on a bit now and there not clued up with all this stuff so I was sorting everything out while at Keith’s. I felt sorry for Keith as he was waiting around for me but he was understanding. The police were not helpful one bit and at one point they told my parents that if they don’t speak Italian, they won’t help. There was just nothing else they could do. Thankfully, they had most of their main luggage and some money to get by for the time being but no doubt they will be upset.

I felt mentally exhausted by this point and stressed out and didnt really want to attend the meet but made the effort to try at least show my face and I didn’t want to let anyone down. I also had a prize to donate for the raffle prize to a lucky winner. We left around 12:30ams got there for the last couple of hours and just in time for the honours and the prize hand outs. Sorry, if I wasn’t very chatty but I just wasn’t feeling up to it...

The drive to the meet was nice and again, it was a scorcher. Blue skies and 27 degrees sunshine. I followed Keith in his ZT to hollycombe through some spectacular villages and roads. Once we got there, we went straight to the cafe for some food since we hadn’t had any breakfast. We were sat with rick and deanna eating our chips and having a catch up with them.

After the meet, me and Keith headed back to the house and had a fantastic Sunday roast that Annette had made us and a couple of drinks. We watched some tele before having an early night.

The next morning, Keith took me to beachy head, down on the south coast. It was a good couple of hours before we got there as we took the a roads due to some traffic on the motorway. Again, fantastic weather and even warmer then the day before. We stopped by a KFC on the way down for some food.
Once at beachy head, we walked along the magnificent cliffs of the south coast looking towards the sea. It was super calm and the views were amazing. I took my camera with me in the hope of getting at least one good picture. It was some walk. We ended up walking 5 miles in total along the coast. The walk back to the car park was a killer. Some parts were very steep uphill walks. Just ask Keith. I didn’t think I would make it and thought I’d have to call search and rescue!

while I was down there taking pictures, a young beautiful woman (potential wife) got talking to me asking me if I could take some pictures of her with her camera. Of course, I obliged and snapped away. However, my chat was horrid...

she tried to make conversation and I just ballsed it up. Keith was trying to encourage me to ‘get in there’ but I just froze. I blew it. I walked away with my head hanging down in shame and thinking about what could of been...the search for Mrs Singh continues...

Later, we went back to the house where we had got some takeaway food and ice cream before I hit the road again for the long drive back home. We said our goodbyes and off I set. The drive home was long and tiring (10hrs) and had to make a couple of stops to put my head down for a few minutes. Once Home, I emptied the car and went straight to bed after some light breakfast. I’m still recovering...

I do enjoy driving very much but the long drives do take it out of me at times.

So, a big thanks to Keith and Annette for letting me stay with them. Their hospitality was superb and true friends. I look forward to seeing them again in the near future. A big thanks to everyone else at the nationals. I was taken back about how many people had heard about what happened to my family and everyone was asking for them which was very nice so thank you. I’m very sorry for the ones I missed and didn’t get a chance to speak to.
, including Mickey boy. Thanks to MB and Cheds as well as I picked their brains regarding my car. Thanks for making me welcome and making me a part of your community. There are some great people here. I hope to see you all again at a meet soon.

Some pictures below from my stay.

Drive down

Arrived at the Winston mansion

My stay for the next few nights. Gorgeous house.

The garden.

Keith picks up his car after it’s detail.

Two of the three cats that they own. Lazy little things...

Table for two...

Enjoying the sunshine

Photo shoot time of Keith’s car on his private road...

More food out in the sunshine

Sleepy cat and a red looking Keith...

Washing the cars. Hosingh...

Got stopped on the drive back home by the local farmers. Why did the sheep cross the road...?

Beachy head

Poser.

Looking towards Eastbourne

Lighthouse

Me shamefully walking away from potential future wife. I think she is looking at me hoping I would turn back.

Brighton’s stadium

Annette and Keith

Takeaway time

The Saab

My shed

Selfie with these two.

All filled up for the drive home

mininuts · 8th May 2018, 21:41

Great write up Rav

Looks like you had a good time despite the bad news about your parents

Quite an epic journey all in all

Groundsman Willie · 8th May 2018, 21:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by mininuts

Great write up Rav

Looks like you had a good time despite the bad news about your parents

Quite an epic journey all in all

agree with mininuts.

Mickyboy · 8th May 2018, 22:00

I do hope it gets better for your parents mate, very sorry to hear what has happened it’s very upsetting, hopefully we can catch up in the future, if I could help in anyway I would.
Mick

Teflon · 8th May 2018, 22:19

Wonderful write up Rav, you have a gift for storytelling

.

It was nice to meet you on Sunday (albiet biefly) and I was sorry to here of your parents misadventures. From the sound of things though, you salvaged a positive experience from the weekend despite the setback, so hopefully you enjoyed your time "down south".

Take care mate,

Cliff

neilll · 8th May 2018, 22:30

Hi Rav,
Was so much looking forward to your report (and seeing your latest clothing!) but the format was too large and made it virtually impossible to read (can it be re-sized?). Hope you had a good time.
Neil

keithst24 · 9th May 2018, 05:51

What a great post on our weekend adventure Rav, I can honestly say I enjoyed myself immensely regardless of the awful news regarding your parents.
Family comes first Rav and it was not a problem for me that we were late leaving for the National meet.
I am really glad you enjoyed your stay in sunny Surrey .... Winson Towers is no mansion by the way

and YES your chat up skills need polishing more than your 75 does

, she was defo the one that got away this weekend

............the search continues.
You got some great shots during your stay, I can't wait to see the Bumble ones you took along the lane

.
All in all a super weekend spent with great company .... shame they always fly by so quickly............thanks for the kind words mate.......see you soon.

Keith

trikey · 9th May 2018, 12:23

A great write up Rav, hope your parents get things sorted quickly, good to say hello at the meet even though it was very brief.

8th May 2018, 21:26	#23
Ravinder This is my second home Rover 75 saloon x2, Rover 75 Tourer x2, Rover 220 Coupe Turbo Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Kirkcaldy, Fife Posts: 9,036 Thanks: 2,278 Thanked 2,852 Times in 1,718 Posts	Well, what a weekend! Good and bad... So, I got down to Keith’s in Reigate at 4pm on the Friday. A little later then I wanted to. Traffic at the M25 was horrendous which set me back by nearly a couple of hours. But, i got there in one piece which itself is an accomplishment considering the amount of nutters i encountered on the roads down. The car drove fine but my ABS light came on again and I lost my speedo again and it stayed that way for the remainder of the journey. I’ll need to get this looked at by the garage that recently fitted the wheel bearing as the problems started since this was done. In the end, I had to use my phone and sat nav to tell me what speed I was doing! I took a couple of short stops on the way down to stretch the legs and to have a toilet break. The weather was mostly miserable and damp most of the way until I got closer towards London where it was dry and considerably warm. I only spotted one 75 on the way done, too on the M74. What a great shame I didn’t see any more. After 10 hours on the road, all I wanted to do was put my feet up. I arrived at Keith’s house in Reigate and was I was complete awe. His house is simply stunning and in the most secluded place with stunning views in all directions. Very peaceful. A bit like Paul’s house when I went to visit him recently in the south west of Scotland. Keith and his wife, Annette greeted me when I got there and kindly prepared my room for my stay there. Keith had booked us a table at a local Thai restaurant in Reigate high street for 8:15pm. It was meant to be just the two of us having a romantic meal but Annette wouldn’t have it and invited herself, too.... Dinner was good and we had a good old catchup. After, we went back to Keith’s mansion and had a drink before setting off to bed for the night as we had plans to get up first thing on the Saturday to pick up Keith’s ZT which was being detailed nearby in time for the national meet. Saturday, I was up at 7am as per Keith’s request to collect his car. I’m not going to lie. I was still shattered after the drive down on the Friday and hadn’t quite recovered... but, got up, anyway. Quickly washed my face and we jumped into Keith’s saab convertible for the 40 min drive to collect his car. The weathers amazing. Clear skies and the temperature was rocketing up fast. The ZT was looking very nice, even if it is grey... the detailed had done a good job getting rid of the swirls on his car. Keith drove the ZT back and I followed suit in the Saab. I must say, the Saab drove very well and is super quiet. I quite fancy one myself, now... Once back at Keith’s, I had a shower. By this point, the temperature was 20 degrees and it was still early. The plan initially was to go into London and do some sight seeing but I was quite happy to leave this until another time and we spent most of the day sitting outside the front of the house in the sunshine for several hours. We made a quick visit to the local Tesco to get some supplies. We had breakfast in the Tesco cafe. Unfortunately, the service and food was awful... later in the evening. After that, Keith took me on a tour in the Saab with the roof down of course of the local villages around where he lives. The views are just stunning in his part of the country and some the houses are just incredible. Annette kindly made us some big beefy burgers, chips and salad. I was stuffed. flushed Down with a couple of cool drinks. The temperature was now 26 degrees and not a cloud to be seen. It was fantastic. Why can’t it be sunny and hot all the time...? we made plans about what to do on the Sunday. We decided to get up early on Sunday and get the cars cleaned, get some breakfast and then head to the nationals meet. Sunday came. We got up early as planned. Spent a couple of hours cleaning our cars. The bad news... While I was finishing cleaning, I got a phone call from my parents who went to Rome Just the previous evening for a weeks holiday. My dad sounded quite distraught. He called to tell me that they had landed in Rome late on Saturday night. They went to get on to the metro train from the airport where they got mugged. They lost a hand luggage, my mums kindle and my dads new phone. Also, they took both my parents debit and credit cards. Within a few minutes, 1,000 was withdrawn from their bank accounts. My dad said they only noticed all this shortly after. They were pick pocketed. A woman had approached them offering to help them buy a train ticket from the machine. While she did this, little did my parents know she was part of a group and was simply distracting my family. Another person went into my brothers back pack and stole a kindle and a separate hand luggage and a third person went into my dads pockets and took his phone and cards. They went to the police station at 11pm and didn’t get out of there until 3pm. The police said they couldn’t help and didn’t even take any details from my family. It was a complete waste of time. My parents called for some advise on what to do with their phones and cards etc to make everything safe. This was the first day of their holiday and all this had happened. I know this will ruin the holiday completely for them. We chatted for a great length. I then called around to sort out their cards and block the phones etc. My parents kept calling me throughout the day to get advise. Their getting on a bit now and there not clued up with all this stuff so I was sorting everything out while at Keith’s. I felt sorry for Keith as he was waiting around for me but he was understanding. The police were not helpful one bit and at one point they told my parents that if they don’t speak Italian, they won’t help. There was just nothing else they could do. Thankfully, they had most of their main luggage and some money to get by for the time being but no doubt they will be upset. I felt mentally exhausted by this point and stressed out and didnt really want to attend the meet but made the effort to try at least show my face and I didn’t want to let anyone down. I also had a prize to donate for the raffle prize to a lucky winner. We left around 12:30ams got there for the last couple of hours and just in time for the honours and the prize hand outs. Sorry, if I wasn’t very chatty but I just wasn’t feeling up to it... The drive to the meet was nice and again, it was a scorcher. Blue skies and 27 degrees sunshine. I followed Keith in his ZT to hollycombe through some spectacular villages and roads. Once we got there, we went straight to the cafe for some food since we hadn’t had any breakfast. We were sat with rick and deanna eating our chips and having a catch up with them. After the meet, me and Keith headed back to the house and had a fantastic Sunday roast that Annette had made us and a couple of drinks. We watched some tele before having an early night. The next morning, Keith took me to beachy head, down on the south coast. It was a good couple of hours before we got there as we took the a roads due to some traffic on the motorway. Again, fantastic weather and even warmer then the day before. We stopped by a KFC on the way down for some food. Once at beachy head, we walked along the magnificent cliffs of the south coast looking towards the sea. It was super calm and the views were amazing. I took my camera with me in the hope of getting at least one good picture. It was some walk. We ended up walking 5 miles in total along the coast. The walk back to the car park was a killer. Some parts were very steep uphill walks. Just ask Keith. I didn’t think I would make it and thought I’d have to call search and rescue! while I was down there taking pictures, a young beautiful woman (potential wife) got talking to me asking me if I could take some pictures of her with her camera. Of course, I obliged and snapped away. However, my chat was horrid... she tried to make conversation and I just ballsed it up. Keith was trying to encourage me to ‘get in there’ but I just froze. I blew it. I walked away with my head hanging down in shame and thinking about what could of been...the search for Mrs Singh continues... Later, we went back to the house where we had got some takeaway food and ice cream before I hit the road again for the long drive back home. We said our goodbyes and off I set. The drive home was long and tiring (10hrs) and had to make a couple of stops to put my head down for a few minutes. Once Home, I emptied the car and went straight to bed after some light breakfast. I’m still recovering... I do enjoy driving very much but the long drives do take it out of me at times. So, a big thanks to Keith and Annette for letting me stay with them. Their hospitality was superb and true friends. I look forward to seeing them again in the near future. A big thanks to everyone else at the nationals. I was taken back about how many people had heard about what happened to my family and everyone was asking for them which was very nice so thank you. I’m very sorry for the ones I missed and didn’t get a chance to speak to. , including Mickey boy. Thanks to MB and Cheds as well as I picked their brains regarding my car. Thanks for making me welcome and making me a part of your community. There are some great people here. I hope to see you all again at a meet soon. Some pictures below from my stay. Drive down Arrived at the Winston mansion My stay for the next few nights. Gorgeous house. The garden. Keith picks up his car after it’s detail. Two of the three cats that they own. Lazy little things... Table for two... Enjoying the sunshine Photo shoot time of Keith’s car on his private road... More food out in the sunshine Sleepy cat and a red looking Keith... Washing the cars. Hosingh... Got stopped on the drive back home by the local farmers. Why did the sheep cross the road...? Beachy head Poser. Looking towards Eastbourne Lighthouse Me shamefully walking away from potential future wife. I think she is looking at me hoping I would turn back. Brighton’s stadium Annette and Keith Takeaway time The Saab My shed Selfie with these two. All filled up for the drive home __________________ Wanted - Indian bride. Cash waiting. (All sorted - bargain) First name and forum name: Ravinder Rover 75 2.0 CDT Connoisseur SE 116 (160 remap) Royal Blue (JFM) This vehicle was the 50,481st 75 to run off the production line, out of 112,381 This vehicle was the 2,238th 75 CDT Connoisseur SE to be made out of 3,775 This vehicle was the 5,002nd 75 in Royal Blue (code: JFM) to be made out of 14,420 Royal Blue 75s Last edited by Ravinder; 9th May 2018 at 06:55.. Reason: Pic added

8th May 2018, 21:41	#24
mininuts This is my second home Cooper S 210 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Port William Posts: 5,309 Thanks: 5,098 Thanked 2,406 Times in 1,631 Posts	Great write up Rav Looks like you had a good time despite the bad news about your parents Quite an epic journey all in all __________________ *Paul* 2016 MINI Cooper S 210 : 2000 Rover 75 CDT Classic SE : 2009 Freelander 2 GS : 2000 Mini Cooper Sport : 1986 Mini Mayfair : 1980 Mini Pickup : 1971 Mini Cooper S

8th May 2018, 22:00	#26
Mickyboy SERVICING AND DEALER DIAGNOSTICS MG ZT CDTI 135 + & MGZT CDTI AUTO 160 & ROVER 75 TOURER CDTI 160 TROPHY YELLOW Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Hernebay Posts: 4,331 Thanks: 818 Thanked 2,414 Times in 1,141 Posts	I do hope it gets better for your parents mate, very sorry to hear what has happened it’s very upsetting, hopefully we can catch up in the future, if I could help in anyway I would. Mick __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] T4 Owner Jobs done : new UBP, Spy hole mod, Rear hub(wheel bearing),plenum cleaned and emptied, Inline thermostat fitted,Full service, In car Digital tv/DVD Bluetooth Satnav etc, Replaced UBP, Restored headlights,Fixed airbag connection.replaced HP pump,replaced rear light seals,changed intercooler O rings. Jobs to do: ,replace drivers lock,.[/SIZE]

8th May 2018, 22:19	#27
Teflon This is my second home Lagoon 2.0 V6 75 Conn SE Saloon Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Chertsey Posts: 5,203 Thanks: 2,825 Thanked 2,920 Times in 1,570 Posts	Wonderful write up Rav, you have a gift for storytelling . It was nice to meet you on Sunday (albiet biefly) and I was sorry to here of your parents misadventures. From the sound of things though, you salvaged a positive experience from the weekend despite the setback, so hopefully you enjoyed your time "down south". Take care mate, Cliff __________________ No. 4 of 6

9th May 2018, 05:51	#29
keithst24 This is my second home X Power Grey MGZT 180+ Auto... Bumble & 1.8T Odessey Rover 75 Contemporary SE manual Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Reigate Posts: 5,375 Thanks: 2,254 Thanked 1,801 Times in 1,403 Posts	What a great post on our weekend adventure Rav, I can honestly say I enjoyed myself immensely regardless of the awful news regarding your parents. Family comes first Rav and it was not a problem for me that we were late leaving for the National meet. I am really glad you enjoyed your stay in sunny Surrey .... Winson Towers is no mansion by the way and YES your chat up skills need polishing more than your 75 does , she was defo the one that got away this weekend ............the search continues. You got some great shots during your stay, I can't wait to see the Bumble ones you took along the lane . All in all a super weekend spent with great company .... shame they always fly by so quickly............thanks for the kind words mate.......see you soon. Keith __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Bumble Membership Number 35478 Born Monday, 16th June 2003 @ 14:30:35 This vehicle was the 9,196th ZT to run off the production line, out of 18,894 This vehicle was the 576th ZT 180 + to be made out of 828 This vehicle was the 871st ZT in XPower Grey (code: LEF) to be made out of 3,143 XPower Grey ZTs

5th May 2018, 19:43	#22
Dallas This is my second home 1979 Capri 1.6L, 1982 Capri 1.6L, 2016 Dacia Stepway Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Dorset Posts: 8,595 Thanks: 3,496 Thanked 3,397 Times in 2,218 Posts	Blooming heck Rav that is some journey you are doing, glad you arrived safely. You and Keith enjoy your day tomorrow lads, I will look forward to the photos.

8th May 2018, 22:30	#28
neilll Gets stuck in MG ZT,MG ZT-T Join Date: May 2008 Location: St. Helens Posts: 961 Thanks: 211 Thanked 235 Times in 158 Posts	Hi Rav, Was so much looking forward to your report (and seeing your latest clothing!) but the format was too large and made it virtually impossible to read (can it be re-sized?). Hope you had a good time. Neil

9th May 2018, 12:23	#30
trikey Premium Trader Rover 75 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Devon Posts: 33,766 Thanks: 8,837 Thanked 14,831 Times in 8,030 Posts	A great write up Rav, hope your parents get things sorted quickly, good to say hello at the meet even though it was very brief. __________________ Lest we forget..