Lexus LS, "good in its day"

[dendonc]

20 hours ago, ambermarine said:

I have in depth knowledge on Midges ;The females are the only biters they will not appear in bright sunlight and cannot cope with winds above 5 knots, they are most active  around dusk especially in wooded areas.

There life cycle is 24 hours and they start retreating around mid September.

Probably >thee< most useful post possible in a 'touring scotland north of the forth' post........who on earth wants to spend a 'leasure break' covered in protective creams & specialist netted clothes 24/7?

[ambermarine]

1 hour ago, dendonc said:

Probably >thee< most useful post possible in a 'touring scotland north of the forth' post........who on earth wants to spend a 'leasure break' covered in protective creams & specialist netted clothes 24/7?

Yes Denis a problem for those that are very vunerable to midge bites and react to them badly ,I have seen several anti- midge potions used including Nivea lotion but the one that worked 100% is "Off" which is not available in the UK and is sold in the USA it contains Deet and was developed for the US army during the Vietnam war.

[mikeyv]

1 hour ago, ambermarine said:

Yes Denis a problem for those that are very vunerable to midge bites and react to them badly ,I have seen several anti- midge potions used including Nivea lotion but the one that worked 100% is "Off" which is not available in the UK and is sold in the USA it contains Deet and was developed for the US army during the Vietnam war.

Good news for you Phil, it's available from amazon and eBay.

AMAZON LINK

EBAY LINK

I think the amazon one is from UK, but the eBay seller is in Thailand, but posts free.

[dendonc]

1 hour ago, ambermarine said:

"Off" which is not available in the UK and is sold in the USA

It comes up on ebay £4.57 but its shiped (maybe made) from thailand

 https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/192182412064?chn=ps&dispItem=1&adgroupid=45192390362&rlsatarget=pla-331477151172&abcId=1129006&adtype=pla&merchantid=9366954&poi=&googleloc=9045954&device=c&campaignid=861899495&crdt=0

[ambermarine]

Denis 

Thats it, made by Johnson the family company in the US ,believe me it works. The 6 ounce spray bottle that is nearly £12 is the one I have still got the Walmart label at $4.40.

I used to bring 12 aerosol cans back for friends and family every year until aerosol ban on hold luggage came in at US airports 2015.

[Malc]

hardly believe it ............  the NC500 route was " created " in 2015 to promote Scottish holidays  ...  Brilliant  .........  and looking at a Daily Mail ( google search threw it up ) article from then it shows the NC500 being in the Top 6 world Road Trips ............just .....  with amongst others, the Cape Overberg route  ( I did this more or less, unknowingly, in a month's motoring holiday around South Africa in 1988 )  and also the Amalfi Coast, which again i did on my 2015 ( France, Switzerland, then ) round Italy Grand Tour over 5/6k miles and 4/5 weeks in 2015   ....

........... so I've actually done 3 of the Top 6 World Best Road trips without even knowing it ......... .......  ain't I just soooooo lucky  ....  life's good to me eh !

 

But I sure did realise at the time how wonderful those motoring holidays were, such magnificent and breathtaking scenery  ......... and the last two in my Mk3 Ls400, the very best Grand Tourer car ever

Malc

[The-Acre]

Surely I'm due for comission. My post has not only promoted Scottish touring holidays but also various insect repellents!!   I spotted a rare site here in Worthing this week, an R reg MK4.  You don't realise how long they are until you see them in a supermarket carpark.

[Spacewagon52]

7 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

Surely I'm due for comission. My post has not only promoted Scottish touring holidays but also various insect repellents!!   I spotted a rare site here in Worthing this week, an R reg MK4.  You don't realise how long they are until you see them in a supermarket carpark.

They are surprisingly long, and will often stick out more than you would like.

[The-Acre]

3 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

They are surprisingly long, and will often stick out more than you would like.

I often find my rear bumper is way ahead of me when I'm parking!  I parked on a meter in Chelsea a couple of weeks ago, what joy to find one at the end of a row of spaces, it saved having to do a fifty point manoeuvre. As for Gatwick airport, now that's a challenge.

[ambermarine]

21 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

I often find my rear bumper is way ahead of me when I'm parking!  I parked on a meter in Chelsea a couple of weeks ago, what joy to find one at the end of a row of spaces, it saved having to do a fifty point manoeuvre. As for Gatwick airport, now that's a challenge.

I have noticed recently whilst using car parks for the first time in 20 years that the spaces are now very much smaller, they seem to be catering mainly for what the americans call a compact,less than 3metres long .

The danger is is very obvious in multi storey car parks and the Lexus LS400 really sticks out over the line in those.

[The-Acre]

2 hours ago, ambermarine said:

I have noticed recently whilst using car parks for the first time in 20 years that the spaces are now very much smaller, they seem to be catering mainly for what the americans call a compact,less than 3metres long .

The danger is is very obvious in multi storey car parks and the Lexus LS400 really sticks out over the line in those.

My wife often says I could go back or forwards more because it sticks out, until she looks at the other end!

And it does seem strange at a time when cars seem to get bigger that parking spaces get smaller.

[dendonc]

51 minutes ago, The-Acre said:

And it does seem strange at a time when cars seem to get bigger that parking spaces get smaller.

Doesnt seem that strange really, smaller spaces mean more bays & that means potentially more council income

[Malc]

On 06/07/2017 at 10:57 AM, Malc said:

But I sure did realise at the time how wonderful those motoring holidays were, such magnificent and breathtaking scenery  ......... and the last two in my Mk3 Ls400, the very best Grand Tourer car ever

............ and I'm thinking a little more about this phenomenon of the World's Best Road Trips ..........  surely another must be the journeying through the length and breadth of the north and south islands of New Zealand  ......... I don't know if any of you guys have been there that but it really is a phenomenally breathtaking experience  ............  again I had a 6 week, but this time a minibus tour .............. with half a dozen others, back in 2002 I think it was ............. just occurred to me that that journey was about on a par with the others, and I hadn't really appreciated just how lucky I was then.

So much so that I'm thinking, and now getting really old and nearly past it, having seen Joanna Lumley " do " India ( on BBC4 last Wednesday ? )  to do another long, say 6 week or so trip from the bottom of India to Shimla or so  ( Sikkim is out of bounds to tourists ) and I reckon about 5000 miles by the time I've done lots of twists and turns .............  anyone want to join me 

Malc

[Spacewagon52]

You are very adventurous! India would be possibly the LAST place I would want to drive and the last place to be a passenger! Sorry!

[Newbie1]

26 minutes ago, Malc said:

............ and I'm thinking a little more about this phenomenon of the World's Best Road Trips ..........  surely another must be the journeying through the length and breadth of the north and south islands of New Zealand  ......... I don't know if any of you guys have been there that but it really is a phenomenally breathtaking experience  ............  again I had a 6 week, but this time a minibus tour .............. with half a dozen others, back in 2002 I think it was ............. just occurred to me that that journey was about on a par with the others, and I hadn't really appreciated just how lucky I was then.

So much so that I'm thinking, and now getting really old and nearly past it, having seen Joanna Lumley " do " India ( on BBC4 last Wednesday ? )  to do another long, say 6 week or so trip from the bottom of India to Shimla or so  ( Sikkim is out of bounds to tourists ) and I reckon about 5000 miles by the time I've done lots of twists and turns .............  anyone want to join me 

Malc

When did Sikkim become out of bounds? Was there 20 years ago. Gorgeous and seemed empty, unlike Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

[Malc]

Just looked again at the UK Govt advice on Sikkim and it's just saying one has to apply up to 3 months in advance for a Special Permit to travel to there, Kashmir is out of bounds as you say.

Just starting to do a bit of low level planning for this adventure, my business partner in Delhi says it's do-able, car and driver, plenty of hotels en-route .......... and it helps him being Hindu !

Maybe between September and February sometime ......  let's see how the money goes eh !

Malc

 

[Malc]

11 hours ago, Spacewagon52 said:

You are very adventurous! India would be possibly the LAST place I would want to drive and the last place to be a passenger! Sorry!

You're right in that no one sane would drive in India, a hire car always comes with a driver .  it's picking the right driver that matters a great deal too.

A passenger, well on each visit there ( my business as a travel agent owner ) the drives have been great, amazingly challenging roads where even the " new " Delhi to Agra                 " motorway " toll road is akin to your worst imagined and not quite finished approach/slip road to a UK motorway !

I'll try to avoid major cities, Delhi is great and terrible in the same breath, never a car without battle scars, bit like Italy .............  hahahaha 

Malc

 

[Spacewagon52]

What a wonderful trip to plan! Would you consider going by train? Not the same I suppose as a proper road trip.

[Malc]

Some train journeys can be magnificent, most in India are NOT with comfort in mind. Travelling through the night one misses so much I think ..........  the train scenery can be spectacular I'm assured BUT you never get to the real life situations that you do by car .............  not sure that's a good thing sometimes, real life in India can be extremely harsh and challenging as well as magnificently brilliant too..............  By car I always like to go to out of the way places never seen by most travellers, treading new ground, deviating from the tried and tested ............... we'll see how the planning pans out, my India business partner can't see why on earth I would wish to travel the length and breadth of India, his home nation  ....  he doesn't understand the " age " issues that some of us face ( oh to be 34 again ! )  and the reality that each year gone by might make one less physically robust enough to complete such an adventure 

Let's see ..................

  Malc

 

 

[PJD]

I enjoy being in Land/Range Rover's because of the elevated driving position.  I drove a 10 year old Vogue recently... - pretty tatty, and not particularly quiet.

My favourite is the Discovery, - nice air suspension also... - a friend at work has a Disco, - but my God, the amount it costs her to run, - suspension problems, steering problems, electrical problems, - it's never ending and ridiculously expensive... - but she's kept the car for many years because A she loves driving it, and B, it cost her so much new, and is worth so little now, she wants her use out of it!

I also drove a friend's brand new BMW M135i.. - nice car, but nowhere near as comfortable or pleasurable to drive as my LS430.  Madness when you consider the money he paid compared for his little BM compared the money I paid for luxury

[dendonc]

58 minutes ago, Malc said:

real life in India can be extremely harsh

Is it as bad as Pekham??

[Spacewagon52]

1 hour ago, Malc said:

 and the reality that each year gone by might make one less physically robust enough to complete such an adventure 

Let's see ..................

  Malc

 

 

That is very true. It is an age thing ........ time seems to go much quicker and you realise the body is not as capable as the mind. I don't wait anymore, I do what I can, as soon as possible .... none of us knows what tomorrow will bring and yesterday has gone, but it is still good to plan.

[dendonc]

1 hour ago, Spacewagon52 said:

none of us knows what tomorrow will bring

True, true......as the SAS motto says.............."Ez hêvî dikim ku ez bişîne Peckham şandime şandin"

( "Hope I dont get sent to Peckham in the morning").......................

[Malc]

4 hours ago, dendonc said:

Is it as bad as Pekham??

well now .....  have you ever lived or even been to Peckham ?  I lived there as a child, born there in 1950 and moved when my school by Tower Bridge moved to Orpington in 1967

Would I move back to Peckham, well NO, not my cup of tea at all .......I doubt I could ever afford it tbh  .........  it happened to be in leafy Surrey about a century ago .......  ever heard of Surrey docks !

If you live there now then I wouldn't want to offend .........................

Malc

[dendonc]

6 minutes ago, Malc said:

ever heard of Surrey docks !

Yes, stayed there with someone quite a few years ago