We recently went through some major maintenance to our High Range training track and skills area. The place was mayhem for a week as we had 1800 tons of murram delivered and the whole lot graded and rolled.
We generally go through this process every 2 years and it’s absolutely worth it. It gives me time to cut in camber on the corners and crown the straight. Our double apex bend now has a nice positive camber; not quite the “wall of death” but getting there! And the main training corner has a definite negative camber to it.
The Skills Area
The skills area also went through the same upgrade and the course has been redesigned to include different corners and reversing sections. Those of you who have gone through it and revisit will find it a bit tougher than before as it’s tighter and requires extreme precision to get the 3 consecutive clear runs.
We recently had some students sail through our Protective Driving course of which the skills area is a major part. You know who you are. Get back here and try this one!!
For those who have completed the Protective Driving module successfully stand by for Part 2. This will address the refresh and renew skills philosophy we have on driver training.
The Low Range Area
Next on the list is working on our Low Range. We have already worked on the Sudan Pot Hole. For those of you who were a bit disappointed that it was unusable due to the amount of rain we had; it is now open. We had to do some major clearing work but again worth it as I think it’s now going to be usable whatever the weather conditions.
Plans are afoot to work on the ascent and descent areas and the wadi crossing section. Watch this space.
The Congo Highway self recovery area has also been upgraded but you can still get stuck!! We are going to include this section in our advanced bush (Low Range) driving course. You must have already successfully gone through our Low Range and self recovery course to qualify to participate in this one day module. For those of you who have it’s a great way to renew and refresh your bush diving skills. This new module will be described and advertised on our web site (which has also been upgraded and looks great) within the next few weeks.
Other Plans
Next on the list is to get our left hand drive training vehicles into shape. At the moment they are still going through some upgrades but should be ready in a few months. By the end of the year we will have 2 fully functioning and equipped to deal with all our training modules.