"Chinny Raccoon" (chinnyraccoon)
10/07/2019 at 13:55 • Filed to: oppo meet, Europpomeet, meetup
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"Chinny Raccoon" (chinnyraccoon)
10/07/2019 at 13:55 • Filed to: oppo meet, Europpomeet, meetup | 5
| 13 |
There is no official deadline to this, but if you want to have your say it might be a good time to do it...
In case you hadn’t noticed, we are rapidly approaching the space year 2020. Seriously, less than 100 days to go until the year when we were supposed to be living on Mars with flying cars.
Now, that prediction of the future may have not worked out, but one prediction that is coming true is that there will be another European Oppo meet. Or several! At this stage all we are looking to do is gather some ideas and an idea of possible dates to get the planning started. Nothing concrete yet, any indication that you’ll be joining now is just to gauge interest and get some suggestions of possible locations and dates.
What’s all this about then?
For those unfamiliar with how these work, we typically base ourselves in an area, and then spend the days driving some of the great roads around that area. We take the opportunity to visit various local attractions- tracks, museums, karting etc. In the evenings we spend the time sampling the local food and drink offerings, telling BRZ owners they bought the wrong gearbox, and how the MX5 RF is the obvious choice.
Previous meets have typically been in late March, June, and new for 2019 an end of October Balearic adventure. We’ve generally chosen places that are out of the tourist season, this keeps the costs down and means that the roads are quieter for responsible hooning. Not many tourists are visiting Wales in March, the Skiing areas of the Alps in June, or Mallorca in late October.
It’s not just me saying it’s good.
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Hmm, this still sounds expensive.
Our general outlook on costs would make a Welsh Farmer suck through his teeth and go ‘you’re being a bit frugal there’. The accommodation cost for the upcoming Mallorca trip is around £70/€80/$90 Per Person. That’s not per night, that’s for
five
days. And there’s a pool!
Just because the cost is low doesn’t mean that the accommodation is lacking (I’ll ignore the Belgian caravans). We’ve had some decent hotels, but the preferred way for the last few meets has been to be to book a large AirBNB. These do vary, but the experience has been generally good. Sometimes they come with cats!
The vehicle you bring is virtually irrelevant, as we tend to organically form groups around the same speed for the enthusiastic driving bits. Indeed, for the future Mallorca trip the general agreement has been to all get roughly the same category of cars from the rental agencies. We’re solidly in group A. I doubt anyone will have more than 100HP, which looking at the roads there is plenty.
How will I get there?
For those travelling in from further afield, once you are in Europe the air fares to travel around are very cheap. Fold yourself into a Ryanair seat and a realistic return ticket from almost any two cities is under €150. Often a lot less. I’ve flown from the UK to Denmark for less than £20 return. With the rise of the low cost transatlantic flights it’s also possible to get some killer deals- currently Norwegian and American are offering return flights from New York to London in March for under $300.00
When will this be happening?
Well, that’s really to be decided. We’ve typically done a Spring and Summer meet, but this year we have an Autumn meet. It really depends on when we can make the dates work for most people. That’s what the survey is for- it’s a case of working around peoples’s leave and working arrangements. Ideally we’ll have something roughly agreed for the first half of next year fairly soon so people can arrange leave etc.
Where are we going then?
Don’t ask me- I don’t know!
Some of the previous ideas that didn’t happen include:
Transfgran- Romania
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and surrounding areas in Romania, which would be a new area for us- an adventure east. Often tipped as one of the best driving roads in the world, with much more publicity in recent years. There’s also a load of other less well known routes that look amazing. It is closed for a chunk of the year, so this would require some planning.
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Le Mans Classic - France
We have talked about doing the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! before, and if that is something that does happen I’ll be bringing the Ice Cream Beer Chiller Van. The dates are the 2nd-5th of July, and the ideal opportunity for a long weekend watching some great racing action. Ticket prices are reasonable.
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NC500 - Scotland
The other one I can remember is to cover the Highlands of Scotland, following the well publicised !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! route. An advantage for those outside of the UK is that the exchange rates are likely to be very favourable. The scenery around Scotland is stunning, and there is plenty to see along the route. Like the Wales trip, this is probably one to avoid in the summer due to the general tourist traffic.
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That’s the three I can remember- these are merely suggestions that we haven’t done before.
If this sounds like something that you would be even slightly interested in, or you have your own idea about what we can do next year, then there’s a handy survey linked below so we can get some suggestions in. We can use this to work out some likely dates, even if the location isn’t finalised.
The Survey
https://forms.gle/uxFEgn9VAVBb34qh6
Google account is required- if you can’t fill the form then just leave a comment and I’ll add it in.
I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
> Chinny Raccoon
09/22/2019 at 06:06 |
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Oh man, if we did an Eastern European tour, I’d hop on that, probably.
duurtlang
> I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
09/22/2019 at 06:59 |
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You can suggest a location, if you want to. Describe it with as much detail as you can.
After multiple people have suggested locations we can start voting.
One small disclaimer though; most previous attendees came from the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands. And drove there. So something like the Ukraine will be harder to sell than the Czech Republic or Croatia. Just to name some examples. Unless you can show that flying in i s a worth while option, like we’re doing with Mallorca (Spanish island ) next month.
DutchieDC2R
> Chinny Raccoon
09/22/2019 at 07:12 |
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Hey man, the Belgian caravans were great, cold, but great.
CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
> Chinny Raccoon
09/22/2019 at 10:10 |
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Anything in the UK spring/summer, I may make it
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duurtlang
> CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
09/22/2019 at 10:54 |
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If you’re interested, please fill in the poll. We want to pick a date soon, so people can take the days off work in time. The more people who fill in the poll, the better we are equipped to pick the right days.
Additionally, and I ask this merely out of curiosity , why just the UK? If I recall correctly you are not a UK native. Please excuse my directness :)
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CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
> duurtlang
09/22/2019 at 11:10 |
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We're planning on a UK trip during the Spring/Summer. I could probably work an Oppo meet into it without much issue
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duurtlang
> DutchieDC2R
09/22/2019 at 12:11 |
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It was a bonding experience, as it was the first overnight meet that started the tradition. So I guess the cold was a good thing.
That I had the luck to not be subjected to it made it even better :)
Future Heap Owner
> Chinny Raccoon
09/22/2019 at 15:01 |
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You should do one in Portland, Oregon
gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
> CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
09/22/2019 at 21:57 |
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its a lot of fun. Due to a number of mechanical delays, in Wales we didn’t get too many side trips in, but since a point has been made to add in at least 1 activity/attr action a day .
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DutchieDC2R
> Chinny Raccoon
09/25/2019 at 13:30 |
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I’m gonna head out to LMC for sure, but maybe one of the Goodwood meetings with a drive through England would be a thought? I know I’ve suggested a bunch of other things, but I need to finish the ‘suggestions box’ file.
Future next gen S2000 owner
> Chinny Raccoon
09/25/2019 at 13:39 |
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I recommend Cornudas, TX. Seems like a nice place.
66P1800inpieces
> duurtlang
09/25/2019 at 13:44 |
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Not Croatia. The roads are scary. Not due to any road surface issues. It’s just that ma ny of them are adjacent to sheer cliffs with puny gardrails and large regional busses zooming around with drivers chatting on their cellphones (ask me how I know). I live in the USA and won’t be able to make it but I vote for the Czech Republic. Maybe Ceske Budeceske (not the touristy town Cheske Krumlo v bc it is too touristy, with a drive to Prauge. Prauge is great and for a large city very reasonable cost wise.
Hoccy
> Chinny Raccoon
10/05/2019 at 18:43 |
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Replied to the survey, and I hope to join next year.