HI Eddie,

I booked a ferry from Dunkerque to Dover, best price for me.

I have holidays and me girl friends from WIMA GB (womens international motorcycle association) are so cute showing me GB the 2 weeks.

I´m from Hattingen a small town near Dortmund.

Tabea

__________________
It´s never easy.
If you know where you are, you are able to go everywhere.

Fantastic!!! Just 70 days to go. Have a look at the HUBB UK page. New presenters are up!

And it's still just £65 for the four days if you book and pay before the 12th of June. This is the same rate for the third year running and that is in spite of all the inevitable rising costs.

Thanks very much to the companies who have helped us to achieve this by stumping up some loot to sponsor the different areas of the Donington HUBB UK venue.

The companies do deserve a word of thanks for helping to make this happen. So, Adventure Spec, Code Audio Visual, Touratech, Continental, Cotswold, Pure Bike Tours and new in, Rev'it! Thanks to you all!!!

And while posting. Some more brilliant news. Kevin Turner is going to be joining all the authors and film makers and is going to be launching his brand new book at the HUBB UK.

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Did you know that The Donington Park Farmhouse Hotel – the venue for the HUBB UK again this year – has a really good Green Ambition? Check this out and you’ll see what I mean. Just another reason to feel good about us being there! And some history about Park Farm too:

‘Park Farmhouse is part of what remains of the Donington Estate, which was broken up after the army returned it to the Shields family in 1956, having taken it over in 1939 for the war effort. Donington Hall and the race track were no longer viable and had to be sold off.

It took seven years to clear the scrap metal from the rest of the land before it could be used for Agriculture. What was able to be salvaged has now been moulded into what we hope is a sustainable and inter-dependent enterprise.

The Deer Park is now larger & contains some 350 head of deer. This is a truly wild herd, with no human intervention allowed. All the venison is butchered and used on the Estate. The park is a SSSI, which means that no chemicals or fertilizer are applied to the land. The park is famous for its collection of ancient Oak trees and the invertebrates that live in them. All new trees are planted from our own acorns, and the park is actively managed with the help of Natural England.

The 150 acres of woodlands are managed under a 20 year plan with the Forestry Commission. The idea is to produce a sustainable supply of timber to heat & supply hot water for the entire Hotel complex through a district heating scheme, replacing 9 existing boiler systems which currently use oil & gas. The boiler house is now completed and the first phase of the scheme has proved successful in July 2012.

In 2010 we acquired the field opposite the Hotel. In this we have put a septic tank, which replaces six existing tanks, which will be converted to hold surface water for the gardens.

We have built three reed beds, which filter the Hotel dirty water, returning it to the Spring as clean, usable water. They are also a haven for wildlife.
In 2011 we installed 46 solar panels, which now provide daily electricity for the function and conference barns. We also appointed new waste contractors, and now not just the glass, but all our non-food waste is re-cycled.

The Hotel itself is run with practical green policies in mind. There are plans to replace all lighting systems with LED lighting in the future and to compost all of the Hotel’s food waste.’

And that's why when you arrive, you'll be handed bags for your waste. One for stuff that can't be recycled and one for everything that can. We can all do our bit too!

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Great news. The word is spreading. One of London's leading motorcycle online magazines have picked up on the HUBB UK and are helping to spread the word. The editor has been before. Like it.

You can read the article HERE

And there’s more good news! It’s on the Motorcycle Skills Course this time. Cogs Underwood and David Lobb set this up for the first time last year and I must say it went amazingly well. That’s in spite of having to move the whole thing due to the naff weather we had for the set-up days, which left their course too wet to be used! In typical HUBB UK spirit loads of people mucked into help the guys move it. Good stuff!

Skills Course? Well there are plenty of courses that are aimed at people who know how to ride a bike but want to go to the next stage off road etc. This course is aimed at those who have recently passed their tests or are simply not experienced bikers. For example, those who still worry about riding across a bumpy wet camping field. I remember that – I fell off.

Cogs and David and their crew set up corrugations, slaloms, fake ruts and all sorts of more simple challenges in a loop in Skills Course and Slow Bike race field.

The idea being to give the less experienced motorcyclists the confidence they need to go to the next stage. If you have a go, you’ll have experienced people walking the course with you – speed isn’t the point. It’s taking it easy and learning how to deal with the different obstacles that matters. It works! A couple of the people who went on the course are actually out riding around the world now. Fun!

And today we’ve been informed that Gabe Bolton (Tuareg Rally rider and MD of Zen Overland), and Ollie Lloyd (Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge ride and Owl Racing contender for the Paris Dakar!) will be on hand for a few hours to help guide people around the course.

Both Gabe Bolton and Ollie Lloyd have exhibitor pitches in the Adventure Travel zones. It’s great that they are happy to be away from their stands to give a hand. Please do get to their stands to say hello if you don’t happen to be with them on the course.

Ollie is with us all because he knows how many people in the world of overlanding love to follow the Paris Dakar, be they fans of the 4x4s or the bikes. He's coming to share the fun with us. Like it!

New stuff?

Over the coming weeks we are hoping to be able to post information about some of the Exhibitors who are going to be at the HUBB UK. If you know a little about the companies in advance then you are going to come armed with the right questions for them and with an idea of the overlanding kit or expertise they can help you with.

The first up are Bush Mechanics. But who are they? What do they do? This is what they say:

‘Bush Mechanics inspires the vehicle dependant traveller and teaches them skills so that they can rely on themselves and their vehicles to reach their destination, even when travelling in remote areas.
“Aut viam inveniam aut faciam” – “I will either find a way, or make one”

The Principles of Bush Mechanics

1) Preparation is key to destination
It is vital that you know what to look for when choosing your vehicles; that you understand your
vehicles and know how to maintain and repair them; and that you know what equipment to take with you to do so.

2) Prevention is better than cure
Vehicle servicing and maintenance is paramount to the vehicle dependant traveller, as is good vehicle handling.

3) One road leads to another
Understanding the anatomy of a vehicle leads to understanding how your vehicle works which leads to the ability to fault find.

4) Correct diagnosis is the first step to recovery
Knowing how to fault find i.e. knowing what’s wrong with your vehicle means you can make a repair and / or proceed with care or call for the correct assistance.

5) Necessity is the mother of invention
When there is no other option but to get your vehicle going again yourself, a little confidence and inspiration can go a long way towards enabling safe improvisation.

6) Mend and make do only as long as necessary
All field repairs, should be taken to professionals as soon as is practical’


Bush Mechanics run training courses for people hitting the long road. From the sounds of it a lot of fears can be laid to rest and lateral thinking abilities are going to be enhanced. Perfect.

‘Bush mechanics training provides an understanding of how to keep your vehicle going safely.
It teaches a respect for ones’ vehicles and has a strong emphasis on practical knowledge and wisdom above technical skills. Where proper resources and facilities may not be available, it inspires people to solve practical problems using sometimes unconventional and inventive techniques.

Bush Mechanics has training premises in Devon but can operate globally.’

You’ll find the guys from Bush Mechanics on their stand in the Adventure Travel Zone towards the Orchard – that’s where you’ll find Danny and Fil’s Road Kill Cook out and the live music on Friday and Saturday evening.

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