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[pebbles]

Hogplum

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/268825/hog-plum

[leventhorpe2]

A Vauxhall Astra will be big enough for the bikers, it is the same size as Ford Focus. A Lancia Ypsilon is a tall version of a Fiat Punto, Andrew had one last year.

Peter E

[Simon C]

So how about:

Andrew/Karen - Astra or similar, this can take the bikes when needed

beyond this I don't know.
13 people, or 12 if Cef drops out.
3 more Astras?
or 4 smaller cars?

[Gravityhurts]

Would it be sense to have:
One big car for the bikers/those not addicted to climbing
One car EACH for the houses - so the UpAfterEleven house can get up late and go climbing late, the UpAtAMoreNormalTime house can get up at , er, a more normal time and get the same amount of climbing in plus a siesta and beer at lunch time, and one car for the UpWhileTheMoonIsStillUp house for the proper climbers, insomniacs and those who want to blag climbs they haven't done while no-one was looking and don't want to get caught   (bagsy I be in this house please).

Also if volunteers could drive the cars that correspond with their own sleep patterns... say 2 per house.... or is that getting too complicated?   It's the sunday morning coffee you know

I'm happy to drive for the Dawn Chorus house.

[lithos]

sounds very sensible to me - as long as your organise it :-)

[peteb]

I don't mind driving for the late(st) house. If we're still taking votes for cars, and if were having 1 car per house, I'll vote for something a bit bigger that a Ka.

[Simon C]

Cef's still AWOL so I think we're going to have to assume he's not coming or we'll never get anything booked.

Andrew & Karen:  1 car (suitable for bikes), Focus/Astra size.
Which leaves 12 people.
If we wanted the flexibility to allow (for instance) Tracey & Jules to do their own thing then that would be 1 car, we'd then need to be able to fit 10 people in the remaining cars, which should be fine if they're Focus/Astra-sized. Most of the time it would be 12 people in 3 cars.

So we need 3 Focus/Astras, plus 1 other which might be smaller or might (for an extra 30/40 quid) be the same size.

How does that sound?

[CANUCK]

Sounds good to me! So PeteB and I could drive... we managed in Corsica

[leventhorpe2]

3 Focus & 1 other ok by me.

Peter E

[Gravityhurts]

Sounds good to me! So PeteB and I could drive... we managed in Corsica

If you can drive in Corsica for more then one day without rounding off the corners of the car, you can drive anywhere, anytime, anyhow. its the only place where two cars of 2 metres wide each can pass on a road 2^1/4 metres wide. It's true!

[Simon C]

Andrew & Karen are going to hire a car which will also serve as the biking car.
I'll hire one, probably Astra sized.
We need 2 more I think, one Astra sized, one could be smaller (the one that Tracy/Jules may or may not take if they want a break from climbing).

Regarding costs.
Looking at the small print, the cheapest car hire (via http://www.travelsupermarket.com ) also has the largest excess - 1000 Euros! ie if the car's nicked or you have an accident it could cost up to £1000 or so given current exchange rates.
They'll reduce the excess to zero for a mere 12 Euros per day

Sensible alternatives:
http://www.economycarhire.com - slightly pricier but no excess and 2nd driver included
http://www.dailyexcess.com - cover the excess separately at £4.50 per day (£31.50 for a week)
http://www.insurance4carhire.com - annual policy to cover the excess on any car hire, could be worth it if you intend hiring a car abroad later in the year.  £65 per year world-wide, or £49 for Europe only.

Can someone who know about cars tell me how big a Renault Clio is? Economy Car Hire have one for £178 including full insurance and an extra driver. There's also Fiat Panda for £218, Fiat Bravo for £225, or Fiat Grande Punto for £231.

[lithos]

clio is sort of Ka/old fiesta sized , fine for 4 people pootle about, bit small for 4 people and tons of shite
 
probably ok if we get one of thie,w e can cram the stuff in or bung a bag in someone elses car

remember they never down grade a car !  I think we  (jules and  tracey or pete whoever it was !)
should go for the 178 for a week (it was 330 in norway!!!!)

[leventhorpe2]

From Simons post does this mean that Andrew will hire a car, Simon will hire a car and others are to hire two further cars?

Simon had an old shape Renault Clio last year in Murcia. The new shape is slightly bigger. Fiat Panda is Ford Ka sized inside and has tiny boot but 5 doors. Fiat Grande Punto is new Clio sized. Fiat Bravo is slighly smaller than a Focus.

Peter E

[Simon C]

From Simons post does this mean that Andrew will hire a car, Simon will hire a car and others are to hire two further cars?

Simon had an old shape Renault Clio last year in Murcia. The new shape is slightly bigger. Fiat Panda is Ford Ka sized inside and has tiny boot but 5 doors. Fiat Grande Punto is new Clio sized. Fiat Bravo is slighly smaller than a Focus.

Peter E

Yes - Andrew will hire 1, I will hire 1, the sleepy house will hire 1, and somebody from the other house will hire 1. It probably makes sense to have an extra driver on all of them (except maybe Andrew's?).

I'll send an email to try to get a decision made on who's staying where, so we can make sure that there's someone with a car in each house - lots of people have been silent so far (you know who you are!).

[pebbles]

oh dear, i suppose i could drive, I'm just a big scaredy cat about my ability to cope with driving on the wrong side of the road - being as I can never tell left from right in the first place

[TracyRuns]

just drive down the middle  that's what I did in corsica!

[DaveE]

Hi all, I dont mind driving, and im happy to stay in any house---

does that help? rather little i expect...

[Simon C]

I have booked an Astra-type car through www.arguscarhire.com
(seems it's actually Easy Car, but the price is less than via the Easy website).
Cost is 149.50 Euros, whatever that is today. An extra driver will be 3 Euros per day but we pay for that when we get there.

I have also taken out excess insurance via www.dailyexcess.com for £31.50 (£4.50 per day)
Though when booking the car hire, the 12 Euros per day excess-waiver policy on the summary page, becomes £4.73 per day on the actual booking page, which is not a lot more than the dailyexcess, and is in fact the same policy!

Andrew is booking another car for him and Karen.

Someone from the sleepy house is booking another.

And David Dickinson will book another.

I think we decided that was enough? It'll mean that if Tracey/Jules do there own thing one day there'll be 5 of us in each of the other cars, which should be OK.

[lithos]

Pete B is booking an astra with all the insurance and extra driver = 193 quid.