Met at Broadford and went up to property at Tallarook. Went over stall recovery, did some work with snatch straps, also worked on a number of winching techniques and recovered a rolled vehicle. Everyone had taken some helpful lessons home for the day and even taught some old dogs some new tricks.
Met at Broadford train station – six vehicles in total. Met Lee at Jamieson around 9am. Went to Mt Terrible where there was some snow and the kids made snowmen. Found some river crossings. Had lunch at Knockwood. Some cars left from the trip there and returned home for the day.
The others continued on towards Lazarinis Spur and found some bigger river crossings. Some good wet tracks; bit of a challenge. Still driving into the night and didn’t get to the pub until 6:30pm. Had a good night. Next day left towards Matlock where there was lots of snow. Headed towards Cornhill Road towards Big River.
Good weather all weekend. A couple of vehicles had some problems, though a good weekend had by all. Paul did a good job with organising.
Met up at Camp No.1 about midday, set up camp. Some went for a drive in the afternoon, others stayed back at camp. Wet day, but rain held off a bit in the evening.
Eight vehicles on the trip; Mark & Ashley, Matt, Shane, Wazza & Jocey, Simmo & Jen, Scott, Simon and our guest Mark in an early GQ Patrol. Met in Broadford, filled up in Mansfield. Bit of rain on the drive up, Scott & Simmo reporting that there was plenty of rain that night/morning, Had morning tea at Tomahawk Hut and dropped the tyres down. Followed No. 3 Road (bit too bumpy for a road) to meet Circuit Road, then followed that all the way around to Bindaree Falls. Long drive on 2WD dirt road but the falls were pretty spectacular with the short (400m) walking track leading in behind the falls. Had lunch at the falls carpark. Back up to Circuit Road, then up Monument Track. First and only bit of low range 4wd for the day. Headed on to Craigs Hut; heaps of other tourists – bikes, horses, 4WDs. Still pretty spectacular looking views with the hut and the backdrop. Made our way down Speculation Rd and stopped at King Hut for a look. Decided this was a pretty good campsite and pulled up stumps despite it only being mid arvo. Mark R managed to snap the joint where the pitman arm connects to the tie rod. He was trying to manouver his car in position at the camp! Quick decision was made to leave the vehicle there and for someone to take him in to Mansfield to call RACV. Rest of the afternoon was spent trying to get the fire warm, which it eventually did by the time people started going to bed.
Next morning Scott volunteered to take Mark in to Mansfield. Our guest Mark took off with them also while the rest of the crew headed off for some 4wding. The main group went in to Pineapple Flat, up Burnt Top Tk, Wild Horse Gap Tk, then had morning tea where Wild Horse Gap Tk meets up with Lake Cobbler Road (Wild Horse Gap). Headed down Lake Cobbler Road then cut across to the top end of Lake William Hovell via Basin Tk, Long Spur Tk, Sandy Tk and Top Crossing Tk, Didn’t go in to see the lake, instead turned up Buckland Spur Tk and stopped at Tomahawk Hut to air up and head home. On the way home, back in phone reception, we touched base with Mark, Ashley & Scott to find that they were all safe with Mark’s hilux out of the forest waiting for repairs the following day in Mansfield.
Lots of beach driving, 9 cars attended. Beach was quite busy. Campsite was really good, had plenty of room. Had a campfire on the beach. Drove down to Carpenters Rocks, very soft sand. At one point 7 out of 8 cars were bogged in the sand. The next day went from Southend on to Robe and lunch at the pub. Went back along some tracks found some big dunes. Paul had a canoe towing through the sand, which was quite enjoyable. Paul D nearly had a roll over on the beach but easily avoided the situation. Next day was for relaxing, done some fishing and just enjoyed the atmosphere.
Simon and Mark met at Broadford, headed to Benalla then over to Myrtleford and down to Abbeyard for lunch. A few cars out on the roads/tracks. Followed East Buffalo Track, onto Shultzes Tk, up to Mt Selwyn and could see burning off in the Wonnangatta Valley. Down Wombat Spur and encounterd a interesting water crossing exit at Humpffray River. Got into Wonnangatta around 5 o’clock and made camp. Nice quite spot. David made it to camp 12:30am.
Next day had a look at the cemetery and site of the old homestead. A lot of traffic on the tracks going up Hernes Spur. Followed Cynthia Range dropped down to Talbotville around midday to meet up with Matt & Waz. Found a perfect camp spot and made camp. Then went for a drive in the afternoon up to Bulltown and the Crooked River track where Wazza had done his first 15 or so water crossings.
Next day packed up early and headed up South Basalt Knob Track. Got up to Blue Rag, met with a beautiful view but no real 4×4 challenge. Then headed home via Bright, Myrtleford and the Hume Fwy.
Met at Broadford headed towards Beechworth. Did some tracks, nothing was lining up on maps but eventually made camp after some detours. Spent the evening drinking wine and nibbling on food. In the morning found that we were camping amongst goldmines. Sat in the river during day quite relaxing and had a good time. Packed up Sunday, and had some rain on Saturday night which kept dust down the next day. Some good driving tracks then headed to Yackandandah, then on towards Mt Stanley with perfect weather conditions. Then made the trip home.
Started trip in bright, the guys did the blue rag trip that afternoon; quite busy. Once at the summit everybody left and they had it to themselves. On the way back towards Talbotville stayed there the first night, perfect weather. Left Talbotville and went up Cynthia Range track to try and find a hut. Then headed onto Billy Goats Tk, which had some good driving though Richard was getting hung up a few times. Got to the summit and on to the Pinnacles. Tried to see a few huts, some were more difficult than others and then stayed at Mitchells Flat for the night. Was a good trip had by all.
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