Bloggsy’s Southern Adventure
Somehow I managed to arrive last….again. The instructions were very clear, 8am for an 830am departure, I was sure my arrival at 815am would have been safe. I will be the petitioning the committee to change the rules – such that the trip report will allocate to the 3rd person to arrive.
A very big thank you to Bloggsy for a superb day; well researched some great scenery and tracks and masterfully led throughout.
Lesson’s learned
Someone once said something about history repeating itself – so it may be worthwhile reminding ourselves of some salient lessons from the Dwellingup Explorer:
Lesson 1: If the car before you could not make it through with the same lift, lockers and tyres you have......... YOU WILL END UP ATTACHED TO THE SAME RECOVERY DEVICE USED TO EXTRACT HIM
Although we remembered this lesson, we generally failed to capture its true essence, instead taking it as a motto of comfort and encouragement – at least there is recovery equipment in front of me for the…..inevitable recovery. Many of us at least had adopted the habit of carrying winch controllers, straps, and shackles within reach of the driver’s seat. Only one supremely confident member (having watched 5 extractions in front of him) still opted to leave his winch controller buried deep in the back of his truck!
Everyday we learn something new – and from this trip we add one further lesson to the developing WPC Guidebook of off-road etiquette:
Lesson 7: When driving your car at the RRA (“Random Ropes Angle”), it is essential to have at least 2 (ideally large) WPC Members standing on your side-steps, just to provide that critical element of balance.
We also saw this in practice early on Saturday – with a number of burly lads hanging off the side of Almost Dun’s car, providing the traction required to reverse out of a hole in the road (a rather deep one).
The Trip Report
An impressive line-up of 13 cars (I think that is right) left the Pinjarra Bakery at 0830, tasked to locate the Brunswick Lion which heralded the turn-off the bitumen. With club events of this size the front end of the convoy departs small towns before the last vehicle has entered the town. We certainly turned-heads, attracted the bird from a couple of Toyota drivers and seemingly annoyed a Pulsar driver immensely. This aggression contrasted with the Sunday drivers we were stuck behind today……..it’s grass and another cow, just how slowly do you need to drive to catch a second glimpse of it.
Before long we had aired down and were facing the first off-roading of the day, a water crossing followed by a steep looking hill climb. Bloggsy was quoted as saying, “it’s ankle deep, and don’t worry there is nothing difficult on the track today”. It was indeed doable, but heralded the theme for the day, some really good quality tracks which required attention and skill.
Then a first for me – holes in the road – I had never really thought about it before – but if water flows under a track, then presumably it was a bridge, which presumably could collapse in parts, leaving car sized holes. We built a total of 2 or 3 bridges on Saturday – they were not engineering marvels and will not win any awards – but the careful interlacing of available trees and fallen timber was impressive – importantly it withstood the combined weight of 13 Patrols. Almost Dun was tempted to give us some fun when venturing too close to the side of one of these holes – but as per lesson 7 above – he was quickly on his way with no damage done.
Nazarenas - Bridge.mp4Lunch was at a stellar position on a dammed river – just stunning – a great chance for refreshments, kids to play and the group to enjoy the sunshine – a better day could not be designed.
http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd431/Nazarenas/Bloggsys%20Southern%20Adventure/Lunch3.jpghttp://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd431/Nazarenas/Bloggsys%20Southern%20Adventure/Lunch2.jpghttp://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd431/Nazarenas/Bloggsys%20Southern%20Adventure/Lunch1.jpgI whispered in Bloggsy’s ear during lunch that we were yet to recover any vehicles, if he could see his way clear to toughen up the tracks after lunch.
Perhaps I spoke to soon – within minutes we found some mud – upon closer inspection it appeared to defy Lesson 1 – “it can’t be that hard [muffled under the breath – perhaps it was the driver]”. 6 recoveries later – Lesson 1 stands.
Now some people may ask where did all of this fun occur? The answer is – somewhere between Brunswick and Wokalup. According to my GPS we were riding on a blue arrow on a green screen. I am sure Bloggsy will enlighten those who want precise details. But now we were heading in to an area I do know – the region around Staples Line.
Having spent the morning building bridges….we were faced with the prospect of destroying a bridge. Some turkey had parked his Commodore in a tight creek crossing at the bottom of what is reportedly a really good hill climb. Now we did not record lesson 8 as a result of this adventure – burly WPC members standing on the side of a car do an excellent job exerting downward force – the same group are less good trying to lift a car. Let’s face it, many of us have been gifted with some weight – use it as it was intended – to correct the RRA. A secondary plan was hatched – have my91GQ use his 35’s to flatten the Commodore – to our dismay he did not!
Not to be discouraged, another route was plotted to Staples Line. One of Beachy’s mates, Mr. Zag, was in the area; he threw us off track a couple of times. Soon enough we were facing the mighty Staples Line (sorry to those guys who departed at 4pm – we farewell you just before Staples).
Staples was at least fairly dry – so the group managed it without recovery – but a great fun and technically challenging track. Of note is a particular member known for choosing the more difficult line – and assuming that he can drive in ruts no matter the depth! Then there was mudflap hill (we would return on Sunday to recover Ropes mudflap). It would not be a real track unless a mud-hole was involved. My91GQ valiantly stepped up to the plate with his 35’s, but even after a number of serious attempts he could not pass it (was fun to watch him try!). As evening was approaching a few cars tended to aim for the mud on what was left of the track prior to the air-up point.
The day was long – departing just prior to dark – but wasn’t it fun.
The “After Party”
Not content with a day of driving, SPN WRC, Ropes and Grover continued on to camp. SPN WRC had identified a camp-site not too far away, but darkness falls quickly in the woods and before long we had the opportunity to test the merits of different driving lights.
Not content with the easy path SPN WRC had kept a little surprise up his sleave, a creek crossing (“it wasn’t too deep last time”), in the dark, next to an occupied campsite (in other words an audience). The ingredients were all there for trouble – although with his expert spotting we were able to clear the water and locate camp.
A gem of a campsite with all of the amenities – running water (a creek), air-conditioning (the radiator fan mounted on a tree), etc. It was late, but before long dinner was cooked, the fire was roaring and we felt entitled to a small tipple. 2 tipples later, we were very tired, but were very cautious to say good night to each other (Lesson 5).
A leisurely Sunday start……prior to “Operation Recover Mud Flap”, a nice drive around before driving half way up Staples to recovery the lost mudflap. I was keen to reconnect with a few tracks and dragged the boys on the back-road to the top of Staples. As always, a few challenges appeared, the RRA, fallen trees with requisite track formation, and ultimately a heavily rutted hill (of which only SPN WRC tackled).
Nazarenas - SPNWRCatplay.mp4SPN WRC has coined the phrase “we are not here to go shopping”, which is absolutely true, although the more I think about it; I am forced to conclude that we are all required to go shopping on Monday morning. Surely AutoPro could offer a “morning after pack”, containing all of the requisite fasteners, nuts, bolts, screws and other attachment devices for all of the plastic bits hanging off the sides and below a Patrol. There would be a line of sheepish Patrol owners a mile long. I won’t name the member in need (it is not me on this occasion), but I just can’t grasp the fiddly awkward plastic clip things required to re-fit a mudflap.
Finally, a quick break at a peaceful campsite, before way-pointing a killer hill. This hill is a day-trip in itself.
Thanks to all who attended with special thanks to Bloggsy and SPN WRC (who organised the campsite, cooked the food and “coordinated” the cleaning of my headlights).
