Land Rover Owners Club Sydney
Advanced Driver Training Course

30th April to 1 May 2005

The weekend began at 9.30am at the Mobil Station on the Great Western Highway at Raglan, just short of Bathurst. It was a cloudless, crisp and beautiful morning. All were on or near time and so, after initial introductions, we headed off for Briar Station at 9.50.

We arrived at Briar Station around 10.25 being only 26km north of Bathurst along the Sofala Road. We headed down into the valley appreciating the views of the rolling hills far into the distance on that clear day. The trail in was interesting in itself and was a portent of things to come.

We quickly set up camp on a grassy flat adjacent to a dry watercourse. After Terry told us he’d not brought his anti snoring device, several campers moved their tents out to the edge of the campsite. We were immediately adopted by one of the station dogs who stayed with us all weekend. She was quite a character.

Having quickly set up camp, we drove off for a training warm up. Fred headed down an overgrown trail and disappeared into the dry creek like a rabbit down a hole. The creek was conveniently just wider than a Defender/Disco and about as deep. There was only one way we could go and so we carefully wended our way along the boulder-strewn creek, exiting via a tricky, tight, hard-left, sandy ramp.

We returned to camp for a brief lunch at 12.30 and headed off again half an hour later. The first scenario of the weekend was delayed by one of several impromptu real rescues. A part of the creek, which had looked dry as a bone, had an underlying boggy part in which Glen got stuck. An easy snatch from the rear enabled us to proceed to the planned scenario of needing to manoeuvre a vehicle ‘stuck in a creek’.

After manhandling the vehicle, we turned to the base of the steep, rock strewn, northern hill to work out how to drag an incapacitated vehicle stuck half way up the hill.

After this we all headed up the hill to the top. The large rocks and steep slope made this difficult but more so as two thirds of the way up there was a dog leg left with two large rocks in the middle of the trail. Michael and Rudi tried to move the rocks with their diffs with varying success. Matt and Fred got flat tyres on the way up, puncturing their sidewalls. At the top of the hill, we learnt how to belay an incapacitated vehicle down a hill.

On the way down the hill, Glen managed to get hung up on one of the diff killer rocks in the dog leg. Darren pulled him off the rock and in the process of reversing, Glen pinned Terry’s arm against a tree, luckily without sustaining significant injury.

As Matt came down the hill, there was a heart - in - mouth moment for those watching at the dog leg as his rear left wheel left the ground and teetered perilously downhill. Once all were down, Matt set off for Lithgow and we headed back to camp along another creek line and skirting a small dam. Third through, Darren decides to take a sightly shorter route and slipped sideways into the dam shallows, much to the amusement of all. With beer in hand, we watched as Glen snatched Darren out after a couple of attempts. Those through watched hopefully as the remaining vehicles negotiated the edge of the dam and were disappointed that all made it through unscathed.

A friendly happy hour ensued shortly thereafter, followed by dinner and great campfire conversation.

Sunday morning arrived clear and cold with a light south-westerly blowing. After breakfast, we set off to rescue another vehicle stuck in another creek. We then headed up an over the southern hill. After clearing a fallen tree on the trail, we descended a steep slope covered with large rocks and small steps. Whilst all descended without incident, it was not without noting the benefits of a manual diesel in making a controlled descent.

The easy route was not quite as easy as envisioned, as it had several washaways requiring carefully guided navigation. This team returned to camp at 1.30 for lunch. By 2.45 we were becoming worried as to the whereabouts of the other five. Nick had had trouble ascending, requiring a tactical retreat that saw him slide off the trail, almost butting up to a tree. This required a sideways drag by Fred Mayer, to bring him back on the trail. The team then ascended without further problems except for Glen who got a flat, not returning to camp till after 3pm.

So, a fantastic weekend was had by all. New friends made, new skills gained, exciting activities undertaken and no real damage done. Our thanks to Fred Mayer, Peter and Terry for organising and running such a great weekend, the giving of their time and preparedness to share their knowledge and skills.

Malcom Crabb