Orange Surprise
27th & 28th August 2005

Written by Bryce R Messner.

We met at Clive’s shop at Lucknow and everyone was there before the scheduled 10.00am meeting time. I had gone up the day before to rectify a leak in my long range tank, which was successfully accomplished, thanks Clive.

We headed out the back way on a scenic route aiming our noses towards Clergate. Soon into the off road section I found a deep rutted section and immersed myself in it. Like a dill & still in high range with no momentum, you guessed it well & truly bogged (Pic 1)
What a good time for morning tea, while the cameras began to snap, snatch straps were being rolled out and connected to each car ready for what was to come. Me out of the bog, I drive the car to a hump where I roll under & manually engage the diff lock (yes still not fixed).

We got down the steep rutted section Ok ducking low pine tree branches & turning down the fence line, slipping sliding along the very wet track. A right turn coming up and into vision, the corner from hell “The Black Bog”. It’s 60 metres through to the other side and looks very ominous.

I tackle it with plenty of grunt, wheels spinning ploughing through the peat like bog of black goo, with a rooster tail following me & successfully get through this time. Next is Hugh to follow taking a different line, his right wheel falls into a hole and loosing momentum is stuck securely. I snatch him out without a hitch. (Pic 2).

Next John tries and into the same hole as Hugh and he also stuck like a fly in syrup, Hugh snatches him out OK. Chad & Dean make it through OK, Dean quite spectacularly ends up in a broadside slide narrowly missing the waiting cars by metres. (Pic 3)

Further down the track we come to the uphill steps. A very long rocky jumble of sandstone boulders & rocks, making the ascent dodgy at best. A straight line here is impossible and a cross tack the only feasible line. I make it but not without some slipping, my tail hanging out looking for traction, but the maxi-drive doing its job and driving me forward and ever up.

Chad in the Rangie tries next bouncing his way almost to the top but the last ledge is just too much and some road building needed to get him under his own steam. (Pic 4)

Johns turn and he tackles the rocky hill on exactly the same line and also comes to grief on the last step. Again we rebuild the steps to aid his ascent

Likewise Deans turn and exactly the same spot bringing him unstuck as well. This time though Dean has managed to wedge a medium rock hard onto his sump. Clive helps him manoeuvre off the obstacle (Pic 5).

We then move onto the next obstacle, the hill from hell. It’s a very steep dip then a loose rocky uphill even steeper. I take a run in 2nd low, climbing steadily up with just a hint of slipping but my right wheel takes the wrong line and lifts in the air and I have stalled. Well know its time to panic, the car is teetering and looking for an excuse to roll over on its roof and an awkward slide back down the hill. Both Clive & I are perfectly still until the car settles and stops moving. Clive gingerly alights from the car to survey our predicament. He guides me ever so slowly back down the hill, pushing on the left side to stop a roll over, until we are safe. He tells me that the car was resting on the roll of the tyre had it blown or rolled of the rim we were dead, that’s four wheel driving, and by the way the colour eventually came back into my face. We made our exit around the moderate way out & up the hill the easy way and onto our lunch spot.

Some where after leaving our lunch spot and getting onto the boundary track where all the mud sections are, we picked up three young trail bike riders about 15. I’m not a cop I didn’t ask why they weren’t licensed or registered they were having fun watching our antics all the way round and there were some.

We came across many deep holes, some challenging to say the least, had us all slipping all over the road getting absolutely filthy. Then on one nasty section Dean just had it hanging out too long and too hard and got bogged / hung up in deep water. John backed up and snatched him of easily after we took a dozen pictures of him in his predicament. (Pic 6)

Further along plenty of opportunity to play again this time Chad lost forward momentum, but easily backs up and went closer to the fence line and out. Hugh is starting to enjoy himself not weighed down with his heavy steel touring box & roof top tent; he gets right into it. (Pic 7)

Moving of from here we round a bend to be confronted with a lake of water 30 mtres across & long, but we all make it through with great pics taken here.

We move out back onto the graded road and head down and back towards Ophir our designated campsite for the night. But before that Clive remembers a track leading of to a waterfall not far off the track. It turns out to be a few k’s and we notice not very well used track at that. We eventually make it and the short walk from the car takes us to a look out overlooking these great falls, and luck would have it actually running from recent rain. (Pic 8) (Pic 9)

We go to move off and back up but Hugh’s car fails to fire up. Clive literally climbs up & onto the motor and starts banging the starter motor with a FBH. This doesn’t work so he sticks his hand down and jiggles the wires and the car starts, bad connection is all. Moving out we travel down a back lane eventually coming to the turn off to Ophir. A little further down we turn towards Tinkers Point looking for a campsite, but ignore these and follow Summer Hill Creek to the main campsite. The first one has a small group there, so we move off to our old original site and can’t believe it’s free, what great luck the best site in the area. The view from our tent site is straight down stream over what appears to be a lake but an illusion because of the weir across the ford, you have to wake up to this (I will run a trip here next year). (Pic 10)

The night part of our trip starts after tea and when Neal arrives in his County about 7.00pm, and we go looking for our track to this very interesting area. Its funny how when you get into a forest area in the dark its impossible to make out any off our turns. Needless to say my copilot reading our track notes says turn right at the turn left mark didn’t help. We drove around in the dark for 2 ½ hours in the middle of a pine forest for all intents and purpose lost. Well not quite thanks to Mr Magellan & his Meridian. The little screen found a track that had bread crumbs showing and we were able to get back to the road, collect a ton of wood and saw us back at camp for some serious drinking and chat time in front of a huge fire and perfect winter night, before spring changes it.

Sunday arrives and we break camp at 9.45am and head back to locate our lost track from last night. We arrive at the turn we should have made, turn left and find our way to our secret track in amongst plantation pine but with a difference. It’s terribly overgrown and very rutted with wash aways, gullies and creek crossings and in some spots you can’t see the sun. (Pic 12)

We stumble & slide as we make our way along, coming to a right angle hard right bend where we all have to three point turn or four point turn if you’re a 130. (Pic11)

Up the incline we go until we hit our fence, then right then right. This eventually brings us to our cross-forest trek, until we had ventured into it, not a tyre track to be seen with good reason. It winds deeply into the forest with hints of light stabbing through the canopy, with equally dark skinned forest wallabies darting out of our lights. There is a massive tree down across the track, the reason for no previous tyre tracks on our track. We head down hill, picking our way through the very tight unseen track that is there, but the billions of pine needles covering our recce path and we make it to the other side.

We drive out and back to civilisation coming out at Mullion Creek community. As the time is getting on we decide to call it a day and head home breaking off at the Robin Hood Hotel. I go back to rectify a lighting problem at Clive’s house with Hugh in tow. We don’t find it but I decide to push on home any way.

Boy what a great weekend I have not had that much fun since the last time, but then I get out there and do it with my mates. Thanks guys for making it a perfect weekend in the Aussie bush (not Ozzie as I saw someone spell it once the m*r*n).