Orange Surprise
Long Weekend Sept 30th - 2nd October

Written by Ros and Fred Mayer.

Clear directions from Bryce took us easily to his property, “Eulah”, to the north of Orange, and there was the crowd camped in his home paddock, a fire gently smouldering, shade from a pine tree. Bryce kindly invited us to use the house facilities. The garden was redolent with the perfumes of lilacs, deep mauve and white, and plum and apple trees in full bloom. Sheep and goats with kids and plenty of birds- king parrots, rosellas, galahs, swallows and willy- wagtails added to our entertainment.

On Saturday afternoon, we set off to explore Mullion State Forest. This is back towards Orange, then turn off at Clergate and travel along tree lined country lanes. Chad was in the lead. You could see by the deep ruts that the track could become very boggy in wet weather. Fortunately it was dry. Then, yippee, a deep puddle, and you guessed it, in went Chad and there he stayed. No worries, Bryce just drove around him on the dry track, out came a snatch strap and a grunt later Chad’s Rangie was out. An opportunity for a yarn then arose.

The convoy continued through the pine forest. The next challenge, a tricky, dry creek crossing- needs a tight left hand turn avoiding a deep hole on one side and an overhanging branch on the other. A quick prune with the chain saw sorted out one hazard, then a bit of wheelie and bounce, and the creek was behind us.
Up ahead was a steep rocky hill. Bryce took the lead in his modified Range Rover. Three quarters of the way up he stopped had another go at the rock ledge and stopped again. Chad chose the left- hand track that bypassed the last steepest section, to offer assistance. There were some nasty noises coming from under Bryce’s vehicle. Closer inspection revealed a corkscrewed tailshaft, hanging from the diff and the transfer case. The mechanics of the group got to work and disconnected both ends of the tailshaft then Chad towed Bryce up the last 15 metres.

Meanwhile the rest started to ascend following Chad’s route. Quite a steep rocky ascent for the easy way round. John Godden’s Defender had trouble getting purchase on the loose rocks and 4 wheels spinning reduced to two. Something was amiss! On inspection a broken rear axle!
Fortunately Fred was able to go around John and tow him up to the top and into the shade. Whilst Fred’s Defender kept tension on John’s Def, the second mechanical team got under way and removed the axles on John’s Defender.

The Discos- Steve and Dean driving- made a successful ascent.
We continued through the forest, taking an easier route back to “Eulah”, as the two limping vehicles had to make it out in two-wheel drive.
The evening cooled down rapidly after sunset, and the fire was banked up. The talk seemed to centre on football, and the numbers outside thinned down whilst the Final was on.

Sunday was another sunny day- cool to start, then warmed up. Bryce was taking us to explore the Canobalas State Forest on the southern side of Orange, this time in his Defender. We stopped at Chad’s place to collect him and admire the collection of Land Rovers in the back garden.
Chad led us through some pretty country, some pastoral, some flowering fruit trees, then into the pine forest and along a variety of tracks, up and down. Some would be very challenging in the wet. Good convoy practise.
We lunched on top of Bald Mt. The fire tower gave a 360 degree view.

The afternoon again had a variety of topography, with pine forest and native vegetation on the steeper slopes and in the gullies. One steep hill required a wide sweep to negotiate a rock ledge, then zigzag back to the other side to avoid some deep ruts, then cross back again over the ruts to continue up the hill. Steve missed his footing on the last cross over and couldn’t proceed forward.
Dean was behind him, and there was a sturdy gum tree up ahead. Dean was able to come up closer to Steve and using Dean’s equipment the team rigged up a sling shot recovery that got Steve under way.

We drove on out of the forest, back through Orange and on to the campsite. The fire had been well cared for by the Godden’ and Kris Burdett, who had remained in camp.

Monday. The Godden’s elected to take a gentle trip home and the Flashes left too. So, Bryce, again in his Defender, took us to Ophir, an old gold mining area. We walked around the track with information plaques and explored into mine shafts and tunnels. It’s an interesting walk and you can see remains of buildings and water races dotted all over the area.

After lunch, we set off for the Bridle Track with Dean and his Qld visitors, Dan and Stan. Bryce and Hugh returned to “Eulah”.

Thank you Bryce for your hospitality and an entertaining and enjoyable weekend.