Ourimbah State Forest - Tuff Trip
Sunday 2nd April 2006

Written by Max Peglar.

Today’s destination was Ourimbah State Forest. It’s not that big an area, but has a few interesting tracks to keep us occupied. As it turned out we were done in half a day – the earliest TT finish ever! With a bigger group though, it could have been a lot longer.

The Sydneysiders met up at Waitara Golden Arches, got away on time & then met up with the Coasters at the F3 Ourimbah rest area. Everyone except Chris were on road tyres, nothing too aggressive today. With trips planned for Easter, no-one wanted a damage bill either. So, a couple of introductions & we were underway. Without a camera unfortunately.

Ourimbah is exactly what the Tuff Trips started with – right on the limit of a standard car’s capability. If we chose our line very carefully, we would generally be okay. Get complacent, & it was a case of slipping into ruts, banging the tail on a rock step, etc. A couple of us got caught out.

There were also a few puddles around after recent rain, nothing serious. But the sandstone would be damp, offering maybe little grip. The sandstone that makes up the Sydney basis seems to change from day to day, depending on rainfall, shade etc etc. In drought it can be powdery, with little grip. When waterlogged of course, it’s also slippery. But in between it seems to me there’s an optimal moisture content that can offer quite good grip. Every day and every day is different.

I digress. We explored one descent into the shrubbery that wasn’t found on the recce. Very steep & rutted, & very entertaining. Everyone got back up okay, but I found the my tyres just fitted for the desert weren’t up to this exercise – with both lockers engaged the car every so slowly just followed the camber off the track into the weeds without going forward. Twice. A bit of momentum though was all it took to get past this embarrassment.

Another ascent was too much for the unlocked cars, & a snatch or diversion along the chicken track was needed. It was very short, only a couple of car lengths, and badly eroded on the passengers side with a bank on the drivers side. I’ve seen a Nissan flop here before with another group. Too much bravado, too little inexperience, too much momentum when it got ugly, and over it went. No such drama amongst LROC members! Ross got 99% of the way which was a bloody good effort without lockers and without aggressive tyres. He needed a snatch for maybe 12 inches.

The last hill of the day was also eroded at the base of a particular tree. Now this tree had glass around it. Slip into the rut & I'm sure damage would result.

It was one of those difficult choices. Steer high & away from the tree, & you’d risk sliding into the rut & clobbering the said tree. Steering close to the tree meant straddling the rut to keep the car upright. It needed crawling as slowly as possible, as close as possible. On the recce Chris & I went down this hill as well. That was harder I think, trying to control the lurch that might add to the glass fragments.

In the end our group chose both lines to get up, without befriending the tree. But Chris’s rear diff let go. And he wasn’t trying that hard at the time, so it was a blessing in disguise that this dodgy diff assembly revealed itself before the Simpson Desert in a couple of weeks.

So that effectively brought us to an end. Chris went home to get acquainted with diff oil, while Andy, Leila, Geordie & myself went home for an impromptu BBQ & watched the Australian Grand Prix.

All in all a good day. Must remember the camera next time!