Watagans - Tuff Trip
August 2005

Written by Alex Jones.

The trip started ominously when Max insisted I write the trip report despite the fact that I was the penultimate arrival to Waitara Maccas. I may have made everyone wait while I filled up with diesel, but I still dispute the decision. So once past the cemetery to pick up the last of the 9 cars, 20 people, & 5 dogs entourage, and barely into the Watagan State Forest, it did not take us long to discover that the entrance to the track was closed for the two wheeled version of the sport.

Just after turning around on the dirt road we got a call to pull over and soon realised why-Simon’s simex had a small log protruding from the centre of the tread. About twenty tire plugs later and we were on the road again, the only problem was it was bitumen as we discovered plan B was also closed; bugger! We had little choice but to follow the dirt road along the fence line with highway pressures and go the long way to slippery rock.

Within five minutes of the dirt Pete’s Patrol jammed yet another small log into his sill so he couldn’t go forward or reverse. It didn’t take too long to remove the intruder (the stick that is, not the patrol) and get back on the road again, albeit with a little cosmetic damage. When we finally got to the first section which required gearing lower than third high range, we discovered an abandoned Hilux hung up in our path. With a bit of rut hopping, or in Chris’s case rut jumping, we all managed to get around it. Not without leaving a little memento to assert Landrover’s presence.

Soon enough we found the first challenge for the day in the form of a soupy boghole followed by some steep ruts leading out. Max and Gary lead the way through the mud and walked up the succeeding hill, giving no indication to the gremlins the mud had to offer. It ending up swallowing Pete’s Patrol, mine and Andy’s Defender, Chris’s Rangie and my two dogs that decided they’d project themselves from my door as I opened it to retrieve my snatch strap while in the middle of the mud. After watching plenty of muddy boots, Paul took the smartest line and was the only unlocked to car to surge through and successfully straddle the ruts, while Simon, in usual fashion hardly spun a wheel on his way to the top. Ash put on a show, & made it, assisted by an LSD.

We negotiated our way through the next section of the track which consisted of some rocky climbs and sporadic mud holes. A couple of the holes proved to be deeper than they first appeared as there was some tow bar bashings on the way in and belly scraping on the way out. After pulling the Patrol out of a couple of them we managed to push through, looking forward to getting to the bitumen so we would finally get to slippery rock road. So we could at least make the most of the twenty four simex’s on the trip still rock solid at highway pressure.

After jamming in a handful more tire plugs to Simon’s prematurely deflating tire, we got to the base of slippery rock road and took the opportunity to air down and grab lunch and the mandatory cup of tea. I was rudely interrupted mid-sandwich by the squealing of tires as Max was already attacking the first rock step. Max and Gary accounted for the first two steps again with an ease that inspired a false sense of security onto the following vehicles. The rock step was big enough by itself, but combined with a narrow track and a two tonne boulder a few metres past the step directly in the driving line provided us with a worthy challenge.

After a few attempts Ash got over them as did Paul. Chris threw his Rangie at the first step and bounced his way up first attempt without too much crashing or bashing. He left that for the next one. Once his bulbar left its mark on the rock and his front wheels were over the top, the rears wheels bounced up and then unfortunately to the right and the right rear quarter panel landing square on a rock. Simon strolled up the first step but he replicated Chris’s path on the second and landed with a good crunch of the bumper bar as the rock claimed its second victim. After a quick snatch and inspection it turned out to be pretty minor cosmetic damage. Nothing Simon’s rear bar had not experienced before. I needed a pull over the first step and joined the rest of the group at the back but after an unsuccessful attempt at the first step Pete decided to leave the patrol at the bottom.

On the final obstacle slippery rock road had to offer, all undamaged trucks that attempted got up. Again, Andy, Simon, Max and & Gary made it look like a walk in the park while Ashe got up but left another 1000km of rubber behind. After a little road building us mere unlocked mortals had a shot. Chris was again driving as if it were stolen but a worrying bang mid wheel spin spelt a broken axle. Once Paul got over a preliminary tree root he got up no worries with myself spinning my way up not too far behind.

It was time to turn around and head down what we’d come up. Despite a few crashing of towbar and/or bullbar intruding on the serenity, the reverse trip was achieved with minimum fuss. Once aired back up we said our goodbyes and departed seeing what we thought would be the last of each other. However on the return trip to the highway the bitumen claimed two victims. A frustrated Simon removed his tyre as his plugs were not satisfying their job requirements and ended up with three simex’s and an MTR for the 80 kph crawl home.

Meanwhile, after exiting a roundabout a foreboding bang resonated through the frontend of my truck. After consulting with Andy, Chris and Paul we decided to pull of the front driveshaft in the likely event the front diff stuffed itself. Just the job you want to be doing in fading torchlight after a long day-thanks for the hand Paul!

All in all it was a great day, with slippery rock conquered, although next month we’ll be back to tackle the section that was taken away by the bikes.