Saturday, December 7, 2013

St Barbara's Parade

St Barbara's Parade is part of St Barbara's Festival, which honours the miners' lives lost in the search of minerals in the Goldfields region. This year, the club has chosen Australian Christmas as the theme.

When deciding which was the runt aka Rudolph to lead the "pack" of "reindeers", the choice was me since I am the only softroader and the smallest vehicle in the club, I make a perfect Rudolph.
 
 We were "reined" together by tinsels after we got around the roundabout so unfortunately no pictures of that.

Our float. Gumtree was the Aussie version of the Christmas tree. Branches beside the sleigh represent the Australian bush. We were thinking of putting some dust on the side of the sleigh but didn't end up doing it. The strong winds were a concern but it turned out brilliantly!

After our part of the parade was done, we waited for the mining vehicles to make an appearance. This is the time of the year where these magnificent trucks are let out in the centre of town, demonstrating their prowess. No wonder all the truckies want to drive these trucks.

The mining version of a bulldozer.

 This one alone costs $8 million. The dump truck.

Welcome to the town of Kalgoorlie, home of the biggest open cut gold mine in Australia.

My next off road trip will be in February so until then, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Bossy's Mods

Bossy has had a few mods added to make it more capable off road. There are still more mods to come. For a complete list of mods and the progress of them, check out the mods on the Australian X-trail Forum.

D'Entrecasteaux National Park, Western Australia

My 4wd club was off to the D'Entrecasteaux National Park for the first week of the school holidays from 28th Sept to 4th Oct. The Pajero towing a camper and I started off from Kal before the Paj had problems with its 4wd just 40mins out of Kal and had to turn back to get it checked out with no guarantee that it would come on the trip. As 2 other vehicles were meeting us at the campground I had to push on and keep going. Before I headed into Norseman, the Paj said they were still coming on the trip! Problem not completely fixed but good enough. Nap, lunch and fuel at Norseman while waiting for them.

After Salmon Gums we took Rolland Rd, a dirt road and short cut to Albany. Stopped at Ravensthorpe for fuel. It has to be the best road I've been on for a long time. So much better than the Great Eastern Highway. As we were 3hrs behind schedule, it was late when we got into Albany so we camped at Kalgan River Chalets. Rain made the whole week interesting.

The Kalgan River Chalet overlooked the Oyster Harbour Bay. If it was sunny and not raining it would be a beautiful scene to wake up to.

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We met up with the Jackaroo and NT Paj at camp. Shannon campground is fantastic for a week or more stay. It has flush toilets, hot showers and other amenities. Water is not suitable for drinking and there is ample firewood.

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Since it had been raining there was bound to be lots of debris on the roads and the tracks and water filled potholes.

We already knew ahead of time that Summertime Track, Fisherman Track to Broke Inlet were closed for the season and Moore's Track closed due to flooding. First stop Monday was a trip to the Northcliffe visitor centre to get the latest on the tracks. Then off to Windy Harbour and the beach. We went on the beach but the lead Paj wasn't keen to go any further as the sand was getting softer as we went along. We didn't take risks on this trip even though we were in a convoy. I haven't had any problems on the sand at this point with tyres down to 20psi but when turning around to get out, I got stuck where the Jackaroo and NT Paj (who were behind me) made the 3 point turn. Lowered tyre pressure down to 14 psi and didn't have any problems making my way out. Could have used the Max Trax but nah.......

We then took the Fisherman Track to the Gardner River which was flooded and wanted to see how far we could go before we had to turn around. Since the river was flooded and we didn't know how far or how deep the water was, we decided not to proceed. None of the vehicles had snorkels. A couple vehicles did cross while we are assessing but again the distance was the issue. The hut on the way was flooded too and we were recommended by the visitors centre not to cross.

Gardner River
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There were steep dunes if we kept going on Fisherman's Track but the Paj did a quick reccy and said sand was very soft and were telltale signs of people getting bogged in the same spot. With that we turned around, did a couple of dirt tracks and took the back track back to camp instead of using the highway and it was an interesting drive with debris and shadows over the tracks.

Since my tablet is with my sister in Perth, I'm trying to remember where we went.

Day 2 was raining so we just took the Karri scenic drive and just did the tourist thing around Pemberton stopping at Cascade Falls, Big Brook Dam and the Karri tree among other stops.

Karri tree, Big Brook Dam, Cascade Falls and Big Tree Grove
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Camp fire time! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR



On Wednesday, one of the kids was sick so it was off to the hospital in Manjimup for the parents but for the rest of us, it was a supply run and to get something for the cold nights! After the hospital trip, we proceed to Broke Inlet and Gladstone Falls. Gladstone Falls is only accessible by 4wd. It was a magnificent view! We were trying to get to Gladstone Falls by cross Deep River. Forget it with the fast currents and deep water. Took the other way around instead. Since I haven't replaced my bash plate from the Holland Track, the plastic plate was fitted as a temporary measure but I knew it wasn't going to last long and it came off somewhere on the way out of Gladstone Falls.

Next stop was Fernhook Falls then to some old logging tracks which were overgrown with fallen trees and branches. It took us a while to get out as we had to make a few u-turns. We thought we were just about to make it, there was a big tree across the track. At one point, we were about 50m from the track to get out but nooooooo.....

Access to Broke Inlet. Meant to be a 2wd track but not with the fallen trees that we had to go around. Not sure if this track is going to be cleared any time soon.


Broke Inlet
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Deep River crossing
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Gladstone Falls and Fernhook Falls
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Logging track


My first camp fire. It wasn't a bad effect since the wood was still damp.
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Thursday was on to Lake Jasper and Black Point. This was the furthest drive from camp so we took our time and enjoyed the ride starting with a herd of cows taking over the road.

A herd of cows taking over the road. Moooooooooooooooooo

We took one of the many sandy tracks to Lake Jasper. It was a bit soft and the ruts were deep in some places but it was problem for us even though we didn't reduce our tyre pressure and the Jackaroo didn't lock hubs. Bossy was in 4x4 lock most times to compensate for not reducing tyre pressure. Trying something different.



Lake Jasper
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Before we departed Lake Jasper for Black Point/Stepping Stones, we reduced our tyre pressures. Good thing too since there were some very soft sand to get around the bends.

To Black Point


The view
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I was stuffing around with the new camera settings and this seagull presented the perfect opportunity
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Since it would take us a while to travel back to camp, we called it a day using another track to get back on the bitumen and for me to start the fire using the gas stove and a branch. Was too lazy to get the lighter from the others. Best fire of the trip emoticon

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Friday was pack up day (in the rain!) and then to Perth for the rest of the hols. When I got back to Kal my 4wd Action mag was sitting in my mailbox with Graham doing a trip to the
D'Entrecasteaux National Park starting from the Augusta end but took different tracks. This is a very big national park and there is no way you can explore the whole national park in a week. Have to go back another day to explore the rest of the tracks and try the dunes.

Found out on this trip, the bullbar have 1 other use other than protecting the front end from animal strikes. Use #2: push branches out of the way. Use #3: flatten the top of a soft mound to get over it. This was discovered on Sunday's trip out bush near town. emoticon

Dodging potholes and debris


Some easy challenges around the NP 


Thursday, August 1, 2013

More trips around the Goldfields


Crossing a lake



 Club trip: washout section


Club trip


Pinnacles


Club trip


Club trip


 Esperance cliff drive


 Mt Burges

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Holland Track June Long Weekend 2013

Track conditions: Dirt roads, moderate corrugations, deep ruts, deep muddy bog holes with hard ground and soft ground, a bit of driving over granite rocks, shallow bog hole, chicken tracks. emoticon

Mods required: Suspension lift, AT tyres (even better with higher profile tyres) and bash plates. Clearance is the biggest issue on this track so anything to help improve clearance is a bonus.

Weather: Crap with forecasts of drizzles and rain with very little sunshine. A bit of drizzle but no rains. Thanks to the rain gods! Very cloudy. emoticon

Friends: Bring a few when wet and send the high clearance vehicle first emoticon


My 4wd club decided to do the Holland Track in the June long weekend and it was also a track I wanted to do for a very long time (in the dry!). We had some good rains days before we went off and it was a very last minute decision as the track does get closed after a massive down pour to avoid more track damage. It really doesn't take much for the track to get in a bad condition.

Friday after work, quickly did some last minute packing, then the family, in the stock Landcruiser 200 with brand new HT tyres towing a Cub camper trailer, and I headed off to Victoria Rock to camp overnight from Kalgoorlie. It was bitterly cold with the winds blowing from the south. emoticon

Although, there have been reports of X-trails towing campers on this track before, I doubt they did it when it was muddy and boggy like this weekend. When perfectly dry, the track is fine but clearance will still be an issue.

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My camp set up

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Start of the Holland Track from Coolgardie end

A couple of vehicles (a Hilux and a family in a Pajero) joined us in the morning. We aired down and I was down to 24psi for the whole way. The Lux led the way since it was going to be our guinea pig through the bog holes, Cruiser with camper 2nd, me 3rd and the Pajero as tail end charlie.

Between the Coolgardie end and Sandwood Rock camp, the Holland was easy with a few muddy challenges to practice on. One of the challenges was not so easy that my bash plate caught on something in the bog hole and I drove over it. emoticon

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goodbye bash plate

One of the places we stopped at was Thursday Rock.

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Thursday Rock and its views

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My car looked like it had been through lots of mud whereas the others don't look it. Lol. Thursday Rock campsite

We crossed a slippery but not deep clay pan and it was slidingly fun. Don't have a video of that hough and another big challenge. We made good time and camped at Sandalwood Rock.

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Video of Day 1. Started with the easy stuff. It was very cloudy so the video doesn't show how tricky some of the challenges were. Most of the time there was a chicken track around the big challenge and I did use the chicken tracks a lot. Other times when there are no chicken tracks and there is only one way to go, just gotta push on. Lots of slipping and sliding, sideways driving and hitting a few trees. Watch in HD.


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Hope of sun on Day 2!

Day 2 started with no front bash plate and apparently the rest of the track was worse than Day 1. Right, some damage is bound to happen.

The Pajero went back to Kal and rest of us kept going with me as tail end charlie now. Don't know if it was a smart idea or not. Lol.

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One of the very few action shots of me playing. Waiting for another camera load of photos which will take awhile.

Day 2 action with more slip and slide and tree hitting!


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End of the Holland Track and on the way to Hyden!

For the last night of the trip, we camped at Wave Rock caravan park, went to the local pub and just chilled for the night.

The next morning was off to Wave Rock and Hippo Yawn. On the way back to Kal, we also went to see some Aboriginal painting on rocks at Mulka Cave.

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Wave Rock

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Hippo Yawn

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Mulka Cave

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Home at last! Note: mud on the ground was from another trip emoticon

Definitely have to say that this is the most challenging track I have ever driven on I still cannot believe I made it through without getting bogged once and came out with minor damage! This has to be said: an X-trail has done the Holland Track when the track was at its boggiest best!