Tim's FourAuthor: jawapro
Date: Sun 11/04/2010 09:48 PM
Due to popular demand - here’s another 4x4 post.
Note - before we start this tale....
I may bag Tim out below for getting stuck and abandoning us to hang out with the girls (all of which he deserves) but I also want to appologize as it turns out I scratched his camera. I sat it on a bag and a few minutes later if fell off and scratched the LCD. I didn't even realise. Seriously sorry mate!
Now that the serious stuff is out of the way - on with the light-hearted report.
Tim invited me out for a lazy Sunday arvo drive, which turned out to be far more serious than I’d realized.
He had his Maverick, and Jim bought the Holden Rodeo. Originally it had just been going to be Jim, Tom, Me, and Tim in the Maverick, but Tim had managed to convince a couple of gorgeous girls called Liz (both of them) to come along. He while he got the chicks, the rest of us were confined to the Rodeo.
We headed up towards Cradle Mountain again - looking for an old gold mine Tim had read about. He found a road that had looked open on Google Earth, but actually was blocked. We instead found another track into the bush, which eventually joined a road which may have been the other side of the same track - we couldn’t be sure (or that’s Tim’s story).
The mine we were looking for was near a river - which Tim had found on Google Earth, and he was planning to find using GPS.
We eventually got into a young plantation area - and Tim decided to climb a mountain to find the river (I thought they normally hung out in valleys, but anyway). Quite a few stupid things happened next. Jim locked his rodeo, got in the car with the girls, Tim then got stuck at the top of the mountain, - and then it started raining, leaving Tom and I besides the now locked rodeo getting wet!
I eventually climbed the hill (jolly hard work), only to find Tim pretty seriously stuck. That was the first time!
Stupid me forgot my camera - so all the photos are on Tim’s and I don’t have them yet.
Jim gave me the keys to the Rodeo, and I found another track up to where Tim was. By this time (about 40 minutes - it was a long way to climb up that hill on foot!) Tim had managed to dig himself out with a lot of spade work. So I turned the Rodeo around (about a 100 point turn on the tiny track) and drove back out with Tim following me. When I got to the bottom I realized he wasn’t following me anymore - he’d gotten bogged! That was the second time. I’d driven that track twice in the less capable Rodeo and been fine!
Eventually Tim drove himself out of that one - but not before backing into a tree. That had the combined effect of leaving a nasty dent in the rear of the car, and somehow fixing one of his taillights which hadn’t been working. Unfortunately, it was only temporary, and stopped working later (the dent was permanent though).
After this little detour, Jim decided he preferred sitting in the back of the Maverick with one of the chicks - so I was left in charge of the Rodeo for the rests of the day.
We found another track - and drove down it for ages. Until Tim got stuck AGAIN! Pictured at the top of the post.
He’d essentially fallen off the track, and had to winch himself back (manual winch - no electrical stuff here!). I took a few quick photos on my phone - sorry for their lamness.
Eventually back on the road, we continued. The Rodeo with me at the helm again showed Tim how it SHOULD be done. Simple - just don’t fall off the road and you’re fine.
Only a few minutes later Tim gave up. He was between a rock and a hard place (a log). It would’ve been tricky, but we could have gotten past it. But as it was getting late, we decided to turn around. Tim reversed the Rodeo back up the hill and through the slippy section (this time using my trick of not falling off). Then he tried backing up the Maverick, and slid off the side again before he even reached the place he’d done it last time. Yet another manual winch recovery. By the time he was out - it was dark.
Now with me in the lead to keep things on the road, we headed back out and home.
It was a great arvo’s fun. Tim managed to get stuck 4 times (3 requiring serious extraction and one requiring reversing into a tree). One the other hand, the Rodeo survived perfectly - other than being coated in mud. True enough, I only tackled two of the same obstacles Tim got stuck on - but I did one of them twice.
Now I really can’t wait to get the window in Oscar replaced so I can join in the fun in my own car!
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