Hiya,

I’m hopeless with names so please forgive me for the errors that follow.

So, everyone was on time and we set off from the Dayboro pub just after 9am. Attendees:
WhiteD3 – D3 - Myself and son Andrew
djhampson - FL2 – Dave and mate
Captain Rightfoot - Def
Ralph1malph - D1
Solmanic - Def
45rt0 - S3
Beforethevision - FL1 – Colin and Lauren
300+ - Steve and son
MOS - 90
Inside - FL2 – Andrew x 2
jwhampson - D3 - Jon
Mitch
Ho Har – D1 – Harry and Carolyn



Ho Har volunteered to be Tail End Charlie and we split the FL’s so as to have a vehicle with low range between them (a wise decision it turned out). We started by heading across A Break. It was a bit slippery in places but I don’t think anyone had any problems.

Then we headed up Loveday Rd to try an east-west track across to the Bald Pocket area. My apologies to everyone for what happened next and wasting the morning

Mistake 1 – Don’t lead 13 cars of mixed capability down a track you’ve never been on before. I should have gone ahead and checked it out before we (or some of us) were committed.

The first few minutes were tame with a slow decent (You can here a couple of people on the radio commenting along the line of “if we’re going down we’ll have to go back up again”? And then my (in hindsite) silly replies! I should have listened!).

We then came to a steeper section which didn’t seem too challenging going down; we bottomed out in the gully then faced a long, gravelly climb up. Myself and Jon (both is D3’s) made it up with no problems and Jon couldn’t help showing off by lifting a wheel!
YouTube - Mt Mee - Off Loveday Rd - 21/3/08

Mistake 2 – Not considering that a route the D3 dawdles up could be an issue for a different vehicle. Next came Colin (Beforethevision) in the FL1. I thought he was a goner for a sec but Colin made a brilliant recovery to convert near catastrophe to the just spectacular.
YouTube - Mt Mee - Off Loveday Rd 2- 21/3/08

After we all caught our breath Roger had a go but came to a stop at roughly the same spot that did Colin in, and where Jon lifted the D3’s wheel earlier.

YouTube - Mt Mee - Off Loveday Rd 4 - 21/3/08

I then decided to turn everyone around and head back the way we came. I’m sure this was a disappointment for some of you in more capable vehicles but it seemed to sensible thing to do.
So down Jon and I went.
YouTube - Mt Mee - Off Loveday Rd 3 - 21/3/08

.....only to find that Colin’s FL1 couldn’t get back the way we’d come. So Roger lightened the load in the D1 by exiting the family and climbed back out with no probs. After some debate I turned around again, climbed the hill (with Roger’s Mrs Lyn and kids in the car) followed by Colin who climbed up to a point that safety and prudence deemed reasonable.
With 3 snatch straps and a tow strap between myself and Colin we got him up (not a snatch, but a very slow pull) one strap at a time. The reason for this is I only had about a 20m straight run at the top of the hill so we’d haul him up one strap length, stop, I’d reverse down, hook up again less a strap, etc.
YouTube - Mt Mee - Off Loveday Rd - 21/3/08 - FL tow

Mistakes 3 & 4 – I forgot all about putting suppressors (blankets, tarps, whatever) over the straps and I think Lauren (thanks for filming) who was filming was too close.

From there the trip back to the Gantry was uneventful apart from a stubborn lizard who refused to move off the road. We had a leisurely lunch in the sunshine then headed south to the Byron Crk area via a track off Pegg’s Rd. Some rocky sections that slowed the FL’s and some creek crossings at the bottom.

We then headed up Jacky’s Crk Rd to the summit for another gravelly climb.



Then down over the drop off.....
YouTube - Mt Mee - Jackie Crk - 21/3/08




The following excellent video is courtesy of Andrew (Inside).
YouTube - AULRO Land Rovers 21 March 2008

And then we headed home.

More pics here: MyNetspace Picture Gallery :: Mt Mee SF - 21/3/08

__________________
Disco 3 V6 SE - 2007
MY04 Forester

Thanks for a great day out. I really enjoyed myself.

__________________
TD4 SE FL2 

Hi - looks like a lot of fun - this trip shows the one area that the FL1 does not go well in and that is slow, steep hills where you may have to stop and start off again on a steep slope. An auto in a FL1 like the later TD4s would help as would the diesel engine.

Colin - do you have hill descent in your car - if so I was surprised how fast you went back down the hill. Also how did your clutch hold up - in any steep work mine gets a work out and smells a bit through having to slip to make up for no low range. Something I will be looking at next clutch change time.

I am happy to take mine off road all the time but am wary about what hills I go down - in case I cannot get back up.

Great day - I wished I was there

Garry

__________________
REMLR 243

98 Freelander XEDI (the Hippo)
1977 FC 101 (Miss Piggy)
1957 Series 1 88" (Baby)
1957 Series 1 88" Station Wagon
1971 Jaguar V12 E-Type Series 3 Roadster

Hey Guys.

What else can you say really… It was a great day out. I think everybody had a fun time. Thanks must go to Mark for organising the day and planning the route. Well Done!!!!

The weather was good and there was just enough water and mud on the ground to keep the dust down and provide a little fun for the day. It was great to see an assortment of different vehicles being put through their paces.

Here are few photos from the day….










[url=http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=528&i=img0358il8.jpg][IMG]






I will post a few more up when I have some more time. Perhap after I get around to washing the 90....

Cheers
MOS

Hi,
A good day had by all.
Thanks to Mark for organising and the others who contributed to a great day by assisting those in difficulty and lending sage advice!

It was a good level of difficulty for those like myself who are a bit rusty.
For me, two things stood out:

Socialising during lunch was great, thanks to Mr and Mrs Ho Har for lending butter to our hot cross buns! Hope you enjoyed and,

Flandies are much more capable than I thought!

See you all next time

Ralph

Yeah, when the wheels came back down hard at the end, it stalled. Thats why i had no power steering or power brakes, or HDC. TC used up the reserve braking power instantly. So i was stomping HARD and being very forceful with the steering to get it straight.

Looking back at the video, i backed off just approaching the peak, next time(if there is one) i might hit it with a tad more commitment and get over it. It does look possible... assuming i dont stall.

WRT clutch, i dont push it back on once its out and im on fun stuff. It stays fully engaged until i can go no further. Otherwise it just burns up. But yes, my clutch cant take a WOT clutch dump over 2500 rpm, which is pretty pathetic.

I make sure that the person in front of me has reached the top before i try an ascent, so i can keep sustainable revs in 1st.

Cheers!


Beautiful trip report Mark, Thanks!

Sounds like you all had a great day. By the looks of it some of the tracks at Mt-Mee have become challenging again. Could be woth a visit, haven't been there for a few years.

There used to be a bit of a challenging section at Dianas bath rd near the carpark there, dunno if it's still there. Good diff-lock tester.

Trav

__________________
GO THE DUNGA
88 Rangie Dunga spec- 3.5 EFI, 5 speed, 33' Silverstone Mt117 sports, 50mm spring lift, 25mm body lift, ARB air lockers F&R, cut, hacked and done cheap

Photos from the day - Mt Mee 21Mar08 - a photoset on Flickr

Thanks for a good day Mark. I'm keen to go back and try that Loveday Rd again. Would love to see if the TC\TRS in the FL2 can get it up that hill were Col had his difficulties.

__________________
Red Rover - SE TD4 Freelander 2

Great write-up for a fun day out, thanks Mark and everyone else for an awesome experience..


I learnt more about my vehicle and how to drive it on Friday than in the 4 months i've had it. Thanks to everyone who gave me tips on lines and how to keep the old girl rolling, I swear I would have got into a lot of trouble without your helpful advice.

I was super-impressed with the FL's as well, those things cruised straight through places that had my heart in my mouth

__________________

Trav, I think the bit you mean is now blocked off. A hill climb where you have to wind up through tightly spaced trees up the slope?

I've identifed some good medium to hard tracks (although not G4 or anything like that) and would be keen to have a go anytime. Not to lead mind you, I'd hand over the gps tracks to someone for experinced than I.

Cheers.

__________________
Disco 3 V6 SE - 2007
MY04 Forester