Levuka trip- Aus long w/end 26-28th Jan 07

[dungarover]

Okay, here we go again. First off, our group of budding LR entusiasts for the weekend-

Aquarangie- Trip leader
Nath
Zakros
skitman
Gobrood
Skiboy
Harry

Thursday arvo- In the begenning.... it was hot, sticky and humid weather which had me worried a bit, but I left Brisbane for Levuka at around 2PM. As I just left, nath rang me to let me know he was running a bit behind because of a oil leak, which was '****ing bad' was the description to be quite frank.

Through the range near Mt Lindsay, the sky was looking very drark and then by the time I got to Rathdownety, the rain came bucketing down for about a half and hour. Driving very slowly into the range and towards the NSW border, the rain had passed as quickly as it appeared in the sky, but the wind had knocked thr braches off ttrees and so forth so there was a biot of dodging of fallen lims, etc..

Through Woodenbong, then onto Beaury creek road for a few more kms and thm finally arribving at the homestaead to pay and get the maps so we don't get lost (well, I don't get lost). By this time it was 4PM QLD time (stuff this NSW dailight saving rubbish ) I found a near level bit of ground with a minimal amount of cow ****. Someting I had not dome when I booked the campsite was to reserve a spot for us to camp and many of the flatter and cleaned up sites had reserved signs on them.

Got the tent, tarp and fire up and going, a few beers, tea and then nath arrived about 8PM with his mate (had a memory relapsse and can';t temember your name sorry), but they had there tent quickly up and a few beers later around the ffire. We wee them joined shortly by Keith (Skiboy), Rachel and Keith's son Hunter. Keith had the camper trailer and entourage of gear so we left them to it while we enjoyed a few more beers, then headed off to bed about 11PM (well I did)

Friday- Morning started off sticky and humid. The ground was still wet from the rain the day prior and the sun was still in hibernation so there was little chance of having dry track conditions. The 3 vehicles that arrived the night before went out for a play before everyone else had arrived. So I decided to throw 'em in the deep nd and did a few of the tougher sections. Most of the tracks in dry conditions cab be done in a stocker but the rain natutrally will make even the most simple track more challenging, as we wuill find out later on. Despite having bugger-all tread and no diff locks, Keith's Disco did considerably well. The recovery gear was used a couple of times on both Keith and Nath but nothing too serious. Remember, this is a trav trip, recovery gear will eventually be used

We got back at around 11AM when Harry and skitman arrived and were all set up pretty much by the time we got. Gobrood (Rob) arrived soon after in his defender 90 and was keen for a play as well after lunch.

The now 6 vehicle convoy was chomping at the bit and ready to go. Zakros also had arrived just before we were about to head off but decided to not participate in the drivbing this weekend as his Disco had no recovery points or decent tyres, bt was still happy to navvi for Rob and myself foe the next couple of days.

Okay, out we go into the mud and sludge which is known as beesting trail. Our first obstacle, well for everyone else was a lovely bog hole at the bottom with a incline welcomed by deepish rust for us to hang out diffs up on. I got through no worries (since I had the tallest tyres), Keith was next but after a couple of goes, out with the snatch strap and bar Rob it was snatch strap job to get up the last section. Dragging the mud up from the bottom after each vehicle made it harder for the tail end vehicles (nath). Through the deeply wooded sections of track, around a hill, down another and then we were greeted by a inticing mud hole with a steep climb up the other side. The mud hole has a solid base so there wasn't any sinking to nothing sort of stuff.
Okay, my turn first since the trip leader has to set and example . Through the water, then starting to climb out the bow wave from the large puddle started coming over the bonnet but qwith twin maxi's and some right boot (not too much) I was on my way. Most of the convoy took the wiser option chicken track, but Harry had to have a go even if I had just noticed that my diff was dragging with 33's on let alone standard sized tyres on. But Harry to his credit didn't do too bad, even if he did plough his diff into the bank considerable. Not to worry, out with the snatch strap and we were all good again.

After all that,we headed back around to the play area and once again, I had a play and this time a bit easier after a few dozen 4WD's had taken the crap off the top and now had a dry run so to speak. Funnily enough, no one else was keen to have a play apart from Rob, who got about half way up one 0f the steep hills, with a wheel off the ground the engine ran out of puff and stalled. No worries, out with the strap again and Rob was soon back on terra firma.

Making our way back to camp, the rain then started to pour down. This is where an easy track becomes difficult at times. Nath was TEC and after we had all travelled down the track and with the bucketing rain, this made it near impossible to keep on the track, especially when the track has a not so welcome tree root across, which in turn spun nath's disco sideways and not in a good poisition especially with the conditions as they were. Harry who was just in front was assisting in the recovery and after the hand winch and then attaching a atrap to the tree and to the back of the disco, the rear end somehow pulled back over onto the track and we were off again. I was up front and at this point was a bit worried about what the holdup was and since some of the CB's didn't work unles the ignition was switched on made it hard to communicate with them.

So back through the gate and up the track on the other side, this now going uphill. This is a easy track in dry conditions but notw with a downpour of rain it was now deemed a near hard one especially formost of the group on road and AT tyres. At this stage, evetrything was going well til Harry decided to put a bit of boot into it, hit a tree root at speed and bent his steel rim, so a tyre change was on the cards. Add tio the problem short ime later nath's alternaor had decided it had enough and then smouldering away. Harry was at hand and quickly doused the flames with water but it worked. The solution was to disconnect the alternator and drive on battery ony back to camp. This was taking some time so the rest of the group waited up the top for them to catch up. The rain had stopped by now but once Harry had changed his tyre we were once again on our way.

Okay, down the track and approaching the gate back to the main road, I must have left my brain back at camp because after seeing 2 padlocks on the gate, the thought od skiing dowen then track we had just come up was bad enough, til was either skitman or harry had discoverd the 2 padlocks were holdiong the chain on and the gate opened. Woops.

back at camp, got the fire going, cooked tea, had a few beers and once again another great day of wheeling and unfortunate mishaps.

Saturday- Once again, get up, have breakky and about 9AM we are ready for some more 'punishment' (just kidding). before we left, skitman was out with the tools and whipping into theissues with nath's maxi-drive not disengaging. I tried to help where I could and after discovering that one of the vaccume lines had melted on the exhaust, this was the culprit. We blocked off the lines and manually disengaged the actuator so it wasn't locked fo the drive back to the Gold coast for nath.

During this time, Harry has slipped off to Urbanville to reinflate his tyre after doing some 'panelbeating' to his rim the day before.

Okay, off we go. Unfortunatley, I didn't get to say see-ya to nath since he was unable to turn anyhting electrical on that wasn't nessacary but I hope he did get home safely. I decicded to take the now smaller group through the section that we did early friday with Keith and nath (Keith had decided to sit back at camp and not drive today), but I decided to back around the playground and back down another hill I had done the friday morning. I took them down this hill instead of up primarily because the majority had no diff locks and going up required some sort of traction aid, but still a good run downwards and some off-camber ruts to keep and eye on.

Once through that, onto another hillclimb area. This had a large steep hill with rust and a few muddy bits, but the track was easier than first discoverd. Up we all went, no problems. Down another then up another steep hill, still all good. Once we had finished in there, back around the fenceline track (roberts road I think) and to 'Trav's gate' as mentioned by a couple of people in the group. I got it right this time so there hope for me yet

Back at camp, noticed Keith had gone off for a drive to the walking track entrance (about 3Kms from the campsite) but we all proceeded to have lunch. Skitman was leaving in the afternoon and after lunch packed up his gear and was ready to go, after another drive of course This time, I was determined to comquer the deeper part of the rainforest section. Bullant track had to be conqured at leat myself and anyone was quite welcome to have a crack. off we went, it was quite aparent that I was on my own after the first muddy hill. it got progressivly worse from there, with plenty of deep ruts and mud galore the further up you went. Everyone had a crack but barely got past the first hump so I directed them back to a bypass track and I would nmeet up there. Still, we (I had Zakros with me as navvi) had to descend a shapr, slippery and bloody steep hill and back and equally steep on on the other side. The climb was dry but dragging the sluge up from the bottom was the fear making the climb greasy. No worries, this is me we're talking about Down the hill, up the other side without any 'magic' buttons engaged andf we were set. The rest of the group met up with me on the bypass, we then exitted Bullant and then through 'rock and roll gully'. This is a creekbed as imagined with low hanging tress and plenty of rocks for good measure. Harry did the first section and took the escape route, probably a wise decision a it progressivly got worse from there. The rest of the group did the track no worries, just a bit of dodging of the rock here and there..

Okay, out of the rainforest and then for some entertainment watching a couple of idiots in a 'Cruiser get themselves in the **** trying to attempt a mudhole that it's near on impossible completeing. it's one of thiose 'sink to oblivion' type mudholes that even the hardiest of 4WDers would think twice about. But for enterainments sake, it was bloody funny to watch, even if narly all of the group were drinking more than they should. It took them about 20 mins to free themselves, we were able to bypass them (they had blocked up the track) and go around the boghole. Skitman had to go so I took the group to the 'Travs gate' again and ssaid farewell to skitman and family. harry hinted he was keen for a dip in the dam but we had nearly donne all the tracks so it was the best idea. All but yours truly and Dianne (Rob's better half) had a swim.

Okay, all cooled down we set back to camp. It was getting on a bit (4:30PM) so I got the fire going once again (must be the TL job ), had tea, had a few warm beers (my ice had melted to oblivion, 3 bags in 2/12 days. Must invest in a fridge ) but put the remining ones in Rob's fridge so at leaast they were cold and I headed off for bed around 10PM mark.

Sunday- The worst part of a great trip is going home. Checkout time was 9AM NSW time so it was 8AM so I had to make the extra effort to get up early, have breakky, pack up and get going. Breaking camp was simple enough and by 8AM I was on the road after bidding farewell top all that were still packing up.

Overall, it was another sucessful if not eventful Trav trip. Without being a smart **** or full of myself, my trips most times don't dissapoint and you are bound to be getting out the gear with plenty of friendly people to assist. There isn't any pressue to outdo or be stupuid, just to have a ball and push the Land Rovers to the limits most times and we certainly did in some cases

One last note, it was good to see some people who I hadn't been out with in the club before so thankyou for attending the trip

Anyway, those who missed out, maybe next time. See you all next month at the GM.

Trav

PS-Will load some of the vid up on youtube later on. Will attach some links once done.

[stikman]

OK, a couple of links that were put in the trip thread for those that have come straight here.

Trav's Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6Y6xXJapmU

My Pic's
http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...%20Jan%202007/

My Video (Harry Tyre - Just added)
http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...evukaJan07.flv

The weekend was definately one for those with MT tyres, Trav and Rob managed a little better then the rest of the group through this simple fact. A definate honourable mention to Harry who charged everything (and made most ) even though driving possibly the least modified vehicle.

Some detail around the Ding Tally nominations... As mentioned by Trav the sudden and very heavy down pour changed some pretty easy tracks into some interesting (and costly ) moments. Leaving the play area we were faced with a mederate 100m down hill section, barbed wire fence one side and sloping grass hill down the other. It had just started to rain and Trav made it down easy with the extra traction of the MTs. I twice slipped my rear out of the ruts and onto the grass but we all managed to stay on line until "Tail End Charlie" Nath had to greasy mess that we had left him behind. To make things worse Nath had a locked rear diff that would not unlock, which is not the ideal situation in a slippery down hill mess. When his rear slipped in the same spots that the rest of us had manged to drive out of the locked rear would not allow him to get back on line and he was ending up facing the fence with his rear down a slippery grass hill. With Safety first he pulled up and a long leason in Hand Winches followed. Harry backed up to him and i went for a nice walk in the rain. By this time it was that wet and slippery that you could hardly stand on the track never mind do anything else. With the rear braced to a near by tree Nath drove nicely forward which pulled the rear back onto the track. Worked very well actually.

So we all finaly get down, the rain has stopped and everything is a mess, so what do we do..... drive back up the hill on the track next to the one we just slide down After a few attempt by the first couple of cars the ruts were deep and slippery and a tree root was becoming more and more exposed. Not seeing this from the bottom of the hill Harry hit it while trying to maintain his momentum. Check the video for details.... It quickly become evident that reinflation was not the go (i think the 2 inch gap on the inside of the rim might have been a give away) so a tyre change was carried out in near F1 pit stop times, well maybe it took a little longer then that . Back on the tracks again and within 20m Nath had a hot smelly indication of something else not right. Equipped with two fire extinghishers Harry to the rescue. After a quick cool down and the alternater disconnected Nath could drive again, but with no charge we figured not for long. It was not long after this Trav provided some light humour with Trav Gate as mentioned before. With padlocks on the chain Trav figured it was locked and suggested we drive back down the hill. Not really wanting to go through that again a quick check of the gate showed locks holding the chain together but a simple latch securing the gate. Atleast we could all laugh after just destroying a rim and an alternater. Thanks Trav

Overall a good weekend which all seemed to enjoy. Oh yeah, have heard from Nath and he made it back to the coast, so all good on that front.

Thanks to Trav as TL and to all that made it the weekend it was. Until the next trip .

[stevo68]

Good stuff, looks like all had a good time, thanks for the pics and vids for those of us who couldnt be there ,

Regards

Stevo

[Skiboy]

Thanks Trav for the trip - nice little park with some great camping spots, good if basic facilities and some interesting tracks, esp. if raining.

We had a good time and enjoyed having Sat off to sit and relax after a few moments on Friday in the rain.

Sunday we did not check out until 1pm and had a lazy morning with a play in the test pit area. Rachael practiced some driving and really enjoyed playing in the Mud. We then packed up at 12 and left at 1.

Will head back to the park some time with Mud tyres and mountain bikes in tow. Some good forest tracks (locked to vehicles) for riding.

Thanks also to Tav and Rob for the odd tow when mud caked ATs left us tobogganing backwards as soon as right peddle lifted.

Keith

[bolts]

Stickman - Great report and links for video and pictures - We will have to have you on a few more trips and have you write the trip reports. I think the club needs an official trip reporter on every trip so WELL DONE for siging up for that post will vote you in at next meeting.

[NOZ]

Looks like a great place , sorry I couldnt make and wish I did make it. Great Video Trav