Circle of Trust Blog: 4x4ing @ Powelltown...

Well to officially start off my Long Service Leave (6 weeks off) I organized a 4x4 trip up to the Yarra Valley.

Adrian & Lily in his Disco TD5
Luke in his new Hilux
Bernard & Brett in their twin GU Patrols.
and Me and the kids in my GQ Patrol.

I kitted up with 1 new tire and a UHF CB before the trip.

Having organised everyone I was designated to lead out trip.

Arrived at Powelltown around 12:30pm after coming from Tylers footy game at Ferntree Gully.
Here we met Bernard and Brett who were already sporting some muddy cars.
They work together (business partners) and have a sweet pair of white Nissan Patrol GU's with 35" Tyres, Winches, ARB front and rear bars (inc. jerry can holders), Bead Lockers (Some special rim that allows you to run ridiculously low psi on the tyres without them coming off the rim) and a hole heap of other expensive mod cons.
One thing they didn't have, we found out later, was diff lockers. Which would have come in F#cking handy.

So we left Powelltown planning on heading thru a few track and finally to the Ada Tree.

Looking at the map it went something like, first left, left again, right, right, right.
Anyway, whilst driving along I found the only sign of what LOOKED to be the first left.
It was in fact as we found out later by GPS about 500m too early.

It took us down an overgrown track which passed a hut that someone had built. Probably not far from their wacky tobaccy crop.

Leading the way I stopped to clear a log from the path at the top of a descent. Turns out the log was a sign not to go any further.

I drove down in Low Range, 1st Gear in the auto, and unfortunately being an Auto the car creeps away from you on the slow desecnts, so I had to brake quite a bit, eventually bringing me unstuck as the car locked and went straight, when I needed to turn, I knew it would happen but i was going to fast to just gun it and make the wheels turn me left. So I started going off the track on what was a VERY VERY STEEP descent.
I tried to reverse up but to no avial. I was stuck, good and proper.
So I radioed back to tell the others to stop.
Brett came and had a look and said he'd winch me out. so he drove halfway down to a flat step, but it was still to steep and he couldn't reverse or even straighten up.
So he used a winch extension strap on the back of his car to secure him to a tree. Then straightened himself up. He still couldn't get back up the track despite several good efforts. So while he was still fixed to a tree he winched me up and I corrected my mistake, this time he let me down by winch and I steered the corner fine.
Only to realise that I was already, at the end of the track.
I managed to turn my car around in a 4000-point turn (just like on the driving licence test) so this was the first positive.
We then connected 3 snatch straps togethers (all quiet long mind you) and the winch extension strap (a non stretchy snatch strap) and Luke pulled him out backward.
Once the track was clear, I had a crack at driving back up it, but got stuck not far from where I'd been before but facing the other direction.
Again we used 3 snatch straps and the extension and brett pulled me out, luckily this time we were both facing the right direction.
During all this we had to shuffle and turn around the 5 cars on what was a very steep and very narrow over grown track. FUN!

We continued on and Brett informed me that according to his GPS the track he SHOULD have gone down was only 500m past the one I'd taken. A simple mistake but one a GPS would have helped avoid (I want one now!)

We continued on an toured thru some amazing bush (gotta love Australia)

After a quick stop at Starlings Gap, a small camping area with a fire place and bush dunnies.
Eventually we got to the Missisippi Track which according to Brett had been a Ball-Teared 10 years prior.
We decided to Ditch the ADA Tree for another day and head up the Mississippi track as it was MEANT to be closed at this time of year.
It was a sweet drive with some tricky descents and some amazing fauna & wildlife. (Some weird big bird thing I've never seen before with huge tail feathers. Imagine a crow 4times longer!!!)
The we decided to head back to Wesburn for some muddy work on some of the motorbike tracks there.

Luke led the way and found us a dodgy track with a big bog hole that had been cut into it.
He insisted he wanted to have a crack at it and he ploughed straight in.

Got stuck, car started filling with water and I had to battle the mud to JUMP into the back of his ute, reach under the muddy water and connect a snatch strap for Brett to pull him out backwards.