Bush Can Plan - Woodspoint
15-16 July
JASON & KATE
4RUNNER
MARK & LUKE
100 SERIES
CRAIG & MARY
GU NISSAN
JUSTIN
TOYOTA HILUX
GEOFF & SIMON
RANGIE
GRANT & JULIE
GU NISSAN
HAZZA
CRUISER TRAY
The weekend started on Friday night with
half the crew meeting at my place rearing to get
away and by about 6:00 we were on the road.
Hazza was the first one we picked up at
Maccas in Pakenham then on the road again
heading for Comet Flat to meet Craig and Mary.
They were already there waiting for us.
After a
cry from Hazza for someone to go back and
tow the trailer the rest of the way after the tow
ball broke, we arrived at camp to set up our
tents and light a fire.
There is a trick to lighting
fires with wet wood and Hazza's got it down
pat, so we sat around for a while talking the
usual campfire stuff before all hitting the hay
when the drizzle turned to rain.
Saturday morning saw us pack up our gear
and head back to Woods Point for some fuel
and to meet Grant & Julie before heading along
some tracks that proved to be difficult for some,
easy for others.
Smoko was had at Burnt
Camp on the Goulburn River where we had a
cuppa and a chat before heading off up
towards Mt. Skene. Along the way most of us
did it easy and we arrived at the
Licola/Jamieson Rd to cook up the snags for
lunch were we met Geoff and his crew.
We
decided to head to the summit for a play in the
snow. Some of us got bogged (Justin in the
Boggerlux, Geoff in the Rangie and Craig in his
Nissan), others got pelted with snowballs from
all directions (Simon whilst winching, Justin
whilst winching, Luke whilst winching, Grant &
Julie for just sitting there etc..) and I got tackled
to the ground twice (probably for throwing so
many snow balls I guess).
Kate, Mary and
Hazza enjoyed the comfort of their cars so
much they never ventured out into the cold.
After all this excitement it was time to head off
and set up camp.
We set up camp on the Barklay River and
cooked up the rest of the snags for tea before
all sitting around the fire. The conversation was
hilarious at times(flame throwers, P1&P2 ), but
got worse as the night got older and by about
12:00 everyone was in bed.
Sunday morning
was a lot slower for some and by 9:00 we were
off on a mission; to do some harder 4 wheeling
(as per Craig's request) then head back to
Woods Point to collect the cans and be home
at about dinner time.
On the road heading for the Licola Rd all
going well with a convoy of 10 cars with Geoff
and his crew joining us for the day.
We turned
off on to M15 which took us fairly steeply down
to the river all without any bother until the climb
out of the river proved to be a concern for the
4Runner.
After a few unsuccessful attempts I thought I
would make it and just as the car ran out of
power in 3rd low I snapped 2nd (and the
transfer case main shaft).
This left us with a
huge dilemma being a busted 4Runner and a
really steep climb. It was decided that Mark
and myself would continue on under the power
of the winch and the rest would battle on
behind us. (until the winch stopped winching) I
believe a few others had some trouble in
climbing this section but all got up with less
problems than me. I wont go into details but
lets just say;
2 X 8000lbs warn winches, numerous winch
extention straps, A-Frame, snatch blocks and
heaps of goes with Mark and Geoff snatching me
and Justin pushing me we still had no success
and unpacked the 4Runner and left it there.
Everyone else still had to get up the hill which
was full of rock steps in places and tight bends
that did prove to be dramas for some. Geoff's
Rangie decided to loose the air from one tyre so
that had to be changed, Craig's winch cable
broke off the roller and he had to be snatched
,Grant ended up carrying all our gear and ended
up slipping off the track, Hazza kept running out
of power and needed a snatch.
The list goes on,
but let me say that it was pitch black by now so
things were a little harder to see and if it wasn't
for Justin's Boggerlux reversing down to snatch
people up the last little bit we'd have been there
a lot longer.
We made it to the top by about 9:30 and
pumped up our tyres and headed off home in
convoy glimpsing at the eclipse as we headed
towards Moe arriving home in the early hours of
Monday.
I would like to thank everyone for
having so much persistence as they tried to get
my car to the top and for everyone's patience for
not making the situation any worse than it
already was.
What about the cans you ask ???? We'll get
them soon and yes we will be conquering the
M15 hopefully with less bother than this time.
What happened to the 4Runner???? We went
back with Grant and Shane and some local folk
and recovered it on the following Tuesday.
See you next time
Jason the Wrecker
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