Category Archives: 4WDing

4WDing, Geocaching, Out and About

Another Geocaching Milestone …

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With Garry having completed his 14 day quarantine at the Burra Showground, I met up with him at the mighty metropolis of Maggea in the Mallee.

This looks to have been an old railway siding with what might have been an oval, a tennis club, a hall and a few houses. You could see where the railway must have gone through but the rails and sleepers are long gone.

We camped at the oval, well we think it was once an oval.

There was no-one around so the generator could run all night and not disturb anyone. It was certainly needed to keep the heater going as it hit 0C overnight. I must fit the diesel heater at some time. After all, it has only been sitting in the box since August 2018.

Today we were targeting the “On your Bike” series of geocaches to the north of Maggea which consisted of 100 caches. It was a mixture of ground based and tree based caches.

I managed to make another milestone, this time up a tree of 23000 geocache finds.

We finished up early in the afternoon so I headed back to the block at Sedan and Garry headed up to the Riverland.

The Murray River

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4WDing, Geocaching, Holidays

Finally the Painted Desert …

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Woohoo – It has taken 5 years but I have finally beaten the weather even if it is probably only by one day. For the last five trips to Darwin for the Supercars, I have been trying to get out to the Painted Desert and each time there has been rain and the road out has been shut. Well not today.
 
Leaving William Creek the skies were looking ominous with the cloud starting to build up. There is some rain on the way but I thought I would be able to get through the Painted Desert before it arrived.
 
The road was in good condition through to Oodnadatta with a few spots with roadworks that were turning it into something better than some bitumen roads. 
 
Even though there were a couple of rattling spots which took one of my Anderson plugs. Looks like some more maintenance required.
 
It has taken a couple of days but I finally realised why there were so many motorbikes on the track. They are all headed to Finke for the Finke Desert Race which is on this weekend. There were even teams camped in William Creek last night.
After filling up at the Pink Roadhouse it was time to head to the Painted Desert . The sky was getting darker but the road was still open to 4WD’s and Heavy Vehicles so I ticked those boxes.
 
The road wasn’t too bad but there were some interesting creek crossings (all dry) and the track even was in a creek bed at times (again dry) and the occasional bull dust hole. Cant wait to see how much bull dust got in the caravan.
 
Soon I was at the Painted Desert and made the couple of kilometre walk to grab all the Geocaches, keeping one eye on the incoming weather. It was worth the venture out here finally with some spectacular rock formations.
 
It was 90 kilometres to the bitumen and you could see some rain in the distance. I made it out just on dusk without a drop of rain. I didn’t feel like driving onto Marla tonight and as I was a day ahead anyway, digs for the night was at the nearby Cadney Park.
 
Diesel was $1.839 at Oodnadatta.
4WDing, Holidays, NT-QLD 2018

Not too much water in William Creek but there is cold beer …

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Not as cool this morning with temps around 4C and no ice on the car. After connecting everything up, there was no signal from the caravan camera so after some quick soldering I was on the road again.
 
A last check on the weather to see if there was any rain on the horizon for the next few days. Nothing forecast so it is up the Oodnadatta Track.
 
Leigh Creek is not as bustling as it once was now that the coal mine has closed, however there was still some activity at the mine. I guess they are rehabilitating the area.
 
First stop was Farina which was a bustling town back in the 1870’s but is now a ghost town but not so much. The town is being revived by a huge group of volunteers which includes a bakery that is open for 8 weeks each year. It just happened to open up last week.
 
The volunteers run the bakery using an underground scotch oven and are busily rebuilding the old buildings. It is going to take a while but it will be something to see once it is complete.
 
After grabbing a pasty and a vanilla slice it was time to continue north to Marree.
 
I had hoped to get a flight over the Marree Man and Lake Eyre but as I was on my own, they wouldn’t go up and I had missed a flight with a spare seat by an hour. Oh well, looks like I try again when I come through in 5 weeks time.
 
After refuelling it was Track time. The Oodnadatta Track was in good condition for most of the way and it wasn’t long to realise why. 100 kilometres in, there were 4 graders working on getting the track into good condition.
 
Unfortunately the last 50 kilometres into William Creek were rough. It was obvious this was the next section the graders were going to be working. I was just a week too early.
 
There was a little damage to the van due to this rough section with the toothbrush glass jumping out and breaking, losing one of my chain D shackles and the seal around the door getting damaged and letting in the dust.
 
I found a new glass, a new D shackle and put some sealing tape in the door so we should be good for tomorrow.
 
It was getting around 1630, so time for a beer in the William Creek Hotel and call it quits for the day at the Campground.
Diesel was $1.905 at Marree.
4WDing, Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018, Rally

Lets go Rallying …

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First day for the Rally of the Heartland and wow was it cold. It must have gone below zero overnight as there was ice on the car. It was still only 1C when we got going at 0730.
 
The town was abuzz with the sounds of Rally cars and there first ones were away at 0800.
 
Provided all the cars behaved today, my Emergency Crews would have a quiet time and enjoy watching the cars perform.
All went well today with a couple of minor incidents but nothing that required attendance of the crews.
 
The BBQ Tea went off well but most of the crew were still full from the BBQ lunch they all attended at one of the Wind Farm stages 3 hours previous.
 
We finished off the night by standing by at one of the most remote locations of the rally for the night stages.
 
We set ourselves up with a campfire and watched the first run, occasionally getting covered in dust.
 
It was the dust that became the downfall as the second run was cancelled due to the dust not clearing between cars making visibility a safety issue.
4WDing, Geocaching, Holidays, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018, Rally

Looks like there is a Rally in town …

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There was no wondering if there was a Rally in town this weekend with the burble of Rally cars driving the street at the edge of the Caravan Park.
 
First thing on the agenda was a Geocaching Breakfast at the local cafe and given that we were a couple of hours away from Adelaide, it was a good turn out with 14 attending, the furthest from Mildura.
 
There was time to wander around town to pick up supplies for tomorrows BBQ I was putting together for the Emergency crews then it was reconnaissance time with the Emergency crews that were already here.
 
Even though I did all the paperwork for last years event, I never attended the Rally due to it clashing with the Darwin V8’s. This year was the first chance to check out the roads being used as our Stages rather than just lines on a map.
 
Some of the roads were familiar to me as I used to work at Burra 33 years ago as a Stock Agent for Elders Pastoral, however there were new roads on the ridges where the wind farms are located. These wind farms were not here when I was here in my former life. 
 
Back into town for another pub meal, this time at the Commercial Hotel with the Emergency Crews.
4WDing, Geocaching, Motorsport, NT-QLD 2018, Rally

Done with working for 2 months …

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With my last night shift behind me and the preliminary work for the Rally of the Heartland complete, it was time to hitch up the Taj and start on this years adventure.
 
I have two months off work with a combination of standby’s (people working my shifts), Long Service Leave and Recreation Leave.
 
The plan is to travel to Burra for the Rally of the Heartland, then take the Oodnadatta Track (provided it doesn’t rain again), then back on the Stuart Highway with a stop at Mataranka for a few days before heading into Darwin for the Supercars.
 
Jenny will then join me in Darwin and we will head back down the Stuart Highway, turn left and head to Outback Queensland taking in Mt Isa, Longreach, Charleville and Birdsville before taking the Birdsville Track back into South Australia (provided the floodwaters haven’t cut it off).
 
With some last minute shopping and packing, I was hitched up and on the road at 1030. Making a few stops on the way for geocaches and I checked into a relatively empty Burra Caravan Park around 1400.
 
There were a few Rally types also camping but this place will be packed by tomorrow afternoon.
 
Into the Burra Hotel to discuss last minute Rally items with Ivar before hitting the hay.
4WDing, High Country, Holidays

The Hills are alive …

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The weather was a lot better today so it was time to head to Mt Hotham. This is the first time back to here after about 25 years. Our previous visit was during winter when there was a whiteout, the lifts were all on wind hold and we couldn’t do any skiing but used a knee board at the back of the chalets which I ended up chasing down to the snow line. We have not been back to Hotham since.
 
Today there was no chance of white out with blue skies and not a cloud in the sky. As we headed north onto the dirt Dargo High Plains Road, the only traffic was the occasional logging truck coming towards us. Luckily as each one approached we were able to get off the road and find a geocache so missed most of the dust.
 
One of the stops was for the Treasures Mt Ewan Huts. These are typical high country huts built back in 1939 for the Treasure family who were famous locals back in the time.
 
Eventually we were up on Treasure Plain which was a large flat grasslands on top of the mountain range which didnt look unlike other large flat paddocks except we were at 1600 metres elevation. These plains were used since the 1800’s to graze cattle.
 
It was into Mt Hotham for lunch but there was not a great deal open today so we found a table with views and made our own. I had always heard of Dinner Plain but had never been there and since it was only 9 kilometres down the road from Hotham, why not.
 
Dinner Plain reminded me of a typical snow field village with the style of homes and chalets but there was also the Blizzard Brewing Company, Australia’s highest brewery at 1550 metres and it was open. A tasting paddle was in order with some that were good and others I could leave.
 
With a bit of a beer buzz going, it was time for a walk before the long drive back to camp. We decided on the Razorback walking trail but only as far as the Big Dipper. Of course there was a geocache there. There was a gentle breeze to keep us cool and views were spectacular along the ridge. You could even spot Mt McKay over at Falls Creek in the distance.
 
There was one more thing on our list for todays travels and that was to drive the iconic ridge-top track called the Blue Rag Track. This track followed the ridge line to the Blue Rag trig point with drop offs on the sides and steep, shale sections and just steep bits. The girls lasted about half way before grabbing their chairs and books to sit out while Chris and I continued to the trig point. It was probably good the girls waited behind as there were a couple a challenging sections, in particular, the last climb to the trig point. Once again the views along this drive were great.
 
What was a little worrying was some cloud starting to roll in and it was dark. We did not want to get stuck out here in the wet but luckily it held out and it remained dry for the return journey.
 
It was about 2 kilometres from the end of the dirt when finally one of my tyres gave up and it was one of the better ones on the car. Unsuccessful in plugging the hole, I needed to put back on the worst tyre to get us back to camp and hopefully to a tyre repair place.
 
Back at camp we finally had our first campfire for the trip and on the last night. Tomorrow we start the trek home.
4WDing, High Country, Holidays

There used to be gold in thar hills…

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The weather was looking bleak so we decided to do some tracks around Dargo rather than head north to Hotham where we wanted to see the views. It was a good choice as there was heavy fog and misty rain for most of the morning.
 
The Dargo General Store provided some expensive fuel at $1.69 a litre (most expensive so far) but they did sell the Rooftop range of maps and we grabbed the Dargo Adventure map. There was also a geocache here in one of the post boxes. It turns out the store owners were geocachers and had hidden most of the caches in the area.
 
We headed north out of Dargo picking our way through the pea soup fog with no more than 50 metres visibility. This became very interesting as logging trucks came out of the fog at us, most of the time taking up the whole road.
 
We turned off the Dargo High Plains Road and into the Grant Historic Goldfields area. The fog cleared briefly at the cemetery and warmed up but as we walked in to check out the historic graves, the fog rolled in and the temperature dropped considerably – creepy. The forest has almost taken back the cemetery but you can still wander around checking out the old graves and wonder what the pioneers had to put up with.
 
Travelling further down the road and we came along the township area of Grant, well signs and photos of what it looked like during the gold rush. Every bit of the town apart from some broken glass and bits of rusting iron has gone where there used to be upward of 2000 people.
 
The sun stayed out as we continued our decent to Talbotville. There were spectacular views to the mountains of the High Country as well a views to the bottom of the hill straight off the side of the single lane track cut into the side of the mountain. Luckily the girls were on the inside of this track so they weren’t freaked out looking down.
 
Our descent took us 900 metres down to a big open area which used to be Talbotville but is now a campground with its own cemetery and cattle grazing amoungst the tents and caravans. Talbotville was another town that sprouted up with the gold rush but nothing but a few bricks and the cemetery remain. It made a good spot for lunch.
 
After lunch we were going to do the Basalt Spur track circling back on the Brewery Creek Road. To get there involved a couple of creek crossings then onto the track which our map said had a steep section near the start. It started out steep with a few humps and we thought it wasn’t too bad until we turned the 2nd corner and it looked like the track went straight up. Probably a little too challenging for us so we turned around and tackled the Crooked River track with its 24 creek crossings there and 24 creek crossings back. There was only a couple that came up to the running boards and a couple that had steep entries and exits but it wasn’t a bad drive out to Stonewall and back.
 
There was a choice of 2 ways back to camp. Back up McMillians Road with the girls being on the outside looking straight down off the edge or follow the Crooked River out with some more creek crossings. We chose the more sedate Crooked River option. It may have been a little longer but probably the better choice.
 
Arriving back in Dargo as it was getting dark, a meal at the Dargo Hotel sounded good as it had been a long day and no-one felt like doing any cooking. The place was full but we soon had 4 meals that you couldn’t jump over in front of us and most managed to get through them and the drinks were cold as well. It was then time to head to camp and relax by the creek before hitting the hay for the night.
4WDing, High Country, Holidays

Are you going to send it down Huey …

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With the threat of rain today, we wanted to be packed up and out of our camp before the roads got too wet as the tracks in both directions looked like they would be slippery when wet.
 
Our packing up didn’t take too long but Chris and Sue had their camper trailer and everything that goes with that.
 
We managed to get out to the bitumen before any big drops hit the windscreen. In fact the wipers didn’t even turn on.
 
Morning tea and refuelling was at Buchan and replenishment of water in the Taj tanks was in Bairnsdale.
 
Finding a spot to park in Bairnsdale near the shops was not all that easy so we continued onto Lindenow for lunch at the local takeaway / post office.
 
With only 60 kilometres to go, we thought we had missed the rain but as we approached Dargo it not only rained hard but was accompanied by lightning hitting the hills around us and thunder.
 
Our campsite was only up the road another 6 kms on the Upper Dargo Road. There were a number of different camp areas along the road and we chose the first one we came along at Two Mile Creek.
 
As soon as we stopped the storms stopped and the sunshine came out. We picked a great spot next to the flowing Two Mile Creek.
 
I had already had one of the front tyres scrubbing out due to the wheel alignment being out and swapped it out last night for the spare. After checking the other tyre, it is also scrubbing out on the inside. With 1000 kms to home and no spare left, I needed to move it to the rear and in order to do this it took 6 changes of tyres to achieve it.
 
By the time I had made all the moves, there was a good deal of sweat so the creek was looking very inviting. With a bucket in hand and stripped down to board shorts, I was soon refreshed with the very cool alpine water.
 
The thunderstorms had not left us alone but we managed to finish dinner before lightning started striking around us with heavy rain which lasted about 20 minutes.
 
After playing cards and watching the thunderstorms passing to the north,  it was off to bed.
4WDing, High Country, Holidays

One last try for the Murray …

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There was one last track we could try to get to the Murray source and on Chris’s map it showed some extreme sections. We would probably not get through but we were willing to give it a try to see how far we could get. The track was called Cobberas Track.
 
It wasn’t too bad for the first 5 kilometres to Playgrounds camp area, in fact, I didn’t even engage 4WD. It was the next 5 kilometres that we started to get some steep and ledgey sections. There was some banging and scraping underneath but not too bad and we got through OK and shouldn’t have any issues getting back. We then came to a show stopper slope down into the Suggan Buggan River valley. If we got down, and there were some pretty big ledges, we were not going to get back up. Remember we have to still get back to South Australia pulling a caravan and camper trailer. This was definitely the extreme section shown on the map.
 
We returned to the top of the mountain for lunch where there was service on the phones with all 3 carriers, very unusual for Vodafone out here.
 
After lunch we returned back out to Limestone Black Mountain Road with still plenty of daylight. Suggan Buggan sounds interesting so off we went to check it out. Suggan Buggan is on the Snowy River Road that heads through to Jindabyn. We had thought about coming in that way from New South Wales. As it turns out, it is good we didn’t. The Road wasn’t too bad at first with gentle turns in rolling hills but then going around a corner we found ourselves on one of those “worlds worst roads”. It dropped back to just wider than a single lane, cutting into the mountain side with no barriers on the downward side with straight drop down. One of those white knuckle roads with an overtaking area every third bend. Luckily the only car coming in the opposite direction was at one of those overtaking areas.
 
Sue did not travel too well with Jenny having to massage her fingers off the Jesus Bar. They had clamped shut and were not coming off on their own.
 
There wasn’t much to Suggan Buggan with an old timber schoolhouse and flowing river complete with local kids swimming. It was in the high 30’s. There is not much else there.  We spent a little time here so that Sue’s fingers could recover, after-all we had to go out the same way we came in.
 
Once again on the return journey there was no traffic encountered and I think both girls kept their eyes closed as the drop off was on their side of the car.
 
It would appear that the road we would be coming out in the morning was due to be graded with 2 graders and 2 water trucks staged at a couple of locations. It might make it easier or harder in the morning depending on their progress.
Back at camp, it was time for some calming beverages and some more cricket. It seems there is a Big Bash League match every night we are away.
 
The brumbies must have felt a bit more at ease with us as they ventured towards camp before it got dark and got within 40 metres of the van. I had seen them around 3am just at the back of the van but they moved on as soon as there was I got close. At least it gave an opportunity to get some photos.