4WD Day Trip to Mt Cole

Geoff had been itching to get out in his 'new' toy, so we plannedd a trip up to Mt Cole. This was a first time visit, and is a beautiful spot for camping and 4WDing. We stopped off at a market along the way, collecting a fair amount of fudge, as well as some other tasty treats before heading off into the bush proper.

We climbed along lovely track Frees Point Road which took us up to Mt Cole, with scenic views. We then continued around Mt Cole on Mt Cole Track, which took us through much wetter forest, eventually rejoining the road, where we stopped for some morning tea on Ditchfield Track.

There was a very large horse type event going on. A multiday, scores of kilometres riding event. We passed quite a number of horses during the day.

We found a few steep tracks (Manly Point Track) and passed some camping areas; on the lookout for the perfect lunch stop spot.

We eventually found it (though it was missing a river...) A secluded detour off the main track near the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. We cleared the forest litter and started up a nice fire for our Bush BBQ.

Exploring around further, the Hell Hole sounded too good to bypass. There were some steep bits of track, but nothing too hairy.

We continued exploring around, driving along Mugwamp Track and eventually returning to Manly Point Track for one last go before returning home.

A 4WD day trip to the Bunyip State Forest with the old ADSS Team!

Following in the tracks of a previous exploratory trip in this area, a few workmates and I set off for a bit of offroad exploring in the Bunyip State Forest area. First stop was the Sherwood Forest so that some of the guys out from Bangalore could get up close and personal with the Rosellas. But none of them wanted to get anywhere near them, so it was left to the Aussies to show them how it was done. Perhaps it was something to do with the current Bird Flu scare?

 

We continued on to Four Brothers Rocks, exploring around and climbing over the granite boulders. There were good views to be had, as well as many photo opportunities.

 
 

The 4WD tracks we tried were all pretty tame, even the good tracks that I had read about. There was a small shortcut up the hill, so for a bit of excitment we gave it a go. It was good, and we made it a fair way up before the boulders that were the track became too large to navigate. Reversing back down was even more fun!


It was getting close to lunch time, and I had a lunch destination in mind. On the way I spotted a bit of mud, so without any thought I veered off the road and straight towards it. We needed to get some real 4WDing in today one way or another.


Always look and think before driving into something is the advice I left back on the road. This side track had a sharp drop-off, leaving the car sitting happily on it's belly. Front wheels were spinning in the mud, and rear wheels were spining in the air.


Bhaski did wonders with the shovel and soon had us out and going again. No? Well we managed to get some trail bike riders on the radio. They came out of the mountains and had a good laugh at us, but couldn't get us going despite a multitude of ideas and suggestions. We tried digging, chocking wood under the wheels and rocking the car. We were well and truly stuck. There was nothing in sight that I could winch off, so it was looking like we either sit it out till somebody drove past, or call a tow truck. Luckily the bikers found another 4WD up in the hills which came down to our rescue.


After the excitement of thinking we'd be stuck out in the searing heat for days, we eventually made it to the secluded spot on the river for a bush BBQ.


There was some serious gourmet cooking going down with a multitude of foods from all nations. We relaxed around the fire whilst Gaurav went quite feral with the axe. There's something about an axe that can bring out the dark side of people's personalities.

 
 
 

Avalon Airshow it was loud!