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G'day all, I've been lucky enough to get out bush again for a few hours this time after our commemoration of the sacrafices our armed force's personnel make to allow us to do and have what we have today. This occurs every year on the 25th of April - ANZAC day. I started with the dawn service at Mt Macedon with my brother - we camped out to avoid the new bus system. It was once again a good and moving ceremony. Then at 12pm I met up with Subaruby (silver foz) and Deadman (white foz). Subaruby was in a stock foz, Deadman's foz is a stock 2L drivetrain and wheel combination with a 2 inch strut lift, custom front bar with winch. My L series - Ruby Scoo - has EJ22, 4.11 ratio diffs with front LSD and centre locking awd L box, 3 inch lift and 27 inch tyres. Here are the pics, enjoy - feel free to make up your own captions. It was an awesome day out! Tracks hit up: Pole Tk, Camp Tk, Soil Pit Tk. From here Subaruby departed. Then Reily's fire break tk, some random fire track, Croziers loop tk, another random track or two before popping out on Mooney's Lane to end the day's session. Thanks to Subaruby and Deadman for coming for the day. Apologies for not having done a reccie before the day as the tracks had severely changed since I was last in the area! Cheers Bennie Cobaw State Forest: -37.239759,144.629173

All was going well with the maintenance on Ruby Scoo so this trip was on. I also needed it! Packing Friday after work saw me leaving Shepp at 8:45pm and arriving at the campground in Walhalla at 1:30am. I was very glad to see that Venom was here too, I thought he had bailed. After an ok night of sleep, once interrupted by a bunch of drunk rednecks being a pack of, well, you can come up with your own word for that one... We decided we'd have breakfast in town and got an awesome bacon and egg muffin with a white chocolate mocha. We got the group together and headed off. First place to go was our favourite and really the only places we knew – Coopers Creek: Bruntons Bridge: From here we decided to head East to then head North as we didn't really want to back track. Once back in the bush from Seaton we hit up a stretch of “commuter tracks” - old logging tracks where AWD/4wd really is a good bit of fun. Lined up on Williamson Spur Rd to discuss where to go from here: Along the way I found this tree in the middle of the burnt out area, to me it looks like it's in shock with what it sees around it: From Williamson Spur Tk we headed northonto Army Tk: When we dropped into this area via Army Tk we thought we might be in a spot of bother as this track was pretty steep and the weather was still very light rain on and off. Once at the bottom of Army Tk we decided to hit up Morning Star track – this track started climbing again up the other side of the valley: There was a bit of winching involved with my mate's Pajero. I think we had a go at it about 3 times on a very slippery slope. Venom and I got up without an issue. Once the Paj was up Nachaluva was sceptical that he'd make it up – but with his new found “rally style” he had nothing to be worried about. I wish I had my camera for all of this. I also broke a thong while carrying the cable up the hill for the Paj... From here we hit up the commuter track again to look for a camp site. This was McEvoys Tk where we tried out the Mt Useful 1434 tower and hut site. You beaut, no one here, there's an industrial portable hut with a car port and the communications tower behind it. Once out of the vehicles it became apparent that this was not a suitable site overnight due to the noise of the portable generator powering the tower! On we went until we ended up hunting around for “Johnson's Hut” off S14 tk. This was all good but there was no hut to be found and some dodgy tracks going in too. Dodgy in the way that they were not “official graded” tracks of any type. We found a little clearing and setup camp. Nachaluva and I took a ride in Ruby Scoo to find another nearby hut. It too was on a dodgy track but was already occupied by some young kids that were clearly into the country scene but still drank UDLs and the like (not something I associate with the “country theme”). We headed back to setup. This is what camp looked like: While out collecting wood I stumbled across the “Johnson Hut” - it was well hidden with all tracks to the hut concealed from the track we came in on. Sunday we packed up and headed off to find more tracks like what we found late arvo yesterday. It certainly didn't disappoint! We headed west from our last camp site and were well north of Walhalla at this point. Our aim was an intriguing looking track called “Trig Tk” that has marked on the map that there's 12 switchbacks due to the steepness! So we weaved our way in that direction: Venom on O'Keefe Tk: Nachaluva coming down O'Keefe Tk: At the low point of O'Keefe Tk, small river crossing: I honestly can't remember where this switchback was! We then headed through Aberfeldy on our way to the next track, Dream Creek Tk: Once on CMF Tk at the intersection of Trig Tk we had a bite to eat while viewing what was to come: Before we heaed off we saw Adrian and Lucy off in their Paj from here. It was great to have an old school mate along for the ride – and to see different 4wd in action. Adrian really wished he'd found the time to fit his muddies! Thanks for coming mate! We then jumped into Trig Tk! You can see the other side of Trig Tk in the background on the other side of the valley above. Looking down at Venom: Nachaluva's foz looking mean at the top of the switchback on Trig Tk: Going down: Switchback fun: Nachaluva has some great shots of Venom and Ruby Scoo heading down the hill at this point! Nachaluva headed down at the lower end of Trig Tk: I got this shot to have a dig at a mate who keeps telling me to get a real 4wd – he's just got himself a landrover 130 long wheel base ute; I'm yet to see it off road. I've also used it to “annoy” another mate who offroads his Range Rover – some of you might remember that vehicle from a trip to Mt Cole. Once back at the bottom of the Valley we headed off to see Venom's end to the trip. The section of Trig Tk above CMF Tk was a good climb too! Nachaluva and I headed back down the hill to camp where we left his car – it seemed we were racing a group of 4wd's that were coming down the switchbacks. We don't know what they thought about seeing a forester at the camp site but they weren't sticking around for a chat anyway. So we setup and got the fire going, with a little bit of drizzle around at times we knocked this up: The next morning this was bliss: Once we were packed up we climbed out of the valley to the “main road” - Walhalla Rd where we then hit up Beardmores Tk. This track followed a spurline down the front of the Thompson dam: Then to the river where we had a lot of fun messing around in the river crossing: I love the lighting and the detail in this image: It was now time to head into Rawson for fuel – only to find they didn't have any as their delievery hadn't come through! So off to Tyers we headed, it was about 20 kms down the road and made more sense than heading all the way into Moe. From Tyres we headed back along some rough old logging tracks to the Old Coach Rd that took us to Bruntons Bridge. We had a quick bite to eat and headed to Coopers Creek crossing where some kids that were camping there took great delight in watching the two vehicles cross the river. Since we'd already crossed it we didn't bother stopping to check it. From here we took some tracks that we'd only just noticed on the map – they turned out to be a bit of fun with some good climbs in between – there was a 1km long climb to begin with We then aimed for our intended camp ground on Fulton's Creek Tk. We took Dry Gully Tk that ironically followed a spur for most of the time we were on it. Once it started to drop into a valley we were stoked with the terrain! We ended up back at the river to have another look around and a play: We decided that none of the campsites on the river suited our requirements so we headed back up the spur to a bogan camp we passed earlier. And we setup: Unfortunately we saw too much rubbish on this trip – empty cans discarded out the window of moving vehicles halfway up tracks, water bottles everywhere and some of the camp sites where people had burnt logs and thrown deck chairs, aerosol cans etc into the fire only then to leave the remains. This camp had plenty of aluminium cans, buried rubbish, broken glass and markings in the bark of the surrounding trees. It's very disappointing to see in this day and age! Tuesday we decided to follow the full length of Fulton's Creek Tk that we camped on – we were only just below the start of the track. It was interesting to follow as at times it used sections of other tracks to get back onto the next section of Fulton's Creek Tk. Some of the highlights were steep climbs and descents as well as the creek crossing, this one inparticular was a highlight for me – beautiful rock wall and a crossing that required you to head upstream a little bit: The next crossing needed a bit of track building on one side, then Nachaluva decided to follow the proper crossing track: ^ Here Nachaluva really needed a bit more speed as his tyres were fighting for grip as the car started to float at one point, but he got the required grip to keep moving forward and got out without issue. He did have a wet engine though! I took a different line with Ruby Scoo in the second part of the crossing as I didn't trust Ruby to stay grounded and I didn't want to end up getting the ECU wet if things went wrong in that section of the river in the last pic! We continued along until we ended up back on Williamson Spur Tk. So we dropped in on Army Tk that we did the other day back down to Donnelly Creek Tk. Since the hut at the bottom of Army Tk (northern end) was now vacant we checked it out... but failed to take the camera! Following along Donnelly Creek Tk I developed a knocking noise with a distinct clunking through the steering system. After two checks we discovered that my wheel nuts on the front left were barely on anymore. I don't know how this happened so quick without any noise with any of the ascents or descents we had done earlier. All of my wheel nuts were tightened! We checked out O'Toole's Flat – a large open and well groomed campground. We then decided that Flats Tk was the go to get us to where we wanted to be. It was a bloody rough track with mutiple options in several sections. Ruby Scoo certainly worked hard to get to the top – where I found that the track became well graded and did a hair pin turn to head down hill, while it continued up in the direction I was travelling! Ruby Scoo at the top: The problem here was that Nachaluva couldn't make it up, so I headed down on foot to help guide him, then it was decided that the winch was needed (turfor). I headed back down in Ruby Scoo, parked up, go the gear together then headed down on foot to Nachaluva. It must have seemed like an eternity to him while waiting for me! We ended up getting Nachaluva off the track without the use of the winch, there were some hairy angles his foz saw in the process which he didn't really enjoy, but we got him down safely. Both vehicles headed back down to find the new “official” start of the track, only to eventually end up passing where Ruby Scoo was parked in the above pic. We travelled some good tracks from here, checked out Merringtons Flat Campground and ended the 4wd'n part of the trip via Sullivans Tk. We aired up and hightailed it to Walhalla via Walhalla Rd – we passed the start of Fulton's Creek Tk where I had a bit of a chuckle as we looked DOWN this track a few years back thinking “that's epic” only now to have done it up and down in that section! Once in Walhalla we pulled up as I was keen for a White Chocolate Mocha. I ordered two white mochas (with a different girl to Saturday morning), Nachaluva and I were stoked when we got them. The first sip was awesome until the brain kicked in and said this isn't white chococlate! Anyway it was a good coffee none the less. We travelled home along the freeway together talking on the radio – I enjoyed that part of the trip, it was a good end instead of travelling all the way home on my own. Thanks to Venom, Nachaluva, Adrian and Lucy for coming on this trip. I'm looking forward to our return to this place as we now know where to go! There will be “requirements” for this trip so that everyone has a chance and it's an enjoyable experience :twisted: Cheers Bennie

G'day all, Here's my trip report from our latest trip - We're in Victoria, Australia, the trip took place in Wyperfeld National Park (-35.494779,141.985931), Big Desert Conservation Park (-35.523285,141.486053) and Little Desert National Park (-36.501081,141.931). Plug those coordinates into google maps and you'll see the areas I'm talking about Vehicles: Mine - Blue L series "Ruby Scoo" - 3 inch lift, Ej22, L AWD gearbox with locking centre diff, 4.11 ratio diffs, L series 1.59:1 low range and front LSD 27 inch tyres Venom - Green Liberty, 2 inch all around lift, H6 conversion, L series 1.59:1 low range, DCCD centre diff, front and rear LSDs Pezimm - '07 foz XT auto - one inch strut lift and HD springs. That's about it for mods Bboypebs - '82 Brumby (BRAT), 2 inch lift, 29 inch tyres, weber conversion on the EA81 Subaruby - pretty much stock '06 foz Dulagarl - ~2000 model foz, H6 conversion, Front and rear LSD, subaextreme front and rear bars, stock 2L foz 1.447:1 low range So, Saturday the 21st of September saw four subarus en route to the Wyperfeld National Park. After having some fun fitting everything in the car we were off and ended up meeting at Yapeet Beach Camp as our camp of choice was taken - for the week. I arrived with Pezimm after dark, this is the meet point just before we took off on Sunday morning: We headed towards Wirregren Plain via Wonga Campground. This is the ~8km slow meandering driveway into camp with the other subi's in tow: The Crew at Wonga fitting sand flags/checking out some of the history of the area: From here we headed out towards Snow Drift via North/South and Eagle track to name a few. Since we were so close to camp and the day was still young we took a bit of a detour into camp, so we checked out what was going on at Casurina Campground before heading on to Snow Drift. This is where Ruby Scoo had an issue that appeared to be fuel vapourisation, not much fun to deal with but we got going again. But after passing a large convoy of other 4wd's the issue reared it's ugly head again on a slight hill, so we were pushed out of the way to let the larger convoy continue on their way - they were headed to Snow Drift to camp the night. We got Ruby Scoo going again and continued on our way to camp where we found a large gathering of vehicles and kids in the area as well as the other 4wd group. Love this pic. You can see how chewed out the side of the dune is from sand boarding activity and from those (like us) that just head up for the views or to watch the sunset. A great day of driving must have tuckered a few out Those rims are hot too, they really set off an awesome vehicle! Here's a pic of the camp from the top of the dune. And Bboypebs in the light of the sunset. The sunset. It was great to be back out here again! Heading off from Snow Drift across Wirregren Plain along Gunner's Track on Sunday Morning. I found this sign to be a bit out of place so I thought I'd share The start of where Gunner's Track became a lot of sandy fun, the stuff prior was solid fast mud pan that was a good bit of fun, but we were after sand, sand and more sand! Looking up to where we were headed up Gunner's Track. We headed into Underbool to fuel up, grab a quick hot shower (that turned out to be a bit premature since it was only day 3!) then take off again for the sand - this time searching for a way into a certain (awesome) firebreak track. Whilst finding our way into the park again we came across this cheeky little Thorny Devil Lizard. These guys were also found sitting on top of wooden fence posts and as we approached they'd slide down the side to hide - something I'd not seen before with these lizards. Couldn't help my self with this pic - One of the great angles of the L series This is one of the reasons we love this track, usually a "virgin" track to follow, it's soft, fast, up, down and winds around a bit too, sometimes there's a mix of those factors which can make it quite a technical track. Here's Pezimm on the Firebreak Track. Bboypebs finding the only bit of mud on this track - still loving it though! I'm sure everyone loved this track, it was as fun as last time and I'm sure we'll visit it again next time. I had the same problem as the other day with the fuel. I'd tried to insulate my fuel lines but apparently that didn't do anything - this issue occurred again later on too. It was getting very frustrating! It was thought that the fuel pump could have been letting the side down as it certainly seemed like a fuelling issue. This took some time again which meant we were running out on our long leg to the planned camp for the night, so we decided to camp up a bit further down the track rather than push on into the night. In the morning I was keen to get to Murrayville to pick up another fuel pump from the old holden dealership there. Long story short they didn't have an external fuel pump on the shelf, the head mechanic tried to tell me there wasn't such a thing. After a chat with the boys we swapped the fuel filter out as it was the oldest part in the equation. Got one that was very close to original but it fitted so I wasn't fussed. Then we headed off to Big Dune hoping that it wasn't my fuel pump that was going to pack it in. This is Big Dune from the "car park" area on the side of the track. Venom had a go at the middle track (the one he's on in the pic), far left track then stuck with the middle a few more times before he made it to the top. He puts this down to a couple of things: very low tyre pressure, the DCCD with a rear bias and most of all, driver ability! These pics don't do the effort required to get to the top any justice - it's a massive dune, the tallest in the area that towers over everything below it. Some of the tracks created in the climb up the dune. Since making it to the top it was time to attempt "Big Dune Two" - but most of the effort was done as this was a simple climb. The pic above is Venom on Dune Two. Another pic of Venom at the top of Big Dune, this time looking down among "those who try" - and they tried! Pezimm had a good crack at it but "failed". We convinced him to air down further (not enough in my book!) and he got to this level: "Almost made it". Bboypebs had a red hot go in the mighty Brumby but the gearing just wouldn't let it be. He had a fair crack at it a few times! I unfortunately failed in getting some pics of the Brumby having a go - apologies! Here's Venom about to slide his way down the dune. After Big Dune we cruised around a number of tracks, Venom found this little beauty near the bottom of Cactus Bore Track - this one climbs a small dune that gives a good view of what's around - I think Ruby Scoo models it well! Here's Pezimm coming up the same dune behind Ruby Scoo - you can't wipe that smile off his face! Here's a driver's perspective of part of the the track we were cruising along. This track was a good drive with some soft sandy sections on the curves as you start to climb a small dune, I know I really enjoyed it! The convoy arriving at Red Gums - a crap place for a camp site!! I thought I'd enjoy Red Gums with a Red Rum - because I could! Camp setup among the gum trees, the only ones in the area! We found that this character had been here before... The sunset on our way out to another dune where we intended to watch it from. We made it to the dune but it was done by then. Ruby Scoo atop the dune on dusk - we caught up with Venom and a few of the boys who made it there in time - they left well before I did! While we were out here we decided to play on the dune - it was a part of another 2 dunes. Venom was keen to try a difficult climb to see if he could do it - this is him coming up to the last corner successfully. The middle dune was a piece of cake, the last one was a bit more difficult - I had about 4 goes at it and ended up airing down to about 12 psi - and got it! Venom was already down low. We watched the late dusk and checked out the surrounding area with the remaining available light. Then a small night 4wd session to get back to camp for dinner. This is one of our specialties when out bush - Parma's. Can't beat a good bush parma! This is how we found one of my tyres in the morning after they'd cooled off. I think they showed about 8 psi before I started to inflate back up to somewhere near 18 psi for the day. Today's travels was checking out some other camp grounds, one turned out to be interesting, another to remember for a later trip and the last one wasn't worth the effort to get to. Along the way we found this little guy, Captured this image, And found possibly THE biggest Mallee Root you'll see any where! At the one to forget this was this mud puddle to have a go at, easy stuff: This mud was stinky disgusting stuff - it was very thick, to the point where only some of it flowed back into the hole. I managed to collect this stick on the windscreen when going around Pezimm and clipped my sand flag on a tree, I then got it stuck in the windscreen wipers - I make a note of this stick as it kept Mrs El Freddo laughing for a good half day, and that's not any exaggeration! From here we headed south towards Milmed Rock, stopping at Pigeon Springs for Lunch. We came across this little fella on the track on our way into lunch, I followed it into the bush as it was the only blue tongue lizard we saw and it had an awesome "tiger" stripe pattern. Hitting up Milmed Rock with the crew. Quite a bit of sand had moved off the track in places before we got here - it has been interesting noting the change in the sand conditions from our times out here. Again, this interesting tourist has already been here! We were off again, enjoying the sand…. It was along the Milmed Rock Track before Round Swamp that Ruby Scoo again ran into trouble, but this time is was different - it was a very sudden stop. When I tried to start her there was no fuel pump priming occurring. I felt a little bit sick at this point - then decided to check all of my fuses - one was discovered to be a bit dirty from the swamping she saw in 2010, so I swapped it with another fuse in a different slot and we were off again! Dodged a bullet there! We camped at Round Swamp Campground - from here we unfortunately said bye to Pezimm as he had to return to work the next day. For the rest of use we got cracking into getting a fire going to burn the mallee root we found along the way. This is how you light a fire with a (small/tiny) Mallee Root offering. Unfortunately a few minutes after lighting the tower fell over, but it continued burning. Later in the night we were sitting around enjoying the fire when we heard what we thought was a 4wd convoy cruising through the bush - but they never passed the camp ground (which you have to in order to continue along the track). Thinking it was odd we forgot about it. Then we thought we saw some lightening, but not all at once. It wasn't until we heard the distinct crack of thunder that we knew what was coming - at that point it was all hands on deck to "fortify" the campsite for the coming rain. We threw a tarp over our camper as we've not done anything about the leaks and this is the easiest way to deal with it at the moment. The thunder and lightening was really spectacular and the rain was coming down hard for a few minutes in waves. I loved it! This is how we setup Ruby Scoo for the storm the night before. From Round Swamp Camp we were headed to Lake Albacutya, then Rainbow for fuel and over to OTIT if it was free, otherwise it would be Yapeet Beach again. The thing that swayed us to do different was the strong and constant wind that had emerged as the morning went on and the desire to do Purra Tk from West to East again - then hit up Rainbow for fuel after working out which camp to stay at for the night. Here's a couple of pics of the track with the different conditions along the way: f And this is what happens when the driver's mind is in neutral when it decides to get out of the bumpy ruts - without doing anything except reefing on the steering wheel: What I should have done was drop it into low range and given it some prior to the steering wheel work. Venom gave me a gentle snatch and I was out of there easy. The three remaining subarus on Purra Track. We decided to check out some other areas of the track that were showing up on the GPS's - that made for some fun. As you can see, this part of the track is nothing but a goat track now. There were sections that were very narrow between the scrub, we were lucky to get through I reckon! We ended up getting to OTIT on some tracks we didn't know existed until now. It was unfortunately still occupied by a tent/caravan city. I hope it's not trashed now. Either way OTIT or Yapeet Beach Campgrounds were too windy in these conditions. The decision was made to fuel up in Rainbow and high tail it for Snow Drift via the sand as the black top is simply boring by comparison! On our way up to Snow Drift we came across this little fella - it was great to see so many lizards out this time! Snow Drift turned out to be a great choice, there was only a breeze there. After some communication with Dulagarl Friday's place to meet up was decided. We had Snow Drift to ourselves for the night The next morning we headed back to Wonga - I was starting to think that I was getting sick of the "commute" through this place! But it was still a good drive. Back to Rainbow to fill up and continue heading south where we met up with the Wimmera River at the Ebeneza Mission. Along this section of river there's a solid crossing we saw in July 2012, Dulagarl went through it. This time we hit it as I thought the river would be in the stage of "going down" so will be lower than last time. Except once I hit the water I felt the car get a bit lighter and realised there was also a bit of a current. It was good fun - then we had to turn around and do it again - no issues... Bboypebs crossing the Wimmera River. From sand to mud/solid river flat tracks - it's quite a contrast and unforgiving for a wrong move. A bit of fun. Dulagarl should remember this place. Venom did it easy mate Once at camp it was a bit of a relax session: Bboypebs had a bit of a fish - but got nothing except a few lures lost… Later Dulagarl and Subaruby joined us for the last leg of the trip. It was great to catch up with them non the less! Camp in the morning. Then we headed off towards Little Desert NP, some river track to cover first though: Venom getting down and dirty, Subaruby in the new ride getting it dirty stripes sorted. Dunny stop at the highway rest stop. Little Desert was quite a change from Wyperfeld and Big Desert in terms of vegetation - it really did feel more desert like with the lack of trees, plus it was pretty windy! We ran into this place "Eagle Camp" - not a bad place for a camp ground so we took the opportunity for a group pic with the "new additions" to the convoy. As we were about to head off we spotted this water hole and thought it could be a bit of fun. We enticed Bboypebs into it relatively easily - it had something to do with mentioning the might Brumby and the deal was done. Unfortunately this is how it panned out: So it took a mouth full of water upon entry of the water hole. Once out and most of the interior drained it took about 15 minutes to remove the plugs, turn over, replace plugs and get it going again! After talking Venom out of the temptation to put the liberty through it's paces Dulagarl decided he'd nail it with his mods and the snorkel. This is how it went: Venom had to snatch Dulagarl out - Dulagarl lost the use of his clutch on one of the attempts at pulling himself out of the water hole - he "almost made it" - but that's what they all say! We eventually got the clutch working again and we were off. I reckon the dirty water "deposited" it's grit in the fingers of the clutch as it hit the flywheel and clutch mechanisms, this grit held the clutch open when the engine was running. By shutting off the engine and pumping the clutch it seemed to come good. There was one time after this that it seemed to slip again but with the same trick it didn't seem to return. After cruising around a number of tracks it was decided that lunch was in order. It was a great time to be in the desert as the grass trees were in the process of flowering... This is Subaruby remembering that the foz is not the MY wagon… It was great to see him having a good crack at this mud hole! I think an LSD or two should be on back order! Unfortunately at this point the Brumby wasn't very happy, but Bboypebs kept it going as frustrating as it was. At the end of the day we finished up at Round Gum Swap Campground. ^ I couldn't help my self with another "selfie" of Ruby Scoo... After a great trip out here for just over a week it was time to call it a day - eventually! Bboypebs and Subaruby headed off after a couple of longish byes; The Ruby Scoo crew stayed for dinner before heading off home. I know I didn't want to end the trip just yet but all good things must come to an end! Thanks to Venom for the early behind the scenes talks in the planning of the itinerary, Venom and Bboypebs for "sticking around" with me for the duration of the trip; Pezimm, Subaruby and Dulagarl for attending the times they could due to work or other commitments. Once again, a great trip - I really needed it! Thanks for taking the time to read this Cheers Bennie