BreakawayOffroad4x4.com.au

The Sundown trip this year was even better than the one last year!

Attendees:
* Ben + kids
* Dave
* Mark and Arie
* Keri
* Scooter and Tania
* Tim and Mel

Myself, Dave, Scooter and Tania headed to the park on Friday morning. Beautiful weather greeted us as we crested the range. We can't use the weather as an excuse for us getting lost between Ballendean and the park entrance. We missed the left hand turn off and ended up going in a long loop back to Ballendean. We didn't even know we were lost until a kind gentleman pointed it out to us over the UHF.

With the elusive park entrance found we downed the tyres and ventured in. It was every bit as rough as I remember, even though sections of the track look to have been recently graded. I bashed the dolly wheel a bit on the humps getting in. So much so that it got jammed against the chassis. Nothing that a little leverage could not fix.



After setting up and having lunch, we set off to explore. Leaving the rats castle loop for Saturday we looked at a few side tracks we noticed on the way in. The ground is full of loose sharp rocks, not really good for your tyres but it does make for some nice little challenges. After a few tracks, I was facing a mutiny from my three minions so I headed back for a swim and a play while the others continued on. Thanks to Dave's excellent satellite maps, they found a cracker of a track. More on that later.



The kids and I went for a swim in burrows waterhole. The water was not exactly clear, but at lease it was not too cold. We managed to splash about a bit as well as swim across to the other side before the kids got too cold.

The next day we went for a short drive while we waited for everyone to arrive. One of the tracks Scooter and Dave found yesterday was first on the list. Previously they just went to the bottom of the hill and back up (with a bit of winching), but the track looked a bit longer. This time all three of us went down what looked like a huge landslide of shaley rock. It looked VERY loose and promised to be a good challenge to ascend. We however wanted to explore where the track led to, so we pressed on.

It turned out to be a cracker of a track. It went over a few hills and basically followed the fence line. I'd say the track was for maintenance of the fence, but by the look of the fence they had long since given up on maintenance. After a while Scooter radios back that he has found a hard spot and a chicken track that looked even harder. After a good look we decided to give the main track a go as we were less likely to run into a tree. After a bit of effort Dave got up, then I got up easily (nothing to it really) . Scooter decided to try a different line, but unfortunately was the first (and not last) casualty of the day. A big rock rolled against his wheel and smashed a bit of plastic trim and scratched the alloy. After that he go up no worries.

The track when through a dry creek at the top of a waterfall. We stopped to have a look as it was a really impressive sight. Eventually we got to the top of another hill. The track continued on, but it was time to head back. So we go through it all again and ended up at the hill where we started. You know, the landslide of loose rocks.



First up was Dave. All was looking swimmingly as he hit the hard bit (a couple of step-ups). The first attempt failed, and as he stopped we could hear the dreaded noise of leaking air; casualty number 2. Wasting no time we yelled at him to run out the winch. Not knowing why we were so excited (because he could not hear the air) he was a bit bewildered. It did then occur to Scooter and I to tell him what's going on. So with a short winch he was up and heading to some flat ground to change the tyre. Luckily it was just a smashed valve.

Scooter was up next and almost go over first time. A short winch and he was away.

My turn now and I headed the couple of hundred meters back to the car at the bottom of the hill. In we get and up we blast confidently up the hill. Until, about half way up I loose all momentum and stop dead. Bugger, didn't even get to the hard bit. So I back a bit and try to take off. Nothing. All the wheels were spinning; or were they. After taking off again and spearing off to the right it occurred to me: broken CV. I went back down to the bottom, took more air out of the tyres and tried to blast up as fast as I could. I got to about the same point and then the fun began. Scooter had most of the fun as after I sent Hunter up with the winch extension strap, he had to hooker it up for the first of 4 stages of winching. On each stage I slowly winched in and turned the tyres. Keeping the tyres turning was necessary for this single line pull, but the sharp rocks chewed them out horribly. Eventually I got to the top. Incidentally we got the whole operation on 2 cameras.

After this my 4WDing was over, we all went back to camp to meet up with the rest of the club. It is a miracle Tim made it to the camp site. Even after having the track on GPS and somehow missing all of the sighs he managed to get lost. I didn't think anyone could have a worse sense of direction than me.

I stayed back at camp and pulled the front driveshaft out ready for the trip home. The kids an I went for another couple of swims and had a peaceful time at camp.

Someone else will have to take up the story from here.

ok, some interesting news...

i got back to the highway in 45mins....

ive bought a new suspension lift so i thought theres no need to be gentle to my current suspension.

I only got lost because my gps only allowed me to download the track, not waypoints. so when i finaly got radio connect, ben told me the campsite was at the bottom of the loop... ie rats castle.
so i ventured down that track. probalbly 10mins. had a feeling this was the wrong way so i turned back and followed the OTHER half loop track that was on the gps... oh hello campsite!

Happy to say, no damaged done to my truck!

Hi Ben .... great trip report.

Saturday afternoon was the Rats-Castle circuit for those without a broken CV. The run went well in general. A few people dared the major hill climb, while others navigated between the trees on the very tight side track. There was another group of people also climbing the hill, and one lone Prado just going up and down the hill (must have been testing out his lockers). Yes - there were 3 white Prados at the top of the hill.

We eventually got to the creek crossing at Rats Castle. With all vehicles except one having high clearance or some amount of lift, we navigated across the bedrock relatively easily. Unfortunately Keri with her stock Prado was the lowest vehicle and got a slightly bent side step right at the start of the crossing. But with some road building on one step, Keri crossed the creek like a Pro. Well done, as Keri had the biggest challenge with the lowest clearance.

The return trip to the camp was then a relatively easy drive. Sundown is definitely one of my favourite destinations. And with that one side track, there was a whole lot more to explore.

Oh yes - I found some more damage when cleaning the car. The steel rock sliders were put to use, as I noticed a good sized dint on the right hand side. I must have been pushed sideways into a rock on one of the hills on that side track. A bit of black paint will fix that damage.

I'll post some photos and videos tomorrow night.

I've only had a few moments to go through some photos. Hopefully I can put some video together tomorrow.

The camping spot was very nice, and right beside a creek with a swimming hole.


Here is a photo of that track that claimed a vehicle or two. It was very loose, with a couple of off-set steps. (BTW - I had the value on my tyre replaced today ... all for zero dollars. So the tyre is back in action.)


Look at the clouds that were around this track. Rain and dust clouds were present. Somewhere infront of that dust cloud was a 4x4.


That track did lead on for many kilometres, and was certainly the best track I've been on for a long time. It offered many challenges without really putting your life at risk if things went wrong. You can see the track going on the hill on the left, and then again in the distance on the hill on the right.


We can't forget scooter's find with his metal detector. It was probably a mix of copper, tin, and hmmmm .... arsenic ????


Some of the side tracks were interesting, and something a little "scratchy".


Oh dear .... we saw dear in the park too, as well as a few hundred kangaroos and lots of birds (and one sheep). Thankfully, we didn't see any snakes.


And that almost iconic erosion track leading to the Rats Castle circuit was still there.



It was certainly a great trip, and near perfect weather. A good time of year to do a trip to this area.

I didn't get too many photos, but here are some.

The Saturday group awaiting what was left of the Friday group after their morning outing (carnage)


Kerri requiring some assistance at the Rats Castle Crossing


The patrol taking a slightly different line


The Sunday morning mist over the water hole


Some of the local inhabitants


And a quick stop to check out Red Rock Gorge on the way home


Thanks to Ben for organising the trip and everyone else for making it a great weekend.

Finally got round to putting the video together. Watch it in high def.

I finally managed to upload a video (on a very slow ADSL link). Also available in HD. Strangely, much like Ben's video, the focus was on that long side track with the really steep but "loose" surface. It really shredded up the tyres, and killed one plastic hub cover, one value stem, and a CV. But it was a great track. Can't wait to try it again.

For those who logged the tracks on GPS, If you send me the GPX I can stitch it all together and update the track on the forum.

what sort of tyre pressures were you running?

I think I started off at 25 then went down to 18 PSI. On that hill with those loose rocks, tyre pressure wasn't really a factor. The pictures/video don't do it justice.