POST XMAS TRIP

The Post Xmas trip this year was based at the Buckwong Hut campsite, near Mt Murphy in the Victorian High Country. Due to the composition of the group with some travelling with camper trailers, the group divided into three sub-groups in the journey into camp. From Bairnsdale McDonalds, one group with camper trailers went directly from Bairnsdale into camp. Part of that group opted to overnight in Omeo before heading into camp the next day. The rest went with David via Moscow Villa Hut with an overnight on Nunniong Plains.

Via Nunniong Plains Via Omeo

Start of Hope Tk

The club had been looking forward to this all through lockdown, so we were rapt when we realised it could go ahead. In preparing for the trip, leader David Wilson had split the trip into two groups: those that were travelling with him overnight via Nunniong Plains, and those who were going directly to the Buckwong Hut campsite. The first group met at Bairnsdale around midday and after David arrived, headed off to Ensay where they branched off into the hills. More on that elsewhere.

As Dot and I had a camper trailer, we were in the second group and we arrived in Bairnsdale some hours later. Bev Davison travelled with us from Melbourne to Bairnsdale, where we met up with Erica and (briefly) Jenny Schram, who had to drop out unfortunately, due to engine management issues. Dot and I decided to spend the first night at Omeo rather than venture into Buckwong Hut at dusk. We were joined at the caravan park by Bev, Rick, Jackie and Josh Koster and his mate Sam.

The CP had a food caravan selling hamburgers, pizzas, and other fast-food favourites. We dined al fresco by starlight as the park manager, now the chef de cuisine, worked his way through the orders. We weren’t in a

hurry, and neither was he! A chilly night, there were tables & chairs set up and a fire pit blazing to help us keep warm while we waited. A very pleasant venue. We were sad to hear of the flood damage to the park a week later. Hopefully everything will be restored in time.

According to Dan (on Dave’s convoy)

After saying goodbye to the others, Sam and I joined Dave’s convoy to Nunniong Plains. In this convoy

- Samantha Lee & I

- David, Anthony & Justin

Wilson

- Keong, Anya, Zhi & Jia

Yip - Peter Devine

- Tom Morley - Nicholas & Deb Leask

- Michael & Sharon Bauer

The intent for this day was to reach Nunniong Plains via Moscow Villa Hut and the Washington Winch. The driving was relatively easy on good graded gravel roads and we made good time for a late lunch at Bush Hilton Hut at Bentley Plain Reserve.

After airing down, we proceeded to Moscow Villa Hut which has an interesting bit of history. It is amazing what people in the “old days” did. Afterwards we drove

onto the Washington Winch, which is the only steampowered engine of its kind in Australia. Amazingly, it was in operation until 1961!

The 4x4 adventure commenced after our visit to the

Washington Winch, with Dave taking us onto Escarpement Tk.

Escarpement Tk is rated as “Easy” by HEMA Maps. It

was anything but easy, which goes to show how the conditions of 4x4 tracks can change and track ratings can only be used as indicative guides.

car’s AWD system not functioning

properly. The lack of 4WD meant we had trouble with some of the bog holes, and we became the subject of several recovery practices.

Overall, while the going was slow with several tricky bog holes (some with very deep ruts) to navigate through, everybody had fun tackling the muddy terrain.

Tuesday, December 28, 2021

According to Martin & Dot

In the morning we broke camp and headed past Benambra along Fang Alley, before turning onto the Mt Hope Road and then the track to Buckwong Hut. We negotiated the steep track with the high spoon drains, arriving at Buckwong Hut at the bottom. It was clearly too wet to camp at the hut, so we moved on to the campsite over the creek. There we met up with Andrew and Lisa Jantke plus Peter and Katie Mynard. They had arrived the day before to claim our communal space. The site sits low amongst the hills beside the creek, just inside the National Park. The ground was saturated and the air warm and humid. The March flies were glad to see us by day and the mozzies at night!

After lunch we were joined by the main convoy led by David, which more than doubled the number of people and vehicles on site. Their adventure coming in is told elsewhere. At peak there were about 30 people and around 15 vehicles in camp.

Deb and Nick grabbed a fishing rod and were off to the nearby low bridge where they caught a couple of small trout. They returned the fish to the water for another day. Unfortunately, they did not have the same success the next night. That night, we gathered for a traditional chat around the

campfire under clear skies.

According to Dan (on Dave’s convoy)

We woke up to a wet tent and a fresh brisk morning, greeted by wild brumbies. In daylight, we were finally able to appreciate the beauty of the area where we pitched our tents for the night.

After breaking camp, because of the AWD issues our XV was

experiencing, we decided to take the main road and rendezvous with the

group at the corner of Garron Pt Tk and Nunniong Rd, while the rest of the group tackled a river crossing and the steep climb of Garron Pt Tk.

It was a 15.5km drive for us on graded gravel road and 18.2km for them on tracks. While it was expected that they would take longer to reach the junction, we waited and waited at the junction well past the estimated rendezvous time with no signs of them. Eventually, we were able to reach them on the UHF and found out

that they encountered a tree that made the track impassible. They had to back track all the way back to where we camped overnight and come around the same way Sam and I took to reach the Garron Pt Tk junction.

The group took a well-deserved lunch break after they reached the junction, after which we drive together until we reached the turn-off for Sam and I to

drive to Camp via Omeo. The rest of the group took Misery Tk to Camp.

According to Martin & Dot

(Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38545057) After a slow start to the day, the entire group (apart from Bev, who preferred to stay in camp) assembled to tackle the track heading up to Davies Plain Hut. The initial climb to Davies Plain track was long, with a tricky bog hole along the way that deteriorated during the next few days due to heavy traffic. The day quickly became quite warm, creating challenges for our Diesel Forester, which tends to overheat if the going is too slow.

Passing through Charlie Creek campsite, we were faced with another slow hard climb, finally reaching the Davies Plain hut for lunch. The views along the way were stunning, but the bushfire damage to entire hillsides from the 2019 fires is quite shocking. After lining up for a group photo opportunity, the convoy headed back to our camp. A tag-along group decide to camp beside us overnight, which turned our campsite into a traffic hazard. David had words with their leader in attempt to keep their speed through our campsite down. Another enjoyable campfire saw the day out.

According to Martin & Dot

David had planned a long trip for the day, to Tom Groggin and return. That trip is described elsewhere. Some of us decided instead to slack off and take a trip into Omeo, where we enjoyed coffee and an ice cream and did some shopping. Omeo was a very busy little town that day, but we found a pleasant patch of grass to enjoy our lunch before heading back to camp. Many hours later, the main convoy returned, tired and dusty. Yet another campfire went on well into the night. Dot and Anthony saw a particularly spectacular shooting star as all eyes scanned the skies for satellites and stars. It was a particularly beautiful night sky as the moon was not rising till late.

According to Dan (on Dave’s convoy)

(Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38545074)) Today Dave took the group up to Mt Pinnibar, which is

often described as “one of the most challenging peaks to

reach in Victoria”. With the summit at 1762m, from the top

of Mt Pinnibar, one could see the Cobberas (to the South), Mt Kosciuszko (to the East), Mt Beauty (to the West).

The trip to Mt Pinnibar was very scenic. The journey up was not an overly difficult drive, other than Michael needing to remove a pebble that managed to wedge between his brake pads and rotor, and Rick having the bad luck of getting a sidewall cut on one of the new tyres he just installed for this trip. Both were quickly fixed on the track.

On the way back, we went and saw the Murray River crossing point at Tom Groggin, where a Pajero Sport happened to cross the river. The driver of the Pajero had been contemplating the crossing for well over half an hour. He struggled a little on the crossing exit as it was rather rutted and slippery.

We also encountered a reasonably deep river crossing on the way back to Camp. Two cars in the convoy ran into difficulties. Rick’s L-Series, despite his best efforts in waterproofing his electrical connections, the engine lost spark again during his crossing. Nick’s Outback was caught up on a rock

and also had to be towed out. Unfortunately for Nick, because he was stationary in the river for a prolonged period of time, a fair amount of water ingressed into the cabin. Fortunately, the water was clean river water and the car did not suffer

any ill effects after it was dried. A shout out to Justin for an awesome job in attaching the recovery rope to Nick’s car.

Some track maintenance work was

required in order for us to make it back to Camp.

According to Martin & Dot (Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38545088)

Andrew and Lisa had business elsewhere, so packed up and left early. For the rest of us, a swim was on the cards, so the convoy headed back up the steep climb, this time taking the track eastwards to the Poplars campsite on the upper Murray. Here the river is only a few metres wide, but deep enough for swimming. A pleasant time was had by all, despite Dot making off with the Wilson’s only towel!

We were visited on the riverside by two members of the Victorian constabulary who were looking for a ‘baddy’. it seemed a very long way to come- a bit like looking for a needle in a hay stack. we immediately thought about border passes and which state we were in, until we breathed a sigh and remembered that those days had passed.

The trip back to camp involved a particularly challenging and slow climb as some vehicles needed a tow to get up some of the tricky parts.. On return, the final campfire for the year was held, again under

clear skies. There were tasty nibbles and we enjoyed a relaxed New Year’s eve around a beautiful fire,

grateful for the opportunity to enjoy such a great trip in good company.

According to Martin & Dot

It was pack up day for most of us. The site gradually cleared during the morning until just a few people were left. We travelled with Bev as

far as Benambra, when we turned north to join family at Nariel Creek campsite near Corryong and Bev headed home via Omeo.

So another great High Country trip came to an end.

Thanks David and everyone on board for a great time.

Peter and Katie Mynard L series wagon Rick and Jackie Koster L series wagon Josh Koster and friend Sam (visitor) Forester SH Erica Auld Forester

Martin Foot and Dot Greiveson Forester SJ Diesel

Bev Davison Forester SH

Keong, Anya, Zhi and Jia Yip Toyota FJ Cruiser Tom Morley Subaru Forester SF Nicholas and Deb Leask Subaru Outback Cynthia and Mike Rennolds Subaru Outback

Daniel Ho and Samantha Lee Subaru XV Andrew and Lisa Jantke Isuzu D-Max Michal and Sharon Mitsubishi Delica Peter Devine Mitsubishi Pajero

David, Anthony and Justin Wilson (Trip Lead)

Toyota Landcruiser 100