WOMBAT STATE FOREST TRIP - SUNDAY 8^TH OCT 2006

Attendees : Bruno Pistone, Andrew and Aaron; Greg Goulden; Chris, Louise, Sarah and Jessica Burton and friend; Clinton and Kirsty Fisher; Steve, Carol, Jessica and Westbury; Anthony Sultana and Duncan; Walter Bevilacqua; Debbie, Ken and Shae Shewan; Henry and Dennis Zanon, and Theresa Smith.

The trip to Wombat began for some in Bacchus Marsh where they met up with our trip leader, Bruno, others would be joining the trip at Carroll’s Lane in Bullengarook. Nine vehicles proceeded along the road.

We came to our first bog hole for the day, the first of many, and once the water depth was established the Prado made its way forward, well not quite!!

After being snatched back by Greg, and allowing the water to drain out of the vehicle, it was decided to take the side track. This also had deep ruts but all vehicles passed through without incident. From here we continued along what Bruno called Broken Bridge Track. On our way to the bridge, Clinton popped a tyre so the vehicle was winched up the hill, secured with the winch and repairs were undertaken. It was proving difficult to remove the spare tyre, so the popped tyre was reinflated on the vehicle so it was not necessary to change it.

The trip progressed along Lloyd Tk. and Saltwater Tk.

Crossing the old broken bridge, we could see where other vehicles had made tracks around, but eventually returned to use the spot where the old bridge would have been. The convoy proceeded through various bog holes until the call came over the radio that there was a “road block”. Chris found himself sitting in the middle of a deep hole.

Attempts were made to get to his recovery points which were below the water line, eventually his winch was released and Chris pulled himself clear. Most vehicles went round by the side track, Henry, Ken and Anthony attempted the crossing. They needed winching as the diff was catching on the raised mud.

Walter was next to experience some difficulty with his fan blades needing some drastic modification with the aid of Anthony’s plaster saw. After two blades had been lobbed off we made our way up Anderson Saw Mill Track to the campsite for a well deserved lunch break. Walter cut off another blade form his fan before we left Andersons Mill.

Steve tried to clear the mud off the passenger side of Walter’s vehicle as you could not see out of any of the windows. He used his trusty fire extinguisher filled with water to do the job.

We drove along O”Brien’s Rd where we made a personal comfort stop at O’Brien’s Crossing and as Ken had called that all the lights were staying on his dash, he tried to rectify the problem by pouring water over the alternator. Steve came to the rescue by refilling his fire extinguisher with water from the river. The problem could not be solved so we continued along O’Brien’s Rd. Along the way Anthony in his Patrol was able to give Carol a hand by snatching her vehicle out of a sticky bog. We reached the main road, and at this point a meeting was called to see how we would proceed as it was quite late in the day, about 3.30p.m.

Bruno, Greg, Anthony and Henry decided that they would continue with the trip. The others called it a day and headed off home. The group that remained headed along the main Ballan-Trentham road looking for the entrance to Greenhills Rd. We missed the entrance we were looking for (we needed your GPS, Chris) but eventually Bruno got us on at the other end and we were set to go. Anthony received a message from home and had to leave us. We were now down to 3 vehicles.

As fate would have it, as we made our way along Paradise Rd then onto Matties Tk we were in the right place at the right time. A young family had their vehicle in a precarious position, with no support vehicles and no recovery gear to get themselves out of strife.

Bruno snatched the vehicle out, while Henry instructed the wife and kids to keep out of the way. Once clear they decided to do a u-turn and head back to firmer ground.

Our troup ventured further along the track where we passed some vehicles by the side of the road waiting for the last 2 of their group to arrive. Bruno, travelling uphill, proceeded to cross the bog hole and continue up the hill as the group were coming down hill and were taking the side track. One driver became bogged so we waited till he was pulled clear before we proceeded.

Greg could now cross the bog. This wasn’t going to happen though, so Henry snatched him back. When this was done Henry had all the lights come on his dash. Following the same procedure as Ken he tried to solve the problem.

But it didn’t work so the rest of the trip was abandoned and we headed back. Hitting the next bog hole hard, the water cleared the problem. But by this stage the trip was over. We headed back to the bitumen where tyres could be inflated. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Melbourne.

Words and pics courtesy Theresa.

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