Victoria - Trekking

mike thanks for your prompt reply...

I dont really care what sort of country, just something beautiful!!! As all of Aus is...

Basically just after a 3 day trek.... (long weekend sorta thing) My vehicle will be the only vehicle unless someone else on this forum wants to tag along... I will have a mate with me however...

I have been 4WDing for about 4 months now, however i probably have about 100+ hours practice as i go out every weekend from about 7pm fri night until about 7pm sunday..

Nah no children mate, lol, im only 20 ;-)

Hope that helps?

Well... the Gembrook / Bunyip area holds lot of adventure for you - it is close to Melbourne and I had one of the worst/most dangerous 4WD experiences ever in the Tarago State Forest (so it should not be underestimated!).

Some like the Wombat State Forest to the north of Melbourne.

And, of course, Dargo is but a 4 hour drive and holds some _very_ serious 4WDing.

Given your inexperience in the area I would suggest you stay close to home (Gembrook etc) and I don't mean to patronise but it is easy to get into trouble out there. Consider joining a 4WD club they have advantages - I imagine :)

Whatever: don't believe a 4WD is a "get out of jail free" car - you can get into more trouble than you ever believed possible :)

Talk to the Melbourne Map Centre
Site Link

and especially about the Rooftop Maps for more info. or come back to this site when you know a bit more about what you want :)

Mike Harding

Mike,

What do you mean by you can get into more trouble than you ever imagined?

What trouble can you get in?

"What trouble can you get in?"

LOTS!!! Ever had the feeling that because you have 4wd traction your vehicle should be able to go down that gully and easily pull its way up the other side?

Ever found - and usually when you are on your own - that the said traction doesn't work and the vehicle starts to slide sideways and nearly falls off the edge of the track and into the creek?

Then when you try to winch yourself out there are no large enough or close enough trees within 60 metres and your winche rope is just 38 metres!!

All of this of coarse is just hyperthetical and never happened to me :))

haha thanks pprass,

cant really say ive ever been disappointed with the traction of my truck...

i have 35x12.5x15" mongrels and front and rear diff lockers.
also have a 38m winch cable and a 30m winch extn cable :-)

only time i worry is when i bottom out :-( She's still not high enough

but i get the drift... but to say more trouble that you ever imagined.. lol arrr i dunnno...

hey what do you guys think of those anti roll systems? with the water tanks?

My two most scary 4WD moments have been in the Bunyip / Tarago / Noojee forests, both were due to errors of judgement on my part possibly encouraged because these areas are close to home for me and, I suspect, that encourages a false feeling of safety.

No. 1 - I was alone and decided to do a downhill track which I had walked some of and decided it wasn't _too_ steep - however it was! About halfway down in low first I had to make a conscious effort to remain calm whilst regretting ever starting the track - later map analysis showed it to be about a 1:2 descent - I would _NOT_ do that track again under any circumstances.

No 2 - was in the wet with my son in his 4WD behind me (some distance behind in this case) and we had come down a steepish hill which we would not be able to climb back up again given the conditions. Unbeknownst to us these was a much steeper and _far_ muddier descent ahead of us - no choice but to take it. How we both got to the bottom safely (about a 25m drop to the left) is beyond me - neither of us had any control of the respective vehicles, all we could do was slide down on the mud and hope.

DO NOT underestimate this area, especially in the wet - I appreciate that at 20 you are immortal - but, take it from me, you are not :)

Mike Harding