Sunday, 17 November 2024
We were woken at 4.00am with a roll of thunder and then the rain started … pretty much exactly as forecast. Such a pity after a beautiful day on Saturday, but the weather is going to do whatever it wants regardless of our plans!
We managed to get a bit more sleep and by daybreak the rain had eased off. We crawled out of our swag and started packing up before eating. Everyone else’s set up was much more streamlined making us realise that IF we are going to do more of this camping 4×4 ‘thing’, we need our gear to be easier to set up and take down. But that’s what this tag along trip is all about – learning from an experienced guide.
The biggest question mark is over the self-inflating mattress that Bernie purchased to make the swag more comfortable than it would be with only its standard foam mattress. It probably did make our bed more comfortable BUT getting it packed up was something like wrestling a walrus. The bungs have to be taken out and then you fold it in half and roll it up while forcing all the air out of it all while in a confined space! We had to roll it in the swag because it was wet outside. It made us think that we should try the standard mattress on its own to decide if the extra comfort is worth the extra effort involved??
And then the rain started again. Damn! We had been aiming for an 8.00am departure but John was concerned about whether we would be able to ford the rivers on the Wonnangatta Track if we waited too long with rain falling steadily. Embarrassingly everyone else was ready to go at 7.00am! We were only half packed up and hadn’t eaten anything for breakfast. The rest of the group headed over to the old cemetery and we packed up the rest of our stuff as quickly as we could and bolted down some cereal before joining them over at the cemetery at 7.30pm. At least that split the difference – half an hour later than John would have liked but half an hour earlier than we had been aiming for.
We forded the Conglomerate Creek and then took the Wonnangatta Track up out of the valley. We had a couple more river crossings with the water deepish but not alarmingly so as we made our way to Humffray Track and then Wombat Range Track. It helped that John was radioing with guidance about the best lines to take through the water.
As we were driving down the Wombat Range Track John was increasingly concerned about which track(s) to take next. The original plan had been Eaglevale Track because he was concerned about how deep the Wonnangatta River would be at that point. He made the call to take us onto Cynthia Track, Station Track and Pioneer Racecourse Track and then along the Wongungarra River to Howittville before crossing it to continue along the Crooked River to Talbotville.
Fording the Crooked River just beyond the popular campground at Talbotville our morning started to go pear-shaped. We all made it across the river just fine and then started heading up the very steep, very rocky, very wet McMillan Road. One of our group had a bit of trouble negotiating a gnarly section and when we arrived at it we could see why. Bernie had to give it a go and then roll back to try again. Phew, made it BUT then the truck started screeching!
OMG, I thought straight away – how much will it cost to have the MU-X recovered from here if the engine is about to seize up??? We radioed ahead to John to let him know we had something going on. He asked if we could pin it down a bit more as to where the screeching was coming from. Bernie hopped out to check for sticks that might have lodged underneath but couldn’t see anything. Back in the driver’s seat we continued, deciding that the problem seemed to be in the driver’s side front wheel. John suspected a stone in the disc brake and assured us we should be OK to keep driving because the disc would be harder than then stone. He also suggested accelerating backwards then jamming the brakes on to try to jolt the stone out. This was attempted but it was scary – and – unsuccessful.
At about the same time another member of our group lost power in their vehicle and couldn’t manage more than 5kph. All this while the five vehicles were strung out along the very steep and narrow McMillan Road. John was struggling to find anywhere up ahead to turn around so asked one of the more experienced drivers in the group to use his scan tool to try to find the problem in the vehicle without power. No luck with that but the thinking was that the vehicle had missed an emissions ‘burn’ and had gone into limp mode.
John checked in to see if there was somewhere to turn around if he came back down the track as he had just found somewhere up ahead to make a turn. He arrived back at the scene of all the drama, and it was eventually decided to hook the DMax up to tow it out. So, we limped through the Grant Historic District with one vehicle under tow and ours squealing like a banshee! We were overtaken by a few other groups who must have been shaking their heads about our group’s misfortunes??
In the circumstances we didn’t pull into the site of the old Grant township, but we might go back another time to explore it as it’s very accessible from Dargo. We eventually arrived at the intersection with the Dargo High Plains Road and turned all the vehicles south towards Dargo. Bernie tried the reversing/braking manoeuver a few more times on the flat bitumen section of McMillans Track just before we turned out. The screeching had improved to a slight squeal but had not resolved completely. During the drive down to Dargo Bernie suggested that we could see if the pub had a room available for Sunday night. Sure, I said, you’ll have no argument from me!
With many nail-biting kilometres behind us the five vehicles arrived in Dargo and parked up outside the Dargo Hotel. Drinks were had and phone calls were made to mechanics about what the loss of power problem might be caused by. A room at the Dargo Motel was obtained. If all our gear wasn’t damp from packing up in the wet, I would have tried camping for another night, but a motel room sure did sound like a better option!
John drove the DMax around a bit to see if it would initiate a burn, but he couldn’t get it to accelerate to the speed needed to achieve this. Eventually he parked the vehicle in the camping ground behind the hotel and we all went our separate ways agreeing to meet at 6.00pm for dinner at the pub.
Back at the pub at 6.00pm I ordered the pork belly with apple sauce and vegetables and Bernie opted for the crumbed cutlets with chips and salad. Having eaten A LOT of pub food on our recent Outback Queensland Road Trip I have to give top marks to the Dargo Hotel for their delicious pub grub. One of the best pub meals I’ve had in the last few weeks. After dinner, Shane left us to return home to Heyfield as he had work commitments on Monday morning.
Thanks John, check out John’s Tag Along Tours at https://www.dingotrax.com.au/
