So, camping in swags is part of this adventure, but the other reason we are here is for the four wheel driving, so after a bit of a sleep in and bacon, eggs and pancakes on the BBQ, we broke camp and and got back on the road.
First stop was Jamieson for a quick refuel and to check the maps before we hit the dirt. Got about 100m up the road and I pulled over so we could let some air out of the tyres… 25psi is a lot more comfortable than 40psi!!
Back on the road again, well for another 100m before I realised that my CB ariel was pointing in a funny direction… the bumpy road had snapped the fiberglass inside…grr… but nothin’s a problem, and we did some great bush mechanics with some electrical tape and two sticks for a splint…. then… finally back on the road again.
Wasn’t too long before we managed to find our first challenge. A nice steep track called Gallows track, and it was aptly named! Glad we were heading up, cause coming down would have felt like a trip to the gallows!!!! We stopped a few times to scout a head, walking the steepest sections first (see I do learn!).
We made it up without too much trouble, although some of it was a little scary, and even Mark admitted to me his heart was in his throat for the last section!!! Ecstatic with out achievement, we headed off to find more challenges….and…. well not much to be honest.
The rest of the day was spent winding our way around Mount Sunday heading towards Sheepyard flats, and was mostly just a dirt road 🙁
We did manage to find a little bit of mud, but even that was a huge disappointment as there was not even a sliver of a chance that we would get stuck. Was slow going and a bit boring really, and took us the remainder of the day, just arriving at SheepYard as the light was fading.
We setup camp next to Noonans hut, a private hut that we couldn’t use, but was handy because it was about then the rain started…
We cooked dinner by torch light under the eaves of the hut, then sat around a smallish fire trying to make our last bag of wood (really should have picked up more in Jameison) get us through the night. The rain thankfully eased, although it must have bucketed down at some stage in the night because everything is soaked this morning!!!
At least we were warm and dry in our swags 🙂
Well, I had better think about making a bit more noise to wake the other 3, so we can do a wet pack down and get on the road… at least with the rain overnight, we might get lucky and get some real mud on the car before heading home tonight… looking forward to a nice hot shower and my own bed 😉
OMG – almost forgot, we spent a lot of yesterday skirting the edge of a bushfire!!!
When we got up here there was a lot of smoke in the air, but we also passed lots of signs stating that the DSE were back burning in the area, so didn’t think much of it. As we climbed the mountain, we got to a spot where we could see large areas that were burning, so we checked the CFA app (one of the rare times we had coverage) and discovered that we were actually looking at what was left of the Licola bush fire. It was listed as contained, and there wasn’t much wind, so we moved on not too concerned… we did however agree that maybe we would make sure we got a ot more north, a long way away from the fire!!!
Was shortly after that we came across an area that had recently been back burnt on the edge of the road. As we came around the corner, we saw a little too much smoke, so got out to investigate. A fern that was still smoldering had caught a little wind and was starting to catch on the near by branches.
Now Mark and I were both Scouts in our time, so we did our good deed for the day and I climbed down the hill and doused the flame with water bottles. The ground was very hot beneath me, so there is a good chance it was still burning under the layers of ash.
With not enough water to douse the entire area, we quickly moved on having extinguised the imediate threat.
Hehe…can’t believe I had forgotten that when I wrote this post this morning!! Lucky there was no internet to post it and I was able to update when I got home!
PS – Wrote these yesterday (Sunday) but couldn’t post as the site was down… will write about the last day (the best) and our adventures tonight… may also put a few pics up!
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