Day 1
It felt really good to leave work at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. My colleagues were struggling with their day to day work and there I was driving back home to get away from it all.

After packing the vehicle we set off to Bathurst. We left at 3 p.m. and arrived at Bathurst at around 6 p.m. We did a quick shopping and then headed for Dubbo. At around 9:30 p.m. we checked into a motel called Bridge motel in Wellington, about 50 km east from Dubbo.

Day 2
We left Wellington at 9:30 a.m. for Dubbo and arrived at the Western Plains Zoo at 10:30 a.m. It was easy to find the zoo by following well marked sign posts. Even though I visited Dubbo a few years ago, everything seemed unfamiliar. As I found out at the gate, you can actually drive your car into and around the zoo. I did not know this and planned to hire an electric cart but this was not necessary. If you want, you can hire bicycles instead.

Driving track is about 6 km long and you can park at one of the many car parks along the track and walk to viewing platforms and animal shelters. You can actually see many of the plant eating animals such as elephants, giraffes and buffaloes etc. without leaving the seats of your car. Most of the dangerous animals are kept in closed confinements and you will need to walk short distances to see them. You can spend a good day viewing and learning about animals at the zoo. As a matter of fact, there are guided tours and educational programs which you can take part. If you really want to go over the top, you can even sleep in one of the bunkers in the zoo which is a part of a accommodation package provided by the zoo. This package includes 2 days admission, some meals, and a number of programs.

After an exhausting day, we left the zoo to head towards Bathurst in order to try out the Touring the Turon trek notes which I bought from Boiling Billy Publications. We arrived in Bathurst at around 6 p.m. and it was getting dark.

The starting point of the trek was at Yetholme, about 20km east of Bathurst. After a short distance through the trek (following trek notes) our progress was halted due to a couple of large trees fallen over the trail. We were just starting to travel on Lyrebird Rd. Incidentally, the forest was probably going through timber cutting as all the trees were cut around the area. Equipped with a Bathurst state forest map and GPS, we figured out an alternate route and rejoined the trek at the intersection of Stoney Trig Rd and Lyrebird Rd. Continuing the trek, we didn’t have much problems and we arrived at the first creek crossing. There was not that much water and the creek bed consisted of small stones and some boulders, so the crossing was not too hard. Immediately after we crossed the creek we turned left and followed the creek downstream for about 100m and crossed the creek again to a small clearing to spend the night. There, we had a camp fire and cooked our dinner and fed ourselves. Sleeping near a creek, listening to flowing stream was a refreshing experience.

Day 3
Rising up on the day 3 at around 7:30 a.m. in a mountain near a creek was really refreshing. It was quite cold and water was almost icy. We had breakfast and set off to recommence the trek again. We were crossing the creek to rejoin the trek at the junction up stream when we were momentarily bogged in the creek. We got out easily by backing up a small distance and moved forward with a little bit more speed, then the creek exit was made easier. The trek from then on was quite rocky and steep in some places although it wasn’t too hard to negotiate. The biggest problem was that the previous storm had knocked down many trees, some of them really large ones, across trails. Sometimes they had been cleared by other 4 wheel drivers but some of them were not cleared and instead previous vehicles made detours around the obstacles. Many of these detours were not too hard to negotiate, but some of them were really muddy and slippery. Probably caused by previous rain and traffic on soft soil. That was the sign of what lay ahead of us. It turned out this very problem was to be our biggest hurdle.

We arrived at the southern end of Eskdale Rd. in the Winburndale Nature Reserve and there were large trees fallen over at the beginning of Eskdale Rd. There was enough space to make a detour to enter that road. Driving along the road, I can’t remember clearly now but, there were a couple of mud holes created by vehicles trying to go around fallen trees. The wheel ruts were very deep and filled with muddy water. Upon inspecting, I thought it was probably OK to drive through and I got through a couple of them. The next one was not so easy. It was about 40 to 50m long and I got through about 40 or 45m of the section and the vehicle stopped with only about 5m to go. I was bogged! I got out of the vehicle and it looked serious, the belly of my Pajero SWB was lying on the centre crown of the muddy trail with all four wheels in the very deep wheel ruts, spinning hopelessly without any traction whatsoever. In an attempt to gain traction, I tried to put branches and stones underneath tyres, but the tyres just did not grip. Without any success, I tried for about an hour an a half to gain whatever traction was available. Hope was diminishing, very rapidly. I kept telling myself that there has to be a way to get out of this, but what?

It was nearly 1 o’clock and I started to lose strength and was hungry. So my wife and I prepared a couple of sandwiches while looking at our Pajero which was a sitting duck on top of muddy trail. Even the weather scared us by having a dark patch of cloud over us. The last thing we needed was a shower! I couldn’t swallow my sandwich, so I tried to jack the Pajero up to get some space underneath tyres. There was no suitable jacking point and the only jack I had was standard hydraulic jack used to change tyres-hardly suitable for the job, high lift jack would have been the one to have. Anyway, I jacked up the back of the Pajero at the towing hook. The Pajero went up about a feet but only the body, not the wheel and axle. There was no where enough space to put something under the tyres. Jacking up the front was a little bit better but not much. Trying hard to get that little bit of traction did not pay off. The Pajero refused to move. Well, I could not defy the law of physics. The Pajero was heavy and resting its belly on top of mud with wheels without any traction. Anyone can figure out that I don’t have enough power to push the Pajero out of the sticky situation. The extent of seriousness of the problem started to sink in.

It was nearly three hours after I got bogged, and I was starting to think of an alternate solution, coming to a gloomy conclusion that I can’t get the Pajero out of the mud myself. I needed help. By then, I almost regretted coming to this trip.
Thankfully, my analog mobile phone worked, so I rang the Bathurst State Forest Office. I didn’t think there would be anyone on Saturday afternoon, but the call was answered. Relieved and injected with some hope, I told him my situation and I needed someone to pull my 4WD out of mud. However, he said that there was no one in the office but himself and no one could come out to rescue me. Frantically, I called NRMA and AAMI for help but they could not help me. All they said was that I had to arrange a towing truck and they can reimburse me for the cost of towing if I am a member. So I called Bathurst Tourist Information Centre and sought help. A kind lady on the other end of the line gave me a couple of phone numbers for local towing operators. I got through one of them and the bloke was prepared to help me. The only problem was that he did not have 4WD. I was not sure a 2WD truck would be able to get through to where I was and the other factor was the cost. But what cost isn’t worth the rescue? So, I told the bloke how to get here from the Bathurst State Forest Map. Then the waiting began.
After about 5 to 10 minutes I called the towing truck, I heard an engine roar from a distance. My wife also heard that and told me that it might be a vehicle coming our way. Indeed a Toyota Landcruiser 80 series was heading our way. I walked to him and a guy greeted me with "What’s the problem?" I explained the situation and shortly after that, more and more people appeared from behind the Landcruiser. He was a member of All Wheel Drive Club of Sydney and it happened that the club was on a trip on that day. There were eight vehicles and probably 20 or so people altogether. How lucky I was to meet them. I quickly remembered to call the tow truck operator to cancel the call. Steve and Simon (guys from the club) assured me that they will get me out easily and ladies from the group were comforting my wife and our baby. Steve drove around my immobile Pajero and placed his Landcruiser in front of the Pajero, so easily! Using a snatch strap the Lnadcruiser and the Pajero were connected together, and I elected to take control of my Pajero with Simon beside me to advise and supervise me. I fired the engine up and engaged low 2nd and started rolling the wheels to aid the recovery. Signal was given and Steve started to move forward. As the strap stretched, at one stage, Pajero ricocheted forward by elastic force of the strap.

The recovery was over in no time. After talking to Steve and Simon, we agreed that I would be safer to stick with the group until I was safe to be back on my way. Other vehicles negotiated the mud patch without any problem. After packing the tools into the Pajero I took fourth place in the convoy and continued our way through Eskdale Road.

It wasn’t long before we were halted by another very deep mud covered detour around fallen trees. Even the convoy leader, Steve got bogged! A Jeep Cherokee in the convoy tried to pull Steve’s Landcruiser from the mud without much success. The 80 was stuck so deep in the mud, the Cherokee was sliding sideways without moving much rearward. It was decided to try double pull the second time. A Troopy and the Cherokee were to pull in tandem but the line of pull would not be straight so it was thought to be dangerous in case the middle vehicle lost traction and pulled sideways. So, instead, we tried ‘V?Pull, where two vehicles would be directly connected to the 80 with individual strap and pull the bogged 80. After much wheel spins and lateral motions, this time the 80 was pulled out of the black sticky stuff. The mud hole was too deep, so the group went around the fallen tree on the other side. There were numerous mud holes and detours after that which made the 4WDriving very interesting and as for me, a worthwhile 4WD training. We even had to use Steve’s chain saw to clear fallen trees! Anyhow, after detouring and navigating through treks, we arrived at the camping site just before dark.

Simon and Steve showed me the closest way back to bitumen from the camping site which was only about 3 to 4 km long. It all looked easy and Steve and Simon assured me that I would be able to get back on black top. Time was running out, I did not want to wander around the bush in the dark! Looking at the map, Battery trail was the shortest way but Steve said that it may be closed because the trail trespasses private property. I thought I would give it a go and if it is closed, I would had to take a longer way.

I said goodbye to the guys who were busy erecting their tents and gave my thanks to Steve and Simon. My wife, son and I were on our way again, alone! I assured myself that I can always go back to Steve if I had any trouble at all. After all, the black top is only about 3 or 4 km away and it would not take long to walk to the camping site.

After I left the group, I tried the Battery trail but as Steve said, the trail was closed with a padlocked gate(private property), so I back traced to a junction and followed the other trail Steve told me. After about 1km from the junction, there was a very wet mud patch in front of me. I was faced with a bit of fear and hesitation as to whether or not to proceed. I inspected and thought I could just get through if I go around the mud patch but this didn't seem that easy since the area was also wet and covered with a layer of water. Nevertheless, I decided to go ahead and I engaged low 2nd then charged forward. With much wheel spins and sliding sideways, I eventually got through, but JUST! For a moment, I thought I was getting bogged again and I thought I had to walk back to the camping site again to seek help. Anyway, I got through and was on my way again.

After a while, I was lost for a short time, I travelled about 2.5 km on that track but I couldn't find the turn off to the track leading to Dark Corner Road. As I found out by turning back and backtracking, the turn off was a little tricky. Anyway, I was on the right track and driving up and down on the track.(as Steve told me, the track was very hilly) On the second last descent on the track, I saw another mud hole on the bottom of the track. The mud was a bit hardened by then but it was still wet and had plenty of water over it. On my left was fence and on my right was thick pine plantation, so I was left without any choice but to drive through the mud hole. I gathered momentum as I drove towards the mud hole in 2nd low and ............. ,well, made it through. After another hill, I saw the black top and boy, was I glad to see the bitumen! What a relief!

I drove towards Great Western Hwy. and safely drove back home. That night, after a hot shower, lying on the bed and thinking back with aching muscles, I could not have thanked the guys from the club enough. Constantly in my mind, I kept on imagining "What if I did not meet the guys from the club?". I could not comprehend the thought. Well, comforted with the fact I was home safely, I could put all that thought behind me and slept well.

Thank you very much Steve and the guys at the All Wheel Drive Club. I would like to dedicate this story to you guys. As I found out the hard way, it really pays off to be with a club.
 

Dennis PARK
September 1998