All but two of us met up at Officer, and had a leisurely drive to Moe where we filled up.

Arriving at Erica a tad early we met up with the rest of the group and had the briefing/questions done by 9am.

Allan led the way with myself following, I figured my vehicle was close to factory spec, if I could make it then everyone could.

Allan had us inexperienced drivers on our toes fairly soon into the day, we had a look at a steep rocky hill and pondered whether we could do it. Allan went first then myself, I had three attempts at a tricky section, but couldn't get over. I had seen videos of left foot braking and understood the concept but had never done it before. Allan was great at coaching me through and up the hill went the Ranger.

Another trick I learned was to go over washouts at a slight angle to reduce the chance of scraping.

Then up the hill came Greg and Pam, he too had trouble with this section, but once again a bit of coaching and he made his way up.

Alex roared up like he was just going to the milk bar.

Haley passed up on the hill and Dylan took the Land rover up.

Andrew had Allan in the car to coach him and made it up nicely followed by Gary and Jim, both without a sweat.

At the end of the first harder obstacle the 3 newer drivers all felt quite satisfied that we achieved it.

I don't think we would have tackled it without a gentle push from Allan but were glad he did and surprised ourselves that it really wasn't that hard after all.

The rest of the day had us doing some creek crossings and a few steep sections with lunch break at O'tooles camp ground.

We then attempted another steep hill, but this one was rutted and wet, Allan made it up no worries, but after a few attempts I just wasn't going to make it and the decision was made to take the easier way back to Walhalla rd and back to Erica.

Big thanks to Dylan for leaning on my bull bar to keep me level as possible as I was rocking like a see saw at one point.

All up we had 8 vehicles.

4 had inexperienced drivers

Myself (Mark)

Greg and Pam as passenger, they looked like they had a great day.

Andrew, he too had a great day and commented how surprised at what we did in the day.

Haley who instead of being a passenger drove Dylans Land rover, she too looked to have a great day.

Allan, Alex, Garry and Jim although not challenged by the terrain had a great day too, as did their passengers.

So the objective was achieved, 4 newer drivers went beyond what had been done previously and all learned new tricks which will be used from now on.

A big thanks to Allan, without his coaching and knowledge of the area the day would not have been the success it was.

Thanks to all the drivers and passengers who came and made it a great day, hope to see you all on another trip soon.

Mark

Mark, great report as you said a huge thanks to Allan for his coaching also Alex, Gary, Dylan and Jim for their tips and advice I had a great day with a great group of people and learnt plenty well done for organizing an enjoyable day looking forward to seeing you all on another trip...

Andrew.

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tried to add short vidio clip but cant work out how

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If you have it on youtube just cut and paste the link from the address bar at the top, people can paste it in and hit enter, easy!!

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Looks like a great trip, thanks for sharing! 

Walhalla area is an amazing place..... 

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1stly, well done to Mark (Yarra_Ranger) on organising his 1st trip.... It was a very enjoyable day with great company and we drove some nice tracks. After Mark finished all the briefing at Erica Pub, we made our way to the 1st track of the day, where we all aired down.

The 1st track of the day was Beadmores, which was going to dictate whether we do the other planned tracks of the day. Whilst it wasnt going to present any problems for the experienced guys, there was going to be two sections that I thought might test the newcomers. As we entered the track we had our 1st river crossing which was very shallow, so was a good omen as we suspected all the future crossings would also be easily negotiated. We started the climb then came to the section I thought might be a reasonable test, but fortunately or unfortunately, it had been graded plus it was quite dry so nobody had any dramas there. The next section was also graded, so it was a relatively easy drive to our next track, being Fultons Creek Tk. We all arrived at the start & everyone got out to check the beginning. Greg's wife Pam asked the question; "We are not going down that are we"? When told we were there was silence, but after explaining the correct entry, (as you head down you lose the track for a second or so), we all made the descent down to the river without any dramas.

We then arrived at the 1st of the Fulton Creek Tk river crossings where we stopped to let the vehicles cool down after the reasonably long descent.

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After our stop at the river crossing, we crossed the river & continued along Fultons.

After another river crossing or two, we then arrived at the section that was going to test the 'sense of humour' of the less experienced.

As Mark mentioned in his report, both he and Greg required a few attempts but both eventually made it to the top; great effort.... At this point Hayley decided to hand over to partner Dylan in the Disco. Hayley had been driving behind Alex who had been giving her great advice, & I thought she was going to give it a go as a result, but she decided against it. Upside was that Dylan enjoyed getting behind the wheel for this section.... Andrew wasnt that confident, but someone talked him to having a go with that person sitting in the passenger seat giving a tip or two as he headed up; great job Andrew.

Greg

Andrew

Jim

We then arrived at a river crossing that wasnt deep but had a nasty rocky exit that had the potential to cause some damage to the standard height vehicles. There were a couple of other options, but the river was much deeper, so some idiot walked in it and it quickly rose above that 'character building' point on a male, so we decided to turn around and head up Dry Gully Tk that joined up with One Speck Track.

We then made our way to Flats Track where we would have a nice descent down to O'Tooles for lunch. Some will know the the little section that some like to have a 'play' on, but it was suggested that most of us dont go down it. I mentioned what happened on a earlier visit there when a mate in a Suzuki had a real 'pucker moment going up.

so everyone was happy to give it a miss except for Gazza & Jim who came down with a bit of 'crashing & bashing of towbars.

We then arrive at O'tooles for lunch with the 'pit dunnies' being a welcome sight for the females.

After lunch we headed along Donnelly Creek Tk to Jorgenson Hut where we planned to stop and show everyone the new hut that had been built after the the big bushfires from a few years ago. Unfortunately both Jorgensens & Junction Huts had people staying there, so we continued onto the last river crossing of the day.

Instead of heading up Merringtons to Walhalla road we decided to finish the day driving Sullivans Tk, which didnt quite go to plan.... We arrived at the steep clayish section that was still quite damp due to it getting little sunshine. Also it was quite rutted & after 3 or 4 attempts by Mark, & with him having the Ranger bopping like a 'cork in the ocean' in a couple of places, the rest of the group made their way back to Walhalla Rd. As I was up the top of this section, Alex & Gazza decided to follow me up this track to meet the others on Walhalla Rd. We were glad all the others went back, as we came to another section that was quite narly & not suitable for the newbies just yet. We all aired up & stopped at Thomson Dam for some pics with most then making there way home, whilst a couple of us stopped at The Erica Pub for a drink. Both Mark and Andrew stayed for a meal as the others also headed home.

Again, a great day with great company & big thanks to Mark for arranging the trip; to Alex for assisting Hayley throughout the day & last but not least, to Jim for being TEC all day.

Cheers

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Awesome trip report....great photos .... excellent trip planning and execution! ....

Well done Allan! 

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And Mark !! Both setting the bar very high

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It was a great day, but I must admit Allan did all the work.

Now I know what tracks are capable of being done another trip can be arranged down the track.

I'll still twist Allans arm a few more times to show us some more areas though.

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Sounds like you all had a great day, sorry i didn't come along

dennis

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Dylan (Heno79) Thanks for a great day guys, Haley had a ball! was good to meet an excellent bunch of people of all experience levels and special thanks to Alex for showing her the lines, Allan for leading the way and putting the future of his family on the line checking the creek depth and Mark for organising the day. To everyone that was new behind the wheel i hope you all had a good experience, picked up a few tricks and gained the confidence to tackle some more of the high country in the coming season! Really well done to you all for tackling what looks like some very steep terrain. 1 day ago REPLY

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Greg (Bassman)
Great day everyone. Superbly run by Mark & Alan - thanks so much. Even though some of the tracks were a bit more than "beginner" runs you got us all through without any issues. Shame I didn't get to use my new recovery gear :-)
We had an awesome day in an awesome location & the weather was great too!
You guys did a fantastic job on the radio too keeping us all informed.
Pam took some great photos which I'll upload soon.
My 14y/o wants to know if I can take him there this weekend...!
Love to do it again. Soon....
Cheers
Greg

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