4 Wheel Driving

One of the great things I love about Australia is the huge variety of places you can go to 4 wheel drive. Living in Victoria I am blessed to live in a state that has some of the best 4 wheel driving in Australia within easy reach.

This is the first 4 wheel drive I owned. A Nissan 720 diesel. I am trying to get up a hill in central Victoria in the Marysville area. Unfortunately I needed a little help thus the snatch strap attached to the front of the 720. This trip was supposed to be a simple day trip. As it was in the middle of October and sunny when we left home we didn't think it would be too hard. It was only when we got to the last few kilometres of the trip that we came across the snow. Which we were not prepared for. Still it was a great day driving in the snow. Learned a very valuable lesson that day about not braking.
The Dargo High Country has some of the best high country 4 wheel driving in Victoria. Definately a late spring to late autumn destination as the cold and snow of winter forces the closure of the area. One thing you need to be very careful about is the water level of the rivers. They can be disasterously deep and vehicles have been drowned and/or ended up floating downriver. That said the scenery is breathtaking. Tony and myself are on top of a mountain on our way to Wonnangatta Station. We went with my mate Benny and Tony enjoyed himself so much he joined the club and bought himself a 4 wheel drive. Which I found surprising especially when I think about him climbing out of the 720 via the passenger window to attach a snatch strap to the bullbar so Benny could tow us out of a river after I had bogged the 720.
Most people when they get a new vehicle treat it with some respect. I on the other hand take it out and see what it can do. I had my first diesel Troopcarrier for all of 2 days and had managed to bog it. Twice. On this occasion my mate Benny and I thought we would see what it could do around the hills of the Bunyip State Forest. It was only after going through this boghole twice that we managed to bog the vehicle. Fun stuff. The State Park has some great tracks and scenery and takes you all the way into Melbourne via Gembrook or all the way to Sydney via the Great Dividing Range. Assuming you want to 4 wheel drive for weeks on end.
Ooops. This is what happens when you get bored and don't pay attention and then when you try to correct your error get unlucky. I was lucky to be alive after I rolled my Troopy during an adventure in the Licola area. Thankfully it wedged against a tree that stopped me rolling down a mountain and to certain death. After the guys we were travelling with assisted in the recovery of the vehicle the Troopy, like the legend it is, started up first time. It managed to get me out of the valleys and mountains that awaited us and all the way back home to Melbourne. If I had a dollar for all the strange looks I got that day driving home I could have bought a new Troopcarrier. You would think people had never seen a Troopie with its side caved in, windows blown out and leaning to one side cruising down the freeway at 100 kilometres an hour with the bullbar covered in mud looking like it was about to fall off.
Who ever said old is no good never owned a HJ47 diesel Troopcarrier. This is the oldest 4 wheel drive I have owned but definately the most fun to drive. It just does the job it is asked to do with no fuss or glory but has character that just attracts people to it. Literally. Photos and video of it exist all over the world thanks to the many tourists that come to Australia. On this occasion Cathy and I are in a river valley near Mansfield. An easy drive from Melbourne, Mansfield has some beautiful scenery with plenty of history and activities. Everything from golf to winetasting to trout fishing and 4 wheel driving.
Everything that is old is new again. Even though my heart wasn't in it, after many years of faithful service it was time to upgrade. So after talking to a close friend I bought his HJ75. The engine was blown so I installed the HJ47 engine. It goes well and with rear diff lock and a Warn winch it is ready to get stuck into some bush bashing. For its first workout I gave it a run at Gembrook and my mate Tony brought along his turbo diesel Patrol. Here my mate Mick is having a drive of the Troopy. Nothing difficult. Unfortunately virtually all the tracks around Gembrook have been closed so we couldn't find much worth tackling. Looks like the boys and I will be doing some recon trips to find new 4 wheel drive tracks to tackle.