Australia Day Long Weekend

[homedg]

Anyone going for a run over the long week-end?

[Steve F]

Yep, but it's Fraser Island and I'll be there for the rest of the week as well :)

Cheers
Steve

[monsterjeep]

Was thinking about going up to zig zag to test my ZJ out on sunday

[jeepthing]

Was thinking about going up to zig zag to test my ZJ out on sunday


if you make it monday, ill see you up there! :) (actually me and a mate are doing the lake lyell tracks but im sure we'll be making a stop at zig zag)

[stevet]

Hi folks,
Sunday at the ZigZag sounds good.
Meet at Richmond Macca's @ 7.30a.m. or at the ZigZag carpark at 9.00ish.
Good to see another ZJ 8) 8) Mopar75. Jetty has a long arm kit, 32's as well as other goodies.
Got to work on Monday :(

[monsterjeep]

Sounds good stevet. I have to work monday also. I can be at the car park by 9:30 if that is ok with you, might be able to make it a little earlier. Let me know

[homedg]

Sunday is locked in for us as well then.

Mim, DG Jnr and the Bub will be along as well.
Can't wait. ;D

Hey Steve, if we get out early do you reckon we could also do some random exploring for some new tracks?

Dave

[stevet]

Mopar75--that's fine.
Dave & Co,--Why not, but could depend on numbers.
Sunday-- 8) ;D

[homedg]

Sure.
But from what I saw on the AJOR site I think a lot of SJC members are headed of for an overnighter up at Watti's.

Dave

[stevet]

Charge up that GPS homedg ??? :P

[homedg]

Charged, Locked and Loaded.
I kept the track log from last time we were out there and I can add waypoints for any good challenging spots we find.
At least that way we should be able to find them again :o

I'm also picking up some quick disconnects from Wooders tomorrow, don't know if I'll have time to get them fitted before Sunday though.
Looking forward to the day either way.

Hey Steve, I've also got a challenge for you ??? which will be lots of fun for me ;D.
You know that articulation section just to the left of the main track which I always have heaps of fun on. Well I've got a blindfold (It's actually on of those sleep masks they give you on the plane) and your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to guide the JK through using only the radio.

Should prove once and for all that Drivers need Jeeps a lot more than Jeeps need drivers!

Waddya Reckon?

I swear that sometimes that car is doing everything itself anyway!

[monsterjeep]

took the zj out today for a quick test before sunday and went great.
Looking forward to sunday and will see you all at the zig zag car park by 9:30. ;D

[stevet]

That's easy homedg, now, without radio guidence, well ;D, that could be challenging, but safety first Dave :D.
See you and Mopar75 tomorrow. 8)

[homedg]

That's easy homedg, now, without radio guidence, well ;D, that could be challenging, but safety first Dave :D.
See you and Mopar75 tomorrow. 8)


Use The Force!

[wotes]

I'm keen to come along.
Stevet, I would like to meet up at Richmond macca's at 730am

[homedg]

Just got mt quick disconnects on, Woo Hoo ;D
We'll be stopping by Maccas to grab a quick coffee then we'll meet everyone at Zig Zag between 9.00 - 9.30.
My Mobile is 0419 853 540 if you need to call or are running late etc.
Cheers,
David.

[stevet]

See you there Odin. 8).

[homedg]

It would be a crime, almost "UnAustralian", not to get out and do some wheelin' on the Aussie Day long weekend so that is exactly what we did.

http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=256&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155

Stephen T met up with a few keen SJC recruits at the Richmond Maccas and we headed straight to Zig Zag. Everyone was obviously keen as we got there 20 mins early ;D and were still the last to arrive (hence I got the job of the trip report ::) ).

Here's a picture of our kids at the start of the day. Very Attractive, NOT!

http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=252&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155

When we arrived we were greeted by blue skies from horizon to horizon, as well as:-
Jayson, Family and mate in a very nice lifted ZJ. Lockers, Bars, the works.
Luke in his pretty stock TJ with 31" Coopers - Which he'd only had for a couple of days.
Wotan in the mean yellow lifted TJ with 33's
Dave - In the GU patrol to check out how the Jeeps perform. He wants to leave the Dark Side and tagged along for the run. (I could definatley see that Jeep Envy glint in his eye as we ate up everything ;) )

We were also greeted by a BIG ASS Toyo with like 49" tyres on and his mate in a Kroozer. His number plate was "No Toy". We knew that already because we followed it on it's trailer on the way up. Anyways, more about the red monster later.

OK, we aired down, disconnected (1st time for my JK :D), Stephen did the convoy procedure stuff and led us off with me taking up the tail.

Things were pretty dry and dusty so we spread out a bit before heading down the first major decline with a bog hole at the bottom. I could see in the distance that the Jeeps just crawled down and across however when we got down we saw, well, remember that BIG ASS red Toyo I mentioned earlier!!!! He was stuck in the bog hole with what appeared to be only the front diffs engaging,
http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=234&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155

and his mate in the cruiser, well he was stuck nose first in a wombat hole and going nowhere either.
http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=232&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155

After we all had a little inward giggle I snatched the cruiser out and we continued on.

The next bit of excitement is a nice articulated rut off to the left of the main track. It was great to see how the varied vehicles all handled this section differently. Stephen did the usual scout/recon thingy then Jayson in the ZJ made it look like he was driving the M7, Wotan just bullied it with his lockers, Luke did some nice See-Sawing, getting plenty of wheel lift, and Dave in the patrol walked through as well.
Just check out Mopar75's unit here!

http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=259&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=aa4b116bd7f851cf2cb100e3113cd260

Then it was my turn for some fun. I had brought a blindfold along and challenged Stephen T to guide me through using only the radio.

http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=254&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155

If you ever get a chance to do this with someone you trust enough to guide you through, DO IT!!!!! It is the most bizarre experience and while your being told, little left, down right etc it really starts to feel as though the car is intuiting these changes in direction beforehand. I got through unscathed and really enjoyed the experience. thanks Stephen.

http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=236&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155

Next it was off to Bob's (Ranger Bob's or Son of Bob's or something like that). Someone had dragged the tree out from half way up so the challenging little section there, with the big rocks on the left, is now just pretty much a drive through. Although at the top is still "THE ROCK". Of the few times I've been up here this ROCK really perplexes me. Sometimes people just drive up it, othertimes they have to fight it, and then other times again they just drive up the dirt rutts to the right thinking " I'll get you again next time."

From our position at the tail we saw Stephen T do it easy. Very encouraging. Missed Mopar75 conquering it, but I'm sure it was done with ease in that rig. I did however hear later that both his family, AND his mate bailed out before he gave it a go!
I thought Wotan was posing when he said he was doing it without lockers, which he did. I later found out that a technical glitch is what stopped him using the lockers. Nice work. Luke got the un-modded TJ up with pure determination and some good driving. The patrol attacked it with the bottom of it's front steel bar and after some confidence was gained did it well.

http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=238&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155http ://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=242&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155http ://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=240&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155[img]

And then after a couple of different approaches and some good spotting we got the JK up. Should be some nice pics of me smokin' up the tyres :o.

http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=248&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155

After a few more sections, including some great "wombat" holes (I put Wombat holes in inverted commas so greenies might take a second to realise that these are rutts and not the holes that wombats actually live in) we ended up on top of a ridge where a fire had started. We called the fire dept, offered some co-ordinates, then high-tailed it out of there.

From there we headed off for lunch at the camp grounds, watched the BIG ASS red thing get trailered, made a run for the cutting along Blackfellowshand trail, had a couple of runs and a couple of pitstops, reconnected, had the obligatory photo op stop overlooking the valley,

http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=244&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155

and then headed off to find a servo with a compressor that worked. The whole servo thing was probably more of a challenge than anything else we attempted all day :o.

Apologies if the log is a bit long but it was a top day which everyone enjoyed, including the 20ish month old bubs who didn't complain once about getting bumped around. It must be a JEEP thing. Also apoligies to the Cherokee contingent, you were always just a bit too far in front of us to get some pics. There were plenty of other pics taken on the day and we can't wait to see them posted. We will also forward our addition pics by email to those that attended.

Really look forward to seeing everyone back out on the trails soon.

Now, to upload some photos.

You can check more out in my Gallery by clicking the camera icon to the left or at:

http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/index.php?action=gallery&g2_itemId=59

Oh, And here's our kids on the drive home at the end of the day, PRICELESS!
http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=250&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=259f2d30196533541582ec82ecf85155


Cheers,
David

[Cpage66]

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[stevet]

Thanks for the day guy's/gals.Good report Dave- the big red toyo had only rear drive, then I am sure he broke something in the steering as we left but they said it was a job in progress, the developement of it ::). I hope to get my pic's sorted shortly.
Stephen T.

[homedg]

YUP! There sure was some wierd, loud, clunking sounds coming from that drive train.
Hope he get's it sorted, it was a tuff looking rig.

[wotes]

Great report Dave!
Good to have finally had a wheel at ZigZag. I've been wanting to check the place out for ages.
Thankyou to everyon for making it an awesome day on the trails.

[D.K.]

Thanks for the great day out everybody - you guys rock :) :) :)

Dave (GU patrol)

Now Ive got some deciding to do ;)

[monsterjeep]

Thanks to everyone for a great day out and yes it would be very "unaustralian" to not have taken the bush wheelers out.. It was funny to see a so called tuff toy (red truck) no toy stuck in a mud hole and it didn't sound at all healthy, but he did keep coming on the track as we did see him at the bottom of the hill where we all conqured the rock........poor guy. We got a heap of photos which will be posted up sometime today. Once again thanks to everyone for a great day.

[monsterjeep]

Posted some of the pics up in a sub folder in my album.

http://www.sydneyjeepclub.com/index.php?action=gallery&g2_itemId=275

[AJ]

Great trip report there!! Looks like a great day out was had by all!! Wish I had of been able to make it!!

[homedg]

Great pics Mopar75.
Shows just how capable that rig is.

Verrrrry Niiiiiice. High Five :D

[Steve F]

Looks like you guys had some fun up there, cant wait to get out on a club trip again. Although Fraser Island was fun ;)

Cheers
Steve (Stuck in Brisbane again, only been home for 9 days out of the last 30)