First trip for the year is always a big trip, with people haven’t done any 4wding over the Christmas break, and eager to explore and get away and hit those tracks!! We had 18 vehicles come along for this Australia Day adventure and Night drive.
Rain persisted all day on the Thursday. As we headed up it was raining, getting into Buckland Valley, Camp Flat. The rain continued all night and the weather was still very humid. Most of us turned up on the Thursday night and the rest of the members turned up on Friday morning.
Friday Australia Day – 26th January 2024
Today we enjoyed a leisurely day, sitting around Camp doing what ever we wanted to do.
In the afternoon at 3.00pm we headed off towards Harrietville. We drove out of Camp Flat along the Camp Flat track, through the river crossing and onto Buckland Valley road. We travelled along about 5km’s turning left onto Clear Creek track and through the river crossing there, (which wasn’t to deep). Passing a few camps on the way the track starts to climb, all the way up to Demon Ridge. We turned right here and headed to Albion track and turned right. We took The Link track and turned left on Paddy’s track. eventually reaching Gunns track and arriving at Mt Buckland Heli pad.
We spent some time here enjoying the breathtaking views of Mt Hotham.
Heading back along Gunns track we went down Gunns Creek track to West Ovens road and into Harrietville. We stopped at the Snowline Hotel for dinner. After we had our meals we headed off again around 8.30pm and headed back on our night drive to Camp Flat.
We went back along, West Ovens, Albion, Demon Ridge and down Clear Creek tracks. We drove back at Night which made the drive completely different to driving it in the daytime. We got back to Camp Flat around 10.00pm, where Ian had already lit the fire. We settled down with beers and enjoyed the fire for the rest of the night.
Saturday, 27th January, 2024
In the morning, the weather was nice so we packed up camp, had breakfast and got ready to get back on the tracks.
A briefing was held and we were on Camp Flat track with 10 vehicles in the first trip and 8 vehicles followed about 30 minutes behind. We went back up Clear Creek track and along Demon Ridge. This time we turned left at The Albion track and onto Wet Gully track going over Mt Ebenezer at 1192m. We then turned right down Reliance track onto The Alpine Way and a quick right at the Bridge for lunch. Some of us went for a well deserved swim, the water was cold but worth it!
After lunch we headed along Dungey road for a bit in 2wd till we then turned right down Dungey track. This scenic drive winds down the side of the mountain and into the Valley. Through the beautiful river crossing, (there is a nice camp here too). The track then turns into West Kiewa track as it follows the Kiewa River. It’s a long drive in but fairly easy. We reached Diamantina River Horse yards around 4.00pm. We managed to squeeze 18 vehicles in, using the horse yards as well. There is plenty of fire wood down there, so we cut wood and got a nice fire going. Some people went for a walk up the river for a look. We sat around the fire till roughly midnight or so before going to bed.
Sunday, 28th January 2024
Sunday morning we woke and cooked up breakfast and packed up slowly before heading off at 9.30am. We travelled back along West Kiewa track around the base of Mt Feathertop. Which is the second highest mountain in Victoria at 1922m. We went back into 2wd and followed the track out to the Bogong High Plains road, we aired up here, headed into Mt Beauty. At Mt Beauty we stopped at the Lake in town and some of us had to head for home. So we said our goodbyes as 12 vehicles headed for home and the others headed up around Mountain Ash road and camped for the night.
Russell -105 LandCruiser
Andrew -Triton
Geoff – Isuzu
John – Triton
Karl – 105 LandCruiser
Alec and Rachel – Triton
Allan – Triton
Dave and Ang – Tank 300
Ian – Nissan Patrol
Morri – Land Rover
Rebecca – Prado
Luke – Hilux
Peter – Ranger
Nathan – Ranger
Rob – Prado
Deb – Isuzu
Boz and Jarrod – Nissan Patrol
Allen – Hilux
