Melbourne, Australia. It's a fantastic part of the world with some of the best, and diverse four wheel drive country within hours of our city. The "High Country" is a mountainous area at the southern end of The Great Dividing range. It offers some of the best and often steepest tracks and challenging river crossings. To preserve the area, seasonal closures apply to many of the tracks during winter. This makes it a great time of the year to head into the desert areas of Victoria.
My vehicle is a more than capable Mercedes G wagon, an older 1984 model, but well set up for outback trips. I have seventeen year old twins so the desert area is a great opportunity for them to learn four wheel drive skills and experience good quality parent time around a camp fire.
So on a cold and slightly wet Thursday morning we head north west from Melbourne, with the kids sharing the drive. Destination, the Big Desert in Victoria.
A three hour drive gets us to Horsham, a rural Victorian town and our last fuel/supply stop before heading north to the southern end of Lake Hindmarsh, a (currently) dry lake. Stepping out of the G Wagon after several hours driving the first thing we experienced was noise.... the total lack of it. This is what getting away is all about, no one for miles around, absolute silence, interrupted by the occasional breeze through the trees and then as the day descends into evening the bird life erupts. Yellow crested cockatoos, lorikeets and galahs all seem to compete in a bush chorus. We can only imaging what it would be like with water in the lake.
Now it's up to Bodie and Michael to improve their camping skills (this isn't their first trip) and set up camp, organise a camp fire, relax and take it all in. With the camp set we took advantage of the remaining daylight to explore on foot the lake and shoreline. Food however became the priority and we headed back to camp.
A cloudy night sky concealed the stars so focus was on the crackle and sparks from the camp fire.
Breakfast was under an overcast sky so we were unsure what the day bring as we watched a rain storm pass across the northern part of the lake. The trip is not about getting to our next stop by a certain time, it's more about giving Bodie and Michael the time and the terrain and experience the driving, so packing up an getting moving is fairly casual. If you've tried rushing two teenagers you'll know what I mean.
The sky cleared a bit and a good quality dirt road headed west, leading into the southern end of the Big Desert Wilderness area and onto the sandy Chinaman Well Track. Here we let the tyres down a bit, more 4wd techniques for them to learn. This gave Michael his first experience of how the sand can move the vehicle around and anticipating upcoming bumps and pot holes, how to avoid them and practical speeds.
The abandoned windmill at Chinaman Well
The initial bumpy section of the track opened up to long sandy sections with the occasional mud due to the recent rain. As well as sharing the driving, Michael and Brodie were also in in charge of the Gopro. I had set up several mounting points to make it interesting.
Heading west along Chinaman Well track and we get to the intersection of Murrayville Track and soon find a spot for a lunch break. Michael gets the stove going and they soon have the sausages ready.
Still chasing a heavy sky we head north on Murrayville Track
It's not until we head east again onto Milmed Track that the sky starts to clear. It's here that you can appreciate the rolling dunes with a few steep decents in soft sand testing both drivers
Dave
My vehicle is a more than capable Mercedes G wagon, an older 1984 model, but well set up for outback trips. I have seventeen year old twins so the desert area is a great opportunity for them to learn four wheel drive skills and experience good quality parent time around a camp fire.
So on a cold and slightly wet Thursday morning we head north west from Melbourne, with the kids sharing the drive. Destination, the Big Desert in Victoria.
A three hour drive gets us to Horsham, a rural Victorian town and our last fuel/supply stop before heading north to the southern end of Lake Hindmarsh, a (currently) dry lake. Stepping out of the G Wagon after several hours driving the first thing we experienced was noise.... the total lack of it. This is what getting away is all about, no one for miles around, absolute silence, interrupted by the occasional breeze through the trees and then as the day descends into evening the bird life erupts. Yellow crested cockatoos, lorikeets and galahs all seem to compete in a bush chorus. We can only imaging what it would be like with water in the lake.
Now it's up to Bodie and Michael to improve their camping skills (this isn't their first trip) and set up camp, organise a camp fire, relax and take it all in. With the camp set we took advantage of the remaining daylight to explore on foot the lake and shoreline. Food however became the priority and we headed back to camp.
A cloudy night sky concealed the stars so focus was on the crackle and sparks from the camp fire.
Breakfast was under an overcast sky so we were unsure what the day bring as we watched a rain storm pass across the northern part of the lake. The trip is not about getting to our next stop by a certain time, it's more about giving Bodie and Michael the time and the terrain and experience the driving, so packing up an getting moving is fairly casual. If you've tried rushing two teenagers you'll know what I mean.
The sky cleared a bit and a good quality dirt road headed west, leading into the southern end of the Big Desert Wilderness area and onto the sandy Chinaman Well Track. Here we let the tyres down a bit, more 4wd techniques for them to learn. This gave Michael his first experience of how the sand can move the vehicle around and anticipating upcoming bumps and pot holes, how to avoid them and practical speeds.
The abandoned windmill at Chinaman Well
The initial bumpy section of the track opened up to long sandy sections with the occasional mud due to the recent rain. As well as sharing the driving, Michael and Brodie were also in in charge of the Gopro. I had set up several mounting points to make it interesting.
Heading west along Chinaman Well track and we get to the intersection of Murrayville Track and soon find a spot for a lunch break. Michael gets the stove going and they soon have the sausages ready.
Still chasing a heavy sky we head north on Murrayville Track
It's not until we head east again onto Milmed Track that the sky starts to clear. It's here that you can appreciate the rolling dunes with a few steep decents in soft sand testing both drivers
Dave
