Sunday 3rd May dawned cool and clear following the incessant rain of the preceeding 24 hours. 8 trucks mustered in the sunshine by the still closed gate of the J**p 4wd Park, a good mix of 2 leafers, 2 Discos, a Rangie, and 3 Defenders.
Too much time spent at the Pig farm had laid Leonard and Mudhog low with swine flu, so Neil and Brett rode shotgun. Age lead beauty with Lanndy blazing the trail, and newcomers Neville and Jill in their Disco 2 safely installed in the middle of the posse. The going was perfect with just enough mud overlaying the sand to be fun without excluding those of us on ATs. No more than 10 minutes from the start saw Lanndy briefly flummoxed by an axle twister at the top of horsepower hill, but some swift spade wielding saw us through. Plenty more spadework would be required to get all 8 to the top, and even a gentle tow to overcome the ex-army 109's reluctance to flex. Suddenly the cool morning had become much warmer!
Next up, a tea break was called in the ankle deep mud of the playground, whilst a few of the braver souls indulged in some muddy play. A quick squirt of CRC to exorcise the water demons from the 109's V8, and we were off to another horsepower hill, at least 100m away. A swift survey revealed an enormous car-eating washout on the downhill return, so an alternative route was plotted and a clean sweep made by all. Stuart saved time negotiating the hairpin at the top by reversing up!
A most satisfying blue route twisting through the trees brought us to a clearing fit for a lunch break, and then the next hazard, a deeply rutted and washed out clay slope which proved too much for the venerable S3. Brian, Joel, and Jeremy all prevailed however, whilst the 109 had to join the rest of us on the bypass following several valiant attempts.
A few quick laps of the mogul field next, always more fun than it really ought to be, and onwards to a deep bowl with several steep descents to choose from. The famously magnetic draw of Woodhill's trees lured Neville away from the established track to a precarious resting place near the bottom, but he drove away unscathed.
Moving on, we in the lead vehicle found little to choose between a short, sharp sand ascent and its bypass, but chose the latter anyway. Jeremy in the white whale showed his mettle by taking the main track, and having failed to erode the whole hill away with his spinning wheels, came gracefully to rest on his diffs. A not-quite-model self winch extraction was either going to pull the tree over, or as it happened, free the hill for clean ascents by Brian and a suitably ecstatic 109 crew.
By now it was 15:00, and half the group headed home whilst the Harveys, Joel, and Lanndy stayed on for another hour before the failing light drove us out.
A good fun trip then, with a good mix of old and new trails, some quite gnarly, yet nothing that couldn't be beaten by a Disco 2 on road tyres; great stuff.
PS talking afterwards to the park "owner", Roger, we learned that they will be opening up another large block in the next few months following deforestation. Their goal is to have a total 150km of trails.
~~~ Rob Parker
[Ed: Thanks Rob]
