What has made you Happy today??

[mudski]

I've used the anderson plug on a small winch. Was not impressed with the design as vibration and movement of the cable resulted in stoppages. Hopefully you have fixed your problem.

Yeah I was in the Patrol driving for 5 days going up to SW QLD and back so I had time to think and test out a few things when I came to this.

[Cuppa]

We did Cape York August/September 2023.


I know Cuppa's done the Old Coach with his camper and we passed a 2 vehicles, one with a camper, I don't how they do it or why???

Yep we did & we got through, albeit with a bit of damage. No way would I attempt that again though, not towing. I might solo, but MrsTea is very clear that it wouldn’t be with her in the car! I well remember that suicidal chicken track. The section of the main track it bypassed track looked undriveable to me. The sort of ‘big challenge’ you might find at a 4wd park. Very different out there on your own & no chance of recovery though. It’s by far the hardest track I’ve ever driven. I suspect if turning back had been an easier option I probably would have, but there are not a lot of places where you could turn around & if you did you knew how hard it was going to be. The alternative was to press on & hope it got easier!

As for Palm Creek, there was an easier track than that first one, several routes actually - all east of that first one, no way would I have gone down that first one, towing or not. Even so the ‘easy’ track there was still giving quite a few grief. on the climb out, I watched a big F series Ford, show room condition rip off sidesteps on both sides climbing out. All noise & wheelspin & no idea. We did it slow with diff lock on without any real drama & a scantily clad young woman knocked on my window u the top on the other side to say “You made that look easy mate” which boosted my confidence & ego no end. LOL. Plus we had been told if you manage Palm Creek you’ll be fine on the rest of the southern section & we were, but we bypassed Gunshot & the deeper crossings up on the northern section (including Nolans). Cut back to the PDR after Sam Creek. Everything I saw on line about the following year (2023) looked like it as harder than when we did it in September 22.

[pearcey]

Pearcey, Missus plus three other vehicles did the old coach road way back in around two thousand and something. I towed a camper as did one other mate. Laura to the gold fields took us around eight hours . Must admit it was a fun but noisy trip (Missus screaming at me) as she was on the looking over the edge side. must admit it was a tad scary in a couple of places but every body got through with out damage. For some good information about the goldfields have a read of the book River of Gold. Another note , back in the day they took a few trucks along this track. I believe this still was the go in the ninety's.

[10G]

Yep we did & we got through, albeit with a bit of damage. No way would I attempt that again though, not towing. I might solo, but MrsTea is very clear that it wouldn’t be with her in the car! I well remember that suicidal chicken track. The section of the main track it bypassed track looked undriveable to me. The sort of ‘big challenge’ you might find at a 4wd park. Very different out there on your own & no chance of recovery though. It’s by far the hardest track I’ve ever driven. I suspect if turning back had been an easier option I probably would have, but there are not a lot of places where you could turn around & if you did you knew how hard it was going to be. The alternative was to press on & hope it got easier!

As for Palm Creek, there was an easier track than that first one, several routes actually - all east of that first one, no way would I have gone down that first one, towing or not. Even so the ‘easy’ track there was still giving quite a few grief. on the climb out, I watched a big F series Ford, show room condition rip off sidesteps on both sides climbing out. All noise & wheelspin & no idea. We did it slow with diff lock on without any real drama & a scantily clad young woman knocked on my window u the top on the other side to say “You made that look easy mate” which boosted my confidence & ego no end. LOL. Plus we had been told if you manage Palm Creek you’ll be fine on the rest of the southern section & we were, but we bypassed Gunshot & the deeper crossings up on the northern section (including Nolans). Cut back to the PDR after Sam Creek. Everything I saw on line about the following year (2023) looked like it as harder than when we did it in September 22.

Yep, your thoughts were identical to mine. We discussed turning back, but then we'd have to tackle the rock steps and everything else, we'd just conquered. Before starting, I thought, "I've done the hi country, can't be tougher than that", wrong.

On that chicken track, we had our near disaster on that first section you'd hit coming from the north, by christ that was steep enough going up with 4 wheels on the ground, then when a rear wheel slipped into a rut and had us pointing skyward. I can remember saying to wife as she jumped out of the car, "don't slam the door" it was that dodgey.

[10G]

back in the day they took a few trucks along this track. I believe this still was the go in the ninety's.

Yep, I believe that. We stopped at a creek, can't remember it's name now, it was around half way point on the track. There was a shack and a big earth moving truck of some type. They won't be getting that back out.

[Cuppa]

Yep, your thoughts were identical to mine. We discussed turning back, but then we'd have to tackle the rock steps and everything else, we'd just conquered. Before starting, I thought, "I've done the hi country, can't be tougher than that", wrong.

On that chicken track, we had our near disaster on that first section you'd hit coming from the north, by christ that was steep enough going up with 4 wheels on the ground, then when a rear wheel slipped into a rut and had us pointing skyward. I can remember saying to wife as she jumped out of the car, "don't slam the door" it was that dodgey.

We went south to north, same as you. (Not that I think it would be any easier whichever direction it is taken in). Thankfully no ruts that I recall on your 'near disaster' section. It was 1st low & 'please don't run out of revs' as we pulled 5 tonnes up it.

[10G]

I actually learnt something doing that track. I'm now going to pass on lots of these iconic difficult tracks, I'll use the OCR as an example of the type of track I'm talking about. There's no way of knowing what the track condition is like, the risk outweighs the benefit for us.

Whereas tracks like the CSR, yep, can't wait to do that again. That's an iconic difficult track, but the chances of catastrophic vehicle damage (excluding fire) are much much less than on tracks like the OCR.

Each to their own and I wouldn't want to talk anyone out of doing it.

[Cuppa]

Yep, I believe that. We stopped at a creek, can't remember it's name now, it was around half way point on the track. There was a shack and a big earth moving truck of some type. They won't be getting that back out.

That area around the creek in the middle. We saw a white truck up near the shack, A Canter or similar. Think it had been driven in recently ........... somehow!!! Around there there was what looked like another possible track (on the west side of the flats). Looking at the ExplorOz Map there appears to be another track into there from Maytown. If you recall, in Maytown there is the 'street' which still has the gutter edging in place, just down from the monument (north). At the bottom of that track is what looked to us to be a 'dodgy' creek crossing we decided not to try & had fun (not) doing a multi-point turn with the Tvan to return back up the hill to the monument. The map shows that creek crossing as the beginning of a track which comes out on the west side of those flats near the shack.

[Cuppa]

I actually learnt something doing that track. I'm now going to pass on lots of these iconic difficult tracks, I'll use the OCR as an example of the type of track I'm talking about. There's no way of knowing what the track condition is like, the risk outweighs the benefit for us.

Whereas tracks like the CSR, yep, can't wait to do that again. That's an iconic difficult track, but the chances of catastrophic vehicle damage (excluding fire) are much much less than on tracks like the OCR.

Each to their own and I wouldn't want to talk anyone out of doing it.

Couldn't agree more. Before going I took the view that mostly You tube videos overblow many of these tracks to make the person responsible look like a macho hero. In the case of the OCR I think many of the videos were the opposite - making it seem easier than it was. The one positive outcome of having managed the OCR with Tvan in tow, was that it boosted my self confidence as an off-road driver, even if I don't wish to do it again. This certainly helped my 'mental preparation' for the Old Telegraph Track - which was mainly far easier by comparison.

We are in the early stages of planning a trip, north to south, down the Canning & followed by a circular route utilising some Beadell tracks (Gunbarrel, Sand Blight) + a 'local community track' ( Kiwirrkurra to Balgo) back to Kununurra with 2 other vehicles around mid august '25. First time we will ever have travelled with other people. All experienced 4wd'ers & desert travellers & one an accomplished aircraft/vehicle/bush mechanic. One a Remote Area Nurse' - Good company for such a trip. Big shed in Kununurra with full workshop facilities to fully prepare the vehicles when we meet up a month or so before the trip.
We have another couple of friends, both with expedition trucks who will be our 'guinea pigs, checking out that K to B track later this year.

[10G]

That area around the creek in the middle. We saw a white truck up near the shack, A Canter or similar. Think it had been driven in recently ........... somehow!!! Around there there was what looked like another possible track (on the west side of the flats). Looking at the ExplorOz Map there appears to be another track into there from Maytown. If you recall, in Maytown there is the 'street' which still has the gutter edging in place, just down from the monument (north). At the bottom of that track is what looked to us to be a 'dodgy' creek crossing we decided not to try & had fun (not) doing a multi-point turn with the Tvan to return back up the hill to the monument. The map shows that creek crossing as the beginning of a track which comes out on the west side of those flats near the shack.

Well that's interesting, we went down the Maytown 'guttered' road and through that creek at the bottom, it was dry. We continued to follow that track. At one point after the Cemetery I think it is from memory, we took a wrong turn and ended up down on a river bed. There were old tracks down there, real old, but you could tell they'd been used more than a few times. The map we were following showed that track as going the wrong way.

I wonder if that's the track you just mentioned???