Cracking stories from our Group Trips - Part 2 - stories from trips to Victorian High Country:

Cracking stories from our Group Trips, is a series of journals about our time leading group trips all over Australia.

"You couldn't make this stuff up!"

It's a place where adventure and discovery are constant companions.

All these stories have become folklore in our groups and get regularly trotted out over campfires some of which tend to get a tad embellished over time. The richest memories are often about relationships and the group dynamics rather than the destination.

The stories are not so much about an event but rather a time, an attitude, a way of life.

Why tell stories?:

Story telling is an essential human need that has been used, for ever, for entertainment, education and cultural preservation. Compelling story telling is the path to imagination and people are hungry for stories.

Memorable travel turns you into a story teller.

Story # 1 - The Fry's Flat incident - "could things get any worse" - Operation Southern Cross:

Unbeknown to us, our friends Dave & Kathy, and their two kids, decided to join the expedition, 'Operation Southern Cross' to the Victorian High Country, the day after our group of 30 people had already departed Sydney.

To make up time, they bypassed our first destination, Bendigo, and went straight to the planned base camp in the high country, at Fry's Flat. They arrived at the base camp the night before the rest of the group despite continually stopping off at camping stores as they kept thinking of other gear they needed.

Unfortunately, the weather turned real bad when they arrived at the camp site with torrential rain and they were in the dark. Undeterred, they proceeded to put up a brand new tent that had never been out of the bag.

Of course, putting up a brand new tent can be a challenge even for a seasoned camper and, not surprisingly, the tent took a significant amount of time to get up. All the while, their was no reprieve in the weather. To make matters worse, a swarm of huge Bogong moths were also looking to get in out of the rain. By the time the tent was erected, there was15cm deep water throughout the tent and it was invaded by hundreds of Bogong moths.

By the early hours of the morning, they had sorted out this mess and managed to get some sleep only to woken soon after by a terrifying, loud, guttural sounding animal. Being from Canada, their first thought was a huge brown bear.

When the rest of the group arrived the next day, in fine weather, we were shocked to find Dave & Kathy as we had no idea they were coming. They seemed greatly relieved to see us all arrive and the rattled couple were eager to tell us their traumatic story.

They seemed to be expecting a sympathetic response but as hard as we tried, all we could come up with was belly laughing. We did also explain that the loud guttural sounding animal was just a Koala. The story has since come up around camp fires many times. (the tent can be seen at the back of the photo)

In the telling of the story, we celebrate mateship, resilience and the passion of the human spirit.

Story # 2 - The Legend of Pineapple Flat - "resistance was useless" - Operation Southern Cross:

On the first trip in his new Suzuki 4WD, in the Victorian High Country, Tony got overstimulated at the sight of a formidable track next to where we had stopped for smoko, at Pineapple Flat, but little did he know what lay ahead.

On earlier trips, Tony had an old 4WD that always seemed to break down and caused him to become the centre of attention. Eventually, he bought his new Suzuki 4WD in the hope this would turn things around and allow him to keep a low profile.

It was a big adventure, for our large group of 34 people, in just getting to Pineapple Flat and it was time for a leisurely rest stop at this stunning part of the Victorian High Country.

For Tony however, resistance proved useless at the sight of this formidable track and Tony had to give this track a go.

All the mothers in the group had seen that look before and started running to grab their kids.

Not far up the track, the Suzuki was working pretty hard when the front diff literally exploded spectacularly with smoke and oil everywhere. The crowd looked on in horror with a collective gasp. Needless to say, this caused Tony to become the centre of attention again only much more so than previously.

The photo above shows the very moment when the Suzuki's diff exploded.

In the telling of this story, we celebrate mateship, the inevitable challenges that go with 4WD'ing and the passion of the human spirit.

We saw a hero of the track that day and the story became known as the Legend of Pineapple Flat. The full story is immortalised in the attached poem.

The Legend of Pineapple Flat.pdf

Download PDF • 27KB

Story # 3 - "there's nothing like the smell diesel in the morning":

Bill was really struggling to find somewhere secure for the jerry can as the track ahead was going to be very rough.

Bill was on a remote trip and needed to carry extra fuel. A 20 litre jerry can is the usual way to carry extra fuel yet it is not always easy to find somewhere to stow the jerry can.

In desperation, he stowed the jerry can on the bed mattress inside their camper trailer.

There was not necessarily anything wrong with this solution except the cap on the jerry can was not properly engaged.

Consequently, 20 litres of diesel discharged into the mattress by the time they stopped for the night. We heard this story from Bill after he returned from the trip. Whilst initially horrified, we very quickly saw the funny side. However, it was a bit soon and it seemed Bill needed a little more time to see the funny side.

In the telling of the story, we celebrate the inevitable challenges that go with 4WD'ing and the 'can do' resilient response of the human spirit.

Story # 4 - the Baw Baw NP incident – “oh what a feeling”:

“The branch came right through the floor between my legs”

A big storm came out of nowhere and we were at the bottom of a steep hill that would soon be too slippery even for a 4WD.

We were on our own, a family of 6, in a remote part of Baw Baw National Park, Victoria.

With time being of the essence, we bolted up Steel Bridge Track. Perhaps if I had better visibility, I would have not driven over that big tree branch which flipped up behind the front wheel and punctured a hole through the floor of the car. The branch came right through the floor between the brake and clutch pedals coming right up between my legs only slowed down slightly by the carpet. This made quite a noise and shocked us all.

A tad traumatic. The stuff of nightmares and still far from the top of the hill. With a rapid pulse rate and shortness of breath, I had no choice than to get out in the torrential rain and deal with this disaster.

I climbed under the car with my bush saw and cut off the 75mm diameter branch that had brought us to a standstill. I could not remove the branch where it penetrated the floor and I could not depress the pedals. My priority was to get to the top of this hill while we still could.

I managed to get the car into first gear and limp into the village of Rawson which was about 2km away.

At this point we were just relieved to be in a safe place and when the rain stopped I made a better survey of the damage. Miraculously, the penetration just missed the hydraulic brake lines and the only damage was this huge gaping hole in the floor with the tree branch still well & truly embedded.

With some effort, I did manage to remove the branch and bash the floor back into shape so all the pedals were again operable.

The extracted branch was safely stowed in the back of the car which was later mounted and displayed in our family room for some years.

The photo above shows the penetration through the floor after the branch was removed.

Our base camp was at Walhalla which was an historic gold mining town in a very mountainous area. So much so, even the cemetery had to be located on the side of a steep hill.

Legend has it, that a very large lady was carried up the hill to the Walhalla cemetery for burial. Put simply, she was a big unit. So exhausting was this job for the pallbearers, that on arriving at the burial plot they placed her down on the sloping ground with a bit of a thud causing the coffin to burst open.

To make matters worse, the body tipped out and rolled all the way down to the bottom of the hill.

Not able to face going through all that again, the lady was then buried where she lay which explains why this is the only grave at the bottom of the hill.

David & Rosemary Allan – the faces behind:

May adventure & discovery be your constant companions.

Reflection:

For me, a trip is memorable when I am enriched by a deeper sense of connection to a place which triggers an emotional or spiritual response. This comes from feelings of Awe when I feel part of something bigger. Such as, seeing dramatic landscapes, being caught up in the history and sensing the passion of the human spirit.

A memorable experience will cause me to day dream about the next trip even more than the last trip.

Remember: Your adventure begins the moment you decide to go.