Muster Wrap up and reports

[WoodyD40]

Thanks to all who attended the muster last weekend. From the tone of all the posts over the past couple of days, it was obviously enjoyed by all. Rain and Mud and sunshine included.

I've started this thread so WE the attendees can describe to the rest of the Forum what we did and how we did it.

Can we keep the thread on-topic please, and keep side comments to the main muster thread.

Cheers, David.

 

[Bosshog]

IMO, the rain bought a welcomed benefit; it made the tracks far more difficult that they would otherwise have been.

 

[sparra04]

we had enough time between rain for it not to be a problem
the kids enjoyed the mud
and the tracks were better wet in my opinion

 

[Krankin]

Can we keep the thread on-topic please, and keep side comments to the main

Cheers, David.

Okay......
just a note though, this is a Navara forum (public) and not the muster forum, maybe setup a blog like the VNOG has or use the muster webpage and that will keep unwanted "side comments" away since you guys only want muster attendee's to comment....



.

 

[Old.Tony]

Okay......
just a note though, this is a Navara forum (public) and not the muster forum, maybe setup a blog like the VNOG has or use the muster webpage and that will keep unwanted "side comments" away since you guys only want muster attendee's to comment....



.

I think part of the point is to have it all available for everyone to see how much fun we had, and just rely on people's maturity to provide them with enough restraint to NOT post off-topic when asked.

Personally I had a ball, the best part was meeting everyone and I actually think I remembered most people's names!

Would I do it again? You betcha. The rain was a blessing, keeping the dust down and making the tracks more challenging. I'd have been a little disappointed if people came back off the hill saying "That was too easy" but all I saw were smiles. I know Onlock said the tracks were a bit tame, but he still said - and looked like - he had a good time.

That's the primary goal - to enjoy the event. I did and I'm looking forward to the next one.

 

[craig fitzpatrick]

well this property is awesome it has a good mixture of tracks and the rain made it more interesting we went to Dubbo on the Sunday as it was only an hours drive so we went to the zoo and Dubbo goal on Saturday we went up through the warrumbungles for a drive what a beautiful part of the country if you missed this muster you missed a terrific weekend cant wait till the next one is on. WELL DONE TO THE COMMITTEE AND BETTER HALVES FOR THE TIME AND EFFORT THAT WENT INTO THIS MUSTER

 

[WoodyD40]

the concept of the new thread is to show how much fun was had by those in attendance, so that there may be more members on the forums encouraged to attend future musters. This thread is AIMED at members here so that they find out what we did, and how we did it.

 

[Krankin]

I think part of the point is to have it all available for everyone to see how much fun we had, and just rely on people's maturity to provide them with enough restraint to NOT post off-topic when asked.

yep...goodluck

.

 

[WoodyD40]

OK, here is a start - from my perspective.

Thursday morning came early for me and my family with a 3am depature from Melbourne and arriving in Dubbo just after 1pm. Once we finally found the Westen Plains dealership and the keys were presented, my wife stole the car from me and we took off to the Muster site.

We found Tony and his wife just inside the entrance at ADOS whist he was placing the road side signs for everyone to follow.

By 5pm (ish) we had our camp sites set up and sat around for a while deciding wether or not to cook dinner or to head to the local pub for dinner ... the pub idea won out. We all jumped into the 550 and i drove it for the first time. Sober Tony drove us back after a great meal. We sat around hiding behind Tony's caravan out of the wind talking until a reasonable hour and then called it a night.

Friday morning came around and the coffee was brewed. Tony set off in the 550 to put out the rest of the signs on the main road intersection, and once he came back we loaded up the chain saw's and went to find wood (trees) to cut up (down) to last the whole weekend. By 12 noon, we had cut sufficient wood and just had to haul it back to camp site. Some neighbouring campers (Rob and family - or Shrek and family) came to the rescue with a 2t rated trailer and offered to haul it back for us. 3 trips later we had lots of wood back at camp.

After a quick lunch stop, farmer Pete led me off road (he on the 4 wheel bike, and me in the 550) to show me the safest and easiest tracks for the 550 to be taken off-road. for the next 1.5 hours i was shown around some of the tracks and even driving 'slowly' behind a quad bike, i still managed to ground the passanger side step over a rock which resulted in the step's bolts being sheared. (later during the muster the step was removed, before it fell off). This was when the tracks were still DRY.

By the time i got back to camp, our first people had started to arrive and setup their respective camp's. Most people had arrived before dark and were well set up, and the camp fire's lit. Saturday night saw a lot of overnight rain, and I just knew the easy track i'd gone on the previous day was going to be very interesting.

Saturday started offically at 9am with a group meeting and handing out of the show bags to all, and also air-filters to all the 'early bird' registrants. Tracks were offically opened as of 10am, and we had 14 utes lined up in 2 groups of 7. I led the first group and ONLOCK led the other. The rain had certainly 'livened' up the off-road experience with vehicles with road tyres and heavy loads suffereing the worst with lack of grip. A couple of vehicles in each group required 'snatch' recoveries up grassy/muddy slopes. Other than that, lots of power and/or mud terrain tyres prooved their worth on both excursions. ONLOCK's group met us near the begining where they watched us do the last couple of recoveries up a short but tricky muddy slope.

We all headed back to camp for a 1pm lunch break and the rain came back again. By mid-afternoon the rain had stopped and left us with some hope of getting out for a night run. Well, during dinner the rain came back with vengance and for safety reasons The committee abandoned the night run idea, and crossed fingers for Sunday night instead.

Another night around the camp fire was enjoyed by all present - and Dave had finally showed up sometime late in the afternoon.

Sunday morning was almost a repeat of saturday's line up, but with only 9 vehicles - with some of the other campers electing to do some excursions on the blacktop instead.

With a group of 9 vehicles I led a group up the Russia track - and at some times it was really hard to locate the track, with just a few pink ribbons tied to tall grass or low hanging tree branches. Managed to find a graded down hill section of track that with the overnight rain we just knew was going to be a lot of slippn and slidn to get down - except that there were two large rocks in inconvienant spots that would catch the unwary driver. with a few smaller rocks thrown onto the track in what we though were good positions and my wife sent down with the video camera in advance, i took a very cautious first attempt at the slope (errr, slip). With no previous ruts to follow i became a passanger in my own Ute! But with a bit of slip n slide, managed to get down safely using the sliders and bash plates very effectively. Bosshog gave us the most spectacular show of how to get down - at about double my pace, and Shrek in the Pootrol got it sideways and had to plant the right foot to correct what could have been disaster. Only one driver decided to play it safe and not take down his ute - and with his 'road' tyres, probably made the only sensible descision of all of us.

We caught up with him about 1/2 hour later and continued our way around the rest of the tracks and finally called it a day and back to camp about 1pm again.

The afternoon saw ONLOCK lead another group out on a new track at ADOS, which i did not go on, so i hope someone from the sunday arvo group will tell us what happend ?!?

Caterers, TJ's from Dubbo arrived just after 4pm and setup for our dinner on Sunday night. We had the Draw for the RFDS sometime just before 6pm and also the 4 lucky door prizes were drawn as well. We finally got to sit down to east just after 6:30pm.

With no major rain on the sunday, I really wanted to to a night run, but most people had enjoyed their free sunday night feed too much. Shaggy took the bait and followed me in his D22 back up to do half of the Russia track, and BravoBrad braved riding shotgun with me. It is very different driving tracks in the dark, especially when its so much harder to see the little pink ribbons tied to the tall grass. But a short excursion up the hill and chasing little black pigs was a lot of fun - and the LED light bar was great on the tracks at night.

Back around the camp fire for some drinks and more talking, more drinks and even more talking ... dont know what time most people hitting the sack, there is unconfirmed reports about 3am or something ... ???

Monday morning came and people were packing up - ONLOCK was the first one out of camp at about 7am, most people packed up by 10am and ready to leave. The 550 was filled with everyone rubbish, and the 550 did the final rubbish run for the muster as we were heading back through Tooraweenah.

I was followed back to the blue mountains by the 550 (driven by my wife again), Shaggy and Nevyn, with the chosen route decided by Shaggy as being the quickest way back to sydney. Part way back, we found a 'car wash' and started trying to clean the 550. Got the first cash wash bay so full of mud, we moved the 550 into the next wash bay and continued to clean it - it was a 3 person effort to get the mud off it and make it somewhat presentable to hand back to Nissan. Thanks Shaggy and Nevyn for your help and gold coin donations to feed the car wash.

 

[BravoBrad]

Trip Report
For those who missed the Muster I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the event.

The Forum Members.
Like you would expect, we had a great mix of people, and it was great to put some faces to the names. Stories were told, laughs were had, and everybody enjoyed the company.

The Venue
The Campground was a few acres of flat country, perfect for pitching tents etc, It was great to stop the Navara, and just throw your tent on the ground without having to look for the flatest spot. Some bunkhouses were available, with a kitchen, showers and flushing toilets, Whilst these items were not 5.5 star, they were a lot better than taking your shovel up the paddock. More importantly a camp fire area with ample space for a gathering in the evening.

The Tracks
A series of tracks cut through the mountain on the property provided a variety of terrain, including flat grassy areas, muddy slopes, rocky terrain and some picnic areas with superb views of the National park. Wildlife was spotted throughout the property, with a lot of areas that supply some excellent photo opportunities.

Surrounding areas
Some of the members took the opportunity for some sightseeing on Sunday, and everybody I spoke to seemed to quite enjoy their outings, with the Warrumbungle’s and a nearby waterfall being very popular.

The Catered Meal
They say a feast starts with Bread and water, so the Salads, Spuds, Beef, Pork, Turkey, gravy etc were all just bonus’s. We ate around the campfire, in a very relaxed manner, without any complaints that I heard.

The Committee
Old Tony. – egzakarly like his name. I thought he was old man time
Woody, the resemblance to the movie character was unmistakable. The only question I have is how did he relay his directions from the bulbar where he was tied, to the man that he had driving his Navara.
Bosshog – If you put a white hat on him, stuck a cigar in his gob, he would be ready for the original set of the Dukes of hazard.

Hmm.. I seem to have strayed off topic. Maybe I will finish up this post.

 

[WoodyD40]

I know Onlock said the tracks were a bit tame, but he still said - and looked like - he had a good time.

Thats because he only had to recover one or two vehicles - and he didnt get stuck at all. ONLOCK is just spoiled by having the high country on his door step.

He certainly knows how to handle his Ute though when off-road.

 

[Dave]

Can we keep the thread on-topic please.

Want anything deleted, PM me or hit the flag button and Ill delete it.

 

[sparra04]

the above posts cover the weekend well
our trip
friday
we met at maitland about 9.00am,with dave advising he would be a bit late
lladner advised he was running late and would catch up
so myself ,andrew and brad set off with lladner joining us just out of merriwa
we arrived at ados at roughly 4pm, we were greeted by comitee and set up camp,the rest of the night was spent around fire chatting
saturday
early to rise we set off for a drive on the tracks
i had a ball and was really surprised how well my standard nav performed
we arrived back at camp and all took shelter from the rain and had lunch
the rest ov the arvo was spent with a drive to town in the 550,a bit of kite flying,and some rockets for the kids entertainment
sat night run was cancelled
sunday
some went back to tracks
i went for a drive with a group to the telescope ,great morning
i made it back in time for the arvo run (thanks for waiting)
another great drive
sunday dinner was great with a relaxed chat around fire
i can confirm 3 muster participants were still up at 3am having a quiet chat
monday
bit of a late start for me but we managed to be packed and out the gate by 10ish with a great run home with dave,andrew,lladner and myself
the first NNM was a great event,for those who missed it i suggest you come on the next one if you can
special thanks to the comitee for a job well done
and a BIG thanks to the sponsors
cheers
sparra
the view looking back down to camp site

saturday morning

 

[LLadnar]

"IT WAS REALLY GOOD" haha @ woody.

Seriously tho had an absolutely fabulous weekend! The guys above have covered it pretty good

 

[Bosshog]

Thursday

The two little pigs were dropped of by their mother at 8.30am and we were underway by 9. One minute down the road Miss Piggy couldn't find the camera so around the block we went only to find the camera in with the dunny paper??

Take two - off we headed fully loaded in an easterly direction into rain, rain and more rain. Having a long range tank means your bladder has to be at bursting point before I will stop. Nevertheless, we did stop at the Ouyen bakery for lunch. The little pigs entertained themselves with ipods, DVDs and annoying each other.

We crossed the Murray at Tooleybuc and arrived into Hay at 5:30pm. Stories differed over how much and what records were broken but what was true was that Hay received a s#%t load of rain. However the rain held off while we set up the camper trailer at the Hay Big 4 and then cracked a coldy!

Friday

Finally 'the day' arrived and we headed off to Tooraweenah. 5 kms out from Rankin Springs the CEL lit up (again). We pulled up in RS and booted the laptop in order to retrieve the ECU reset procedure. Wise to it Miss Piggy didn't miss an opportunity to empty her bladder!!

The little pigs had cabin fever so relunctantly we stopped in Parkes for lunch. Finally we rolled into the Muster with the CEL lit once again. Old Tony plugged his phone into the OBII port and the fault was the O2 sensor not getting the correct reading on deacceleration. That's what happens with a heavily modded exhaust. Reset the ECU again and forgot about it.

Saturday

Most has been covered but the highlight was the 27 second 'ride' down a steep slippery slope. Video footage to come I gather! I also snatched BravoBrad twice up two steep and slippery sections. I'll bet that Bravo has added muddies to the top of his shopping list. Some spectactular scenery to view between recoveries including a massive eagle's nest...

Sunday

A select group headed off on Ados' newest track. We appointed ONLOCK as our trusted leader and me as tail end charlie and off we went. However the 'newness' of the track meant that ONLOCK was struggling with his navigation skills. The fact that the cattle had been eating the pink ribbon used as the track markers didn't help. Eventually we ended up lost and ONLOCK went 'on looking' for a way out (in vain).

We turned around and found some of the track. It had some fairly steep and very rock sections. The rocks badly damaged one alloy and some mild damage was incurred to two others. Thankfully Nissan are replacing them all under the recall.

We then decided to cover a track done the previous day. Amazing how 24 hours without rain can turn a mildly difficult track into a very easy one.

Monday

Sadly Monday arrived and we had to pack up. We got away by 10am and 2 minutes down the road stopped to drain the camper trailer's water tank to save some weight.

We got to Dubbo late morning and showed the little pigs were their mother and I live in the early '90s. The NSW highway patrol were in force in Dubbo as was the booze bus. I was looked over as I drove in the opposite direction covered in mud and pulling up a hill and towing the camper = exhaust note on song!

We then stopped again in Parkes for lunch before arriving trouble free into the Motel in Hay. Nothing like a hot shower and comfy bed!!

Tuesday

We slept in to 7 and were away by 8. We drove on without stopping until Tailem Bend as Miss piggy's bladder was not coping (and my fuel light was on). We fuel up and had a late lunch.

One hour later we pulled into the driveway at 2.30pm having travelled 2596.7kms at an average of 14.5L/100.

A damn long way but what a great time it was!!!

BH

 

[ONLOCK]

was an awesome trip, was great to meet new people and generally be in great company so thanks to all that turned up and made it what it was.

the commitee done a ripper of a job organizing everything and im sure they are all feeling very happy with themselves now as everything from the time i got there to the time i left was smooth sailing.

tracks were heaps of fun in the wet on the saturday, some people learnt how important it was to drop tyre pressures and how much of a difference it made. i hope everyone ejoyed coming out wheeling whilst i was leading with no idea where i was going.

sundays tracks proved to be interesting, although allot more grip than the saturday i still managed to slip into a rut and smash in my quater panel, ooops. ah well, already sourced another 1/4 just need to paint and fit. and trying to get back up the hill most people were scared to go down was fun but not too be with the amount of rain we had.

sunday arvo drive was fun even though i got everyone lost and had no idea where we were going but rwd challenges made it all allot more interesting.

bring on next year, i advise everyone to try and make it, but we will definatly need more d40's for the extra numbers of d22's that will be there and needing a helping hand through the tough stuff

kyle

 

[Blacknav]

Early on i was uncertain whether i was going to attend the muster or not, but now i am bloody glad i did! The amount of effort that the committee put into organising the weekend shone through the patches of wind and rain, yes i thought we were in for a cyclone on Friday night! The weekend progressed faultlessly.

It was good to put faces to names and catch up with those i already knew locally. Test driving the 550 was interesting, man did that motor have some grunt, if only you could get it manualised in the D22.

Ado's 4wd park was a good choice of venue, as mentioned before the camp ground was flat and very spacious. While the shower and toilet facilities were very basic it did not bother me, it actually added to the feel of the weekend.

The tracks were nothing short of enjoyable, whilst they weren't the hardest i had driven the rain made it more than interesting and they were a different style to the tracks locally were i live. And yes Kyle you did teach me a thing or two, much appreciated. You were not the only one with damage, the clean up revealed a gouge in the lip of one of my rims, oh well.

All in all a great weekend, those that didn't attend missed a really really really good weekend!!!

A few pictures just for a tease.....

 

[Krankin]

More pic's....



So going by the postings so far, the 550 is an overpowered spruced up toorak tractor salon thats no good for the offroader.

Up the '22



.

 

[sparra04]

a few pics of the kids
they had a great time

lets not forget the big kids

 

[Bosshog]

they had a great time

They sure did!!