Friday morning seen me packing the Prado and a 6x4 tailer. My companions for this trip were my mother Mary, and brother Michael. There were supposed to be two others but they had to pull out at the last moment. This may have been a good thing because I couldn't believe how much gear we were carrying for just 3 people. Got a lot more to learn about this camping business I think.

We finally were on our way about 2pm and the plan was to travel up through the Clare valley. As a youngster I lived and went to school at Stanley Flat (near the Clare Racecourse) so a little bit of nostalgia was nice. There were also a couple of geocaches in the area itching to be found. (If you don't know anything about geocaching, have a look at www.geocaching.com where it's all explained.) Arrival at the camp was after dark of course. This made finding a suitable campsite and setting up a tent a little difficult. Definitely have a lot to learn about this camping caper.

A beautiful peaceful dawn next morning set the mood. After a nice breakfast we wandered over to the fire where trip leader David Hyde was organizing us all. With 25 vehicles or so we split up into groups. David suggested at least one group should start out nice and easy and gradually build up into the harder stuff. As I've only had a 4WD for a few months and my experience is practically zip, this sounded good to me. Our group of about 10 vehicles was dubbed the 'Steadys', and shortly we were off, heading north past Gum Dale and Hams Dam to arrive at the Red Range Lookout. An easy 100 metre walk up the hill and what can I say! Stunning views over the plains to the distant ranges in the south. Superb, but there was more to come. Off again we shortly took a sharp left hand bend and headed but as another group was already in there we went to Murphy's Yards, turned south and stoped at some ruins instead. As we knew there were going to be a few late arrivals, we headed back to camp to see who else wanted to tag along.

Soon we were off again, this time heading south towards the Hungry Range with a couple more vehicles. Out past the lantern gate we turned east and ambled along to the Ridge Top. This is an exciting drive. Very rugged country with a track bulldozed along the top of a ridge. Although not what I'd call extreme, the driving did demand your attention. At one point my front seat passenger suggested I might like to move to the right a little as the drop on that side didn't look very inviting. But a quick glance out my side suggested that where we were was just fine as the drop off there was not something I wanted to experience either. A short stop was made a little further on where you could actually get out either side of the car without the little problem of sliding off the ridge on your ass. Another spectacular view, this time to the east and overlooking Minburra and the ranges behind it. Off again and a northerly turn just past the Sandy Bore Holes and it was easy going travelling along the base of the Hungry Range. The next driving challenge was just after we turned west where track headed back up into the range. The first section was reasonably steep with a lot of loose shale on the track. All we needed was a nice steady climb in low range and we all made it to the top without difficulty. Heading west and the trip leader spotted an eagle up on a rocky outcrop surveying his territory. He didn't like what he saw as he took off and struck at a kangaroo a couple of times. Just to show who's boss I guess. Further on, the track traversed the side of a hill. It had a few washouts on the track, but with a little bit of care these presented no problems. It was time to head back to camp now for the happy hour and of course we were late. Happy hour seemed to go a little over time that evening. Over night we did have a little rain, but this only served to settle the dust.

Mid morning the next day we were off to the south again. Travelling over the same tracks we took the afternoon before, west past North Hills Bore it was a totally different experience. I guess you needed to drive the track a little differently and the different lighting made it seem like we hadn't been there before. Our eagle must have had other things to do that morning as it was nowhere to be seen. I found negotiating the steep shaly track a lot more difficult this time as it was downhill. I guess this is the downside to automatic transmissions. But a little care and a little handbrake helped so down we went. Turning south again, we went through a number of washouts and creek crossings. The only difficulty here was trying to minimize the towbar scraping but we made good progress. We met up with another group for lunch. Flies were abundant and there was a lot of careful eating done. I'm sure a few flies pressed their luck a little too much and ended up as an unnoticed addition to lunch.

Heading south again towards the Billy Goat Track. I heard David asking the other groups on the CB how they had found it, and the news wasn't good. It seemed that almost everyone had some problems. Back on our channel he put it to us, are we willing to give it a try? I knew David was heading up first, and I also knew he wouldn't let us try unless he thought it was possible. I think the gradual gaining of experience gave me a little bit of confidence and I was ready to try something a little more difficult, but I was still very apprehensive. Deliberately damaging a brand new car is not what I'm about but I did decide to give the track a try. And in fact we all did. The track was very steep, and very rocky with a lot of ledges to step up and down. David headed off first and made it to the top without major problems. He pointed out a few things to avoid and made a few suggestions on how to tackle it and called us up. This was exciting for drivers and passengers alike and I'd call it extreme by my standards. You needed to be careful where you placed the car, and yet often your choices were very limited. A very steady pace and a lot of attention with the rocky steps was needed. I didn't seem to notice the screaming passengers as I was concentrating so hard. Course, it might have been me screaming, how would I know :-). About 2/3 of the way up, there were a couple of ledges I needed to step down at the same time and there just wasn't anywhere else to go. As the car came down there was a loud crunch. It must have been the suspension bouncing as when we moved off there was no scraping. A few more minutes of intense concentration and we were at the top! A quick look under the wagon showed only a small dent in a bash plate so all was well. This track was a great confidence builder. Although I certainly wouldn't tackle it again without a lot of experienced help about, I think I changed my ideas of what would be impossible. It certainly shows what these cars are capable of. The trip back to camp was an anticlimax compared to the last hour or so. I spent a lot of time stretching out my fingers, as I might have been hanging onto the wheel just a little too tightly :-).

I'd finally convinced my brother to have a drive. This was his first time 4WDing. We headed out north this time with 5 vehicles in the group. The route was up Gum Creek Drive then a left turn westerly up the Kakoda Trail. This was pretty easy going but it was very clayey so I'd hate to be doing it when wet. Another turn north and we were headed for Quarry Springs. We were lucky with the reduced number of vehicles this time as we could only just fit the 5 vehicles at the lookout. Yet another pretty view over the gorge made us decide to take a little walk into it. The slate was incredible with large thin sheets jutting out of the cliff face seeming very delicate, but they must have been like it for eons. You have to wonder what geological forces have been at work, as it's easy to see that these ancient ocean beds that formed the slate have been turned right on their side. Reluctantly it was time to leave so it was back out the way we came. I said earlier that the same track seems a lot different when going the other way. This time all seemed well until all of a sudden there was no drive. We were all very confused, checking gear shifts an levers to see if we had somehow accidentally selected neutral. Everything seemed ok but there was still no drive. A chuckle over the CB told us our inexperience was showing. We had diagonally opposite wheels in midair. Here's the guys first bit of 4WDing and he's hangin' wheels all over the place. What a hoot! The lighting on the way back along North-South ridge was gorgeous and revealed yet another character of this beautiful countryside. What a top way to end our last trek through the Bendleby Ranges.

The trip back home was uneventful. A couple of diversions to Magnetic Hill and Black Rock for geocaching were successful. We will need to visit Magnetic Hill again as were unsure if it was actually the magnet pulling the 2 tonne car up the hill or the wind was blowing it - it was blowing quite a gale.

We have to thank the Nissan Club for making this wonderful trip possible for us as visitors. A big thankyou to Gwen and David for the invitation & their superb trip leading. Last and by no means least, all of those who attended. The friendly atmosphere made a good time very much better. I've also had the pleasure of overhearing my trip companions telling others about what they experienced so I know they feel the same way as me.