Queens Birthday 2013 high Country Brumby Rally! Part 2

BRAT87 · Post by **BRAT87** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 4:00 pm

Ok, had to split the story to fit more pics for you guys.

After Craigs hut and a bite to eat we left and made our way over to Lake Cobbler. My brother informed me there was 2 ways of going there. He ended up taking up Stair Case track. Not sure how many of you off roaders out there have tackled this track, I have to say that in my young years of going off road with the family, it was by far the toughest off roading I have done. Having said that, I will never in my life doubt the ability of my Subaru Brumby! And never again will I doubt the ability of my brothers $50 Chinese Highfly tires! hahaha I will say that a couple of times his ute nearly disappeared into some fairly deep bog holes, unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to jump out of the car and grab a pic. By the time I had jumped out, his ute had climbed out and kept on going.The only problem he did mention was the fact his ute bottomed out a few times due to the weight of the bull bar. Mine didn't have that issue, but the bash guard did get a work out!

Here's a couple pics of the water crossing we navigated through at the entrance of the lake.
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Probably one of the funniest parts of this journey, was the fact that the whole way up this track we had noticed someone in a brand new Nissan Navara following us. All done up with big tires and bull bar and winch and snorkel and all the rest of that ARB stuff. When they pulled up next to us in front of the lake. They immediately jumped out and said in absolute astonishment "we cannot believe where you two just drove those utes! What are they and where do I buy one and how much?" hahaha I think they were even more impressed by the genuine Subaru sales Brochures I pulled out of my glove box next to give them a full run down of the 1980's Subaru range!

After that we headed back down the mountain 2wd way and I took my targa top off being that the sunshine decided to show its self. Also the heater is soo damn hot in my ute that you can't notice the cold. We made it to Bright and had an entire table full of food and drinks. Don't think I had been that hungry in a while. We turned in early and decided to get an early start the following day for the last leg of the trip.

The Dargo high plains road!
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We sat at the entrance of this road for a little while eating fruit and reminiscing over yesterdays adventure. When a VY commodore wagon suddenly turned in and took off down the road and what can only be described as being out to prove something. Needless to say we actually didn't see that wagon again..... And the road conditions were far from good or even acceptable for low profile 17inch tires that were on that wagon! not sure what happened there but we didn't see him again. Most of the road was mud and as such 4x4 Hi was needed to avoid any sort of spinning fast & furious driving stunts! but it was a fun drive and I even managed to get the ute in an all out drift at one point. Which is exciting because as most of you know, EA81's they rarely have enough power to achieve such a thing.

Coming down from that road was even more hairy as my brother and I both managed to cook our brakes to smoking point! He says i was worse than him but, that's brotherly competitiveness for you. We made it to Dargo hotel at midday, just in time for lunch. and if none of you have been there, I strongly recommend you book yourselves a cabin and get there! the pub is very old world. Lots of stubbie holders glued to the walls and roof of the place! And other bits and pieces left there from over the years. Really is a great pub and well worth the journey! We took our seats at the bar and settled in for the night and laughed about all our driving challenges over the past couple days and the fact that a little Subaru ute, can be so much fun to drive.

The end!

Rodeo4jake · Post by **Rodeo4jake** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 4:12 pm

It was an unreal weekend away that's for sure,thanks for sharing it with me. Next up Simpson Desert, that's what you said yeah?

BRAT87 · Post by **BRAT87** » Thu Jul 11, 2013 4:19 pm

Yeah! I saw a set of white rims on ebay for 0.99c starting auction. Reckon we might need those and long range tanks!

Rodeo4jake wrote:It was an unreal weekend away that's for sure,thanks for sharing it with me. Next up Simpson Desert, that's what you said yeah?

Tigger · Post by **Tigger** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:44 am

Thanks for sharing such a great trip away! Excellent pictures too! Can't beat a good old Subaru road trip through the mountains

The best part is seeing the expressions on people's faces 'Did that car really get through there?' Obviously they are oblivious to the might of the mighty Subaru

BRAT87 · Post by **BRAT87** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:37 am

Tigger wrote:Thanks for sharing such a great trip away! Excellent pictures too! Can't beat a good old Subaru road trip through the mountains The best part is seeing the expressions on people's faces 'Did that car really get through there?' Obviously they are oblivious to the might of the mighty Subaru

Yeah, was a fun weekend. A lot of people are less informed of the off road ability of a Subaru. I have to admit I was before owning one.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Fri Jul 26, 2013 12:18 pm

is that another fuel filler below the tarps first stud on drivrs side of your brothers ute ?

Rodeo4jake · Post by **Rodeo4jake** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:29 am

steptoe wrote:is that another fuel filler below the tarps first stud on drivrs side of your brothers ute ?

Hey mate,
That's my old LPG filler cap. The Brumby had gas when I got it,Long gone now . I'm hoping to pull that out & weld up the hole one day.

BRAT87 · Post by **BRAT87** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 11:28 am

Rodeo4jake wrote:Hey mate,
That's my old LPG filler cap. The Brumby had gas when I got it,Long gone now . I'm hoping to pull that out & weld up the hole one day.

Want me to go and take a welding course so I can do it for ya?

Rodeo4jake · Post by **Rodeo4jake** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 11:51 am

BRAT87 wrote:Want me to go and take a welding course so I can do it for ya?

Yes please do, after the job I did on my exhaust I'm a long way off welding my quarter panel. Go to tafe at nights, when you demonstrate a certain level of ability I'll let you hav a go.

NachaLuva · Post by **NachaLuva** » Thu Aug 01, 2013 2:02 pm

Rodeo4jake wrote:Go to tafe at nights, when you demonstrate a certain level of ability I'll let you hav a go.

The trick with panels is low amps, stich welding. Go slow so the heat doesnt build up & cause distortion

BRAT87 · Post by **BRAT87** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:30 am

NachaLuva wrote:

The trick with panels is low amps, stich welding. Go slow so the heat doesnt build up & cause distortion

Cheers for the tip! Although I don't think my brother is going to let me have a go at welding a guard on his Brumby. He'd never let me live it down if I stuffed it up hahaha

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Wed Aug 07, 2013 5:57 pm

TAFE night courses in MIG welding won't teach you how to weld panel steel, they concentrate on structural steel (12mm down to 3mm) plate.

That looks like an excellent trip, can't wait to do something like this when my car is finished

Thanks for posting pics.

BRAT87 · Post by **BRAT87** » Mon Aug 12, 2013 11:35 am

Silverbullet wrote:TAFE night courses in MIG welding won't teach you how to weld panel steel, they concentrate on structural steel (12mm down to 3mm) plate.

That looks like an excellent trip, can't wait to do something like this when my car is finished Thanks for posting pics.

Yeah it was a good trip. When my brother gets back from his 6 week trip we will plan another one and hopefully you can come along.