From Wallabadah we split up into two groups. KMC led a small group along the bitumen into Quirindi for lunch, while the rest of us headed off down an alternate track into town known for it's multiple water crossings.
We were a little surprised by how many wanted to come along to play in the mud and water as the last time we did this run, we only had half a dozen takers and these were the likes of Biggles, Halfpint, Smokey and Terry who are all well known bush bashers. This time however, there were twice as many, and a few of them had not done much or any of this sort of driving before.
Still, if they were brave enough to give it a go, we were happy to take them
. After all, part of what the Round Up is about is giving people the confidence to go places and do things they'd never do on their own. Everyone needs to be aware of their own limitations and needs to accept the possibility that things don't always go according to plan, but we do our best to make sure that no one gets hurt and hopefully no Moke gets hurt (too badly...
). We've proved that we stand by the unofficial Moke Round Up motto that "No Moke Gets Left Behind" many times over the years, and several times again during the 2017 event, and that seems to give people the confidence to have a go.
We were well aware (and made sure everyone else was too) that it was not just a possibility that some Mokes would get stuck in and around the water crossings - it was pretty much guaranteed. The only bit we were unsure of was just how many we would be pushing/pulling out.
Anyway, there were more than a couple who got stuck and consequently, although we allowed an hour and a half for what is normally a 15 - 20 minute drive into Quirindi, it took well over two hours and we were all a little late for lunch. Still, all the feedback I received was positive and so far as I'm aware there were no regrets and everyone had a great time.
Alan S is a classic example of a city dweller who is keen to have a go and not afraid to get his very nice Moke a bit dirty. He even had a couple of tow points installed before leaving home, so he must have heard some rumours
. His comment to me during the Wednesday dirt road run (which was hot and dusty in stark contrast to Thursday) was " I wouldn't say I've never been on a gravel road before, but I can't remember when the last time was".
Still he had a go, and ended up here, so he got the full experience
Mrs Alan S was happy enough with the experience so far though, and declined the bonus tow ride out off the creek.
She abandoned ship very quickly once they reached dry(ish) land and the tow ropes came out
A bit unfair to single them out though (sorry Al) as they were far from the only ones in the same predicament - - just the ones I had the best photos of
To share some of the love around, I should also point out that Dynky Moke was the first one dragged out and spending some time drying out the electrics
Woody decided to be different and rather than doing the usual Moke thing of stopping due to wet electrics, won the award for the lowest exhaust. This was judged by him being the first (and only) one to break an exhaust bracket. It was too hard to tie back up, so the decision was made to take it off and run with a new "high mount" exhaust back to Quirindi, which proved to be extremely loud.
Luckily my regular mechanic in Quirindi had time to fix it up for him and had him back on the road by the time we were ready to leave after lunch.
Most who got stuck simply got pushed/pulled out, dried out their dizzy and sprayed a bit of WD 40 about and went on their way. 77 Devil and the Angry Ant are special though....
. There was possibly a misunderstanding of the instruction to enter the crossings at a slow, steady pace, but accelerate out. Personally I think it may also come back somewhat on what the driver wanted to hear, But Dev took that instruction as "go in slow, then floor it". The result was spectacular as you can see here, but had ongoing consequences
It seems that it's possible to seriously swamp a distributor and that takes more than a wipe out of the cap and a spray of WD40 to put right. The combined efforts of Ant, Terry, Moke 71 and others eventually saw him moving, although not quite as convincingly as before.
We left the Ant in Quirindi to wait for running repairs to be completed on his canopy, in the belief that he would make it home to Moke Central later under his own steam as he seemed to be running well enough. Unfortunately that didn't eventuate, as it turns out that when you really swamp a distributor, the moisture gets in deep and just when you think you have it dried out and running OK, the moisture condenses back up into the cap and stops you again
So after a valiant effort and about 20 bonnet-up restarts, the Tasmanian Virgins admitted defeat about 30km out of Quirindi and made the call for trailer recovery. They were in good spirits when I arrived to collect them though, as their chosen recovery spot coincidentally (
) coincided with their arrival at a very nice pub
. After a good dinner and a few "spirit lifters" for the now non-drivers we had all Mokes safely back at Moke Central and it was still only about 10.00pm
I have more great photos of the 7 Creeks Rd run, but this post is already too long, so I'll put them in the next one.
Topic: Round Up 2017 - Thursday - Off to Quirindi (Read 1004 times)