NSW Sep Camp - Abercrombie Overnighter Sept 09

Well guys, great to meet up and put faces to names. Shame about Eden's drive shaft exploding. Wasn't driving through the snow covered Abercromie NP a great experience?

Also well done to Alex and Eden on getting the OB out of the park.

I'm sure there will be lots of pics coming soon

Was good meeting a few new faces. Despite the damp camp and Eden's misfortune I think it was a good trip. Alex and Eden did a grat job getting his Outback out of the park given some of the ascents.

I didn't take many photos but tried some video for the first time. Unfortunately I didn't realise until late on the second day that the video was set to "compact" so small resolution. Probably won't get a chance to put anything up until the weekend but will post something up shortly.

Some Teasers

Abercrombie Overnighter Sept 09

Well what can I say, apart from it being a cold start on Sat morning at Oberon, where we met to start our trip.
The temp was about 2deg C, but the wind made it feel a a lot colder.
We even had a touch of snow falling while we were there, waiting for the others to arrive.

Anyway, after the usual meet & greet, it was time for us to start our adventure.

Once we got off the tar & onto the dirt, it was a fairly easy drive, apart from a few steep up & downs until we reached "The Beach" campsite.
After a short stop here so as we could stretch our legs & take a few pics, we decided to check out another campsite which was too far away, called "Silent Creek"
Upon reaching "Silent Creek" we decided to stay there instead, as it was a little more sheltered than "The Beach"
After setting up camp, it was time for a bite to eat & get the good old camp fire started. And trust me, we needed it, as it was still bitterly cold.
I don't think the temp got above 6 or 7deg C all day.

Sunday morning wasn't much different. It was cold, dam cold & the winds were still blowing an icy gail, that cut straight to the bone. But that wasn't going to stop us from havingsome fun on the tracks.
After a short time of climbing up & down some more hills, we came to a steepish section. When Eden didn't make it the 1st time he had another go at it & BANG !

Rally & I looked at each other & said "sh1t, that doesn't sound good" And it wasn't.
Eden broke his CV Joint. Now what ?
At this stage, it was decide to get subalex & his Patrol to tow Eden & his Outback.

How you guys managed to do it I don't know. It was a top effort & very well done, very well done indeed.
Especially considering that the ground was slippery in some parts from the rain & snow, YES SNOW, that had fallen overnight Aswell as it being quite steep & a little rutted too.

Anyway, thats enough talking, I'll let the pics do the rest of the report for me.

Here's a few teasers to start with.

Regards
Mr Turbo

Here's a few more teasers

To see the rest try here.
Abercrombie Trip Pics

Regards
Mr Turbo

Another good report and good trip.

It was certainly a lot cooler than I had hoped for given the time of year. For me it's the second camp in a row where I've enountered snow and neither of them have been during winter.

We'll have to make another trip back in the future to explore the bits we missed.

Good call on waiting at the RSL in Oberon when we got back also. Can't go past a decent hot meal after being out in the cold for 24 hours +

The wind was annoying from a sound perspective while trying to sleep but it was the on and off showers that annoyed me the most.

Hopefully I'll have some pics and vids up by the weekend.

What an amazing weekend. Very low temps, incredibly high winds that thankfully we mostly escaped the worst of once camped. But along the way it was bitterlly cold. Eden did a great job with the fire, and ion between rain and sleet squalls it was great to sit around the fire. I really enjoyed chatting with Kevein as it had been some time since we met.

Damo was most pleased to see the snow, and indeed it did llok very pretty. On the first big hill out, Eden became stuck and I ran out to help him, and was soon joined by the others. I suggested he use the handbrake as the front wheels just locked and he had no steering as he rolled back down. He then took off and as he bounced up and then down the front left axle shaft just broke in half.

At first we thought it was the gearbox, and Alex used his Patrol to tow Eden up. It took a couple of goes at first, as we all shivered in the fierce wind and low temps. A longer tow rope/snatch'em did the trick. Once on level ground I jumped in Eden's car and found it was not the gearbox but the front axle, although at the time we thought CV. They are very thin- well, compared to the WRX ones anyway.

Troy, Damo and myself headed off to find a quick way out, but despite trying different trails, we failed. But the first hero of the day was Alex, as he towed Eden out. We could hear the guys communicate over the UHF, and what an ouytstanding job they did. I doubt any two people could have done a better job. I was, and remain, extremely impressed.

We got stuck on one climb, and I got out and helped Damo get up, but had to climb the long, steep incline. I was buggered at the end of the climb as I collapsed into the seat. Very hard yakka, I can tell you. The track became muddy, and there were spme decent puddles. Troy nearly got stick, but got out and succeded with a run up. We hit the puddle and a wall of water towered over the car as it splashed on top of us. Got through though.

The ruts in the road, which was very slippery, was all that kept us from sliding off- it was as though we were in a big slot car. We then found ourselves confronting a very steep, muddy incline and said out loud how were we ever going to get up that- let alone the Patrol towing the Outback. But it had more gripped than it looked and we were fine.

I could not believe the pace Alex and Eden had under very difficult conditions. We headed on ahead and I rang a mate who had a selection of Subaru axles. He was in the WRX Club like me, and used a borrowed car from another club member to drop everything and drive all the way from Sydney. Unfortunately they were mostly WRX parts and none fitted.

We left Eden's car at a mechanic and I hope all goes well. So the weather was most diappointing, but the comraderie was excellent. Alex and Eden working together was a class act. I think many thanks to my fellow WRX Club members for trying to get the car going even if we did not in the end succeed. Neither of them had ever met the ORS guys yet were very generous anyway. I am most pleased to have such good mates. Thanks everyone from ORS for a good time and I hope that in time Eden will have fonder memories. It was for sure very bad luck, but he was fortunate to get the car out from where it was. Cheers

yeah it was a great trip with some bad luck which ended with good luck just getting out of there. that 4.2LT turbo diesel beast was nothing but amazing. alot of the time Alex had in 2nd low because 1st wasn't quick enough. i honestly thought if Rallys mate Dave gets my car going i was going to buy a lotto ticket, because i would be the luckiest guy in Oz. any how, unfortunatly it wasn't to be. so we left the car outside the mechanics and TroyXT offered to haul my gratfull but sorry arse back home. now i went to a drive shaft dude today and had a chat, told him what happened and he said the ones on my car were imported replacements from china and were only good for tar. Rally thats why they were thinner. the weight difference between the two was quite noticable. so he gave me some recon 2003 subaru ones which were cheaper than new ones although i had to buy 2. iv'e organized to go back on Wedensday to get them fitted. even though i had the dramas it was a good way to gain knowlage and experience in some pretty bad conditions. it was a pretty area and the snow topped it of.
besides that it was great to finally meet you guys and i can't thank you all enough, especially Alex and his patroll, Matt for the tow into town, Troy for the lift back to Sydney, Kev, Kim, Damo, Rally and his mate Dave for all the running around you all did

Hey Damo, can post up some recovery pics mate. everyone's got to see what we had deal with

Great report there Damien and as usual top pics.

Good to hear you survived to train ride from Parra Eden.

It was great to finally put some faces to the forum IDs. Also good to meet up with paffoh from Canberra. Shame you couldn't hang around and freeze with the rest of us overnight.

There are some photos up https://www.subaruclub.com.au/cms/index.php?module=mediashare&func=slideshow&aid=84&back=1here.

Troy.

Oh dang Eden, that sounds nasty!

Sorry to hear mate but geez what a group of guys to all help out eh? You are lucky mate, the love for Subaru was even shared by a Patrol and a Pajero. Was great to put faces to names, its funny how you build up images in your mind on what people actually look like, only to find they are nothing like you thought (Dont worry, in a good way lol). Thanks heaps for making us feel welcome, was great to meet everyone and their rides. Appreciate the tips and tricks regarding doing last remaining mods and tyre size, pretty keen to get stuck into it asap. We got out quite easily on Saturday and was dissapointed I couldnt stick around, so I took a detour home and ended up driving over 150kms back to Canberra on dirt (Anything over 80km = sideways). Hope the weather wasnt too harsh, did anyone play the fool and fall in the fire like requested? (Guess Eden's antics on Sunday make up for anything else).

Thanks again guys, will gather my pics up asap and post.

Top notch report y'all!!!:ebiggrin:

Sorry to hear about your axle eden, but sounds like you will soon have it properly sorted out.

Love the 'roo river crossing'.

Nice fellas! Wish I was there... I'm a sucker for snow but can't stand the annoying cold before you get to the snow temps - go figure!

I'm a little jealous that I couldn't make it - next year I'll keep an eye out and make a real go of it if it fits with work etc! Love the water crossing pic - can't get enough of them at the moment.

Cheers

Bennie

carljwnc said:

Love the 'roo river crossing'.

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Thanks carljwnc, but I don't think the joey in her pouch did. :lol:

Regards
Mr Turbo

eden said:

iv'e organized to go back on Wedensday to get them fitted. even though i had the dramas it was a good way to gain knowlage and experience in some pretty bad conditions. it was a pretty area and the snow topped it of.

Click to expand...

Thats good news mate.

eden said:

Hey Damo, can post up some recovery pics mate. everyone's got to see what we had deal with

Click to expand...

I've only got a couple, & as usual, the pics don't do justice of how steep the hill really was.
These pics are of Alex pulling Eden up the hill where the CV Joint / Axel went bang & broke.







Regards
Mr Turbo

Looking good guys! How long of a trip was that?

^ weekend trip

From Alex (posted on Subie Club forum):

The whole trip was great. Yes, sure, the chill factor in the breeze was a bit much from time to time but the fact that it brought some snow balanced that. My two youngest boys made use of the tent and the car to watch a DVD more than I had planned but that wasn't a bad thing really. They coped well with their ski jackets on.

Thanks to towing Eden's car up those slopes the engine got the best workout since I bought it and it's cleaned out all the soot... blowing all nice and clean thanks to you mate.

Kudos to Eden for driving his car only a snatch strap distance behind me most of the way out and negotiating the terrain with no choice of speed. That's a little daunting I'm sure and his modified Outback did a much better job of that than my stock standard one would have done when I had it. Thanks again to Eden for showing me exactly what mine would have been capable of with all the mod's I dreamt I could have fitted to it.

I was totally thrilled with what I was able to climb up with that Outback stuck on the back and that's a credit to the front locker, a bloomin' good rear LSD from Nissan and the gutsy 4.2 turbo diesel. Somehow that doesn’t seem to match up with the spec’s of my L-series that I had wanted to bring along on this trip. Hmmm… imagine our plight if I HAD brought it… Matt and his Pajero would have had a good time with that one I think. That’s one for debating in the future... (cue new discussion topic around the fire )

Rally, a pleasure to meet you and even greater to be complemented by you for what I consider a basic requirement for what was a highly dangerous expedition. We did have some fun along the way but I was always conscious of the fact that poor old Eden was subjected to whatever speed and terrain I hauled his sorry butt over and the constant rubberband-like twang I felt pulling my Patrol back never let me forget what was going on as we went over erosion humps and climbed hills. It’s a credit, too, to Subaru just how strong these cars are made as I was worried it might close up the front rails in the effort. You must find that modifying Subarus has changed your opinion of car safety straight from the showroom, regardless of ANCAP safety ratings. (There’s another debate for the fire)

Matt, a please to have met you too. A nice looking rig you have there and I’m hoping we can manage to get you and my neighbour together with his shorty Pajero talking mod’s and get into finding the limit of them. We’ll have to go back to Abercrombie to explore those other tracks some time. Which brings me to Damian….

Damian… how the heck do you not manage to shred a tyre every time you go up a hill?? It blows my mind to see so much wheel spin, even from me, an experienced Subaru driver, I’m staggered how much you can give it with that turbo spooled up. Kudos to you on showing how much can be achieved without low range, without the ground clearance of body lifts and without the calm grace that the autos of Troy and Kevin were able to ascend those steep climbs with. Brilliant and entertaining stuff! 

Thanks Kevin and Matt for joining the forums for this trip. More like this please. What a great team effort this truly was last weekend

Still watching the vids I recorded and have one in particular that I'm going to upload in the next few days. I had prime view of Alex pulling Eden out and this one was a little further on where the mud started getting slippery and shows at the start just how little choice Eden had in things with the car slipping sideways almost as much as it was moving forward before going on to show some of the terrain lightly covered in snow.

I see Kevin has changed his sig now LOL.

Yes, we'll certianly have to go back and see the rest of the trails and arrange some more trips.

apsilon said:

I see Kevin has changed his sig now LOL.

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In honour of the effort, and at Alex's suggestion! :lol: