Six vehicles gathered at the Gasparillo turnoff. Peter and Tony, Raffick, Frankie, Gauff, Wellsley and Joanne and the quiet guy with the blue jeep.
We turned off the northbound lane of
the highway about kilometer after and were at the bottom of what looked like
a forty five degree hill. Peter set off first in Hercules but came
back after about fifty meters with some loud clunks from his drive train. A
broken rear diff tooth was suspected, the rear driveshaft was removed and
Peter and Tony set off for home.
Because of the dry conditions and
smooth terrain, we were out on the Macaulay road in less than 30 minutes.
The offroaders were not happy. ‘I want mud’ says Frankie. ‘We
are going to the beach’ says Welllsey. ‘I think we better go home’
says Raffick. ‘I want mud’ says Frankie.
So at high noon, we were all at the
back end of WASA trail No.1 – having decided to do it in reverse. We
saw excavator tracks and thought that those areas would be solid and make
for easy going. Yeah, right. For most of the trail, the two tracks
were separated by a huge rough bank, wider and higher than Goliath’s track
and ground clearance. The three narrow track Suzukis were often able to
drive on one side of the bank. Raffick and Frankie, with their wider
tracks had to work a bit harder.
The river crossings and valleys where
water settled were deep and slushy. Traction through some of them was
none existent. Winches and come alongs were used many times.
We finally exited the trail at 10:15
pm. Frankie had his mud. Mechanical casualties were: Raffick had a
tire slip off the rim. Frankie lost reverse gear, reshaped his gas
tank and had a flat tire. My gas tank now bears no resemblance to the
one I set off with, but fifty dollars will fill it up to the neck now.
Special thanks and kudos to Joanne
for her composure and strength under the trying conditions – mud, insects,
darkness, Wellsley – not a complaint from her. To all the guys – I
think we enjoyed it, but will we do it again? I suppose so. To
the gentlemen who did not attend the event – we missed you.
Respectfully submitted... Trevor.
Hercules "left behind"
Some guys not as fit as they thought they were!!
Bone dry.....
You want a sun roof...then walk with a brolly!!
This used to be a 4 foot deep swamp!!
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But the guys weren't to be denied their fun so it was back to the original trail....the WASA pipeline in Tabaquite run in reverse. Now there was mud!!
Now while the pictures finish here....apparently it was after 10 in the night before the team emerged victorious from this trail. Well done everyone.
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