If you only had one more weekend to spend 4wding/camping in Vic......

[retroenduro Member Find all posts View Profile Close retroenduro]

Where would you go?

So im moving to SA to start a family soon and the wife and i wanted to get in one last Victorian trip before we go and are shackled by young children for the next 6-10 years.......The problem is with so many things to do...im stumped.

I need some suggestions!

A few limitations tho...
1 wife is almost 6 months pregnant (and car is not massively modified - just ATs and a fair amount of skill) so no tuff truck stuff please, just nice touring route with a good bit of low range....
2 its winter so alot of stuff is closed
3 we have a dog
4 prefer to head east as west (Grampians/big desert etc) we can do when we meet up with Melb based friends

Last time we went to Toombon and O'Tooles Flat via Mt Selma and a few back roads which was a perfect weekend. Lots of exploring huts/ruins etc plus some good 4wding....

Anyway if anyone has any good ideas i would be very gratefull to hear them!

[juc33_prado Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close juc33_prado]

you can take the young children camping too! you shouldn/t be too shackled

[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

Yeah man my kids love camping. Even the teenager 😉 for now haha


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[retroenduro Member Find all posts View Profile Close retroenduro]

Serious question, could you take a 9 month old on a 14 day tag along trip across the Simmo? Or am i being stupid....

[BlakMoth Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close BlakMoth]

Probably hard work man but anything is doable


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[fridayman Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close fridayman]

Serious question, could you take a 9 month old on a 14 day tag along trip across the Simmo? Or am i being stupid....

Most people would advise against it - the main reason being their necks often aren't strong enough yet for the shaking. That said, I took my son on offroad day trips from 6 months, but only the easy stuff. To be honest, you'll only just be catching up on your sleep at 9 months

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

Serious question, could you take a 9 month old on a 14 day tag along trip across the Simmo? Or am i being stupid....

We met a couple at Mount Beadell on the Gunbarrel highway with a 3 week old baby

Think about the others on your trip, we have amped next to others with babies before and screaming babies half the night doesn't please the neighbours when your in a tent. If your kids a good sleeper and low maintenance then not such a big deal.

A bit different but we ave a severely disabled daughter, we took her camping once, never again as it was a nightmare.

Cheers Andrew

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Where would you go?

So im moving to SA to start a family soon and the wife and i wanted to get in one last Victorian trip before we go and are shackled by young children for the next 6-10 years.......The problem is with so many things to do...im stumped.

I need some suggestions!

A few limitations tho...
1 wife is almost 6 months pregnant (and car is not massively modified - just ATs and a fair amount of skill) so no tuff truck stuff please, just nice touring route with a good bit of low range....
2 its winter so alot of stuff is closed
3 we have a dog
4 prefer to head east as west (Grampians/big desert etc) we can do when we meet up with Melb based friends

Last time we went to Toombon and O'Tooles Flat via Mt Selma and a few back roads which was a perfect weekend. Lots of exploring huts/ruins etc plus some good 4wding....

Anyway if anyone has any good ideas i would be very gratefull to hear them!

How many days?

Otooles flat
Skip worth reserve
Rubicon

[retroenduro Member Find all posts View Profile Close retroenduro]

Saturday and Sunday - 1 night only
o tooles - done
Rubicon - done

skipworth? ill google that one.

[retroenduro Member Find all posts View Profile Close retroenduro]

well after both my wife and i got sick i decided to can camping out in the cold...she is 24 weeks gone at this stage so camping outside with a nasty cold is not the most sensible idea...anyhow i put her on house arrest for the day and i ended up going out solo with a mate who just bought a defender (and who was still lamenting the 'no' vote from the day before - yep a Scotsman bought an English car).

We ended up trying the tracks out of the '4wd adventures close to Melbourne' book, namely Bacchus Marsh to Blackwood and then Blackwood to Daylesford. The first half was great fun with several loose rocky climbs. Plenty of deep stinky bogholes that the defender almost came a cropper in and my 150 did many a good beaching killer whale impression! Yeah maybe a lift would be such a bad idea eh? Stopped off at O'briens crossing where my mate made friends with a fellow defender owner who proceeded to tell me that the defender was the only 4x4 that you could off road without modifying.....hmm whilst i was stood next to a pretty stock muddy prado...tool. Anyway state park tracks were mostly open and we had a great morning topped off by a good lunch in the Blackwood Pub.

Afters we tried the Blackwood to Daylesford run which had a few more climbs, overgrown sections and some dead ends (the book is out of date already!!). anyway the light ended up getting the better of us so i piloted my mate to a great camp spot near Hepburn Springs with a mint log cabin and field of daffodils before heading home to check that my wife was OK. All in all had a great day. We found and explored an old gold mine and even did some of the more 'tough truck/4wd action' type hill-climbs and both cars performed without skipping a beat...i found the auto d4d is a great engine for climbing, its gotta be said - a nice controlled walk up loose rutted tracks!

Anyway i guess the moral of the story was i was up for doing a big epic trip in one of the usual locations (Vic high country) but ended up doing some local tracks instead due to circumstances beyond my control. i had just as much fun...if not more, staying close to home and exploring my own backyard.