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Firstly I would like to introduce myself as I have been a long time reader (well only a couple of months) and a first time poster. I bought a 3.0. TD D4D GXL Prado in April 07 and what can I say, the vehicle is amazing and I am glad I bought it. Now don't get me wrong I am not a die hard 4WD'r and I mainly got the car for getting boats off slippery boat ramps at low tide and a being a safe towing vehicle. People look at me funny when I say I don't go 4wdíng but I didn't spend a fortune on a car to get all scratched and banged up. In saying that I also don't mind going off road to an extent, just not to the level that some people would go to. I am moving to SE QLD next week and its a shame there are so many PP members in the Hunter region- it really is a great place to live and I can see myself coming back here once I finally let go of leach that the Defence Force has me in. Since reading this website it has given me idea and inspiration to get a Airtec Snorkel from TJM Newcastle, Turbo Timer and installation of my UHF. In the near future I hope to put on some reverse flood lights, Lightforce 240 driving lights and a new set of BFG's.
Anyway enough of that and onto my trip that we went to on New Years Eve- Ladies Well in Chichester State Forest.
We had been sort of planning a trip up there for a couple of weeks however with the way Christmas fell and the leave my wife and I had meant we couldn't get up there for a few days at a time. We decided to just make it a day trip and see what we would miss out on.
We thought a BBQ lunch would be nice and instead of taking the hotplates we use for camping, I called into Bunnings at Maitland and bought one of those small campstoves using the canned gas. Well what are bargain they are for $17 including four canisters.
Anyhow off we pop up though Patterson and Gresford and we thought we would pop into Lostock Dam for a look. Anyway not a real lot there so we just had a toilet break and a quick drink.
We thought we would travel up to Ladies Well a little bit different way than what we would come home on. We travelled a bit further up the road and turned right onto a dirt road named Boonabilla Road and there was a sign saying it was only meant for 4WD's and only in dry conditions. We kept going on this road for a good 10-15klms and never really thought much of it, pretty easy and I was wondering why the sign stated it was only for 4wd’s.
Before long it seemed like we were traversing the tops of some of the mountains up there and the views were fantastic. From here we were going in and out of open plains to bush into a sub tropical forests.
There were a few pools of water along the way which really weren't that bad, but I was very cautious as we were by ourselves and I really didn't want to get stuck as we were under prepared for the trip (smack smack- yeah I know). We travelled along and turned up Bindarra Road. From here on in things started to get a little more interesting.
We drove along this road for about an hour and half and we were really unsure of exactly where we were (had a rough idea as the car GPS worked well), we then came across what seemed to me as some semi serious wash outs. So out we get and try and come up with a plan of attack to decent this hill. My wife has done a 4WD course many years ago and she seemed confident we could get down it. I was a little unsure as I feared we would slip down into the rut and get stuck and then I would have a long walk on my hands. The hardest part of the decent was you had to cross over from one side to the next half way down. I was ready to turn around (but deep down I didn't want to back track our way out and wreck the rest of the day). So we set a course down the hill and my wife stood infront of me while I descended to ensure my tyres remained well up on top of the wash outs. Anyhow after a good 5-10 minutes I was at the bottom, relieved we made it. For some reason I wiped my brow and remember the amount of sweat that was coming out of me...
Anyway enough of that and onto my trip that we went to on New Years Eve- Ladies Well in Chichester State Forest.
We had been sort of planning a trip up there for a couple of weeks however with the way Christmas fell and the leave my wife and I had meant we couldn't get up there for a few days at a time. We decided to just make it a day trip and see what we would miss out on.
We thought a BBQ lunch would be nice and instead of taking the hotplates we use for camping, I called into Bunnings at Maitland and bought one of those small campstoves using the canned gas. Well what are bargain they are for $17 including four canisters.
Anyhow off we pop up though Patterson and Gresford and we thought we would pop into Lostock Dam for a look. Anyway not a real lot there so we just had a toilet break and a quick drink.
We thought we would travel up to Ladies Well a little bit different way than what we would come home on. We travelled a bit further up the road and turned right onto a dirt road named Boonabilla Road and there was a sign saying it was only meant for 4WD's and only in dry conditions. We kept going on this road for a good 10-15klms and never really thought much of it, pretty easy and I was wondering why the sign stated it was only for 4wd’s.
Before long it seemed like we were traversing the tops of some of the mountains up there and the views were fantastic. From here we were going in and out of open plains to bush into a sub tropical forests.
There were a few pools of water along the way which really weren't that bad, but I was very cautious as we were by ourselves and I really didn't want to get stuck as we were under prepared for the trip (smack smack- yeah I know). We travelled along and turned up Bindarra Road. From here on in things started to get a little more interesting.
We drove along this road for about an hour and half and we were really unsure of exactly where we were (had a rough idea as the car GPS worked well), we then came across what seemed to me as some semi serious wash outs. So out we get and try and come up with a plan of attack to decent this hill. My wife has done a 4WD course many years ago and she seemed confident we could get down it. I was a little unsure as I feared we would slip down into the rut and get stuck and then I would have a long walk on my hands. The hardest part of the decent was you had to cross over from one side to the next half way down. I was ready to turn around (but deep down I didn't want to back track our way out and wreck the rest of the day). So we set a course down the hill and my wife stood infront of me while I descended to ensure my tyres remained well up on top of the wash outs. Anyhow after a good 5-10 minutes I was at the bottom, relieved we made it. For some reason I wiped my brow and remember the amount of sweat that was coming out of me...
... good read... but where are the pics?? :wink: :?: 
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