Happy New Year!!

Wishing everyone a Merry  Christmas and a Happy  New Year. The key  thing is not too over indulge.

Here is a picture of what  you  will  look like if you do, and you  could end up  in  the dog house.

Poor Nip... one too many!

Fj Cruiser- Goodbye!

After 12 months, 50,000km and a host of expenditure it was time to  say  goodbye to the Fj cruiser.  Why? I am  glad you  ask.  Here are some pointers as to  why-

Toyota advertise the Fj as a vehicle that  has the heritage of the original FJ40. Its not. The original Fj40  has its roots way  back in the ww2 Jeep. The original Fj40's were military  spec. The currant Fj Cruiser is not.

So what ? You  ask.  Well here is the bottom line. in  50,000km of outback travel I  found that:-

1. The doors began to rattle. and the door configuration is just  wrong. Awkward, plus the rear door is hung on the wrong side making loading a real issue. Try loading the rear from the curb, or opening the doors in a confined space e.g. an underground car park.

2.The vehicle is not designed for a bull bar and the ARB bull bar caused all sorts of issues. Even with a revised bar, it continued to  cause me problems. Frankly  some of the after market designers should be ashamed of themselves.

3. The shape of the roof and styled bodywork means that  rear cargo area is an issue as too is a roof rack.

4. The front suspension is Prado. I  had to  replace suspension bushes every 25,000km.

5. The vertical windscreen means that  your fuel consumption varies by a long way. The slightest headwind, (or side wind), resulted in fuel economy  going out the window.

The new basic V8  tray back with  its sides down setting up  camp

6. As a result to  windscreen really  gets thumped by stones and rocks and replacing it is awkward... some of the plastic around it can  be damaged by the inexperienced screen fitter.

6. Fuel tank is way  too small and there are issues with  fuel leaks from  aftermarket units. So what  do  you  do?

7. Gearbox.. Awful. It hangs on in 5th and is reluctant  to change down. When  it does it thumps back 2 cogs and the engine is left screaming its head off.. This is particularly  noticeable in hilly  terrain and more so with the cruise control on.

8. The blue tooth and I-pod connectivity  is lousy.

Now, I  know I  have grown up on  60 series, 80 series and 70 series and I  know I  get into  tough outback terrain, so I replaced it with a V8 trayback.  Much  more suited to my  needs.

 Conclusion- The FJ Cruiser is a "wash and wear" price point Prado. It  has some really nice features and is brilliant off road. Great  approach  and departures as well as ramp over. It makes really  nice vehicle for mountain bike riders, surfers, or the weekend warrior who  wants to  test their skills down a telegraph gymkhana track, and then  head into  their inner city  pad. However,  Its not an FJ40. It will not work on outback cattle stations for 300,000km. So, I  have traded some comfort for a live axle, consistent fuel economy and less electronics.. the last  of the FJ40/HJ47 line.

At the end of the day  its horses for courses.

We've gone Batty!

On  Sunday  we arrived at the Motocross track early, as the weather forecast predicted 37c top temp. So  we wanted the cooler part of the day the ride. Dave found a micro bat in  the hand basin. Poor fellow looks very  young. I  think it has lost its mother. We dampened a singlet and wrap it up  to  keep it cool and dark.

From this photo you  can  just  how tiny  they are.


The little chap seems undamaged and so  we transferred it to a shoe box and placed it in the dark of the wardrobe. We wanted to  see if it could fly and be ok.

This morning it has  left the shoebox and was flying around Daves room.

We are currently looking for it as we think it has gone to roost somewhere.  Once we find it we feel confident to  let it go.

Its wings are in good order

Mico bats play a very  important role in  the ecology. Some help pollinate trees, and they  eat mosquitos and small moths. Using their larger ears and echo to locate their prey. They are tiny, about the size of a small mouse.

Many  years ago we had a Lesser Long-eared bat with us for a while too. I  find them fascinating and quite beautiful

A day at the races

Dave and his friend Luke chose a nice Sunday  to  do  another Race Pace day. This time it was at the Appin National Track and was quite different to Illawarra. Thats Dave in the red helmet and  orange/blue outfit on the black Honda CRF250r bike. Next  to  him is  Luke dressed in Suzuki colours of yellow on the Suzuki RM 125

Below is a video Luke put together and its a great way  to  see what the boys got up  too. In typical fashion Dave led the way  in  the Race starts and you  can  see him  get the wheel up in the 2nd start. The boys also  got plenty  of air on  the double up too, Luke only being limited by the horsepower of the 125.

No, the photos are not photo shopped! Thats Dave getting plenty of air! they  basically  get into the air on the first jump land on the top of the second and launch again, getting higher each  time.

Below he is pondering his race start. I  have to  say  Daves riding is nice and smooth, which  is a relief as the amount of air they  get continues to raise my  blood pressure!

Again I was astounded that  some of the boys did not listen to the instructors, and again two boys were injured. Surprisingly  on the 6 "Whoops" as they  call it.  In the video they are the lumps in the track, that  don't look like much  but if you  don't time it right they  bounce you  off. One lad was only  winded, the other suffered a broken arm. 

After 6 hours of riding the boys had certain worn themselves out. and a great  day  was had by all! well, almost  all!

Tragedy and training

This year with  our involvement in motocross, I  encouraged Dave to  do  training sessions with  experienced riders. These days are called Race Pace and are held by a variety  of manufacturers.

They are well run, safe, (as safe as you  can  be), with the instructors dividing the riders into groups based on engine capacity, ability  and age. They teach the fundamentals of  riding e.g. entry and exiting corners, how to  jump and land, seating and standing positions and, of course, the race start which  is a drag race to the first corner.

Learning to  jump uphill and not flip.

Sadly , this year we have witness some horrific accidents at a variety  of tracks.  The first was a rider who was trying to  do tricks- he leapt into the air, let go of the bike and could not gather the bike back. this resulted in him  spearing himself into the ground, breaking his legs and spine. He had to  be helicoptered to  hospital.

The second accident was an experienced rider doing a "whip" over a table top jump. This is where the bike is whipped sideways in the air and you  try  and land it straight. It  all looks very  showy.  Sadly, the track had just been  watered, (to  keep the dust down), and when the bike landed the front wheel was gripped by the mud resulting in  the rider and bike cartwheeling several times.

Getting the balance right for fast  entry and exit


Fortunately the rider did not hit any  objects and was ok. However his bike was completely  smashed-frame, forks, radiators and front wheel.

Perhaps the most tragic was last  weekend, when a young man missed a hard left hand turn. His bike ran over the top of the tyre barrier, smashed through a 5 feet high steel and wire fence before smashing into a tree. In witnessing this, I  fear the top horizontal rail which  was snapped in two by the force of the impact had hit the boy across the back of the neck.  Again he could not be moved until a helicopter arrived and is in a coma in hospital.

Listening to  instructions for the race start.

This accident left us stunned.
One thing I will say is- in doing the race pace training, Dave has learned to  ride to the conditions, and to  be smooth- no "stunts". Smooth  is quicker that  being showy. He has also learned to  do a track reconnaissance. That  is- a few laps slow to get a feel for the conditions. These can  change throughout the day. Reading the track is vital to keep safe.

 I  really  do  hope the  lad who crashed on Sunday will make a full recovery. I  fear he may  be broken, and my  thoughts re with  his family

If anyone is reading this who has a son or daughter wanting to  ride, I  really  urge you  to  consider the Race Pace programmes. Unlike a play station you  just  cannot pick yourself up and dust yourself down if you  hit a fence at 100kph. Of course the course does not guarantee you  will not be injured but it certainly  improves the skills.

New bike! (almost)

When I  was a kid one of my  favourite motor cycles was the Moto Guzzi Le Mans. They were black with a red stripe- A colour combination I  like.  Sadly,  I  could not afford one and bought a Honda Shadow which  was black with a red stripe.

I like the Honda CRF250R but its a little too red for me, So, what  to  do? Buy a new bike or change the bike we have?

Well, in this day and age you  can  buy whats called a plastics kit and sticker kit and "Hey Presto" you have a new bike!

The bike is now black, and has the sponsor Geico sticker kit- I am  told by those much  younger than  me, that this is very very cool.

The new look!

Burralow Creek. A Bear Grylles day....

One of the things I have wanted to do is walk the Burralow Creek from Wool Wash Creek up to the camping grounds and back home. Its about 8 kms in total, and a good example of what walking in the Blue Mountains is like, when there are no tracks.

Google map. Wool wash creek ravine is bottom right. Burralow is the series of gullies in centre

Its a mixture of cliffs, steep ravines, rocks, boulders and of course fast flowing water. The flora is a variety of rain forests, moss and lichen, in areas of little or no sun, then dry timbers, cut grass and scrub on the more exposed faces. Its a variety that's dense, with  heavy ground cover and mulch, often hiding holes and holes.

A Bandicoot digging. The angle and shape is particular to them.

The walk to the Burralow via Wool Wash Creek becomes a little difficult as you approach the junction of the two. It includes a degree of rock hopping, fallen tree crossing and quite a bit of pushing through the undergrowth, (like a rugby player). Both  crawling under, and over, wet and slippery  terrain.

Remains of old convict road construction.

With recent fires having severely burnt some sections, for the first time I could see where the old convict roads retaining walls were. Rock overhangs and caves were also a feature.Within a short time  we had arrived the junction and it was time to push north.

Sculptured rock caves are a feature.

The remainder of the walk to the campground is difficult. Many times we were force to crawl under, or over the undergrowth. In some sections moving forward became impossible and we had to beat a retreat, our footing unassured, metres could take  hours.

Lichen covered matters of rock where the sun  rarely  shines. Incredibly  soft and quite beautiful.

At one point we had reached a deep section of the creek with cliffs either side. There was no way over the top, and no way to guess the depth. Our only chance was to swim. Like Bear Grylles we set ourselves the task of swimming the 30 metres upstream to where a small beach appeared. The water was so cold, within a few strokes my breath was taken away and I could feel my body slowing right down. I felt I could have nearly "missed". This was canyoning.

Water Hole at Junction.
On reaching the beach we dried our clothes, had lunch and made some choices.  The only way on the western bank was up. Let me tell you,  there was little or no chance of walking. Fire had destroyed most of the trees and water bombing had flattened the undergrowth into a cross hatch of awkwardness. Most of this climb was on hands and knees, as rocks began to fall and the burnt soil was unstable. 

Sheer rock faces meant swimming upstream was the only  way  past

After time we reached the top and could see our destination, which required us to head north and descend to the junction of yet another unnamed creek and again into cut grass and scrub. By this time my forearms were quite cut up and bleeding a lot and my dammed ankle was starting to ache like mad. Hours later, we arrived at the junction of the fire trails. A steep ascent was required to return to the Bowen Mountain Observatory.

Climbing to the top was the only way  of getting a real perspective

Minor injuries  are easy  to  obtain as you  push  through the bush, and slide down rocks. Careful placement of feet and hands and always planning ahead ensure that the risk of  twists and breaks are reduced. This is not a walk that  you  could help via a vehicle.. If stuck- it's a helicopter ride.

An example of heavy  scratches from sliding down a boulder face.

 I  had run out of water and needed to concentrate of putting one foot in front of the other as we headed home. A most rewarding, albeit difficult walk, one I certainly will never forget and not for the inexperienced.

Birds seen:- um..... frankly  who cares!