Classic Landcruiser Club of Victoria
High Country, Heaters & Hearty Pub Grub: The CLCV Winter Ridge Run
It was a bloody cold morning in Healesville, but by 8:00 AM the bakery car park was filling up with old Cruisers. A good mix of 40-series shorties and longer wheelbase trucks, some nicely restored and others showing a few more years of hard work.
After a coffee, pie and a bit of a catch-up, we fired them up and headed off through the Black Spur. The mountain ash and winter mist made for a great drive through to Buxton and Marysville.
Once we reached the dirt and headed into the Big River Valley, tyres were dropped and the old girls were put to work.
Low range was soon the order of the day as we worked our way up Frenchman’s Creek Track. Nothing too rushed — just low gear, plenty of engine noise and everyone keeping an eye on the vehicle in front.
We worked our way over Ryan’s Spur and stopped at Fryers Hut for a feed before continuing towards Mount Terrible.
The climb up to Mount Terrible was well worth the effort, with a good view across the surrounding country from the top. From there it was down towards Kevington and on to Jamieson.
Friday night was spent at the Court House Hotel in Jamieson. The fire was going, the meals were filling and there was plenty of the usual talk about the day’s driving, the tracks and the vehicles.
A few beers, a good feed and a warm fire made a pretty good end to the first day.
Saturday morning brought a decent frost and a clear sky. A few more vehicles joined us for the day and we headed back into the hills overlooking Lake Eildon.
The tracks were a bit greasy in places, with a few steep climbs keeping everyone busy. Part way up one of the ridges, one of the vehicles developed a problem when a heater hose fitting let go. Steam started coming out from under the bonnet and the vehicle was stopped on a fairly steep section of track.
There wasn't much hanging around. The convoy stopped and half a dozen blokes were under the bonnet before the tools had even been unpacked.
A spare bit of hose, a bit of bush-mechanic thinking and a couple of hose clamps got the cooling system back together. We topped it up with water, checked for leaks and fired it up.
Twenty minutes or so later, we were back on the track.
That's what club trips are all about. Things break, things go wrong, but there's always someone there who has seen it before and knows how to get you moving again.
With the repair sorted, we continued over Mount Skene and stopped for lunch. The Cruisers lined up on the open country, with snow gums, clear skies and plenty of High Country around us.
It was hard to beat sitting there in the sunshine with a bunch of old Landcruisers parked nearby.
From Mount Skene we headed down towards Licola, eventually making our way through to Heyfield and the Railway Hotel for the night.
Sunday was a much slower start. After a big breakfast and a final fuel stop, it was time to pump the tyres back up and point the Cruisers towards home.
The trip back was fairly uneventful, which is always a good thing after a couple of days in the bush.
Another good High Country run with plenty of driving, some good tracks, one roadside repair and plenty of laughs along the way.
The old Cruisers did what they do best, and everyone got home with a few more stories to tell.
