Kuitpo Mud Training Day

Trip Members : Paul, Kaiden & Daniel, Dean & Chelsea, Gordon, Tony & Sandra, Geoff & Jeanne, Rob, John & Kym & visitor Dave.

We met at 9am in the main street of Meadows and for those of us coming from Angle Vale & Gawler, that meant a very early start. Coming closer into Meadows we wondered where in the main street we would be meeting, in hind sight I should have known it was outside the pub!

Our group then went in convoy fashion down to the property that would be our destination for the day. We were met by Jamie, the owner, and given a guided tour of what he thought was the best route to take, as the previous weekend someone had become very stuck in the mud for a long time, and what areas were good for which training. The weather was warm & sunny and had been for several days now, which had made us wonder how much mud we were going to find. For those of you who didn’t go, rest assured that there is plenty of mud and water (just ask Paul)!

The property is organized into 2 areas. One for mud driving which is actually at the bottom of the hill and around the marshes. The other is a water-crossing that overflows to also create a mud area. There is also one of the many parts of the Heysen Trail from this property for those who like to walk. This mud isn’t just nice clean mud though. The earth in this region is very clay-like and fills the best of tyres almost straight away and there is no bottom to it yet. Also by the smell it has obviously been used as a paddock for cows.

Geoff, Jeanne, John, Dean & Gordon headed toward the marshy area with Tony as the trainer, while Fred took Paul & Dave individually into the water and Sandra took the children for a walk down the Heysen. As Paul pointed out in a later discussion the day then became something you would expect from a ‘Keystone Cops’ movie.

Jeanne eventually decided that the first driver would have the best chance and went before others churned up the mud any more. She was doing well and being careful of the new clutch when she bogged right down in the mud, giving those around a good chance to do retrieval training. Geoff & Dean both managed to get themselves bogged on their turn. Dean decided to make a good job of it though as you can see from Tony’s pose in the photo on page 4 in the training section. The suction noise that came from Dean’s 4wd as it was snatched out was quite loud, as were the cheers from an elated Chelsea on the hill. For once John was the only one who didn’t get bogged.

Gordon, in his much smaller 4wd decided to travel on slightly higher ground, also managing to get bogged. On the other side there were tales of Trainers making drivers walk through freezing water. Paul was complaining the most, & when asked divulged that he ended up a little more deep in water than most due to a footing mishap.

As lunchtime approached things calmed down a little and Rob decided to have a quick go through the marsh mud, during which he promptly found mud that no-one had found previously. This is where things get hazy to the onlookers. The infamous ‘no-bog’ Paul went down to rescue Rob and on his way back got himself bogged. Rob, or was it Dean, no it was Rob. I’ll let Paul tell it as he had a box seat:-

"I got Rob on the radio to come back & snatch me, but he got bogged again, so we got Dean to come & snatch Rob, then Dean went to snatch me, then Dean got bogged trying to snatch me, so we got Rob to snatch him, then Rob snatched me using about 34m of snatch strap"

Wow, no wonder I couldn’t get it right!!

After lunch, everyone went different ways. I followed John, Jeanne & Geoff down to the water section. Jeanne successfully traversed this section, as did Geoff. I’m not sure whether John decided that he wanted to get bogged or not, but the mud area in this section got the better of him. He bogged our 4wd, not once, but 3 times. The last time, Geoff came to his rescue and due to the number of times that someone had towed John out became bogged himself. Rob was still in this area, so he came down to help Geoff out of his sticky situation. Then after being snatched out, John found himself in Geoff’s tracks and needed saving once more. Jeanne & Geoff then left us to go & watch the grand final at the Meadows pub and those of us that were left tried to watch it on a portable TV on Paul’s bonnet.

In the water area there is a section where the mud looks very much like a thickshake, & believe me it feels like that when you travel through it as well. John found himself once again bogged, but this time on one side of the 4wd well past the door. Paul came to John’s rescue this time.

As the day was winding down we all took stock of what had happened during the day, & realized that our visitor, Dave, was the only person not to have been bogged. Should I mention here that he drives a Land Rover? In the spirit of good sportsmanship & under Fred’s guidance, Dave disengaged his Centre Diff Lock so he, too, experienced what it was like to become bogged and to be snatched out.

We were asked by Jamie to assist in putting poly-piping down from the roadside tap to the toilet area and there were enough hands to make it easy work, after which most of us headed of to the Meadows pub to enjoy a cool drink and watch the last quarter of the match. Meadows is a nice little town, the pub is great and the folks very friendly as long as you drink in the right bar. It would seem that if you are a Power supporter then you drink in the dining area and if you are a Lions supporter you drink in the front bar. It would seem also that when a goal was kicked the tradition is to run to the adjoining door and ‘congratulate’ the opposing team’s fans.

There were plenty of opportunities for ‘safe’ mud training and Jamie is very friendly. The facilities are rustic and very amenable. Also the landscape is a pleasure to the eyes. Thanks to all who went for making it such a great day.

Kym

Disclaimer : please note