Harvey in May

May 16

3 min read

Updated: Jun 9

16/5/2026

Attendees:

Don and Jane - GU Nissan Patrol 4.2 (trip leader)
Alan and Tracey - GU Nissan Patrol 4.2
Wayne - GU Nissan Patrol 4.2
Sandie and George - GU Nissan Patrol 3 litre
Simon and Di - Canon
Sean Mitsubushi - Triton 
Brandon - Mitsubishi Pajero 
Conor - 80 series Land cruiser (tail)

Who set the starting time so early! 8.30 in Harvey. Really!

But it worked, everyone arrived either early or on time.

After coffee and pies, there was the usual trip meeting with a rough plan for the day and a reminder to mark the corners.

How many times have we all met at this bakery and never noticed this gateway?

The first hill, which we know as “the rock garden” was challenging. From the top, we could see the first challenge at the very beginning, and another one half way down. As we drove more and more challenges became apparent. Even the exit provided a challenge for the nerves with the sharp sideways lean.

Wayne, as usual, took on the bigger challenges and conquered all. Most of us took other lines, but it still was not simple. The spotters were really useful as they guided people through each challenge. However, Simon still bellied out near the bottom. I had fun spinning his front tyre. A quick tug from his winch set him free.

Sean unfortunately came to more serious trouble – breaking a CV joint.

Down on a flat piece of dirt the operation began. How to get Sean home. Back doors on vehicles swung open and tools were shared.

While Sean and Conor worked, we declared morning tea.

Wayne took the opportunity to straighten his steering wheel. He bumped his horn at one point so Di and I, who had gone for a walk, rushed back to camp thinking all was sorted and people were waiting for us.

Not so.

Next, we declared lunch. The work continued until the broken piece was removed.

Wayne escorted Sean in his now two drive vehicle back to the bitumen.

Brandon was volunteered to follow Sean home and did so cheerfully. A bit later a text managed to connect and announced that they were home safe.

Now we could do some more exploring. Not so fast – the rear wheel carrier on Conor’s vehicle had jammed so it was out with the tools again. Thankfully this was just a few minutes delay.

The drive along the fence line was a ripper until we found a big step. We were not able to go up that one and had trouble going backwards due to a bank hard on the tail of the Patrol.

Stuck between a root and a bank, with guidance from Con\nor and a lot of to-ing and fro-ing we were able to reverse to a T junction.

Simon showed us an alternative route back to a forest track. The cross over was near a tree and a hole. Each vehicle slid slowly round the corner.

Except for Wayne! He crawled up the step.

We chose an uphill track that included many small dips and rises. Each rise was steeper and greasier than the previous one until we fish tailed to a halt. More revs solved the problem. The view at the top extended to the sea.

We back tracked to the beginning and turned right this time. Another delightful drive and a terrific view over the dam. Our drive was halted by a recently fallen tree.

At the base of the tree was an ant’s nest and much of the tree was hollow. With no chicken track it was decided to try moving the tree. Cutting the tree with an appropriate saw was relatively easy. However, winching the tree was a different matter. The winch rope gave way, with a sharp snap, before the tree did.

Bother. We have not had that experience before. It was good to see the synthetic winch cable fall and not fly.