29-30 March -2014 - Wonnangatta Valley - Easy / Medium

[steve125]

Yep, just hwy tyres, main concern is ground clearance, as long as there are no big ruts it should be OK.

[Furry]

Hi guys, I am thinking of coming along but I am not a member. Is there a chance of signing up before the trip at such short notice?

[Mike57]

Hi Furry

You can attend a trip as a temporary member and fill in the form on the day. Cost is $10 to cover insurance. Can you PM me your phone number so that I can give you a call and have a chat about your vehicle and your experiance and also give you some more information about the trip. There might be a way to sign you up as a full member before the trip but I will need to check on that for you. Lets have a chat first.

Thanks

Mike

[Mike57]

Yep, just hwy tyres, main concern is ground clearance, as long as there are no big ruts it should be OK.

Steve

You will be fine with ground clearance I think. You should have as much as muy Jimny even with a stock Navara I would say. There will not be any huge ruts to deal with.

Mike

[Furry]

Hi Mike,

Tried sending a PM but it gets stuck in the outbox.

Regards,

Vlad

[Mike57]

Vlad

It takes a while to clear from the outbox. Just leave it there and it gets sent eventually. I just sent you my mobile. Now I know who you are. Will talk soon.

Mike

[Mike57]

The candidates for this trip now include Vlad (who came along to Daylesford) but Christover has dropped off.

I have been monitoring the weather and the fire situation and either one could cause this trip to be postponed.

At this stage the weather looks certain to cool down by Saturday and that has been the consistent forecast all week. My concern is about the multiple small fires that are popping up across the state. there are none at this point in the Alpine National park but this afternoon several small fires developed just north of Briagalong and along the Valencia Creek. I will monitor these. These small ones can be brought under control quickly and they are not far from towns. Of the 200 or so fires that started last night only a few are still burning.

At this stage I am not going to call this trip off but I will need to check the situation again tomorrow evening and again Friday evening. If any fires get out of control or develop within the park where they are difficult to access then we will have to postpone. I have contacts in the CFA that I will talk to as well.

As well as posting on this forum I will call each of you tomorrow evening with an update.

Even if it all looks good on Friday night there is still a possibility of fires developing overnight on Friday night. The bottom line is that if we get through to Saturday morning without any fires in the area then we are OK but the situation will be volatile until then. The final call may be made when we get to Stratford.

If we have to postpone then I would move it to the weekend of 1st and 2nd of February after the long weekend.

If anyone has a different view please let me know.

Mike

[steve125]

Definitely won't know until late Friday night what the fire situation will be. If we need to postpone, the first w/e in Feb is OK for me.

Fires can be monitored here.
http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/fire-and-eme ... -incidents

[Mike57]

All

On evaluating the situation this morning and also talking to some of the trip members I have decided to postpone this tip. A number of new fires have developed north of Briagalong overnight and given how dry the bush will be by now any one of these could get out of control. It is simply not worth taking any risks this week. I have decided that the situation will only get worse tonight and tomorrow with firefighting resources stretched right across the state so we may as well make the decision now before we all get vehicles packed.

I am suggesting we move this trip to the weekend of 1/2 February which is the weekend after the long weekend. Happy to adjust this timing to fit in with the majority.

I will call each of the trip attendees to let you know in case you miss the post.

Mike

[gwagensteve]

No problem Mike, seems like the right decision.

I reckon the 1-2 Feb is fine with us, I'll let you know for soon later.

Steve.