Four months in the planning, our trip to explore the Victorian High Country ended very quickly.
The High Country is a mountainous region of my state of Victoria. Orbost, the supply town for the first leg of our ten-day trip, was a six-hour drive from home. The vehicle has been checked, serviced and packed with precision. All fluids and failure points checked daily in the lead up to the trip.
The 17 year old Land Rover pulling a 1200kg off-road trailer performed flawlessly as we wound our way along the coastline and into the High Country hinterland. We pulled over for a quick roadside stop and on restarting the Landy, something was wrong. No power steering, breaks or alternator charge. Something was amiss with the accessory belt.
A quick look under the lid revealed a stationary belt. A look underneath revealed a massive loss of oil out of the front of the engine. Our journey was very quickly looking like a quick end.
So we arrived at the park that was to be our base camp for six days on the back of the tilt-tray truck with the trailer behind. We were pretty despondent that night. We had to wait two days for the workshop to open, logistic problems started to mount and we had no way of recharging systems or running our fridge without out running vehicle.
The next day, Orbost was brilliant. A local auto-electrician lent us a 240v-12v converter so that we could rip the power and fridge system out of the Land Rover and run it in our tent. That was a life saver. Another camper drove me 100km to the next major town so that I could pick up a rental car. And the help of the locals kept pouring in.
So our adventuring journey in the mountains transformed into a relaxing break with new friends. Maybe that's what we needed.
The following Monday the Landy was towed to the workshop and diagnosed with a failed harmonic balancer and a possible damaged crank. The decision was made to cut our losses and make for home. The vehicles were loaded onto a truck and shipped to our mechanic (who I trust), and we caught the train home.
We could not have predicted the failure. It is just life with any vehicle. But we were prepared with good recovery insurance the paid for the recovery of all party members and both vehicles to our own repairer. We also went with a flexible mindedness to the trip that allowed us to accept help and change our mode of exploration. We got out into the hills where we could and explored the nearby coastal region by 2wd.
We are rebuilding the TD5 engine and we will return to our dream overlanding region to conquer the mountains. That is a promise.
The High Country is a mountainous region of my state of Victoria. Orbost, the supply town for the first leg of our ten-day trip, was a six-hour drive from home. The vehicle has been checked, serviced and packed with precision. All fluids and failure points checked daily in the lead up to the trip.
The 17 year old Land Rover pulling a 1200kg off-road trailer performed flawlessly as we wound our way along the coastline and into the High Country hinterland. We pulled over for a quick roadside stop and on restarting the Landy, something was wrong. No power steering, breaks or alternator charge. Something was amiss with the accessory belt.
A quick look under the lid revealed a stationary belt. A look underneath revealed a massive loss of oil out of the front of the engine. Our journey was very quickly looking like a quick end.
So we arrived at the park that was to be our base camp for six days on the back of the tilt-tray truck with the trailer behind. We were pretty despondent that night. We had to wait two days for the workshop to open, logistic problems started to mount and we had no way of recharging systems or running our fridge without out running vehicle.
The next day, Orbost was brilliant. A local auto-electrician lent us a 240v-12v converter so that we could rip the power and fridge system out of the Land Rover and run it in our tent. That was a life saver. Another camper drove me 100km to the next major town so that I could pick up a rental car. And the help of the locals kept pouring in.
So our adventuring journey in the mountains transformed into a relaxing break with new friends. Maybe that's what we needed.
The following Monday the Landy was towed to the workshop and diagnosed with a failed harmonic balancer and a possible damaged crank. The decision was made to cut our losses and make for home. The vehicles were loaded onto a truck and shipped to our mechanic (who I trust), and we caught the train home.
We could not have predicted the failure. It is just life with any vehicle. But we were prepared with good recovery insurance the paid for the recovery of all party members and both vehicles to our own repairer. We also went with a flexible mindedness to the trip that allowed us to accept help and change our mode of exploration. We got out into the hills where we could and explored the nearby coastal region by 2wd.
We are rebuilding the TD5 engine and we will return to our dream overlanding region to conquer the mountains. That is a promise.
