Monday 24th of March, 2025
Leaders: J-P and Trish
Trip Participants: Tony and Uwe
A very sensible 9:30am start meant I had plenty of time to get a coffee at the Warburton Bakery. There were a bunch of MX5 drivers there so I spent an enjoyable half an hour chatting about all thing’s sports cars. Quick top up of the tank and crossed the road to the hardware store carpark where trip leaders JP and Trish were waiting. Shortly after Uwe arrived and the group was all present. UHF channel 19 was selected and TC and report writer organised (I drew the short straw).
First turnoff was up Donna Buang Rd with a nice cruise through the forest with the tall gums disappearing into the mist; beautiful. At the turntable we continued onto the gravel of the Acheron Way and the sun started to break through. The gave us a lovely drive through the forest towards Marysville. Shortly after the tarmac started again, we were looking for Granton Road which was a turnoff on the right. Slight confusion as there was an earlier track also marked as Granton Road but both ended up getting there so we stopped just over the Acheron River bridge for morning tea.
We next set off looking for Neds Track on the right which was a chance for some low range in the Jimny. This really transforms the response from the 1.5 litre engine and makes the little car so much more enjoyable to drive. At the end of this track, we turned onto Anderson Mill Rd which led us through an enormous clearing which appears to be the spot where timber is stored before being transported. Next turnoff was Wilkes Creek Road which was our target for the day as we were on the hunt for the Wolfram mine located off this track.
This track started fine but as we continued it got more overgrown and narrower. Worst still was the number of trees over the track which started to present a serious challenge. We managed to get under a large tree and Uwe only just scrapped through. Pretty certain anything with a lift or a roof rack wouldn’t. We continued on for a few Ks driving over or around trunks until after JP chain sawed a sapling, we looked down the track to see at least half a dozen huge trees blocking the path. After some tight U-turns, we retraced our tracks and worked our way around to the other end of Wilkes Creek Road via Rons Track, Paradise Plains Road and Poleys Rd.
Turning onto the other end of Wilkes Creek Road we only managed about 100m or so before our path was blocked again by a number of huge tree trunks. JP consulted his maps and thought we were only a few hundred metres from our destination so as there was a bit of a clearing, we decided this was as good a place for lunch.
We set off on foot and scrambled our way over the large trunks and down the steep track to the spot we thought might lead onto the mine site. Blackberries everywhere meant the end to any thought of bashing through the bush so back up the track we climbed. It was very steep with loose rocks and would have made a very interesting and challenging drive.
We turned back to Paradise Plains Road and continued on for a few Ks, this turned into Tommys Bend Road and eventually came out onto the Marysville-Woods Point Road. We aired up here and after a quick repair to Uwe’s air hose, made our way to Cumberland Junction and Warburton-Woods Point back to our starting point in the carpark at Warburton after a total of 117Ks. JP slipped into the IGA for a box of Magnum ice creams. Thanks JP and Trish for leading this fun day’s drive (and the yummy Magnums) and Uwe for TC duties.
This is what we were attempting to find:
Text: Tony
Photos: Tony