4×4 at Mt Cleveland & Adventure at Luina with the Ulverstone 4WD Club

A day out with our friends at the Ulverstone 4WD Club started early on Saturday morning.  We left Mole Creek, travelling almost an hour and a half to Ridgley to meet with the club.  From there we headed to the abandoned mining town of Luina for some fossicking and hopefully some 4WDing.  Travelling down the road there was the usual banter over the radio and some bravado about Toyota’s pulling out Nissan’s or was it the other way around…who knows…it always seems to come out on club meets and lends itself for a bit of fun anyhow.

We arrived at the old mining town and looked around at old ruins and explored the abandoned streets for some 4WD tracks.  This lead us up the hill following old mining trails until we hit an area where the hill had slipped and dirt and one big boulder stopped us in our path.

The lads got working away clearing the dirt and most of the smaller rocks.  Then there was the big rock…I’m not sure what the motivation really was…was it clearing the rock to keep driving the track…was it the fact that it was really heavy and we were MEN!…or was it that we wanted to see it roll down the hill.  Probably all of the above, but definately a bit of male ego kept us going at this rock for half an hour at least before we finally tilted it close enough to the edge of the hill for it to roll over and down.  Crap…it slid a few metres and lodged back into the hill…there was a cry of dismay from all the blokes and the onlooking females.  Ripped off, we all had visions of this rock rolling down this hill causing carnage as it went…oh well.   Worse still the track became choked up with fallen trees that clearing the track would have taken the rest of the day and we all wanted to get to Mt Cleveland and Magnet Mine

Onto Mt Cleveland and a relatively basic climb (as far as 4WDing goes) to the top at close to 900m.  You do need 4×4 to get up the last klm or so to avoid damage or cause wear and tear on your car but it is not too dramatic.  On the way up we lost two cars to overheating problems which shows the climb was steep and constant and still required a little repect.

At the top the views were good and would have been spectacular on a clearer day.  The views were 360 degree views from the ocean to the Cradle Mtn-Lake St Clair NP.

A quick break and off again to a lookout along the way before heading into Mt Magnet.  We went in the easy way but apparently there is a better 4WD track in from a different direction.  This track needed some clearing and it was late in the day so unfortunately this was given a miss.

Arriving at Mt Magnet we looked around the ruins and soaked in the history and the rain which was now settling in.  This is a unique spot.

Back in the car we discussed dinner together over the radio and all agreed to go to the “Top Of The Town” in Burnie.  There we talked about the day and coming trips and enjoyed a few beers.

We said goodbye to friends and headed back an hour and half to Mole Creek, worse still in the rain and increasing wind.  We arrived home safely about 10:30pm.  7:30am to 10:30pm, what a DAY!

Thanks to our friends at the Ulverstone 4Wd Club for inviting us again on this trip and others.  We have been given an honary membership while we are in Tasmania…how good is that.  The club is a great group of people and people who we now consider friends.  To all of our readers, when you come to Tassie look up this great club and I am sure they will be happy to show you around…as long as you have a sense of humour and enjoy a drink around a campfire.

In summary the day was fun.  It was a bits and pieces day, a bit lacking in some real 4Wding but we knew it could be a bits and pieces day anyway due to some exploring that was going to take place.  We look forward to getting in some mud and finding some challenging stuff with the club next time.

Bushman Bud…Enjoying Australia

Tags: 4WD, 4WDing, 4x4, Adventure, Bushman, Bushman Bud, Magnet Mine, Mt Cleveland, Offroad, Tasmania, Track