Bogged at the Lake

[Guest]

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread (Alexander Pope)
Late afternoon at Lake Mokoan, 30kms from home, it's 4:00PM an hour before sundown, full frontal light on the lake,
hastily I drive off road (big mistake), creative juices flowing, get closer, don't get bogged ... famous last thought!

The Pintara goes down, stick trick fails, black looks from Janette as night closes in,
I call our daughter who arrives in the Land Rover 40 minutes later and hooks us out.

Downunder it gets dark quickly, I grab a few quickies that don't compose well.

Soggy underfoot, looking for angles, it's bitterly cold.

... my next car will be a 4WD!

[wanderer]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

I like No 3.
Another bogged down trick is to use a small piece of carpet. Samples from shops are good.

[Guest]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

Thanks Duncan - hindsight is a wonderful thing!

Unfortunately, the nearest floor covering store was 20 miles away.

I first called the Royal Autocar Club of Victoria (RACV) who were about to dispatch a recovery vehicle when my daughter turned up in a Land Rover, like Hamish Macbeth's!

[Guest]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

Duncan, if you're still listening, wouldn't carrying a piece of carpet as you suggest just tempt me to get even deeper into trouble?

[Floribunda]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

Heaven help Janette if you do ever get a 4WD - goodness knows where you would end up!
2nd shot for me - tells the whole sorry tale.

[Guest]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

That's what our daughter, Salina said, and warned me that I would end up in places where not even she would be able to rescue us!

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

I love the photos Mark. What's life without some adventure? It's life in a comfortable home.

You do stick your neck out for trouble but at least we see a bit of the results.

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

I remember getting a Ford Cortina stuck in sand somewhere in south Wales, and the tide was coming in. It was a company car, and with 140,000 miles on the clock I think drowning would have been a dignified end.

Thankfully some members of the local rugby club were out running on the sand, and saved the car and my job. However, it turned in to a very long and expensive night at the local tavern. : D

NN

[Chevvyf1]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

Oh dear Mark ! ... what should I say ? the vivid colours of 3 & 4 are awesome, with those bright blue skies and water ...

how on earth can it be cold there??? GREAT SHOTS and worthy of a little bit of "bog entrapment ! " ... (Says she who often gets water in her extra tall Hunter wellies and she who has had thick mud "pull the wellie so her foot lifted out and next step in the mud

[Guest]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

I love the photos Mark. What's life without some adventure? It's life in a comfortable home. You do stick your neck out for trouble but at least we see a bit of the results.

I remember getting a Ford Cortina stuck in sand somewhere in south Wales, and the tide was coming in. It was a company car, and with 140,000 miles on the clock I think drowning would have been a dignified end. Thankfully some members of the local rugby club were out running on the sand, and saved the car and my job. However, it turned in to a very long and expensive night at the local tavern. : D NN

Oh dear Mark ! ... what should I say ? the vivid colours of 3 & 4 are awesome, with those bright blue skies and water ...
how on earth can it be cold there??? GREAT SHOTS and worthy of a little bit of "bog entrapment ! " ... (Says she who often gets water in her extra tall Hunter wellies and she who has had thick mud "pull the wellie so her foot lifted out and next step in the mud

Ross, Nigel and Chevvy - On this occasion the Pintara went down before I opened the camera bag and the next 2 hours was spent seeking help from the only two farm houses for miles and redefining the word, 'remote'!

The first proved derelict and no one home at the second. The car was 200 metres from the road, partly screened by a grove of eucalypts ... I flagged down a motorist who tried to help but neither of us had rope and our efforts to push it out failed, the rest you know.

Not a lot to show for the petrol, I'm afraid. In all I shot a half dozen frames, four of them above!

Nigel, I know just what was going through your mind, how the boss would react to your explanation of what you were doing driving the Cortina onto the beach in the first place. That vision of only the roof visible above the sand in the morning when the tide went out must have been sobering!

This is very real to me as in my young days I was a rep for the Nestle Company who in total ignorance of my driving habits also provided me with a company car, which over the course of a couple of years looked like it had been test driven by the Blues Brothers.

Chevvy, I'm glad to know that I'm not alone in what I'll do for a picture. Many a pair of good shoes have I ruined by going down in mud when I had forgotten to wear boots!

Thanks to you all for listening!

[DavidJ1609]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

I remember getting a Ford Cortina stuck in sand somewhere in south Wales, and the tide was coming in. It was a company car, and with 140,000 miles on the clock I think drowning would have been a dignified end.

Thankfully some members of the local rugby club were out running on the sand, and saved the car and my job. However, it turned in to a very long and expensive night at the local tavern. : D

NN

Reminds me of some photos I have back in England.

On my honeymoon (way back when) I took our Escort "Popular" 1100cc across a mountain road in North Wales, seeking an "old Roman fort" listed on the map. The map showed a track across the mountain and down the other side.I had my Canon EOS kit, and wanted to take photos.

The first hint should have been the gate and lack of tarmac. We got bogged down after about 1/2 a mile, and my wife had to push as she didn't know how to turn the wheels and accelerate/reverse at the right times. (I tried pushing first!) We got out, but I didn't want to return past the sheep farmers in their Landrover who, perhaps, were waiting for those "bloody townies" to sheepishly (pun intended) ask them to pull us out.

It got worse: the other side was a steep rocky incline and the steering rod got stuck on a rocky outcrop. Reversing just span the tires, so I had to reverse and literally "bump" it over the rock.

Finally, we reached the other gate. However, the road was deeply rutted, and only a 4X4 with high clearance could get through. The escort had no chance - so there's another photo of me driving this little green escort with the left wheels in the r/h/s rut, and the other on the verge next to the fence. The car almost wanted to tip over, and at one point I had to place stones on the verge to avoid the wheel getting stuck.

Of course, after I successfully got back onto the real road, I turned to my previously panicking wife and said, in a manly and "I'm your husband now, you can depend on me" voice, said "See, I told you not to worry"!

The irony is, after all that, the rear spring suspension broke two days later as we were leaving Wales and hit a big pothole! Thanks to the AA for a wonderful trip home!

Shame I can't get to the pictures.

David.
PS. The "Roman Fort" was a few bumps in the ground, so I never took a photo.

[Chevvyf1]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

David I loved reading your account of "Rallying/XC" in Wales ! reminded me of a time when I had just got an Escort Mexico ! similar sort of road encountered in Black Mountains but no rocks/potholes or vehicle damage ... however the then boyfriend tried to tell me how and where to drive ... and he was history thereafter ... as he got us into that mess !

[Guest]

Re: Bogged at the Lake

Reminds me of some photos I have back in England.

On my honeymoon (way back when) I took our Escort "Popular" 1100cc across a mountain road in North Wales, seeking an "old Roman fort" listed on the map. The map showed a track across the mountain and down the other side.I had my Canon EOS kit, and wanted to take photos.

The first hint should have been the gate and lack of tarmac. We got bogged down after about 1/2 a mile, and my wife had to push as she didn't know how to turn the wheels and accelerate/reverse at the right times. (I tried pushing first!) We got out, but I didn't want to return past the sheep farmers in their Landrover who, perhaps, were waiting for those "bloody townies" to sheepishly (pun intended) ask them to pull us out.

It got worse: the other side was a steep rocky incline and the steering rod got stuck on a rocky outcrop. Reversing just span the tires, so I had to reverse and literally "bump" it over the rock.

Finally, we reached the other gate. However, the road was deeply rutted, and only a 4X4 with high clearance could get through. The escort had no chance - so there's another photo of me driving this little green escort with the left wheels in the r/h/s rut, and the other on the verge next to the fence. The car almost wanted to tip over, and at one point I had to place stones on the verge to avoid the wheel getting stuck.

Of course, after I successfully got back onto the real road, I turned to my previously panicking wife and said, in a manly and "I'm your husband now, you can depend on me" voice, said "See, I told you not to worry"!

The irony is, after all that, the rear spring suspension broke two days later as we were leaving Wales and hit a big pothole! Thanks to the AA for a wonderful trip home!

Shame I can't get to the pictures.

David.
PS. The "Roman Fort" was a few bumps in the ground, so I never took a photo.

David I loved reading your account of "Rallying/XC" in Wales ! reminded me of a time when I had just got an Escort Mexico ! similar sort of road encountered in Black Mountains but no rocks/potholes or vehicle damage ... however the then boyfriend tried to tell me how and where to drive ... and he was history thereafter ... as he got us into that mess !

David and Chevvy ... great stories from you both! Thanks!