2022 4x4 Of The Year: Route

The tucker truck and its accompanying trailer was bogged, the five-minute shortcut turning in to an hour-long recovery, before we were again carving up a dust storm behind each set of vehicle wheels.

Our adventure had started a few days earlier when our judges and film crew gathered, along with the 18 vehicle contenders for this year’s 4x4 of the Year awards, at the Australian Automotive Research Centre, inland from the surf coast south of Geelong.

We were a long way away from any surf though, as we took each and every vehicle for a spin around the bitumen road loops and then around the gravel-road section of the test tracks that make up this world-class vehicle test facility.

With lots of miles slipping under our belts, we then took the vehicles to the steep hill section of the test facility comprising accurately measured gradients and a few different surface conditions. These varied from smooth concrete on the steeper slopes (more than 45 degrees!) to rutted and pot-holed scrabbly tracks that tested suspension travel, traction controls and diff locks to the maximum.

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Mallee country

Once we left the research centre with our finalists, we followed back roads, staying mainly on second-class bitumen along with all its variables, as we passed through rolling farmland to Cressy and then Skipton before hitting the Western Highway at Ararat.

The highway miles slipped away quickly before we were again back on second-class blacktop as we pushed north from Dimboola, through paddocks that had been stripped of their golden grain to the small town of Yaapeet. Here we found our way to Turkey Bottom Lake, where the tucker truck had already set up for our arrival with a few beers and dinner.

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The 4X4OTY tucker truck

This community-established lake is a cracker and features a sandy beach and well-maintained basic facilities, while the lake itself has been stocked with a few thousand silver perch to add another attraction to the area. Be sure to leave a few dollars in the donation tin.

Just west of Yaapeet we were dodging around the southern shores of Lake Albacutya, taking a track that was a shortcut instead of sticking to the main road when the aforementioned bogging occurred. Lake Albacutya itself is rarely a lake as such – the last time it had meaningful water in it was in the 1970s!

Still, it does offer a few spots to camp, but, sadly amongst the line of signs at one entry point it read, ‘Vehicle based-dispersed camping is not permitted’. Maybe the powers that be think that such shenanigans may pollute the non-existent water or scare the ducks that haven’t visited for years.

The 'rock'

After leaving the lake shore, we were again on gravel roads before turning on to the Milmed Rock Track that passes through the heart of the Wyperfeld National Park.

Leaving the cleared farmland behind, the route winds over dunes and among mallee scrub, heath and broombush, interspersed with the occasional claypan and semi-cleared area dotted with native pines and taller red mallee trees.

It passes through the rarely wet Round Swamp (where there is a camping area) to Arnold Spring, which was once used as a watering point for stock, and on to Milmed Swamp (another camp spot) before coming to Milmed Rock.

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You don’t want to get too excited about the rock as it is only a few metres in diameter and just over a metre high, almost hidden by the surrounding small trees. Still, it’s the biggest ‘rock’ you’ll see in this part of the desert!

By now the weather was warming up, the sun beating down, and the sand fine and dry. The route had also seen a fair amount of traffic and in places it was plagued by whoopty-doos, which makes any suspension work hard trying to keep the oscillations of the vehicle in check.

Hitting the good dirt of the Murrayville-Nhill Road we turned north, stopping briefly at Big Billy Bore for a change of vehicles (an hourly occurrence during testing). A short distance north we turned in to the Big Desert State Forest and took Delisio Track and Big Dune Track to White Springs Track, the route again across soft, bumpy sand with the occasional biggish dune, while the vegetation had changed to mainly native pine and broombush heath country.

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At so-called Lone Pine, we burst out in to a large flat clearing before entering scrub country again, passing the now derelict John’s Bore before turning west along Firebreak Track. This track climbs and dips over some big dunes, with the sun making tracks to the western horizon, the crest of one particular beauty made for a top spot to shoot some video sequences.

That evening our camp was a hurried, last-minute affair, close to the junction of the Murrayville Road. Next morning, with no fuel available in Murrayville we made the short detour interstate, along the blacktop to Pinnaroo, where once refuelled we retraced our steps back to Murrayville before continuing on to the small community of Cowangie.

Back on dirt, we struck north passing through the heart of the Murray-Sunset National Park on what is a pretty good dirt track. Near the northern boundary, we dodged around and passed along the edge of Rocket Lake, one of the standout features of this park, before again passing through farmland to the bitumen.

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Bypassing the market gardens, vineyards and built-up areas of Mildura and surrounds we crossed the Murray River, went through Wentworth without stopping at the local bakery and then took the High Darling Road to the pleasant, historical, one-time port of Pooncarie. It was late by the time we pulled in to enjoy a meal on what had been a very hot day, it was to be an unpleasant hot night for sleeping in a swag.

Mighty Darling

The mighty Darling River was ‘mighty’ once more and flowing a banker, so most of the campsites I knew and treasured along the stream were either inundated with water or muddy from the water’s relentless advance and then retreat. But it was magical to see water flowing around giant red gums and giving a sheen of green wherever the water touched.

Next morning, we headed north tracing the Darling’s route to Menindee and the lakes that make this area of western NSW such an iconic place to visit and enjoy. At this time of the year with the daytime temperatures in the 40s, there were few people camping along the shores.

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Still, our film crew, as they are known to do, found a few spots for filming and photography before we pulled in to the shade at Copi Hollow for lunch, beside the lake which has been a popular holiday spot for Broken Hill locals for generations.

Broken Hill was our next quick fuel stop as we pushed on to our final destination, Eldee Station on the edge of the vast Mundi Mundi Plains and tucked in close to the rocky hills and defiles of the Barrier Ranges. It’s a great spot to stay and we threw down our swags on the lawn of the small campground and enjoyed the hospitality of the owners, Steve and Naomi.

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For the next day-and-a-half we ploughed through bulldust, climbed rocky and rutted tracks over the rounded hills and cruised along sandy creek beds that had been washed clean by recent flooding rains. Sometimes it was hard to think that we were working, but we struggled on, preferring to spend the hot times of the day in the air-conditioned vehicles while the sweating video crew tackled both the filming and the heat. Sadly, for all of us, the heat didn’t relent too much overnight.

On the last day we refuelled the vehicles in Broken Hill, sorted out final mileage figures and fuel economy figures for the days of testing, before our experienced crew of testers, film crew and catering staff split up for the long run home, some heading for Sydney, while others turned south for Melbourne.