Mud Puppies

[SteveNT]

So my job is to provide training to all of the Northern Land Council Ranger groups across the Top End. My favourite is 4WD. This is Weemol in central Arnhem Land, Mimal and Wagiman Rangers.

Start with a bit of hill climbing.

A critical audience! Now for some mud play.

All of the Rangers got through first time, even some of the young ladies who have never had a license. Only failure was a whitefella. But he had no experience with this stuff, Now he does!

An excellent day and we all got paid for it. The only inhabitants of the mud pit were thousands of cane toad tadpoles. Some Rangers made sure to squash any that were washed out. There is no love for "rubbish frogs" here.

 

[wildthings]

Had my very first experience of off road driving up there, in 1980 we went from Darwin to Gove on a road that didn't exist, what a trip that was, there is nowhere else in the country(except the daintree) that has wild 4x4 tracks like up there...glad you had such a good day lol

 

[borntobnude]

I think you're invited to our next off road playtime , Top photos !!! ,my mates and I usually get to engrossed in the driving and forget the camera .

 

[Rogue5861]

Get me a job Steve. I would love to do a that for a living.


Rick

 

[Umbral]

Those are some serious mud puddles lol, seems like a very fun and rewarding job.

 

[SteveNT]

I would trust these Rangers to get me across 100km of hard country much more than many of the "4WD instructors" I meet.

These guys didn't learn from a book!

 

[AirCooled]

'Oh, What a Feeling!'

 

[Cypher69]

I was seriously expecting pics of women wrestling in mud.

 

[SteveNT]

I was seriously expecting pics of women wrestling in mud.

What sex are Toyotas?

 

[Rogue5861]

What sex are Toyotas?

Definately female, they are far too soft.


Rick

 

[SteveNT]

Definately female, they are far too soft.


Rick

Hahaha! We dont use the 8's, they're crap. Some of the old 6's have 800k on the original motors and more dents than a golfball but they're still going. I have worked in front line mineral exploration for a big mob and we tested everything on the market. Cruisers won hands down.
I don't own one but for hard yards you cant go past the 80 series and backwards from there.

 

[Rogue5861]

Hahaha! We dont use the 8's, they're crap. Some of the old 6's have 800k on the original motors and more dents than a golfball but they're still going. I have worked in front line mineral exploration for a big mob and we tested everything on the market. Cruisers won hands down.
I don't own one but for hard yards you cant go past the 80 series and backwards from there.

Im a nissan man, got a 1995 gq patrol that has a few modifications. One thing i will give toyota is there motors are pretty bulletproof, drivelines not so much though.


Rick

 

[pythonmum]

That looks great fun. I saw a 4WD drive adventure today, but it just involved bad driving by an oblivious rich woman. I am sure her 4WD only goes 'off road' when she accidentally mounts the curb while parking. She nearly had a small car attached to her undercarriage today because she pulled out onto the street without checking. Fortunately, the little car had good brakes. Your rangers would be horrified at the way city people treat those vehicles and vice versa.

 

[SteveNT]

That looks great fun. I saw a 4WD drive adventure today, but it just involved bad driving by an oblivious rich woman. I am sure her 4WD only goes 'off road' when she accidentally mounts the curb while parking. She nearly had a small car attached to her undercarriage today because she pulled out onto the street without checking. Fortunately, the little car had good brakes. Your rangers would be horrified at the way city people treat those vehicles and vice versa.

The "who's driving in town? " question is always a biggy when Community people come in. They can negotiate rivers and stone country but traffic lights are an entirely alien experience.

 

[pythonmum]

I guess they are used to looking for an entirely different set of hazards, so 'city' traffic must be really challenging. When I first came to Australia from the USA, my first drive was in a jeep Cherokee near Riversleigh. I was having enough trouble shifting with my left hand, so I was glad I didn't have to worry about traffic. My next time driving was Sydney on a Saturday night when my boyfriend (now husband) and his mate were drunk. That was much more nerve-wracking than any outback adventure.