Having been able to get out again in 23 to Victoria after the crazy flu pandemic, the boys were all keen in 2024 to get out again on another 60 trip, but this time somewhere different was on the cards, not that there is anything wrong with the Victorian high country, but a change of scenery would be a nice change, in 24 we decided we will head north into basically what could be described as the new south wales high country.
Heading west from Sydney over the blue mountains and onto the great dividing range, parts of NSW highest elevation.
Leaving my house in western Sydney we headed up the highway, Cos and myself in the blue 79 ute, Michael with his 77 tub ute, and Ross Collins with his well travelled 68 ute, first stop was Maccas (mcdonalds) in the town of Lithgow, being the first "country" town to the west of Sydney it served as a great starting point for the trip.
There we met with "Puggy" not a member here, and also Peter60.
After catching up with everyone and having some breakfast, fuel tanks were filled and we soon set out for our first bit of dirt.
We took things slow for a while as we were still waiting for Lawrence in his mid wheel base to catch up, running behind due to traffic up the blue mountains... we decided to make our way on some short side tracks which headed down to the Cox's river, we soon found ourselves in the thick of it and some steep hill climbs were in front of us which caused some quick wheel lifts
and that's where we had our first problem, one of Ross's front engine mounts decided to quit and with the torque of the motor under load going uphill, the engine fan was grinding away at the shroud making a horrible noise, but in true Ross fashion he kept on trucking, opting to fix it later that night in camp.
Breaking out the maps we decided we better find somewhere to camp for the night, there were a couple tracks making a kind of loop which lead down to the river, we thought we'd take the easier route for now as we were starting to run out of daylight, but not too far down we encountered some big wash outs and the boys weren't too sure if we should proceed as there was a long drop off to the right, if something went wrong there wasn't much stopping you, with words of encouragement from Cosmo I decided I was going to give it a crack, as camp was only another few hundred meters down the track and reversing uphill from where we were was also going to be a hard task in itself, as usual the photos don't do it justice.
Upon arriving in camp we were greeted by some other campers who clearly knew we were coming as they could hear us for a long time coming down the mountain with engines breaking for us under compression and exhausts crackling and popping, aswel as the classic low range gearbox whine
they were more than happy to share a fire and couldn't believe their eyes when we all rolled in with the old rigs, a few beverages that night around the fire telling stories and having a good laugh, we didn't go to bed until late so Ross's engine mount fix was left for the morning 
Below is a very happy but tired G60michael
Up and at it the next day we headed up and out of camp on top of the ridge.
Bound for a well known hill climb called "fire truck hill" those that are interested to see it can look it up on youtube, its not far out of Lake Lyle, anyways according to the maps we could either cross the Cox's river there or go up fire truck hill, well we couldn't do either of them, the river crossing was deep! and well over 100 meters wide so there went that option, the hill climb proved to be steeper than what we seen online and Puggy in the soft top shorty wasn't keen as a roll over would have certainly meant death, also there was another group of cars attempting the hill and we waited for atleast half hour and they were making little to no progress and resorting to winch from less than half way up!
turning around and heading up another track which would eventually lead us to the main highway and out to another section of country, found us battling a hill climb which was almost no better than fire truck hill, there were dirt bike riders who were turning around half way up, we managed to get the blue 79 ute up with minor issues, Michael, Puggy and Peter also, Lawrence in the middy was next followed by Ross, unfortunately about half way up Lawrence had a brake failure in the back left wheel! the wheels spun on a loose section and so he went to stop the car and have another go but the brakes had other ideas, quick thinking he tried to select reverse gear but no good, managed to pull the handbrake but by that time the car was gathering speed, as last resort he turned the steering and stopped side ways to the hill, hitting a tree in the process but luckily there was almost no damage and no one was hurt.
Just weeks prior Lawrence had the g60 front diff fully rebuilt including brakes front and rear, but the mechanic had no knowledge of how to work on the g60s and how the rear wheel cylinders work, well long story short there was too many backing shims on the rear cylinders so they were not able to float and centralize in the slot and so the shoe adjustment was way out and the piston of the wheel cylinder actually popped out!
the call came out over the radio for help, realising how serious the situation was we made our way down the hill on foot with some tools and parts in hand.
Upon getting the car fixed and brakes bled, still poor Lawrence's confidence was shattered, I could see he wasn't in the right frame of mind to drive such a hill after what just happened so I volunteered to drive it for him, my adrenaline was pumping! never having driven this car before and no prior experience behind the wheel of a mid wheel base, my heart was pumping out of my chest, I remember selecting first gear and giving it a few revs, then I remember being 3/4 of the way up and the car leaning to the right hand rear and seeming to want to keep on rolling over but quick shouting words from Michael through the left front window told me it was just a rut and I was almost through it, easy for him to say at the time
later looking at the pictures and from what the boys told me, I was actually up on 2 wheels at the time! no wonder it felt bad in the drivers seat
Out of trouble now we were soon onto the black top and headed for Sunny Corner state forest, from there we found our way through private property and onto The Pinnacle fire trail, which runs along the ridges towards the Turon national park and where our camp would be for the night.
Before too long we found ourselves in some more mischief with rutted out sections and some mud holes, Puggy couldn't help himself as seen in this shot
Michael followed suit in the same style but unfortunately I didn't get a snap of it as I was trying to record video and stay dry
So here's a more tame version, but needless to say both cars drank a bit of water through the air filters, which saw Mick washing out the mud from his paper filter in the river later that night and hanging it next to the fire to dry before bed
Not too far out from camp we came across this steep section, some careful navigating and instructions from Mick and we were all soon down onto the flats, with mobs of Kangaroos trying to race us to camp
Camp was at a National Park designated spot called "the diggings", which is in the Turon national park, lovely area with drop toilet and well maintained grassed area and fire pit.
Dinner and drink was well earnt that night from the days adventures.
Well that's all for today folks, that's just the first couple days of adventure with still the rest of the week to go! The g60 in my shed is calling to be worked on so time to go, but I sure hope you've enjoyed the read so far! happy to receive feedback as this is my first "out and about" story I've written so I hope I've told the story as well as G60michael has in previous years.
cheers all, RED DOG
As G60michael says, we are eagerly waiting for the next installment. 
I can't imagine what it was like in the driver's seat. Very impressive how well equipped all of your Patrols are, you're ready for anything. Can't wait for the next episode! 
