FOOTLOOSE: RON MOON
“That’s the wrong line!” the tall, bush-clothes wearing bloke who had sidled up to me said as I watched my son, Trent, walk the treacherous pool at the infamous Nolan’s Brook on the famed OTL Track in northern Cape York.
“No vehicle has got through taking that left-hand line,” he continued, adding that he was an expert having crossed the creek many times and had been watching the action for the whole day as travellers of varying driving standards and experiences took on the dare of crossing, what is for most, the last challenge heading north on the OTL.
Needing something to counter the tirade I casually replied, “Oooh, we’re pretty experienced,” to which Frankie, my new-found friend and expert, countered with, “Yeah, everybody says that, but I can tell you everybody who got through today has taken the righthand line or used that entry point over to the left.”
I walked away trying to ignore him. Our trip with our son’s company, Moon Tours (www.moontours.com.au), had started at the Lions Den Hotel near Cooktown a couple of weeks earlier, when a group of Aussie-made campertrailer owners had got together to travel some of the hardest tracks the Cape has to offer. By the time we had got to Nolan’s, we had travelled the tight and twisty Starke River Track, the Frenchman’s Track and all of the OTL from the demanding heart-stopping drop into the canyon that is Palm Creek, through the notorious Gunshot to our present spot at Nolan’s.
With Trent behind the wheel of the 79 Cruiser towing an AOR Sierra ZR trailer, he dropped into the deep pool and idled the big rig across the soft sand which traps so many vehicles, and climbed the soft, sandy slope out of the water. Frankie stopped his tirade, going silent, watching quietly as Trent instructed and then guided the next vehicle and trailer into the Brook.
By the time the third rig in our group had crawled slowly through the pond, Frankie, my talkative mate, had wandered off, losing himself in the crowd of spectators that lined the northern bank, many sitting on chairs with a cool beer and nibbles to wile away the day and the ever changing spectacle.
Four rigs later, most towing Tvans, it was Dave and Glenda’s turn in their immaculately set-up 200 Series towing an AOR Odyssey, but it was also the biggest and heaviest rig in our group. Once again, tyre pressures, the right line and the correct amount of throttle – just above idle – worked, and the big rig crawled up on to dry land to the cheers of the amazed crowd.
Of the next six vehicles waiting their turn to drive Nolan’s, none were towing campers, some had big tyres and powerful engines, others were a bit more stock; it didn’t matter, four of the six drowned in the creek, the two that did get through having looked and listened.
A couple of onlookers came up and congratulated Trent on his ability to get all eight of our group through without drama, even though two of our group had started the trip with absolutely no four-wheel drive experience.
And, to give Frankie his due, he returned, shook our hands, congratulating us while also saying, “That, was a master class in crossing a challenging creek that traps so many. Well done!”