COOMA OR BUST! (via Old Geehi Hut).

Date and time:  2:00pm, Monday 3 April to 4:00pm Thursday 6 April

Description: COOMA OR BUST! (via Old Geehi Hut).

The 75th Land Rover anniversary event will be held in Cooma NSW over Easter 2023. However, instead of merely driving straight to Cooma, it will be far more interesting to travel over some mountains in north-east Victoria, cross the Murray at Tom Groggin and spend a couple of nights at Old Geehi Hut on the way to Cooma.

The meeting point will be at Omeo before spending the night at Native Dog Flat. From here, depending on conditions, there’s a few tracks to take to get to the Murray River at Tom Groggin, and then head to Old Geehi Hut where we’ll spend Tuesday and Wednesday night. On Wednesday we’ll tour the area, visiting Major Clews Hut, Scammel’s Lookout, Geehi Hut and Keebles Hut.

On Thursday we’ll pack up and drive the Alpine Way through Jindabyne and onto Cooma in time to collect our welcome packs and check into our accom or campsite.

Weather:  Alpine environment, potentially cold and wet.  Review the Alpine weather forecast leading up to the trip and bring appropriate clothing, footwear and camping gear.

Equipment:  Below are the recommended vehicle requirements.  If you are not sure if your vehicle is suitable for a trip, please have a chat with the trip leader.

Good off-road tyres (All Terrain, 60 profile recommended as a minimum), UHF radio (or one borrowed from the club), a well-maintained vehicle with low range (or equivalent), good ground clearance (200mm recommended as a minimum), recovery points, standard recovery gear including dampener, rated snatch strap and shackles, shovel.  Drivers must have completed the RRCV club training or equivalent.

Additional Equipment required:  Camping gear, food and drinking water for 3 days / 3 nights in the bush. We will be staying at national park campsites with basic toilets and no potable water.

There will be campsite fees of approximately $40 for the two nights we are staying at NSW National Parks and will be payable when booking the campsite.

Clothing for wet and cold conditions. Morning tea and lunches will be in the bush each day – byo simple, “on the move” lunches and morning teas (byo thermos).  

We will need to carry firewood, so each vehicle should bring a small bag of firewood.

Camper trailers welcome (please let the trip leader know as it will affect the route)

Trip Standard: Medium - some steep, low-range hill climbs and some rocky tracks!

Fuel:  Full tank from Omeo.

Distance:  Approximately 500km

Duration: 4 days

Convoy limit: Six vehicles.  

Meeting arrangements:  Meet at 2pm in Omeo at the Omeo Recreation Reserve

Trip Leader: Gavan Swift, Phone - 0412199544 Email – gavan@swift.net.au