The ‘Deserters’ go Small: exploration of Little Desert
Date and time: 9:30am, Saturday 04 November to 1:00pm Tuesday 07 November 2023
Description: Please contact your trip leader if you are unsure of any of the following requirements for this trip.
Despite appearing to be small, Little Desert is criss-crossed with many tracks which makes it a fabulous spot for roaming around on sandy tracks for a few days. The Deserters have decided to explore a fair chunk of this National Park over the Cup Long Weekend for those who like to use more modern horsepower than that found on four legs.
Starting in Nhill we will travel to the border then work our way back towards Dimboola, hopefully using Kiata campground as a base for at least two nights.
Please carry all food and water for 4 days plus cooking and camping equipment.
Morning tea and lunches will be in the bush each day – byo simple, “on the move” lunches and morning teas.
Clothing and footwear for sandy conditions. The forecast will tell us closer to the date whether it will be warm or cool each day.
No camper trailers, pets or firearms.
Reference:Meridian Maps – Victoria’s Deserts Touring Guide 5th Edn.
Accommodation: We will bush camp in designated National Parks campsites with drop toilets available.
Weather: Desert environment, potentially cold nights. Let us hope for some lovely Spring days!
Review the Little Desert 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 driver proficiency training or equivalent.
Additional Equipment required: Air compressor and tyre gauge, MaxTrax or similar sand recovery equipment. Each vehicle ought to bring a bag of firewood for our nightly group campfire.
Trip Standard: Medium - The sand tracks are straightforward, but there are a few sandhills and deeper sections of sand that require extra skill to navigate.
Fuel: Enough fuel from Nhill for 400km. We will be fairly close to Nhill or Dimboola so a refuel is easy for those who need it. For sand driving multiply your highway fuel usage by 1.3 to estimate fuel usage.
Distance: Melbourne to Nhill 390kms. Nhill to Pimpinio 500km. Pimpinio to Melbourne 330km.
Duration: 4 days
Convoy limit: 10 vehicles
Meeting arrangements: We plan to meet at Jaypex Park, Nhill (Rintoule Street, opposite John Shaw Neilson Cottage) at 9.30am for our trip briefing. (What3Words reference https://w3w.co/offstage.funk.cynical). We aim to finish by about 1:00pm in Pimpinio on the Tuesday.
Club Guest Registration policy: It is club policy in regard to insurance cover that if a member brings any non-members on the trip they must be registered and have paid the required fee as Temporary Members BEFORE the event.
i.e. non- members can no longer register on the day with the trip leader.
Temporary Membership information and ways to register can be found at:
Temporary (Guest) Membership
Also if a non-member wishes to bring their own vehicle, the member inviting the non-member must contact the trip leader for approval to bring the vehicle. Such approval will take into account skills of the driver, suitability of the vehicle and whether or not a place within the convoy limit is available for a non-member's vehicle.
Trip Leader: James Lawson, Phone - 0429265550, Email – lawsonj71au@gmail.com
