4WD at Marysville

Several colleagues, friends and I went up to Marysville just after Christmas for a 4WD day trip and fishing. It was a fantastic warm day.

Marysville is well known being a beautiful place with amazing greens and tall trees. I am afraid I never actually went up there until now, until after much of the trees are burnt by the huge bush fire, better know as the Black Saturday, on the 7th February, 2009 (between 7th Feb and 14th March, 2009).

It is a very memorable time for me personally because that was the time my late father was in hospital before he passed away. It was a very hot summer and we followed news about the bush fire happening on TV in the hospital.





Almost two years has passed since the Black Saturday, rebuild activities are still happening. Moss looking plants are growing on some trees and there is a fair bit of ground cover, helped by the very significant amount of rainfall in recent months. Still, the trees have not grown back. In fact, the ground cover is not bush but a lot of small trees. The tall trees are still standing there, completely black, charcoal... Many have fallen. There are few signs of wildlife also.. no birds singing.. One can not help but give respect to the awesome forces of nature.

I wish I took a picture of the rocks there, I was really puzzled when I saw big rocks and boulders there, they are flaking! They really look like sheets of metal. Only later I found out that this phenomenon is caused by intense heat causing rock to split and flake off...




Hope these two pictures give you an idea just how tall the trees are. Imagine once they were all green with lots of leaves. What devastation!




OK, here is the fleet, first is a series 75 Toyota Land Cruiser Carrier, a very rugged, basic hence easy to keep it going, with great ground clearance and looks awesome. The second (black) is a series 80 40th Anniversary edition Toyota Land Cruiser, it is so well equipped it is amazing. Third is a Nissan Path Finder (red), a very 'willing' vehicle, doing jumps all day! Last but definitely not the least is the Mitsubishi Pajero (blue), a very formidable performer on and off road.

Remember the victims of the Black Saturday at Marysville. Remember also the flood victims of the recent Brisbane and Victoria floods. Lend a hand and help them get back on their feet. For more information about Queensland flood, please refer to this and this for Victorian flood information.