[paulh]

Not a road but a park hike/bike path, Keller, TX

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Last edited by paulh; 10-31-2021 at 11:46 AM.

[Des]

Grand Ridge Road, Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. KP + DA 16-85. The Toora-Gunyah Rd, on the right, is still closed several months after being damaged by landslips from a storm in June.

[HoutHans]

Grand Ridge Road, Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. KP + DA 16-85. The Toora-Gunyah Rd, on the right, is still closed several months after being damaged by landslips from a storm in June.

That's amazing: to have unpaved roads like that and have roadsigns. I love this.

[tim60]

That's amazing: to have unpaved roads like that and have roadsigns. I love this.

Many important roads in Australia are unpaved.

[Des]

That's amazing: to have unpaved roads like that and have roadsigns. I love this.

Thanks very much Hans.

In Gippsland (a region in eastern Victoria) you can go from a freeway, to a four-lane highway, to a two-lane highway, to a sealed minor road, to a gravel road, to a single lane dirt road (like this one), to a 4WD track within 50kms (sometimes much less)! The road signs peter out, but even when you get to the 4WD track there are often still basic signs ...

And you get more cautionary signs ....

[cobbu2]

Yuba County California



ME Super, SMC-M 50/1.4, K64

[HoutHans]

Many important roads in Australia are unpaved.

I can imagine they are; it's the combination with the roadsigns that I find amazing.

---------- Post added 11-02-21 at 12:37 AM ----------

Thanks very much Hans.

In Gippsland (a region in eastern Victoria) you can go from a freeway, to a four-lane highway, to a two-lane highway, to a sealed minor road, to a gravel road, to a single lane dirt road (like this one), to a 4WD track within 50kms (sometimes much less)! The road signs peter out, but even when you get to the 4WD track there are often still basic signs ...

And you get more cautionary signs ....

Thanks, and someone is having fun in that car!

[Des]

Thanks, and someone is having fun in that car!

Yes, my better half, who loves going bush as much as I do. She loved that vehicle (Toyota Landcruiser Prado). We had to replace it a couple of years ago after 300,000kms (the transmission gave out). She loathes the replacement 4WD (a Ford), which is constantly being unfavourably compared to its predecessor.

[WPRESTO]

Yes, my better half, who loves going bush as much as I do. She loved that vehicle (Toyota Landcruiser Prado). We had to replace it a couple of years ago after 300,000kms (the transmission gave out). She loathes the replacement 4WD (a Ford), which is constantly being unfavourably compared to its predecessor.

VAV 4WD vehicles for rough roads. One of the places we stayed in Africa used modified Toyotas to haul we tourists about looking for wildlife to photograph (tiers of seats instead of a cabin placed on the frame). At one point a driver commented they had used Land Rovers for a while, but they were constantly breaking down without warning, stranding tourists somewhere out in the wild. Since they converted to Toyotas, essentially no problems whatever.

[Des]

At one point a driver commented they had used Land Rovers for a while, but they were constantly breaking down without warning, stranding tourists somewhere out in the wild. Since they converted to Toyotas, essentially no problems whatever.

That is exactly the reputation of the two companies in Australia too. It's rare to see a LR (or Jeep) on a 4WD track - the Japanese vehicles are totally dominant. A Range Rover or LR Discovery is referred to derisively as a Toorak Tractor (Toorak being a wealthy suburb in Melbourne).

Toyota has built good will in Australia over many years, starting in the 1960s. My father bought a Toyota Crown in 1970 (overcoming the prejudice of having been strafed by Japanese aircraft while in the RAAF in WW2) and it was a way better car than its contemporary rivals. By 1980 they had built an enviable reputation for reliability and a wide support network, which they have diligently maintained. Toyota does a lot of its product development testing for its 4WD vehicles in Australia. In the Northern Territory (which has some seriously remote places and harsh conditions), they refer to a 4WD generically as a "Toyota" - e.g. "You got a Toyota when you come up here?" (usually meaning 70 series Landcruiser - even a Hilux is thought a bit soft). Reliability is everything in 4WDing in Oz - you can be a long way from help even on a weekend trip from a major city.

I am wondering whether the Ford was a good idea.

[womble]

^^^^^

The equivalent name here (UK) is "Chelsea tractor". Where I live I'm surrounded by giant SUVs, the vast majority of which only go off road as far as the front drive. The trendy low profile tyres are a bit of a giveaway.

[WPRESTO]

Yuba County California ME Super, SMC-M 50/1.4, K64

That's a road as open as any open road can be.

[Lord Lucan]

That's a road as open as any open road can be.

Similar to what I thought. In fact I wondered why they bothered to put up the bend warning chevrons - looks like you could have gone straight on through the field and hardly notice the difference

[paulh]

At the Ventura Botanical Gardens...the background blue isn't sky, it's the Pacific Ocean.

[WPRESTO]

Similar to what I thought. In fact I wondered why they bothered to put up the bend warning chevrons - looks like you could have gone straight on through the field and hardly notice the difference

Going off road you'd at least have to be sure the windows were closed tight against the dust, but they probably wouldn't be open as that looks like A-C country.