Nissan Australia - Owning Nissan - 4X4 Australia, Great Aussie Trek Series

December 2001	Across the Big Desert.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	Ron Moon reckons a quick trip to The Big Desert in Victoria 's Mallee offers plenty of excellent sand driving and great camping. Pioneer pastoralists had opened up much of Victoria's western regions by the 1840s and, within 20 years, sheep were grazing through large tracts of the Big Desert and Wyperfeld areas of the drier mallee region of Victoria. The Nhill-Murrayville Track came into existence around that time as a stock route between Nhill Station and the Kow Plains Station, just south of the small, modern-day hamlet of Cowangie.

November 2001	Classic Country.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	Up near Aberfeldy there 's great range countr ,beautiful mountain streams and top camping spots.RON &VIV MOON revisit one of their favourite spots in country Victoria. Aberfeldy, originally known as Mount Lookout, was established in 1871 following the discovery of gold in the area. The town quickly grew to a population of 500 or so and there were grand plans for state schools, hotels and the like.

October 2001	Ned Kelly, Nuggets and Golden Moments.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	The area may no longer be the mecca for gold miners that it once was but, as Ron Moon discovers, north-eastern Victoria hasn't lost any of its shine. Soon after gold was discovered in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range in north-east Victoria in 1852,most of the valleys and hillsides echoed with the sounds of hammers and taps and water trickling across riffle boxes.

September 2001	Bomber Patrol.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	In 1945 a Liberator bomber crashed near Gladstone in Queensland and was lost for 50 years. Dave Moon shows you how to find it. The Kroombit region is not well known by Queensland tourists, let alone southern visitors. The closest major city is Gladstone, south of Rockhampton. There's not that much to look at on the highway heading north to The Cape or The Reef, so it's worth breaking up the trip with a little detour.

August 2001	Newnes and the gardens of stone.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	There are many spectacular sites on the accessible fringes of the giant Wollemi National Park in NSW the main ones. One of the most interesting areas of the Wollemi region is the south western corner, where visits can be made to the historic shale oil mining areas at Newnes and Glen Davis, and to the newly gazetted Gardens of Stone National Park.

July 2001	Mt Disappointment to Mt Hickey.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	A varied drive through State forests just north of Melbourne is a great day trip, as Ron and Viv Moon discovered. The Mount Disappointment State Forest is a large stretch of rich native forest surrounding the verdant peak of Mount Disappointment in Victoria. On a clear day you can see the heart of Melbourne from this peak and being so close to the capital means it is popular for visitors of all ilks and persuasions.

June 2001	The Fantastic Shoalhaven.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	The grey-haired brigade may bemoan the fact that much of the Shoalhaven River 4WD area has been closed, but there's still plenty of off-roading to be done in this beautiful region of NSW. The Shoalhaven River has its source in the Great Dividing Range south of Braidwood and runs north-east into Morton National Park, before turning east and tumbling down the range to enter the sea at Nowra.

May 2001	Sea, Sand and Rainforest.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	Enjoy the Noosa River hinterland and the chance to drive and camp on the beach, says David Moon. This trek starts on the north bank of the Noosa River ferry at Tewantin, Qld. From there it heads directly to the beach where a right turn takes you back towards Noosa; a turn to the left takes you towards Double Island Point and Rainbow Beach.

April 2001	Rocket Lake and Sunset Country.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	The Sunset Country of north-western Victoria is some of the most isolated and remote country in the State. Rocket Lake, situated close to the heart of this mallee-covered sandy semi-desert tract of land is the single biggest lake in the region. For the most part it remains a dry and samphire-encrusted expanse rimmed by reddish dunes that crowd around its shores. Still, it's a tranquil spot and a pleasant place to camp away from the confines of the tall spindly mallee that dominates the region.

March 2001	Benambra to Tom Groggin.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	Some of the best mountain country in Australia is found on this trek, as Ron and Viv Moon discovered. The High Country of Victoria is one of the finest four wheel drive Meccas in Australia with challenging tracks, fantastic scenery, fine rivers and mountain streams and great camping areas. There's no better place than in the swath of forested country north of Omeo to the NSW and Vic border and this trek takes you through the very heart of this remote mountain country.

February 2001	Tall Timber Touring.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	Allan Whiting takes a mountain loop track from historic Wingham to Wauchope in NSW. The trip takes in spectacular waterfalls and relics of the timber-getting past The Great Dividing Range country that is now traversed by the scenic, winding Oxley Highway has been a source of timber since the early 1800s. Bullock teams and miniature railways pulled logs from seemingly inaccessible areas to the various river ports along the NSW coast. Much of the mountain country is now National Park, but there are still State Forest sections that are traced by well-kept tracks.

January 2001	Ngarkat Border Trek SA.
View Entire Article (Adobe Acrobat format)	For a desert experience close to Melbourne and Adelaide it's hard to go past the Border Fence Track. By Anthony Kilner and Jane Miller. We've often passed through Pinnaroo on our way to the central Australia and beyond, in fact many Melburnians take this route rather than driving up to Mildura and across to South Oz and beyond. In the past we've never really had time to soak up the local atmosphere - that was until now!