rain + mud + mountains + goat track =

Yuck! Just typical, my local round of the New South Wales Rally Champion -ship the Rally Of The Hastings was run and won yesterday in the most appalling conditions. So much for the best climate in Australia! I should not have been surprised as it's a long weekend holiday here but it was just like shooting Safari Tasmania.

My first spot was not bad as one of the set up crew drove me into a nice left hander but sure enough it started to rain hard for the first 10 cars. It cleared up for the drive to my next spot way up in the hills behind Swans Crossing near Comboyne. The traction control on the mafia staff car kicked in a few times on the way up and I want to emphasise up! Wasn't long before the dirt road turned into a track only 4wds and mountain goats should go up but I arrived ok to find my spot in the clouds. Then it the started to rain really hard and visibility was down to nothing.

So I put the cameras away and decided to head home. But my car was too long to turn around so I had to wait until the road was open so I could turn round and head back down hill. Big alloys and very low profile tyres look cool but are a bit impractical when you are up in the clouds and driving down a steep track that now resembled a river and yes the inevitable happened when I slid off into a ditch sideways and got well and truly stuck. Fortunately a couple of hardy spectators with a big 4wd and one of the officials dug and then towed me out.

The wheels were so full of mud they looked like chocolate mudcakes but apart from looking very dirty the mafia staff car doesn't appear to have any damage which with all the screeching and banging as I was being dragged backwards along the bank is a minor miracle. I am truly thankful for the good samaritans who helped get me out as I would still be stuck up there now. Note to self, rain + mud + mountains + goat track = not somewhere to take mafia staff car!