So on Saturday we headed off to Shadowfax Winery in Werribee.
We had never heard of it before but it turned out to be a little treasure, nestled in just behind Werribee Mansion and Werribee Zoo and right next door to quite a Polo event that was going on.
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| Shadowfax Winery - Lunch |
Shadowfax was a buzz of activity, a little 2 piece band playing a way and plenty of wine being poured. Of course with my big 4x4 adventure ahead I settled for one glass of the Shadowfax 2009 Riesling, but the rest of the gang made up for me :).
We enjoyed a tasting plate of meats and a platter of cheese. OH MY GOD both were equally fantastic, just to whet your appetite here's a snap of each before we made good work of them.
We than moved on to some Wood Fire pizzas for lunch, which were equally as fantastic. The setup for the Pizza was sensational, everyones dream to have one in their backyard!
After a nice relaxing lunch it was time to head on down the highway to the Ragged Edge 4x4 just near Avalon Speedway.
These machines were absolute BEAST'S just about go anywhere machines.
After signing the usual indemnity forms and throwing on some sexy hair nets before some safety helmets it was time to jump in for a quick run down on how these machines work.
Pretty simple, auto with front and rear independent steering accelerate and brake. Rob had nominated to be the victim for the days events so he was passenger and I was pumped to get behind the wheel and give it a go.
Next up we head off for some practice with the front and rear steering by doing some figure eights, feels wrong but makes turning so easy with the rear wheels.
After a few figure eights we hit the first course climbing are way up, banking our way around and tilting left, right, forward and back these machines were in their element and so were we!
The first course was a perfect balance of easy and challenging parts a great introduction and a chance to get a feel and some confidence before moving on.
Next up the instructor took me on a hot lap of the extreme course, and now the vehicles really did get pushed to the limit, riding as passenger the instructor talked through step by step each approach, angle and wheel turn as we crawled our way up a concrete wall and than across the face off it before landing the front tyre on a ledge and using it to pull the vehicle up and over, the final part of the hot lap involved tilting the Beast beyond anything that seemed normal, riding the right side high up on some tyres and than dropping the left into a ditch sent this thing on a slow roll/slide with the front left rising and rising and rising.
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| Ragged Edge 4x4 |
Now it was my turn to tackle the more advance course. Aptly named 'Chuckie' which Rob noted was correctly named upon completing (although we didn't get any chucking).
Had a blast driving through 'Chuckie' some very sharp banked corners a nice drop and roll through a narrow gap between two trees, with only one visible until the very last moment was fantastic.
We got stuck early on in 'Chuckie' lifting the front left and rear right off the ground at the same time, we had this beast dancing but alas we eventually required reverse to get out of this situation.
The finale of 'Chuckie' was a skyward view as we rose up and over a steep climb with a very large rock laid exactly where you didn't want it as the beast pulls towards the rock that you must avoid. It was a AWESOME experience that I absolutely loved and hopefully the spectating crew enjoyed as well.
Find below several videos from our Ragged Edge 4x4 experience.
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