HOPELESSLY STRANDED in the Kimberley with SHOW STOPPING Breakage.. Making our own track in 2m+ Scrub

Come on girl, come on. This is where things go terribly wrong when you do stuff like this. That's a proper boggle. If you're seeking the ultimate four-wheel drive adventure in Australia, there's no place wilder than the Oombulgari track. How crazy is this? That's a great fish. We're here on the tail end of a late wet season and the struggle is real. Pretty freaking deep. As we attempt to reopen this mighty low-range track for the season. It's like over the top of hot. But the track, it's pushing back. We're gonna have to hope like heck we can fix it because otherwise, we're not going too far. Six days ago, we set out from the remote WA town of Wyndham. With the locals barely rating our chances of pushing through the 400 plus kilometers of intense low-range ahead of us. Despite nearly a week of hard slogs through some of the most remote parts of the country, we've made it less than 90 k's into the track. This is nerve-wracking. But now, things have taken a turn for the worse. Yesterday, our camera car snapped a U-bolt. And with no spare on hand, we've been limping the car along on a bush mechanic fix that's finally let go. The center bolt has given out and the rear diff is now freely moving back and forth. Right now, we're camped just north of the Forest River, which puts us several days from help in any direction. We've got at least another 400 k's of tough driving ahead of us. So the next fix has to be a good one. So this morning, the first plan of attack is to try and bush mechanic fix at least this patrol so we can actually drive it. We've got to get that diff back to locate in the center of that spring. And then when we do that, we can actually do a fix. But this is the sketchiest bit because we're using the front winch off the patrol to hold the vehicle and we're going to use it as is to pull the diff back. Send it. With three rumbers on the job, the first step of the process is soon underway. Oh, that's nearly got it. Yeah, that is. You pull forward, try. Hold on. Yeah. Like a frog in a sock. Crazy. Couldn't have worked out better. That was phenomenal. Really good. In just 25 k's of driving, we've already burned through most of our ratchet straps. So those are coming out and being replaced with fencing wire. We also need a bump stop of sorts to keep everything in place. And the answer is pretty, well, it's pretty basic. There we go. There you go, Captain. There's a bump stop. That's a very big bump stop. And then the competition saying they use these all the time to really limit that up travel. Yeah, this one's a bit more agricultural than some of the ones you might buy off the shop. Stump stop. The log is going to prevent any up travel. The winch is going to prevent any down travel. And the tie wire is there to sort of act as a makeshift U-bolt, so everything fall out and go pear-shaped. Ride quality would be good. We've used the right sort of hardwood for heavy loads. So it's actually a GVM upgrade. I was thinking when I get back into reception and civilisation, I might make a kit for leaf sprung patrols. It's called the Heavy Duty Oombalgari Kit for doing tough loads on tough tracks. All right, time hit the road. Now, I can imagine that a lot of you watching at home are thinking, how the heck will that fix make it 400 Ks down the Oombi track? And you'd be right. So in the background, we've been working on a plan B. There's no phone reception out here. But via sat phone, we've been in touch with our good mate Ronnie, who's managed to track down some spare U-bolts for the camera rig. Getting them to us out here is a whole other problem. But there's one possible option. Six Ks ahead of us lies the ruins of Oombalgari. And Ronnie reckons he's found a way to get there by tomorrow morning. While we wait, we check out the remains of the town. Have a go. Nature has well and truly taken over. Pretty crazy. When you drive down here, you get a bit of a glimpse into the yesteryear. The story of Oombalgari is one with a sad ending. Once a town that Ronnie and his family and many others called home, it was effectively closed down along with some 150 other outback communities in a government closure around 13 years ago. With services like schools and medical care removed, then the police and shops closed, and then finally the power and the water turned off, residents had no choice but to leave. And Oombi has largely returned back to nature. I was lucky enough to visit this when it was at its peak. It's unrecognisable. In fact, there's a general store around the corner here and every morning I'd come out and buy an ice cream. I'm stoked to see it for two reasons. It's always good to come back to Oombi and have a look at it. Secondly, we actually managed to get the camera car back here, which is nothing short of an absolute miracle. We've got parts coming. First thing tomorrow morning, first light tomorrow morning. So I reckon we're going to set up camp, see if we can't catch something for dinner. Our camp for tonight is almost luxurious. A bit of flat ground on the edge of Oombi's abandoned airstrip and with some fresh-caught barra on the barbie for dinner. Ronnie reckons he's going to get to our camp at first light tomorrow. And when the cavalry arrives, it's from an unexpected direction. Go, boys! It might take several days to get here in a four-wheel drive, but from Wyndham by air, it's a whole lot quicker. And a local legend, Bobby, has taken some time out of his morning to drop the parts off, get us moving again. Thank you, mate. No worries. A couple of ue's. The boys have also taken a look at the track from above, and Ronnie reckons we've got a real challenge in the kays ahead. He's looking out here. She's still got a bit of water along the marsh and stuff, so he'll have to take the top road on Larderman Way. No one's been on there for a while, so... Well, no one's been on the main road. You were saying yesterday. That's one of the problems, being early, you've got to tackle the grass as well. So not only just finding the road and, you know, looking for potholes, whatever. Grass is high. There's burning going on at the moment as well. Best of luck. You guys don't install them as well? No, no, no. My servers just stop at this. Oh, right. It's a Saturday, right? That's right, yeah. We do it all the time. Thanks so much, mate. Appreciate that. No worries, man. Cheers, mate. Appreciate it. Thank you. Cheers, mate. Just like that, we're back to being the only people on the Umbugari track. But with two fresh U-bolts and some spares to boot, we're good to push on. We're good as new. It goes to show when you've got the right parts or the right spares that you can get this back on the road pretty easy. But that has been so much hard work trying to keep that bushel mechanic fix up to scratch on these tracks. It's been so rough. We're good now. We're going to put the shock back on and it's going to be good as new. Our next goal is to push out into the remotest section of the track with the objective of making a stunning spot known as Paradise Falls, which it is still several days ahead of us. A single wet season can virtually obliterate all signs of the track. So Graham's up front in the D-Max and following some GPS maps as close as possible. We're five metres in and I've lost the track already. In tall grass like this, losing the track completely is as easy as moving a metre or two off the line with rocks and ruts just waiting to catch you out in the long grass. This is my view. I literally cannot see any sort of track. I'm just, I'm relying on my GPS. It boggles my mind that come late in the dry, there's none of this grass. This will be a flat open plain. You'd probably do 30 k's an hour through here. It's a bit daunting going into some huge long grass when you can see there's definitely a swamp ahead. There's no track. There's absolutely no track in here that I can see. Up ahead is another creek line. This crossing looks like it could get very messy. Crikey, this is a bit unknown, mate. Yeah, it really is. It looks quite deep and you know it's going to be soft. Steep exit, steep entry. You might have a couple of goes at trying to... I might nose into it a bit, come back and forth a bit and break this off. Then I can give it a red hot go out. Rather than coming off this and punching in. Can you just give it a quick old thrash in there and see if there's anything with a scaly back? That looks like crocodile haven to me. It does, it really does look crocky. Yeah, you jump in first, mate. This is how you get, you know. Nope, there's no crocs. I'll just nose into it and see what she feels like. I think so. Or deep. Deep. Pretty freaking deep. Give it a punch, I reckon. Go, go, go. This one turned out to be even deeper than we expected and the D-Max is beached. No bueno. We're opting for a backwards recovery here as it's the quickest way to get Graeme out of trouble. Boys are quickly getting the old recovery gear ready. All right, winch in. Is it loose? It's quite deep. Like a cork out of a bottle. Mate, what's happening in there is it's deep but what you've got is it goes straight down and you've got about half a car length before you've got to get them straight back up again. And I just don't have the big flexi boys to... I'm thinking you could give it a few more goes or I could have a go with the bigger tyres and maybe I could have a bit of a claw at the front. And if I pull the exit, actually make an exit, we might be able to all get through quite easy. It's not the hero we wanted, folks. But it's the hero we've got. Shorty's seen a fair share of tough mud just like this but that exit, she's just too sloppy. Shorto's got the nose up far enough though to be able to wish forward. That was pretty wild. Definitely not driving that on my own steam. Nose in, send her out. As is going next in the big Mitt 79 but that crossing isn't looking any easier. Maybe not. Once again, prior preparation pays off here. You want to minimise the amount of time you're sitting in stagnant water. With everything all ready prepared, we've soon got the 79 clear of the waterline. We're slowly getting there, boys. Liam's up next. Two vehicles are going through it but I don't have high hopes because I thought we'd sort of clear the bank but instead each vehicle sort of sunk down which has just created trenches. So not ideal but you never know. Big tyres, lots of power. You never know your luck. I reckon give it a bit of a go, mate. Drive like you mean it. Right, nose in. I've got both lockers on. Liam's going for a bit of mechanical sympathy here. I would have given that so much more mumbo but it's no match for mud like this. I reckon you can have another go, mate. Red line it. That's a real treacherous bog hole. You got a lot of weight in the caboose there, Liam. I've got a big butt. Now this is exactly what you don't want to have happen and the 200's tailgate is now well under the water. As soon as I see the wheels turning, I'm just getting a bit fast, I'll back off a little bit, let the winch pull up. Oh, sorry. I'll get up here, open the rear and hopefully there's no water in there. You can hear it in there. After seeing how much the other boys struggled, I'm opting for a bit more of a creative line around the bog. I really hope this works, otherwise it's going to be one of those embarrassing encounters where I try and do something smart and it ends up not working at all. Come on, mate, well done. I'm glad that worked in more ways than not coming to get me. You know when you have a smart idea and you say to everyone, oh, you guys are idiots, I'll go this way. I was that confident you were going to get stuck. I already had something prepared. Ready to rip into you when you're stuck. I was so nervous. You made that look pretty good, actually. Up ahead is a crossing, though, that there is no getting around. Holy! At least it's not full of lily pads and soft and really hard to get out. Wow, that's a doozy, mate. How deep is it? Go in there, Sean. You're the croc whisperer. I think the best thing you can hope for is to drive that in one go, not get stuck in the middle. If worst case scenario happens, obviously, Azz and Liam will just dive straight in the water and probably winch us up. I wonder what the question is to you guys. Would you drive it? Would you just rock up to something like this and just drive it? Just keep in mind how far you are from the nearest mechanical workshop. It's not... The one encounter is not open, so it's further than you think. In we go. That part's good. This is the bit I'll get him. He's got it. The D-MAX's factory lockers don't love getting wet and they don't seem to be engaging on my first attempt. Why did you get stuck though? I'm not on the other side. I'm in the rear. Just when Sean is about to try and jump in beside me though... This is where things go terribly wrong when you do stuff like this. ...they finally click in and it gives me enough leverage to make it through. Go, go, go. Yes. Well done, mate. Well done. Yew. Yeah, Graham cleared a bit of a path for us, I reckon. Good luck, mate. That was deep. The bane of every 79 is undercut exits and for a second, it looks like Az might be in trouble. There we go. Let's see you, crawly boy. Nice work. Liam's got plenty of power in the big rig and sends it on through like an absolute boss. Come on, baby. Come on, come on. Come on. Yes. Right now, we're skirting the edge of a massive flood plain. It's absolutely stunning country, but it also offers some unrivaled chances for fishing. Before we start to head up into the hills to the west, we're taking one chance to have one more crack at a hidden creek system and this one really pays off. Az is on. He's on, man. He's in already, babe. How good's that? Little barramundi. Just a little bit of skimmy water barra action. I just got a proper one. Have a go at that big bad boy. Look at that little guy, eh? Oh, that's so good. If you're wondering why we get so excited about barra, it's because they're probably the most iconic fish you can catch in Australia. They offer one of the best fights and cooked right, they're the perfect meal around camp. Look at that. Look at him. After a pretty eventful day, and with the track about to head up onto some deep rocky country, we reckon it's about time to call it for the day while we've still got a bit of light left. Well, I've got to be honest, that was a pretty tough day today, but a great day and to pull into a campsite like this a couple of minutes ago. This is real long grass, we've just driven around to make it nice and flat, and this is paradise if you ask me, and we've lucked into it because just about 20 metres from camp is this tiny little waterway. It's only about that deep, some lily pads in it, really, really shallow, but you can see the bottom, so we can have a look and make sure there's no crocs in there and we might even be able to get a dip. That's living. Camping in the Kimberley is all about being self-sufficient. We're geared up with food, fuel and water to survive three weeks in the bush, but a few luxuries in your camp setup make life a heck of a lot more comfortable. It's been a rollercoaster of a day and some of the wildest country of the Umby still lies ahead of us. For now, it's time to kick back, chuck some snags and rissoles on the barbie plate, tell a few tall tales around the fire and enjoy another night under the Kimberley stars. Get this type of beanie for free like this 3-in-1 jacket, the GoodTread Puffer Jacket, the La Nina Rain Jacket or even the new Women's Puffer Jacket. When you go to checkout and you add them to your cart, if you add this exact type of beanie, you'll get it for free. Not this one though, this one's keeping my noggin warm, but to keep yourself warm this winter at camp, just go to 4wd247.com, get yourself a nice new jacket and a free beanie. I was no doubt about it, the morning's up here, come on, thick and fast. It's just gone seven o'clock now, we've been up for over an hour and already it is stinking hot, like you're just sweating eating breakfast. Significant day today because we've been pushing through this long grass now for a bit on these flats. Today marks the start of what will be a couple of days of really rocky, slow, bouncy, traversing through these ranges and that'll get us pretty much to the halfway point. We're calling paradise about the halfway point, up into the rocky terrain. It's just going to be a couple of days of just slow, bouncy, get it done. Just try and get some K's done and move further north and from here on in, we just get more and more remote. With some tough rocky days ahead of us, we're getting everything squared away as best as possible this morning and giving the rigs a once over before we push on. One of the big things is you want to get the most out of all your tyres, so if you get yourself a really bad puncture which you can't repair, tyre's useless, it only takes a couple of lows before you can drive it around on your rims. I can still feel a little bit of air coming out of that, I've already put another plug into this one. I just check my tyres all the time I'm probably most paranoid about tyres over every other thing. Right outside of camp, we start climbing up into the hills and the dense grass finally gives way as the ground gets rocky. The rocky ascent up into the ranges, this will be us for the next couple of days. The payoff for that is twofold, the track's a lot easier to see, one, and the view from up here, oh my god, the Kimberley. You know what else is nice? Being back in WA. I don't need to explain to you folks how much I love my home state. The rocks here might not look as daunting as you might see say on a local track back home, but it's just, it's just relentless. K after K of jagged rocks and bone-shaking climbs and a stack of fallen trees to clear into the bargain. Well, we're at the start of this, I reckon there's going to be a couple hundred Ks of this, jumping out chainies, rocks, step-ups, jump-ups, at least to paradise. These boys don't know what we're talking about when we say paradise, they've got no idea. Just imagine paradise. It's a pretty good description of it actually. Back in the day when Umby was a town, the track used to be cleared up and bulldozed every season and you can still see the rocks pile up on the side of the track, but things have gotten a lot more wild and woolly over the years and we're soon having some dramas. Graeme's just done a tyre and it's the first non-repairable tyre though. It's got a massive gash in the inside sidewall so we can't fix it, which is a real shame because we've got a long way to go. We've just started the rocky section so losing a tyre in this sort of terrain, this early on, it's not a great sign because we've got so many k's to go, but we'll change it for now and we've just got to cross our fingers. Tyres are probably the number one problem when it comes to surviving the Umby and we're all carrying two spares as well as patch kits, but we know from experience that even that might not be enough. We've been pushing the rigs hard for over a week now in some very difficult country and we're starting to see more and more little problems across the convoy. That's your tyre into your guard. That shouldn't be like that. A bit of a nasty situation has occurred with the big 200. He's had a good look underneath and it turns out that one of the upper control arm bolts is rattled loose. Turns out I always carry a bunch of spare bolts. Not saying I've got the right one but I can go check in a second. I just want to let you know though, out here a spare bolt doesn't come cheap. I noticed you had a couple of cold ones in your fridge. Oh mate, yeah. Couple? Couple? Couple. Got some nice snacks as well. Can I get one can? One can now. One can, one, one can. Can I get two cans? Two cans, two cans. Oh yeah, two cans, three cans. When you talk a big game, you better know you can come through. And despite an assortment of spares, I don't have the bolt that Liam needs. Oh, it's turned short. Where there's a will, there's a way though. And Liam soon found a spare on his sliders that he can repurpose. That might be the trick. There you go, mate. Thanks for your help. All right, well, no worries mate. No beers. Well, the 19 doesn't come free, you know this. As we climb through the hills, we're steadily heading northwards. And despite the elevation, there's a worrying amount of water still around. Dellencourt River. This will be our constant companion now for the next three days. What everyone's been saying is that it's impassable up north, which will make it very difficult for us because we do not have the water, food or fuel to go backwards again. Let's get across there. The journey along the valley of the Dellencourt is perhaps one of the most gruelling sections of the Umbi. And soon another day has passed on the track as we pick lines, navigate creeks and clear a way forward through some of the most untouched wilderness in Australia. Ah, yes. Looking to the country ahead, it's hard to believe there's actually a path through all this. But all we can do now is follow that little red line on the map. Well, you can see how it all just sort of goes a bit pear-shaped. Not pear-shaped, but it's how you lose so much time on this little dairy track. So to do 50 metres, we've been here an hour and a half. That's how you sort of eat up your time in here. That's why the Umbi is the Umbi. In my opinion, if you want to test yourself and your machine, if you can do the Umbi, yeah, you've done a real forward drive track. You can see the path of this summer's water in the debris high up in the trees. And this valley is no joke. An absolute maze of thick bush and boggy crossings. Just going to try and step out and help the camera crew find a way through. We've got some really sophisticated mapping software with us. That's what the track's telling us to get into. And there's no way you're driving that. You see, the wet season has just changed things so much that even the track itself gets ridiculously lost. Sometimes you just got to get out on foot and have a bit of a crack at it. I can actually see two old tracks. Or the camera car can get bogged occasionally from time to time as well. See, and this is why you got to get out on foot sometimes and just try and pick a best track through. And even when you do, you know, like we've just seen here, the camera car's completely hung up. The Runvers have been getting an absolute workout all day. But slowly and surely, we're making it north until we hit another crossing of the Dellenport River and the track seems to disappear entirely. I don't know when this track was last driven, mate. It's been a while. A long while. You can tell by, it's got like a couple of years worth of growth. Yeah. And that would sort of work out from the last time you and I were out here. This is pretty, some of the toughest terrain we've been in so far. Yeah, 100%. But we 100% found a track here. Oh no, this has been driven. You come in, you come up here and you turn out through there. Yep. But it hasn't been driven. In a long time. I reckon three years. Yep. What happened three years ago? You and I drove it. Up ahead is a crossing that looks pretty gnarly. We've stuck to the track almost millimetre perfect coming down through here and the track comes directly through here, either side. So for us, it means solid eight foot vertical drop on this side. And you can see what we're dealing with on the other side. It's a real outback challenge stuff, this. So we put a bit of a wager on it. So far, it's a unanimous wager. No go. Not going to make it. You'll be great, mate. We're all gunning for you. I've got this, don't worry. Make this exciting. If I do drive it, I'll get a beer from everyone who doubted me. But if you don't drive it, we all get a beer from you. That's high risk, high reward. I just can't hit this one at speed, so it's going to be a mission. Let's have a quick squeeze. It was a quite steep entry and obviously exit. It's just I can't get enough grip to get up there. Tyres just spin and I sink. I might just dig it out a fraction. Even the prospect of losing a six pack isn't enough to get Sean up this one. You've got to remember, we're not comp spec at the moment. Each one of us is carrying all our fuel, all our water, food for two weeks. You know, we are right on GBM. It's not the conditions that you'd ordinarily climb a wall like that. So I think this winch will be one of the biggest winches you've ever seen in so much is that he's going to literally be coming up vertical to get up out of there. And he's going to be pulling the front of the vehicle into the ground, not up the hill. It's going to be one heck of a winch. Despite a pretty average winch angle, the Rumba has done his job here and gotten Sean through. But the path behind isn't looking much clearer. Well done, Sean-o. Well done. How are you feeling, mate? Well, for me, it goes up and then it goes down and then it goes back up. That's it. Oh dear. Oh no. He's a turtle on a fence post. I thought this might happen. Full belly out. There's nothing quite like having to winch yourself into a challenge to impress your mates. But Az has at least cleared the path for the rest as he sculled drags a 79 forward. Az has opted to stay on the Rumba right through to the exit and I've got to say it's a good call. But the climb out is just a bit too much for the big rig. I think we might put Sean-o about here. We're just going to try and do a double line pull here. A heck of a lot of weight there. No grip. Sandy. Everything's sort of not in our favour if it makes sense to come up that wall. So the more we can put in our favour by halving the load with a double line pull, the better our chances of getting him up. With sooty secured to a tree to hold it in place, the plan is working and the 79 is coming free. It's not there now. Now what you'll probably notice too if you have a look over there, sooty is now three inches longer. You know what, I'll take it. Three inches longer, I'll take that. Yeah, come on through Liam. We're ready for you, mate. Yeah, I'm definitely the heaviest vehicle in the convoy. I reckon he's going to drive this. Here's my bold prediction. All the fruit. Go, go, go, go, go. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. There's zero traction on this sandy stuff and just like the rest of us, Liam has had to opt for the winch. A double line pull again is the answer and the 200 pops up like a cork out of a bottle. Once again, the Umbi has given us an absolute lesson in tough wheeling. But after another big day, we finally find our way clear of the creek system. The days out here have taken on a special kind of rhythm. We're up early, big days and perfect campsites to finish. But where we're headed next is a remote Kimberley camp that is truly special. The famous Paradise Falls. First though, of course, we've got to get there. Paradise is one of those places that's hard to describe. A hidden oasis that is just made even more special by the battle it takes to get here. But at long last, we've arrived. Boys, been a gruelling few days. Shona, you know exactly what is ahead of us. Other boys, you've got no idea. But welcome to Paradise. Yeah, mate, I've heard a lot of stories about this from you boys over the last couple of days. Hey Shona, what time does the pub close at Paradise? I thought it was fairly late. From memory last time, I think we were there until closing time. It's hard to believe, but this is the same river system we've been following for the last three days. But right here, the waters form into a stunning rocky vista with pools to swim in and waters teeming with fish. It's not a bad way to take a breather after almost 10 days of hard slog. Oi, Shona, look at the little freshie. How crazy is this? Three fish, three casts, no joke. That is absolutely epic. Beautiful little sooty. You know, the best bit is, the grime has been cast on the other side by himself. Hasn't got a single fish, three fish in three casts. That is wild. Look at that cast in. Beautiful little soot. Getting back in the water. This has got to be one of the most beautiful places in Australia. And to do all those hard yards of driving tough tracks to get here makes it even more special. And this is a little bonus. There's sooty grunter everywhere. Who calls this? Paradise offers a welcome chance to have a swim, wash some clothes and kick back for an epic Kimberley sunset. And soon we're getting set up for the night. All right, I got my key. My latch stopped working when the water level came up and flooded my little electric latch. So I have to hot wire. There we go. Hot wired. So we are probably about as remote as a person can get in this country of ours. I mean, this part of the Kimberley is absolutely uninhabited. There's no one around for at least 200 kilometres in any direction. And you've seen the terrain. That means multiple days by vehicle. So it's pretty important that we're not only self-sufficient, but also keep ourselves very, very safe. And I want to run through just a couple of things that we take with us in our vehicles to do exactly that. Now, the first one, of course, is a first aid kit. This is from Survival. You've probably seen it on the back of Graham's vehicle. He's got his on the outside. I actually carry mine inside. So he's just behind the seat. It's in a waterproof bag. So it means we can take it anywhere, flood our vehicles. It doesn't really matter. You know, protect the contents. Now, the first thing you'll find is a snake bite kit. Obviously, it goes without saying out here, especially some of the world's deadliest snakes live in the Kimberley. Then, of course, you've got your general first aid kit, which is very comprehensive. It's got everything you need. And just in case you're not an expert when it comes to first aid, you've got this handy little booklet here. And just in a quick glance, you can see exactly what you need to do in an emergency situation. Now, that's the first aid side of things covered. The next thing I carry, I'm very strict about this, is a GME PLB. This goes with me absolutely everywhere. So you'll always find it easy to get to, either in the glove box, centre console, or just in the side pocket like I carry it here. And the little PLB is a really handy bit of kit. It's super simple. Now, should you be in an absolute emergency where you need emergency services straight away, you can activate this. It works in a similar fashion to an EPIRB on a boat, but this one works on land, of course. And in about two seconds, you activate that and send a signal for help. Awesome bit of kit. One of those things is just cheap insurance, if you ask me. I keep it in the four-wheel drive, like I said, and we've got a couple of these in our kit. Now, the other thing as well that I do have, that is a sat phone, and that's for an absolute emergency. Handy to keep in contact. Obviously, all our vehicles have UHF radios, and that's fantastic for keeping communication within the convoy, but should we need to get out to the outside world in an emergency situation, we've got that covered as well. And speaking of communication, it's about time I rustle the boys up because I'm about to start a mean little feed that I think the boys are going to like this one. If ever there was a reason to put the Umbi track on your bucket list, it's right here. This is the Kimberley, about as good as it gets. I've got to say, the big smile is there for a reason. We're at paradise. This place is exactly that. That's my rod, mate. Yeah, fishes really well. Taking a bloke's rod. Well, you were setting up to do all this. Well, I mean, if you're going to take me a rod, at least buy me a beer. I'll buy you a beer, done. Thank you. So yeah, we're doing a bit of a stew tonight. So we want to get that on the go nice and early. It takes about three hours for it to go. Your fish is at a good temp. Appreciate it. Oh, nice and cold, isn't it? Nice and cold. Cheers, bud, by the way. Cheers, mate. We're doing a beef bouillon, by the way. I can't say that second word, so I'm not even going to try. Beef bouillon. Allez-en-France? No, no. Oui? No. Ratatouille. Have a look at this bloke. There's Liam. Liam's come. He caught his very first fish today, mate. Ever. Come in here, Liam. I just got an 84 centimetre then. An 84 centimetre? Okay, we know you're lying. An 80 centimetre full of... Sweetie, grunter. What are you making here? You'll be driving an 80 series soon with that attitude. That's pretty enough. A beef... Beef bouillon, bejesus. Bejesus. Where's that from? Bouillon. The key with this, opposed to most stews that you'll do, you want to cook all your ingredients separately, put them aside, then do the base and put everything back in. That said, you can just chuck everything in there Look how fancy this is. It's got a bit of green stuff. Don't throw that away. Might need that later. So far, we've got the beef component. When does the ballsy bum come in? I just pulled this out of the medic. I'm hoping we've got pork rashers. That beef is looking nice and browned off. We're going to put that straight into the pan, mate. Yep. So we're going to whack a bit of that in. That provides a little bit of fat. Might tip some out. We didn't need all them, obviously. Heck of a lot of bacon. Yeah, what we're going to do, actually, butter. I've got some butter. That comes from France too, I think. Butter? If you say butter. Everything comes from France. So it might shock a lot of you guys, but I can actually speak the language I love. All that training. That training I did in France, mate, was not wasted. How'd you go over there? Did you pick up? I did. I picked up some bread, some... Milk. Some milk. Oh, that sunset is just looking absolutely... Oh my goodness. Speaking the language of love. To be honest... Imagine just being out here with your significant other. I know. Just watching that sunset. I haven't had a chance to wash in those... Oh, have you not had... This is where a bit of holy trinity, in my opinion, comes in. Garlic, butter and onions. Garlic. Yeah. And then we're going to put those mushroom rushrooms. I've actually got four cans. Yeah, even a fair bit of mushroom in there. Really? Yeah, you've got to be careful though. Why? So they're browning off nicely. Just opened a bottle of wine. It's the finest you can get for 10 bucks. A whole bottle. I get the... It is a fair bit of wine. I get the bouillabon bit. We'll whack them all in. Wow. We'll get that heat right up. We want that to boil. Well, that's starting to look like it should now. We've got, obviously, the wine. We've put the beef stock in. The smell. And it's got a lot of smell going on, which is a good smell, mind you. Oh, it's divine. I'm going to turn that heat down a little bit. Little bit of a... Yeah. Down south. Flavour. A little bit of that green stuff. Bit of nimbin. In we go. Put that in. That's parsley, by the way. It's not. I'm being silly, folks. A bit of tomato paste is going in. There we go. That is looking fantastic. And I'm going to turn the heat right down. And guess what? Now we wait. And while we wait, we hydrate. Yeah. Wow. How does it look? Beautiful, mate. I've just turned the heat off. Oh my goodness, mate. And that is looking... You've added carrots, I see, you chef. I have. I forgot the carrots. Sneaky little devil. I forgot the carrots and I remembered halfway through. I was like, oh. Boys, come on in, mate. Come on. We're on. Beef bouillon. Now, if you can't remember that... What did he say? Beef bouillon? Bougie. So no one can say it properly. So just call it... Just call it paradise stew. Yeah, you know what I'm doing there. Have a look at that, mate. Oh, you're going, going. Paradise stew. And if you think this is good, I mean, this place is pretty spectacular. Amazing. It's one of the best places I've ever been. However, tomorrow we go to the Berkeley. Now, you guys never been there. I've talked it up a lot. And for good reason too. Amazing place. You'll get to see that. It's really amazing. Well, I don't know about that, mate. You just sit down there and enjoy it. Enjoy your stew. Paradise is the kind of place that just begs for you to park up for a few days and soak in the view. But the reality is we still have over half the umbi track ahead of us and we have to make a mile. So we're up and about early this morning and getting ready for the next big push. Paradise by name, paradise in real life. 10 days to get here over some of the rockiest, toughest terrain you'll ever tackle. It's just an arduous trip. It just tests every little piece you've got with you. I can't recommend it more highly though, having said that. You can do it, of course. Get in touch with Ronnie. You can jump on one of his tours and it should be right up there. I mean, if you want to test yourself and your vehicle on the ultimate low range four-wheel drive track in Australia, this is it right here. Looking at these falls just now, this is without a doubt the deepest I've ever seen it and we're seeing more and more of that boggy ground as we go north. So it does have me not worried, but interested for what that northern section holds for us. If you do get the chance to come to a place like this, can't stress highly enough, just slow down, take a bit of time and suck it in because this, said it before, I'll say it again, this is what it's all about. Big push today all the way to the Berkeley. Excited. Paradise Falls marks roughly the halfway point of our journey along the track and it's at this point that you start to question whether you calculated your fuel, water and food supplies correctly. These two jerrycans significant because that's it for me now. That's my allotment of fuel done. The range is doable, 100%. That distance is 100% doable, but we're looking at another week-ish. It's always one of those moments. You put your last year jerrycan in, then you do the calculations. I've got that much in it. After a day or two without any major mechanical dramas, today there's a fresh problem. Oh, you've got to be joking me. The D-Max has lost power steering, probably due to a blown rack and he's now got to steer the big girl Popeye spec. That is going to be quite the mission to get out of here. Well, boys, that was a stunning night in paradise. Mate, one of the best spots off camp, I reckon. Quite literally paradise. My first time catching that finish, it was unbelievable. Oh, boys, I'm puffing because I've got zero power steering in the old girl. Just getting off these rocks is going to be a bit of a challenge. Maybe I'll jump up front today then and lead the way. Yeah, copy that. With paradise behind us, we're pushing west in search of our next big milestone, the Berkeley River. But there's several more crossings to get through first, just a few k's out of camp. It's the first with the power steering completely gone. Lucky the Umbi track doesn't have any rocks, right? The D-Max power steering issue is one we are ill-equipped to fix in the bush. As a result, I'm driving the rest of the Umbi strong arm style. Power steering, who needs it? It's not long until we're up on another crossing and this one looks a whole lot more serious. Our final crossing of the Delancourt River. Wow, that looks very soft too. We'll get us to pull the plug out for five minutes and drain it a little bit. Looks very crocky. We might even pre-arrange it so we've got a heavy vehicle behind me. Yep, I do go down. It can be a nice anchor point. Yep. Yeah, good luck to one of you guys who need to swim out after me because I reckon I'll get stuck either in this bit or right up in there. In any other spot, you'd be walking a crossing like this to suss the line before committing. But out here, that just isn't an option. The rivers of the Kimberley are home to deadly saltwater crocs and if you don't watch out, you could be lunch. That makes going first in a crossing like this all the more daunting. All right, boys. Baz, are you ready, mate? Mate, as ready as I can be. I've got the winch all hooked up at the front there, ready for someone to grab it. Here we go. Pretty loose, pretty deep. Big rocks. Beautiful! Mate, I think you might have this. Look at that tree behind you, mate. The exit is clogged up with muddy silt from the wet season and the 80s rear end is soon tangled in the muck. That's the most graceful thing I've ever seen. There's a big stick right on the door. I'm starting off with a short straight line pull. I just want to get the car out of the water. Yep. Get over your door too. Let's go do a better recovery now, a big one. Well, look, all things considered, that's actually pretty darn good. I know the exit's a bit how you're going, but the exit's the exit. That's all right. You're across there. What I was really concerned about is the unknown in here. This was good and I just simply couldn't see down in there. And you know what it's like up here. That could have been four foot deep, could literally have been 10 foot deep. So it's actually pretty good. I'm happy with that. We've already seen just how little traction there is on these steep river banks. And once again, it's going to take a big winch to make it through. There he goes. Yeah, buddy. Yeah, I've got it. It's a huge relief when you get your first vehicle across. Oh, that was a bit of a mission. Worked the sweat off and everything. And now we have some better recovery options for the rest of the crew. For a river crossing up here, we're the first ones of the season. Totally unknown as to what's going on underneath there. There could have been another log. There could have been anything. That is, that's perfect. It really is perfect. Only negative we've got is that it's a right hand turn. Out of the river, right hand turns up a steep bank. Beautiful. If you've got power steering. We've got power steering, baby. Oh, my arms. That'll do. Well done. We'll take that. We'll take that all day. This is going to be one hell of a winch. I was hoping the 79 might have cut a bit of steepness out of that bank, but it looks just as messy. And this is going to be a tough one for the D-MAX. Steering, steering would be lovely. A power steering failure isn't the only drama I'm battling. Some 12-volt gremlins have popped up over the last few days, and I'm not getting any power to the winch right now. So we're getting creative on this one, and Az is going to use his rumber to get the D-MAX up. Steep old bank. Well done, boys. Liam's the last one across the crossing, and once again, everything has been prepared before hitting the water. There we are, under tension. With Liam through, another big challenge on the Umbi is done and dusted. But the Dallancourt River isn't quite done with us yet. This section of the track is pretty much underwater during the wet, and that means fallen trees and dense undergrowth to navigate. The high water levels are our biggest concern as we push forward along the track. We've got three major river crossings between us and the finish. The Berkeley, the King George, and the infamous Drysdale. If we can't cross any of the rivers, we'd be effectively stuck out here till the water levels recede. And the condition of the Dallancourt tells us what could be ahead. It's actually quite a deep crossing. You can see where they've lined it in the past with rocks. It's definitely the crossing right here, but it's concerning. Further north we go, the more water we're seeing. Can't go back, can only go forward. That's what we're going to do. Off we go, I guess. Track is now open, boys. Come on, strong arms. Rips that steering wheel out of your hands. Oh, you gotta fight it. With everyone through the Dallancourt safely, the Berkeley River becomes the next target on the list. But it turns out our mechanical problems are far from over. And suddenly, Sean finds himself in very hot water. My leverage is reading like high off the dial, but I don't think it's that hot. Yeah, it's definitely hitting the shroud. Is that the shroud, is that? Yeah, definitely. Quite lucky I found this when I did, because if you just left it, you could cook your engine. That's probably the worst case scenario. And imagine cooking your engine out here would be absolutely horrible. So this shroud, we just try to turn it on, then it just keeps falling out. A couple of cable ties might fix it. And hopefully that's all it is, because I'm trying to find if, make sure no stick's gone through a radiator. That would be worst case scenario, but it doesn't look like that's happened, which is really lucky. Even with the shroud cleared, Sooty's tent refuses to come down. It's like over the top of hot. Like it almost, I don't believe it. It's overheated. And it looks like the problem here might be a whole lot more serious. Oh yeah, a lot of coolant down here. That's coolant. I've got a bit of a horrible feeling that I might have a hole in my radiator. I reckon a stick was punched somewhere, quite small, and we'll find out in two seconds when I go fill it up. But I've got bugger all fluid in there. That's why she's getting hot, makes sense. So the fan was one thing. But I think it might be more sinister. I'm going to fill it up before we make any judgment, but we'll see. With hundreds of kilometres of track up ahead and behind us, we're about as remote in Australia as you can be right now. And if the radiator is buggered, we're going to be in for a whole lot of strife. It's gone from bad to worse. That overheating issue is a little bit more sinister. It's the last thing that I wanted to say, but I think I've got a massive hole in my radiator. We're about halfway to the distance, folks. In terms of actual kilometres to go. We'd be at about the halfway point. I don't know how to fix this one. We're going to have to probably pull the radiator out, which is a big job on an 80 series. And I hope like heck we can fix it because otherwise we're not going too far. You want to see how we get out of this one? Better tune in to the next episode. If we get out of this one. For now, let's get creative, eh? Next time on 4WD 24-7. We attempt a desperate bush mechanic fix to get Sooty back on the move. Well, it's absolutely buggered. The track throws down the wettest conditions of the trip. As we battle to make it to the finish of the mighty Umugari track. Wow, that's a decent sized one. It's conquer or bust as we face huge crossings. Oh my goodness. Was I floating? Deep mud and even more breakages until we hit one roadblock we could never have prepared for. You can see what I can see right straight in front of us. Oh no, engine just turned off. Don't miss the final chapter of our Kimberley adventure coming soon to YouTube.