MUSCLE MEMORY has me instinctively reach to indicate left. I’ve been at this intersection countless times, and almost all of them see me pointing my nose west. I’m at the helm of the 2022 Ford Ranger Raptor – a vehicle with promise so outlandish it seems like something dreamt up by a hallucinating toddler – with Reefton Spur at my back. Reefton is one of Melbourne’s greatest driving roads, as well as one of its most well-known. This, in turn, results in plenty of traffic, particularly on weekends. If you tackle C511 from Warburton, the done thing once you reach Cumberland Junction is take an easy left, transition to C512 (Marysville-Woods Point Road) and follow the winding black ribbon to the excellent Lake Mountain.
Not today. Instead, we are eschewing tradition and heading east. The reason this is such a rare decision is that what was once the sublime tarmac of Reefton Spur becomes unsealed dirt, beaten into submission by the logging trucks that haul their loads out of the surrounding forests. We’ve attempted before to traverse this road in vehicles unafraid to get their treads dirty – the Subaru WRX and Toyota GR Yaris – but the road conditions were such that we were forced to turn around, muddy tail between legs.
Hence my vehicle of choice for the day – the most serious and capable off-road machine that money can buy in Australia while still having a licence plate
