ABOUT US
ON THE DIRT was created as a YouTube channel back in the first year that YouTube came into being, 2007. In those days, it was the personal YouTube account of John McCredie with a few little videos of some 4WD trips he had done with family and friends. John had always had a passion for gravel rallying and even won the Australian Rally Championship for pocket rockets in the front wheel drive 0-1300cc category. From there, this passion extended to four-wheel-driving and in 2009 John and his two sons Nathan and Jacob filmed their first 4WD Winch Comp.
The YouTube Channel soon started to grow in both popularity and size (number of videos) and was changed from the name OHM26 to ON THE DIRT. With more videos being produced and more 4wd and rally content being uploaded, the channel now has over 14,000 subscribers and almost 5 million views.
The Accent on Working Dogs at Bonalbo
It was a completely new event to all at the 2019 Accent Benchtops Working Dog Rally. A joint MTA NSW Rally Championship, Queensland Championship and East Coast Classic Rally Series event that saw 49 cars and crews take to the stages around the small northern NSW town of Bonalbo on a crisp July Saturday morning. The battle for the MTA NSW Rally Championship in particular was rejoined, as championship leaders Richard Shimmon and co driver [...]
Moynihan Swaps Seats for Midstate Freight Caves Classic Rally
Moynihan in action at the Bulahdelah Rally. PHOTO Gravel Pics Eoin Moynihan is well known in rallying circles as the affable co-driver for Tom Demody. Dermody and Moynihan were the winners of the inaugural East Coast Classic Rally Series in 2018 in a Mk2 RS1800 Ford Escort. However, whilst Moynihan may be experienced in calling the notes from the passenger side, he has also sat in the opposite seat, and back in 2014 and 2015 drove [...]
COMEUP Xtreme Winch Challenge Series Round 2 – 2016
The second round of the 2016 Comeup Xtreme Winch Challenge series was held on the last weekend of June in what turned out to be a very muddy and cold three-day event. The winching competition was held at Mt Borah, 18km north west of the small township of Manilla in central New South Wales. With temperatures lucky to reach double digits and snow falling in the surrounding localities, seven teams lined up to start the [...]
MacDonald Valley – NSW
The MacDonald valley is an easy trip close to Sydney with some great scenery and simple river crossings. Suited to any type of 4wd, and even the adventurous 2wd, the track follows the MacDonald River from St Albans. There are a number of crossings of the MacDonald River along the way and some of these are bridges, whilst towards the end they become open sand based river crossings. I would certainly not attempt this trip [...]
Big Names Set to Battle for Glory at the 2025 Lazer Rally of the Bay
With a near full field and entries capped at 65, anticipation is building for the 2025 Lazer Rally of the Bay on Saturday 2nd August. The iconic Batemans Bay based event is the next round of the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship, East Coast Classic Rally Series (ECCRS) and introduces the Shamrock Haulage RD Cup, a regularity rally for new and seasoned competitors. The weekend promises to bring fierce competition across all categories. Crews will tackle ten demanding stages, [...]
FJ55 Land Cruiser – The Ugly One
Loved and Hated. The FJ55 Land Cruiser was a 4WD that divided 4WD enthusiasts. It looks and styling was loved by some, hated by others! Toyota's 4WD production started way back in 1941 when the Japanese Army took a Jeep, that they had acquired during the occupation of the Philippines, and sent it back home and ordered Toyota to make something similar. Then in the 1950's, the US Army commissioned Toyota to make 100 vehicles similar [...]
4WD Winch Challenge Heats up in Cold Conditions
With overnight temperatures dropping into the negatives, about the only thing hot at the recent round of the Comeup Xtreme Winch Challenge (XWC) series was the winching action! 12 teams lined up on a bitterly cold Friday night at the Springvale property in the small country town of Wallabadah, just south of Tamworth for Round 2 of the popular series. With three stages set to challenge teams in the dark, it would be the Toyota [...]
Mitsubishi Pajero NP 2002 Review
The Mitsubishi Pajero is a very popular four-wheel drive in Australia, and whilst many of them are just glorified wagons to pick up the kids from school, as an off roader, they go alright. Today, we’re going to take a look at the very first NP model Pajero as a second-hand buy. And the model we’re reviewing is a 3.5 litre, Petrol, top of the Range, very late 2002, Exceed. Mitsubishi designed a monocoque body for [...]
Roads of the Victorian High Country
The Victorian High Country has plenty to offer the adventurous types. Spectacular views, fantastic camping opportunities and for the 4WD enthusiast, some of the best and in many cases challenging roads in Australia. In the video below, we're going to show you some of the roads we used on a recent trip up into the Alps, and to start off the journey, we need to cross the mighty Murray River from NSW into Victoria. The [...]
