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.
Sunraysia Safari Hits the Tracks
TThe Sunraysia Safari Cross Country Rally starts this week and this years event will be well worth following. Over 30 Bikes and 25 Autos will line up for the start of the 2019 Sunraysia Safari, the third consecutive year for this popular event. The Sunraysia Safari is the longest Cross Country Rally in Australia, and is based out of the township of Wentworth, just north of the border between Victoria and NSW. The event base [...]
O’Malley Prepares for Rally of Bathurst After Breakthrough Season
Pictures by Roy Meuronen. After a standout first full season in the Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship, James O’Malley is preparing to return to the stages in 2026, beginning with the upcoming Shamrock Haulage Rally of Bathurst. O’Malley enjoyed a strong campaign in 2025, securing first place in the NSW Rally Championship for the 1601–2000cc two-wheel-drive class, finishing third in the outright two-wheel-drive standings, and placing sixth outright. The results marked an impressive milestone in [...]
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 [...]
The Mav – Ford Maverick Winch Truck
Peter Bannister competes in a 1992 model Ford Maverick, affectionately call “The Mav”. He and Navigator Josh Flynn were last seen competing at round 1 of the 2016 COMEUP Xtreme Winch Challenge series, but due to a few issues on Friday night and Saturday, could only manage to finish 7th outright. The Mav has a Ford badge on it, but is essentially a Nissan Patrol after Ford rebadged the model for sale in Australia back [...]
NSW Development Rally Series – Datto Wins!
Michael and Erin Valantine achieved first outright in the 2017 Techworkz Automotive New South Wales Development Rally Series – or DRS. The MV Solar team of Father and Daughter, started out on a high, with a win at the first of the six-round series in their 2WD Datsun Stanza. The Singleton Automotive Caves Classic rally was the opening round, and a win here was exactly the start to the season Valantine was looking for. Suffering from [...]
Hatton ‘Super Excited’ As Rallying Returns
Photo: Sydney rally driver JJ Hatton is back in action this weekend. By Team Release JJ Hatton is back behind the wheel of his Hyundai i20 rally car this weekend, when the sport resumes after the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s been a long time between drinks for the Sydneysider, but this weekend’s Batemans Bay based ‘Rally of the Bay’ will finally see him raising the dust against a top class field. The rally is the first round of [...]
New Isuzu D-Max X-Terrain Impresses
By John McCredie After taking the D-Max LSU for a drive last week, this week we are having a drive of the top of the range D-Max X-Terrain. The X-Terrain features coloured guard flares and matching coloured grille. It also has a nicely matched and sleek Aero bar on the back with a roller tooneau cover. The tub also comes lined, but as we’d find out after our off road trip, the roller cover and [...]
Arnhem Land – NT
By John McCredie In the North of Australia is a land area called Arnhem Land. It is an Aboriginal reserve that covers almost 100,000 square kilometres and has some of the most remote communities in Australia. You could say that the Aboriginal people own this land and whilst that is essentially true, the idea of ownership has quite a different meaning in their culture. Recently I was privileged enough to be able [...]
Monaro Stages to decide Champion
This year’s Kosciuszko Automotive Monaro Stages Rally is set to be one of the best the NSW State Championship will witness. Being the final event of the series, the battle between the leading teams is set to be intense. Held over some of the best roads in the Comma and Bombala area, rally teams can expect some fast-flowing shire roads combined with well maintained forestry roads. The battle for the championship win will between the NSW [...]
