Desley
and I rose very early on the Friday morning of
the Australia Day long weekend so that we could arrive
at the designated meeting place at BP Burpengary early
enough to enjoy a peaceful coffee before the drive
to the Charlie Moreland Campground at Kenilworth. The
only fault in that idea was that it was doomed to failure
from the start - most of Brisbane had the same idea! The
weather however was kind to us with light cloud cover, but very sultry.
Day 1
After meeting and greeting the other Club members commencing this
adventure at Burpengary, Barry (our trusty Trip
Leader) checked his Trip Sheet to account for all those attending
and arrange for signatures.
Members
attending were:-
| Barry
and Chris - Discovery |
Anthony
and Naomi - Range Rover LSE |
| Merv
and Carmel - Discovery |
Graeme
and Desley - Range Rover |
| Frank
and Kaylene - Discovery |
Linton
and Lois - Discovery II |
| Robert
and Anita (Jasmine & Mitchell) - Discovery |
Shane
- Holden Rodeo |
| Dean
and Abi (and Nelson)Defender |
Steve
(on Saturday) Discovery 3 |
| Stephanie,
Tegan and Sarah - any available vehicle |
|
We
soon departed for the drive north at a leisurely pace due to
the traffic being by now quite heavy, with Barry flying
two Australian flags from his camper
trailer, being relevant to the occasion.
However, once we left the highway, the remaining drive
to Kenilworth was easy going and very scenic. The countryside
was all shades of green and it was difficult to image that
the whole country is in the grip of a drought. Upon
arriving at the Charlie Moreland Camp Grounds around 10:30am,
we were welcomed by Merv and Carmel
who had arrived ahead of us and had partially set up.
It also appeared
that most of Brisbane had already arrived there too! Our
small band was then set the task of finding suitable space to
set up. This we did, but in three separate camping areas. More
Australian flags were broken out and flown from our campsites.
After
lunch, it was time for a drive! So Barry led a group onto
the local tracks which included two dead ends (one being
so narrow
along the side of a ridge, that we all had to reverse
some distance before we could attempt an eight (?) point
turn to
head back) and then a fairly deep (about 80cm) creek
crossing, which only three weeks prior was only about
15 cm deep.
We soon found another challenge; a large fallen tree
across a track with no way of getting around it. The band
of travellers
descended upon the culprit and soon had it moved
aside. By now it was getting close to ‘wine time’,
so upon arriving back at the campsites
we gathered for evening nibblies and drinkies
near the Rob / Dean campsites on the lower
side of the campgrounds.
Day
2
The following
morning Steve (who had driven there
to meet with us for the day) joined us in his brand new Disco
3
prior to our embarking on a morning trip to the local points
of
interest, which included the Kenilworth Cheese Factory and
the Bluff Winery. After enjoying many samples of the fine local
cheese (the Classic Mature Cheddar being my favourite)
purchases were made to enjoy later on at our leisure; these
included Macadamia Satay and Raspberry Yogurt Smoothie.
It was then on to the local winery for more tastings with Cellar
Door purchases and Imbil, then Borumba Dam for lunch. From
there, local forestry tracks led back to the campsite. Desley
and I had earlier decided to return to the campsite from the
Cheese Factory for some R-n-R. (See Rob’s seperate report)
The
group returned early afternoon for a break. Then, around
3:00pm Barry decided there were more challenging tracks
to drive
and led out four other vehicles (Robert, Frank, Steve,
and Shane) eager to find some. Along the way came the
comment
over the UHF radio ‘when are we going to see
some hills?’. Well, this did not
take long at all and some were soon found
featuring (for want of any other description) challenging
and near vertical ascents and descents. All vehicles showed
their
true capabilities and completed these with ease. Upon
returning to camp, we agreed this trip had rounded off the
day
nicely. Shortly afterwards, we gathered (as if with one mind)
to finish off the day with nibblies and drinkies, again near
the Rob / Dean campsites. New members
Anthony and Naomi went on all the drives
and thoroughly enjoyed themselves from all
reports, as did Steve in his new Disco 3.
Day 3
Sunday morning came and saw most of us breaking camp
early and preparing for the return journey to Brisbane
after a great
long weekend. Although we had enjoyed the weekend
without rain (to the delight of the ‘under canvas campers’)
some light showers were encountered between Kenilworth
and
the Pacific Highway. A tremendous vote
of thanks and appreciation must go to
Barry for organising such an adventure filled
and enjoyable long
weekend of camping and driving. This area is not
too far from the city and has many local features
and driving tracks which we must go back to enjoy
again some time soon.
Graeme
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