Saturday dawned,
a perfect morning for a drive south. We met with David & Larissa
on the north side of Brisbane. We were travelling separately
to the main group as we decided
to make a breakfast stop on route. As it turned out, we passed
Graeme’s
group waiting at the Dreamworld starting point around 8.00am,
only 30 minutes separating us on arrival at the park ultimately.
In
all, the following club members and one visitor enjoyed
the trip:
| Graeme & Desley – Classic
Range Rover |
Bob – Discovery |
| Richard & Deidre – Classic
Range Rover |
Tony & Suzie – Discovery |
| John,
Sue & Griffen – Classic Range Rover |
Robert & Joanne – Discovery |
| Charles & Ariane – Defender
130 |
Rob,
Anita, Jasmine & Mitchell – Discovery |
| Dean,
Abigail & Nelson – Defender 130 |
Paul & Kay – Discovery |
| Dennis – Defender
130 |
Brian & Gayanne – Toyota
Cruiser |
| David & Larissa – Defender
110 |
Robbie |
The trip
was a terrific outcome, considering the early planning woes. Many
thanks
to Graeme for restoring the weekend on
track and coordinating events with Brian, a local
resident of the area and member of the club. The trip down
was uneventful except a small wrong turn at Murwillumbah,
requiring a slight detour before arriving at the park around
9:45am.
The
park staff was well tuned up for the Range Rover club after numerous
phone calls and last minute bookings.
They
were extremely obliging, and I sensed had gone to great
pains to ensure we could all camp together in a designated
area with ample room for a campfire and social gathering.
On reflection, the designated camp area for the club proved
to be a godsend as the alternate wilderness camping
area was packed with tents and caravans like sardines in a
can, with noisy campers and certainly no privacy.
After a well-earned lunch, and being entertained by the Rob’s
demonstration on the how to erect their new palace (Pop-up
caravan), Brian discussed the afternoon’s activity
options. These included a visit to a private property
for some 4wd action, then a visit to a local dairy.
By 3:00pm
we were on the road to a local farm for some spectacular sight seeing
and
4wd adventure. As always, Brian upheld
his reputation for hosting a most enjoyable outing. We gingerly
drove some steep hill sections to enjoy panoramic views
of Mt Warning from the South, before the more serious part
of the afternoon. We then travelled up a recently blazed track giving
both low range and centre diff locks some much needed
work. On arriving near the top, Brian announced that the section
down was steep, and that driver care and concentration should
prevail. Suddenly there was deathly silence over the two-way
as we all contemplated our fate or fortune. The
radio crackled with Brian announcing that his vehicle only
slid a few metres in the steepest section, overriding low
range first gear. With that I had to restore faith with
Abigail and convince her we were in a Defender– and
all would be sweet. Little did she know I was slightly packing
it. The initial sight of Richard’s Range Rover disappearing
over the edge with full underbelly exposed, suddenly hit
on the concept of steepness. Further followed by Deidre’s
radio communications, we were committed and followed. A
mixture of loose gravel, steepness, and trees at a close
proximity certainly reinforced the need for concentration.
On reaching the bottom, Abigail was confused: she was sure
at one stage the back was going to pass the front. Little
confidence. In all, the two-way discussion ranged from holy
sh..t to awesome. A number of passengers were white knuckled,
with a few drivers leaving skid marks all over the track.
If this wasn’t enough, Brian had an alternate
track for the diehards. In all, four vehicles
attempted the slippery incline with only one requiring assistance
by way of their electric winch. I understood
the track to be covered in fine bull dust and gravel making
traction extremely difficult and dusty for visibility.
Well done to Tony who successfully managed to
get himself out of a difficult situation and those who encouraged
him in 4WD recovery techniques. (Ed: Story next month.)
Once all
vehicles were back in convoy, the firewood was loaded and we sped
off for the diary farm. On route, Brian
graciously returned to the park to retrievetwo late arrivals
ensuring they wouldn’t miss out on the dairy
farm visit. On arrival at the dairy,
we were invited in small groups to enter the
yards to witness how the cows were milked. This was
a very informative talk presented by
the farmer and Brian. The children had the opportunity to
mingle with day-old calves. I had never realised how
involved it would be to own, work a dairy and make
a living. I recall Brian saying this was the last commercial
dairy working in the area, of which there were scores
in the past 100 years. Returning to the park, we set
about preparing the curry dinner smorgasbord. A number
of us had arranged to cook separate dishes to share.
The evening was pleasant enjoying the company of others,
over wine and good food. The less tired sat around
the campfire reflecting on the afternoon what ifs.
Many thanks to
Glenn at the Mt Warning Caravan and Camping Park for making our stay
pleasant. The park is an excellent
venue for exploring the surrounding country. Many thanks
to Brian and his wife, Gayanne for their hospitality and
commitment to organising the weekend events.. This was certainly
a memorable club weekend enjoyed by all.
Dean
