Landcruiser Park

25 - 26 October 1997

Saturday

Well, it was an early start to the weekend for most as the meeting time in Kilcoy was set down for 8:00 am.

Doug and I in my unlifted L-Series, Rik in the yellow Brumby and Adrian Band friends in a 4Runner got into Kilcoy at 7:45am to find Royce and co already there raring to go. Graeme & Julie rocked up a little later in the Brumby. Dave M and Brad & Judy in their Brumbies were the stragglers. After Doug got bagged a bit more for the early start we headed off for the park which was around a 45 min drive on bitumen and gravel roads.

Giving Rikki's Brumby the once-over

On arrival at the park we dropped into the office to pay the dues and sign in. It was good to see the countryside looking green as they had two inches of rain earlier that week. Some of the guys that had been on the last club trip (about 3 years ago) were surprised that they had done a fair bit of work with the buildings and the owners now live on-site.

Setting up camp was the next item on the agenda and this was followed by the mandatory looking over each others vehicles to see what had been added/modified since last trip.

The first track we set off on was the club rally circuit which had a reasonably steep descent with fairly big ruts. I managed to temporarily rest my car against a tree without any damage. Further down a few of us took the chicken track, while the more adventurous took the main track which provided some entertainment with a good deal of wheel popping.

From there we proceeded to what I’ll call "Powder Hill" which was steep, rutted and an immense amount of powdery dust. Rik, Royce, Dave and Adrian had a big play on this hill, but no-one managed to conquer it. Most took the chicken track around the side without incident. Dave M managed to break the seal on one of his tyres and a quick tyre change was in order.

Then we went on to have a play in the pig pen. No-one was game to have a go at the main dam, or the deeper runs either side. Feeling a bit peckish, we followed the track around and made our way back to camp for lunch.

Dave spent a little while trying to get the stones out that were in the bead of his tyre but nobody had a heavy enough vehicle to break the bead. After lunch we took a run along Timber Road which had a good climb and most had to pick a good line to get up. Nobody told Rik and he crunched the exhaust and turned the Brumby into a VW sound-a-like.

Following on around we came to the test track which runs along Diaper Creek and involved going through a rocky creek bed at the start. First to go through was Adrian followed by the John in the 4Runner. After making it through the creek, the 4Runner took on a 2-3 foot high boulder and the bullbar lost. Lucky he was only going slow. The rest of the crew made it through without incident. Graeme in the Brumby had 13" wheels and was not overly convinced he could make it through and still drive to work on Monday. After a bit of encouragement and guiding from Royce he made it through no problems.

The beginning of Rikki's damp weekend

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the sort of track my unlifted L wanted to go through, so I took a different track and met everybody at the other end. The only event along the test track that I know of was Graeme doing a tyre on the Brumby. Brad and Judy and Graeme and Julie decided they had sufficient 4wdriving for the day and headed back to camp while the rest went on to Troopie trail. It provided another steep well rutted track on which Royce showed us all how to launch the Golden Galloper and make it up. The others gave it a go and Dave Martin came close, but it proved to be too difficult.

After completing Troopie trail we set off for camp and met up with Rob Peters in the "Mighty Hilux" (later to become known as the "Mighty Submarine") who had just arrived at the park, fixed a flat tyre on the camper and was on his way to the camp site.

Everyone got stuck into the domestic duties of cooking tea, eating and cleaning up before heading to gather around the campfire to find somebody had started a drinking game of coming up with a name celebrity who’s first name started with the first letter of the surname of the previous celebrity. It actually proved quite entertaining and I found you can find out a lot about a person by the celebrities they were naming. Among the popular celebrities were the super models and rally/racing car drivers.

During the festivities, friends of Brad’s turned up in a Mazda Bravo to join us for the Sunday driving. Progressively everyone hit the sack to get some sleep in anticipation of another fun day on the Sunday.

This was my first off road trip with the club and it was a most enjoyable trip. Thanks to Doug for organising it and thanks to those who could make it.

Peter Beil SC433

Sunday

As usual, I was first up, out and about on Sunday morning to the sounds of the bush bird life. Out came the trusty BBQ and breakfast was on the table.

After everyone had finished breakfast, we made our way to the "Pig Pen" (a collection of humps and mud holes) where the fun began. After playing in most of the mud holes, I drove the Mighty Hilux into a water hole which I was told was only two feet deep. Well up over the bonnet came the water and I thought "here's trouble" and shut down the engine.

Watching the tide come in ...... and out of the "Mighty Hilux Submarine"

After we all had a good laugh about my stuff up, we decided we better drag it out with Jeff doing the honours in his trusty Brumby. After the tide had gone out of the cab, we took the glow plugs out to clear the cylinders, as some water had leaked into the engine while she was reclining in her mud bath.

After her minor surgery, away she went, next mudhole here we come. Rikki and I attempted this one. Not a problem for the 'Mighty Hilux' but Rikki had about four attempts (and half a can of dewatering fluid) before he finally made it through.

After a few more tracks we were heading back to camp for lunch when Ricky again ground to a halt. What's the matter Rikki? What have you done to the Brumby? The left hand rear suspension had parted company with the body, dropping the tailshaft out of the gearbox. With the help of Royce and his trusty toolbox (again) we got the car going so it could limp home.

As I had several hours of cleaning the truck ahead of me, I packed up and went home earlier than some of the others.

The moral of the story is - Always check the depth of the water yourself or you could end up pretty deep in the S*** - as the pictures tell. But at least I had a go!

Rob Peters and the Mighty Hilux SC401