Bribie Island

25 June 2000

 

       

Another beautiful day in Queensland - not a cloud in the sky as we approached the Bribie bridge at about 9:15 am and heard a call on the CB "All left the car park Dave". It was tail end Dave telling trip leader Ron P that all were on the move and, yes, we were late again! A quick call to Dave on the CB had him waiting for us at the roundabout and we all headed towards Woorim on the other side of the island, turning left about half way across for a quick regroup. There were about a dozen cars, most of them Subarus. Hmm - thought this was going to be an easy trip with a few mudholes. The first large waterhole we came to defeated first Ron in his Challenger and then Bruce in his MY before Ron found another way through. It was quite long and deep but good underfoot and we all got through with the loss of one blind which is still somewhere in the mud at the bottom.  

Ron called a halt for morning tea while we contemplated the next mud hole. Ultimately, it was decided that discretion was the better part of valour and we retraced our steps and went the other way - no disgrace as the group of Landrovers ahead of us did exactly the same after first drowning one of their vehicles!

Our L series was spluttering and later stopped, courtesy of a lost distributor cap gasket gone AWOL sometime between now and the last Bribie trip 2 years ago.

Through some more small waterholes to another long one and the instructions "keep left" - I did but didn't pay attention to where Bruce in the car ahead veered right again. Stuck in soft mud, I knew it was important that I stay In control of my vehicle in the driver's seat, so I sent Lyn out in the knee-deep murky water to take the snatch strap to Bruce to pull us out.

The next hole was short and reasonably deep for those who wanted to make a splash, or more sedate for those who took the long way around. This was the scene of the photo on Page 10 of the July mag - the bow wave was necessary of course, to keep the water out of the distributor!

On to the top of the island, a very crowded car park and lunch in the National Park. Very good of the Park to supply all that tank water to clean out Wayne M's radiator!

Heading back down the island after lunch saw more of the same, along a track forming the boundary between the logging area and native bush. Cameron got his rear wheel stuck in a hole and was towed out. Andrew tried to drown his engine with the air intake on the Liberty being just above the grille. But the best was yet to come when Ron got stuck In a rather large wash‑out at a rather precarious angle with two wheels in the air. The usual attempts to get out under the Challenger's own power followed. Those who tried to help by adding weight over suspended wheels ail ended up showered in mud. Finally the snatch straps were unrolled and after three attempts, Bruce towed him out. Cameron, next in line, thought he'd show Ron how it was done, but ended up in the same position and had to be pulled out by Ron. Dave made it but the rest of us took the easy, but off the beaten track, way around the side (watch the paintwork!). After that excitement it was definitely time to head home via the wide sandy road down the middle of the Island. Plenty of room here to practise your skid recovery in 2WD. As the day was still young by the time we returned to the meeting area, several cars headed to the `sandpit' for some more fun before going home. The rest of us went home to wash our cars!

          

Bribie is always a fun day out - thanks to Ron for organizing this one.

Barry and Lyn Beard SC 452