Spicers Gap 8 Apr 01

This was not a typical Sunday for me.  To begin with I was up at 6:30 getting organised for my first trip to Spicers Gap.  The Brumby was rearing to go with some borrowed 14-inch Peugeot rims and A/T tyres (thanks Shane) instead of my dreaded 13-inch stocko wheels and even though the trip outline said medium to hard I thought to myself “My mighty unmodified Brumby will have no troubles”.  How wrong I was.

Everyone met at the roadside at Aratula approximately one and half-hours south west of Brisbane on the way to Warwick.  Present were trip leader Ron Penfold with his friend Jerry in Challenger, Kathy and Greg with their son and guest Sheree in the Mazda, Chris Linek and his mate in the L Series, Barry and Lyn Beard and their girls in their L Series, Bruce Otway and his son Mark in Mark’s Sierra tray back, Rob Peters in his HiLux, Leo Boonstoppel and his LandCruiser, Peter Nixon with his L Series, Shane and Libby in their modified Leone sedan, Shane’s father and friend Gail in a Pajero, Dave Martin in his Brumby and then myself (With special mention of Rik along for the ride with Ron after his car had to stay in the garage, but that’s another story).

After waiting for Dave to show up and a brief history lesson courtesy of Peter Nixon and Ron, we took our convoy down the road a few minutes before turning left into high grass and someone’s’ backyard.  This wasn’t too difficult providing that everyone drove around the tree’s, branches and stumps adorning the landscape and after a few fun minutes up and down the hills we were at the second of what was to be many gates.

After fighting off a horse that was very keen to leave his yard we drove through several more gates and down a dirt road before finally reaching the paved road to Spicers Gap.  Once the bitumen stopped and the dirt began it was fairly basic with most of it being accomplished in two-wheel drive.  Several hundred yards into the dirt, the convoy pulled over for one of several interesting stories about the history of Spicers Gap.

I found out that the track we were following was originally carved out of the hillside in the 1800’s to help bullock wagons traverse the land on their way through the Darling Downs and even onto Adelaide.  I’d hate to see them try to make it that far south though, as it took several days to cover what our vehicles did in 20 minutes.  After our brief history lesson we continued further on stopping 10 minutes later to view Moss’s Well.  It was here one of Barry’s and Lyn’s daughters thought it would be fun to see if stinging nettles really sting badly.  A few seconds later she found out.  After a quick first aid procedure the team headed onward up the mountain.

The group then drove up near the lookout where Ron got to work putting the finishing touches on the Picnic Table the Subaru Club donated to the area back in November 1999.  After a quick predicament with big John’s measurements we chiseled away the table to fit the plaque in.  The solid gold (I mean brass) plaque was firmly stuck to the table and shows no signs of being stolen thanks to Ron’s handiwork with screwdrivers and araldite.

We stopped and took a quick stroll to the lookout as well as meeting local Ranger Laurie and having a bite to eat for lunch.

After lunch it back on the track with Laurie allowing us to go further.  It was then that my mighty Brumby began one of its most dark and shameful days.  At one point in the rough and tumbling track (though I was told it was in much better condition than it used to be) I tried to drive up an incline about 4 times.  Finally I had to give in and use my snatch strap for the first time.  After consoling myself to the fact of having a fine at the next meeting and thanking Greg for the lift up with the Mazda, I headed down the track deep in thought about how soon I should get a lift kit.

We crammed into a small car park area, said our goodbyes to Laurie and continued into the great unknown.  At this point most of the cars “All Terrain” and “Mud Terrain” tyres were working as well as racing slicks thanks to the mud and rain along the track.

Then I didn’t feel so bad.  Through all the slipping and sliding trying to get down one of the hills Chris Linek and his buddy slid his L Series into a rut with the rear left tyre dangling in mid air and Chris having to jump out and assess the situation, dukes of hazard style because of a dirt wall blocking his door.

Then up backed Leo in his LandCruiser with snatch strap in hand and after a quick jolt Chris was back in business.

I’m not sure how the other cars went (Although I saw Barry and Lyn sliding this way and that in front of me) down the hill but it was the most fun I’ve ever had in mud.  Except for the few heart palpitations I had when the Brumby came perilously close to sliding into a tree or two.

Finally we reached the bottom of the hill with a tiny creek crossing and fairly simple incline to an open paddock.  Most of the pack had already made it up but yet again my Brumby let me down (the Easter bunny had better get me a lift kit instead of chocolate this year!).  After receiving heaps of advice from Dave, Rik, Leo, Bruce and several others on how to best attack the “simple” incline I then proceeded to dump mud all over them on my way up, sorry guys ;)

After Shane and Libby, Shane’s dad and Gail and Rob and Rik all made it up, Peter Nixon spoke to the group again about some of the history in the area and why one of the original bullock tracks in the area was closed off to traffic.  We continued on to have a look at one of the original bridges built back in the days of the Bullocks and then disappeared with not much more drama.

Well, there was the part about losing the Mazda and the HiLux somewhere back in the park and not being able to contact them by radio, but I’ll leave out this uninteresting and frustrating part of the day.

All in all a fun time was had by everyone and I’m sure many people spent Sunday evening with the hose and a rag (like myself) getting rid of the acres of mud that somehow attached itself to their cars.  I’d like to especially thank Ron Penfold for organizing the trip and Peter Nixon for his history lessons.  I learnt more today about the life of the 1800’s bullock’s trains than I did in all my school years.  Hopefully next time the track will be more challenging (just joking!!)

Peter Algate SC 505