Hi All
This being my first ever trip report, I figured I could pretty well much write about anything and not get in trouble from my ramblings, so here goes. To start with I would like to thank myself for volunteering to write the report. NO, ‘volunteering’ wouldn’t be the correct term, probably more like coerced. After constant pestering (and dare I say bullying LOL) from some ‘Mad’ member (no names) during the second part of the trip I did cave in and here we are.
Reading through some other trip reports I believe this is where I should mention all the people on the trip, but there will be a twist for today’s read based around my favourite pastime, free food. As is often the case, Yarney was the trip leader and as usual, a great job he did. Thankfully however, Sean demoted Yarney (Dad) to sidekick (apologies, shotgun) and there were no random hand brake slides which made for a more predictable trip for the following vehicles (Given enough time I’m sure Sean will live up to Dad’s fears and drive just like him). Ok, the remainder of the attendees are ranked in order of treats (free food) supplied during the day and then the non-suppliers are drawn at random as I recall the trip whilst drinking a few beers (the things one must do for the club). Luke and Cherie: lollypop, caramel slice and another lollypop (I got 2 lollypops and I’m feeling mighty special). John, Julie and Justin: rocky road. Mary: container with mixed lollies. The remaining attendees Joe and Cheryl, Dave Martin & Wes, Phill, Brad, Toni & Cooper, Big John & Madonna, Dwayne & Grant, Bob and lucky last, me. It was a good line up of cars and there were 11 in total.
Now before I even try to tell you where we went and what we did, I shall warn you that I have the worst possible sense of direction ever and I had to ask Yarney to jot down the roads we travelled along. So armed with my severe navigation inability, the list of roads is as Yarney supplied me, complete with the prompts to trigger some sort of recognition for me to elaborate upon later in the report.
Roads are as order as we went on
Beaudesert
Boonah -Rathdowney rd
Burnett rd
Fletcher rd dirt all the way great views slippery road
White swamp rd crossed the boarder twice
Head gate rd
Condamine River rd 14 creek crossings
onto Killarney
Omars rd Dave got a flat
Onto Mount Colliery
Gumbubal State Forest
Head North to Top Swanfels Rd
Back out to Freestone (Cunningham Hwy) Official trip finish
Late run out to New England Hwy to Toowoomba Dinner Maccas
Down the range Warriego Hwy to Helidon
Seventeen Mile rd to Gatton Forest
Back to Helidon and home
The meeting place was at Beaudesert Hungry Jacks and aren’t they a great place to start a trip. Nice convenient car parks for us to mill around and talk shop, clean flushing toilets, gourmet food choices (bacon and egg muffin, hash brown and a cappuccino, how swish!) and if you are early enough, you can even sit inside and peruse a free paper. To date I have never arrived early but I confident that I’ll stuff-up one day and arrive at a meeting place with time to spare.
Fletcher road made for an interesting drive with scenery worthy of a calendar but one of the slipperiest roads I’ve driven along in the dry. Initially I thought it was just my tyres but Yarney and others assured me that they were having some sliding moments as well. The road must have had some odd surface of small rocks or pebbles, which made for a loose rear end and when pushed enough, the front would let go as well. I found it a bit of a three way challenge switching between taking in the views, staying upright and on the road and wanting to play. Never fear though, all managed to stay on the track but there were some unpredictable moments edging towards the need for a precautionary check (or at least I did).
Along White Swamp Rd we managed to cross the border twice and what I found odd was that there was a border camera on one of the crossings. It was a minor road in the middle of nowhere so I’m not sure why a camera would be needed out there. Someone mentioned that it was to monitor livestock movements but I believe that the ‘Man’ has a more sinister purpose for the camera. I suspect that they were trying to spy on the Subie Club, after all, what other group would be adventurist enough to convoy through Shitsville for something to do.
Condamine River Rd managed to pack in 14 creek crossings within its length and all were relatively easy to cross but care was still necessary to avoid ramming too much water into the engine bays and air intakes. Most of the crossings were not big-splash picture worthy but there was one longer crossing which Yarney thought could yield some good shots so I parked on the near side and took a video of all the cars. With Tail End Charlie through I stopped filming and followed suet but as luck would have it, my car decided to stop working smack in the middle. Although not deep, instant panic set in at the thought of being washed downstream and it was the first time I was hoping to get bogged. Funny how getting stuck in a creek crossing and needing to lie in a stream to connect a tow strap appeared attractive. Anyway, thankfully the naughty car decided to start again and the not-so-trusty steed took hold of the rocky base and away we went. On a positive note, the car only stalled a few more times on the trip (about 50 times or so) so nothing to be concerned about. Note to self: I must look into that problem over the holidays. First fine for me, taking a semi-broken car on a trip.
Joe navigating (NAVY term for Joe) one of the 14 crossings. No worries with a snorkel.
Somewhere mid morning we stopped at a town (Killarney, Dave Martin helped me out with this one but Yarney had also jotted it down in his list) and grabbed a quick bite to eat before setting off again, towards Omars Rd. It turned out to be a little tricky to find our way out of the town but after zigzagging through the back streets for a while Yarney managed to get us back on track, past a Caravan Park and on our way back up into the wilderness. First fine for Yarney, leading us down the garden path, first. Again, nice views to be had but I think Dave was paying too much attention to the passing scenery and not to where he was going. Somehow he managed to cut a 3” slice through his side wall which unfortunately let all the air out. One fine for Dave, not looking at where he was going? The first group of cars travelled until we found some shady place to wait for Dave and those stuck behind him, while Dave changed his tyre. Insert Luke and Cherie with the first round of lollypops. They could obviously see that the lead group were fretting with Dave missing in action and they handed out the lollypops to help calm the situation. Please note that I’m speculating about who actually changed the tyre as I had a lollypop and had forgotten all about the woes from behind.
Shady rest area while waiting for Dave
Eventually Dave and followers caught up and we trekked some further before Yarney called lunch at a nice little brook with a nearby parking area. After some precision parking by all, out came the chairs, goodies, drinks and friendly banter to pass the time. A few members went to investigate the brook and although it looked crystal clear, Luke assured us that it wasn’t suitable for drinking because ‘something’ had happened upstream (he refused to elaborate but I feel we need to investigate and possibly impose a fine). Dave’s tyre turned out to be a big crowd puller and thinking back now, he should have charged admission to help pay for a new one. All were impressed with the slice through the tyre and let it be known that when Dave sticks a tyre, he does it good and proper. Insert Luke and Cherie forcing us to eat some caramel slice with Julie close behind with her rockyroad, all yummo and a big THANKS. Yarney pulled out his tyre repair kit (obviously purchased from Aldi) but more for show-n-tell rather than to actually try and repair the tyre. One mystery member also decided to try and help Dave out by patching his tyre with band aids (looked like Aldi brand too but I’m not one to cast dispersions), using the standard cross configuration.
I’ve seen it work on knees before however it’s now proven to be ineffective on tyres. BUT it did look funny and proved quite photogenic for the remainder of the trip.
Pic of Dave’s car supporting the wounded tyre
After lunch we continued our journey going deeper into the forest with John in the lead but some loggers got in our way and put an end to all our fun. We turned around a few times and tried alternate routes but we were getting nowhere in a hurry so Yarney called it quits. I think the loggers knew we were coming, see, that bloody border camera (conspiracy or fact ???). With a mix of Yarney and John taking the lead we drove up and down one hill and then back again (because we could) and then John lead us through this little goat’s track with the lure of a secluded camping ground at the end.
Dwayne tackling the deepest creek crossing for the trip, on the way to the camp ground.
Unfortunately my camera battery went flat shortly afterwards and I missed most of the cars. 2nd fine for me, battery charger not in the glove box as thought.
After crossing the creek a few times (Insert Luke and Cherie giving me another lollypop as I tried to take some crossing pics) the creek turns into the road, the bestest creek crossing ever. You literally have to drive along the creek, running water, big rocks, use-the-force-Luke style of driving (a random Star Wars reference and no deliberate pun intended for Luke). It was soooooooooooo bumpy that one member riding shotgun even decided to walk, with the ‘Mad’ driver trying to convince everyone else that the shotgun had disembarked solely to reduce weight in the car thus maximising stand-over clearance. I see another conspiracy theory (self preservation?) but I shall keep that to myself, no names again.
We were running low on nourishment again so smoko was called at the overgrown and definitely secluded camping ground. More precision parking, more food, more drinks, more banter (Insert Mary and her container of mixed lollies) and then we forged our way back out along the flowing creek road and through the creek crossings and began our trip home. Some members peeled off earlyish, some a little later but according to Yarney, the official trip finish was at Freestone (Cunningham Hwy). I have no idea what Freestone is/was but I guess it was about 5pm.
During the lead-up to the trip, Yarney had decided that he would like to scout the forest in from Helidon on the way home, well that would be the long way home Yarney. With 8 cars remaining, we headed towards Toowoomba and managed to find a servo open along the way for some much needed fuel supplies. Yarney took over reins from Sean and on the way into Toowoomba, we decided to share the fast food love and dine at Maccas. All marvelled at how many straws can be joined together and still not tip over the cup. It is a bit of a location joke but try to visualise a straw(s) about 600mm long and hanging out of a cup. Did anyone get a pic, please bring it along for show-n-tell at the next meeting.
After dinner, we headed down the range and another 3 cars parted ways at the bottom and headed home with the remaining 5 turning off somewhere in search of Gatton Forest. Who would have thought a forest would be hard to find, but all trees look alike in the dark. Apparently we were looking for a mystery road, which went uphill and had a bend just as you leave the township and all was good once located, and as per the description. No fines for Yarney not knowing where the forest was because we were on the recon part of the trip.
It was different terrain from the earlier hills and although dry to look at, there had been some recent rain and there were still a few sloppy patches for our enjoyment. Up and down hills and some requiring skill to navigate, well I was in trouble then. One hill appeared to have three roads up it and we took one which required the driver to skilfully cross a deep rut half way up. Well I incorrectly decide to cross the rut early, fell into it sideways, and had to finesse (bash) my way out of it. SO much fun was had, a cheap shot for all those who weren’t there. Unfortunately Joe got a little too greedy and had two car’s worth of fun and broke his beast, poor Subie. Joe’s car made a terrible noise when driving through one of the more sedate mud holes but it was the last straw for his beloved font lower control arm rear mounts. We got under the car to scope the problem and he had started to tear the bolts from the chassis. Naughty Joe, and another proper job in keeping with Dave’s tyre efforts. One fine for Joe, hurting a Subie.
From here we decided to call it quits and drive home with Yarney in the lead coming down and out of the forest. Yarney however, relinquished his lead to Joe when Yarney accidently fell off the road as a result of his hand (acting all by itself) accidently pulling the handbrake on (it can happen). Joe led the convoy homeward bound after rousing at Yarney and naturally we drove at a subdued pace to suit the limping car. 2nd fine for Yarney, not keeping his naughty hand in check.
Well the rest of the trip was uneventful and Joe did make it home ok. I got home about 11.30pm, which made for a nice long Subie run but I had a great time and I’m already looking forward to the next run.
Hope to see you ALL there.
Shane