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Convoy;
Col
& Stella
Baby-Troupe
Darryl,
Yvonne, Jack, Corrin & Daniel
GU Patrol
Ralph
Bunderra
Robert,
Alona & Eliza
Range Rover
Geoff
& Leanne
90 Prado
Steve
Troopy
Trip
The
weekend started for us at 05:30 Saturday morning where we had to finish
loading the vehicle & set up the navigation equipment (Laptop running Oziexplorer
& GPS)
We
managed to get all this sorted out just after 06:00, so was time for some
Breakfast & then as we were about to leave, our mate Steve rocked up
& said he had a problem with his fridge & asked us if we could
store some of his stuff. As we had just (the night before) installed a new
Waeco 50l, I knew we had plenty of room, so we were happy to do so.
We
left our place just before 07:00 & headed for Ourimbah to fuel up
& get some munchies for morning tea & met Rob there, who seemed a
little concerned that there was nobody waiting at our designated meeting
point. I suspect he may have forgotten that the meeting time was 07:30,
not 07:00.
We
fuelled up & headed over to the Rest Area & waited for Steve to
finish fueling & for Darryl & Yvonne to get there.
While
there, I noted a small problem with my laptop, where the external keyboard
/ trackball had failed, so I had to disconnect this & run without that
for the weekend. I was confident I would not need these as I had done this
trip a few times now & I had pretty much marked all turns &
obstacles, so input from me would not be needed.
We
finally met everyone & departed from there at 07:30 & headed for
the property leased by Central Coast 4 Wheel Drive Club, which is just
north of Dungog.
On
the way up, we noted some fantastic countryside with rolling hills &
beautiful clear skies.
We
arrived at the campsite at 09:30 & we each found ourselves a spot to
set up our tents (& pop up camper for Ralph who had arrived a few days
earlier).
After
everyone had set up camp, we had Morning Tea & I prepared the raffle,
where we drew out who would do the trip reports for the club, which the
oral report was won by Robert (AKA Statue) & the written report was
won by Darryl & Yvonne.
We
departed from the camping area at 11:00 & followed Main Creek rd,
turning onto Skimmings Gap Rd & passing the Gumleaf Hut. Along here we
ran in to (literally) the Landcruiser Club & met “Humvee” briefly
from Overlander Forum. We chatted for a short time (only really had
time to intro ourselves) *& then continued along this forest road to a
track called Reeves Rd. Unfortunately, this is not well marked, so we
would have missed it if it wasn’t for the navigational aids on board (we
missed it last time I ran a trip up this way, so I made sure that we would
not miss it again by changing the warning signal from the laptop to
include an audible alarm).
We
proceeded down this track (not much more than a bike track in some parts)
going down some moderately steep sections & over a few wooptidoos on
the way down. This track came out onto Frying Pan Rd where we drove past
some other camping / picnic areas including Coachwood, Frying Pan Creek
& Teleghery Creek. We followed this track up to the old Museum, where
we stopped briefly, to look around & air down our tyres, to help
smooth the ride over the rocky trails. I dropped mine to about 25psi, as I
was confident that this pressure will help smooth things out & allow
us to hold a good speed (around 60 – 80km /) when we return to the
blacktop briefly on our return to camp. Then we drove the 50m to the T
intersection, which was Wangat Trig Forest Rd, where we turned right.
We
followed basically main forest roads until we arrived at Mountain Rd,
where I put a call over the radio for people (mainly the less experienced
drivers) to select Low Range before heading down this narrow & steep
section. Everyone negotiated this without any problems & once at the
bottom, there was a branch over the track, which would have made it hard
to pass without some damage, so I trimmed it with the saw.
Just
past this was a tree across the track, with a bypass road, so those less
adventurous could drive around it. We decided to have a go at it,
passenger front went over with no problems & as we were at a slight
angle, the driver’s wheel just slid along it. We had a couple of goes at
trying to get over it without success, before I decided to square up to it
& then we crossed it with no problems. The only other person in our
convoy to have a go at this was Steve in the Troopy & he had less
success due to getting hung up on his leaf suspension. He managed to get
unhooked & then straddled the log to the end & followed the track
from the end of the log.
Just
after this obstacle was the Karuah River. This time was pretty much
straight forward as small river crossings go, with a pebbly bottom & a
few small deeper sections, which may wet the sills slightly. We all
crossed this successfully & then turned right to a nice little spot we
had found on one of our previous trips up here to have lunch. We arrived
here just after 13:00
While
at out lunch venue, we were able to all introduce ourselves properly in a
more relaxed environment, by the river & get to know a little more
about each other. I also discovered that out new fridge was a little
better than I thought & had to make a small adjustment, as some of the
ingredients were frozen.
After
we had all finished lunch (around 14:00) we went back to Mountain Rd &
continued along this track until it reached a T intersection, where we
turned sharp Left & headed up Terrible Billy Rd.
This
track is getting better each time we drive it (4WD wise) & the ruts
& loose stones are getting more prevalent on each pass. It is still
what I call an easy track, but in time looks like it may become medium
grade. Towards the top of this track, there were a number of wooptidoos
with steep exits, so those with a poor departure angle, scraped a little.
All vehicles made it through with no problems.
This
track came to T intersection at Berrico Rd, where we turned right &
started out way along main roads, including Berrico Rd, Buckets Way,
Monkerai Rd & finally Main Creek Rd back to camp.
We
were back at camp at 16:00 ready for happy hour.
Steve
& myself went up to the back of the lease with his troopy & a
chainsaw & collected some firewood so we had plenty for that night
& for breakfast in the morning.
We
all had our meals, I was lucky to have Tortellini with a very nice tomato
& garlic based sauce Stella had made for me. What would I do without
her fabulous cooking?
We
then gathered around the campfire where we all had a good time, talking of
other trips, the navigation equipment Steve & I use, music & funny
TV shows.
The
next morning, we awoke to another beautiful day with fine weather &
hardly a cloud in the sky. We were originally intended on leaving camp at
08:00, but due to me not informing everyone of our plans the night before
(must have been the port that made me forget), we decided on 09:00.
From
camp we headed back out onto Main Creek Rd, towards Dungog, then turned
left onto Monkerai Rd & followed this to Trevor Tops Rd. This again is
poorly marked & I was lucky to have saved this waypoint to the GPS /
Laptop so we had plenty of warning about the turn.
Along
this track, we had a few obstacles where trees had fallen across, but
these were removed quite easily. We followed this track along till we
found some steeper loose terrain, where we all went through with no
problems.
This
track eventually came out onto Frying Pan Creek rd, where we turned right
& went down to Coachwood Camping area where we had morning tea &
said goodbye to Darryl & Yvonne, who had to leave early for work
commitments.
We
tried to get Steve to go for a swim in the creek, but due the nature of
the water (spanner water was the call at the time), he decided against it.
Once
we finished morning tea, we headed back to camp to pack up, which we
finished just in time as a quick shower of rain came over just after we
had packed the vehicles.
We
then went into Dungog where we had lunch (unfortunately the service there
left plenty to be desired where they forgot about 2 of our orders
completely, so we will not be going back there again). The café if the
one across the road from the National Australia Bank & while the food
is normally very good, the service leaves a little to be desired.
From
here we said our goodbyes to Ralph, Geoff & Leanne & Three of us
traveled back in convoy to Ourimbah.
It
was a great trip back & at Ourimbah we had our traditional Ice Cream
stop & parted company with Rob & Alona & Followed Steve until
he turned for home, just around the corner from where we live.
We
all had a great trip & I must say both Stella & I thoroughly
enjoyed ourselves.
Thank
you to all of our companions on the trip & I hope to travel with you
again sometime.
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