argh.. it was time for another trip and once again even though I had fair warning I still left home unprepared for a day out in the sticks.
We all met up at kilcoy in the morning around 8am.. I was a little late again but was set at ease with the news there were still more to come..
there was 1 XJ 1 KJ and yet again an abundance of TJs..
We sat around at Yowie Park and had ourselves a little natter whilst waiting for colin..then once he arrived we made tracks..
was a beautiful day for the TJs to have the tops down.. although I now regret having my halftop open as I am now sunburned a little..
The road was kind to us.. then we hit the Dust. it seems we cant manage a trip these days without dust. but this time it was RED for change.
There was pretty much radio silence as we were all so focused on our intense day of beating up out JEEPS.. it was either that or we had nothing to say..
the entire trip ran pretty smoothly I must say, as roger took the lead and showed us the way..
lots of great countryside out there although it seemed a tad dry.. probabaly has something to do with that record drought we are going through..
The tracks were mainly easy with a few options at key points for the posers.
As I got to the first little play area I got to see first hand a red TJ go lame in the hind quarters as it attacked a steep but rather fun looking incline.
BUGGER.. casualty number 1.. but at least he was in good spirits about it.
although Im pretty sure once he was out of our line of vision he let a few tears sneak out.
I was a great site.. all the guys (myself included) standing around watching chris crawl about under his TJ trying to make some repairs..
OH well off we go.. not gonna let a uni stop us from enjoying our day.
So we rolled off in convoy all proud jeep owners.. even chris.
a little more dust.. its great for the breathing device above your nose.
we even found mud.. although barely enough to make a splash..
The 2wd monster trudged along as if nothing happened.. although he did run out of puff going up a loose rocky path. SUPER HG to the rescue.. Hooked him up and dragged him up to a flat point.. then cut him free, like an undersized fish.
The pictures that are in the gallery are good.. but they dont really show the tracks that well.. the appeared a little more scarey in real life in some parts.
We made our way past a really nice camping area which Id say we might need to take advantage of if we ever head out there again..
then up a hill to what roger told us was a little play area where we could have lunch.
on the way up the hill before the lunch spot there were two options.. left and right.. I believe the right was the easier option so I decided to follow the black tj up the left hand side.. He made it look too easy so I thought Id better make myself look good here.. so I drove the ruts.. pity the ruts were really deep. I got a fair way along when hear the guys yelling stop stop/./. then came over to hold me up and hopefully stop me from rolling onto my side..
after that we went into the play area where everyone was already settled in and enjoying a chin wag..
The Black TJ (Brenton) and myself decided to have al ittle play and went straight for the hill climb immediately in front of us as we drove towards the lunch spot.
Brenton made it look too easy so I couldnt back down now.. Up I go.. PHEW I made it.. now act all cool so noone knows you werent confident you would make it.
lots of nice little inclines..very nice lunch area in general.. all it needed was a flowing river and it would be heaven sent.
I wasnt ready for lunch so I went on a lookout for more tracks.. and found a nice rocky gully to have a play in.. but it didnt seem to end and the first opportunity I got to get out of it I took. as I wasnt sure if anyone would want to come get me. and it was a long walk back to the group.
got back to the group and had a natter. then rog says jump in ya jeep.. show me that track.. so thats what I did.. as we went down a little hill he said Go up that one HG so I did. as Id done it a few minutes earlier and knew I could make it..
Now it was Rogers turn... steady he goes.. now give it some love.
psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst
whats that I hear.. .. erm Rog I think you blew a tyre..
and thats exactly what happened.. he had a nice slash in the sidewall on his passenger side front tyre.. at a guess we figured he pinched tyre on the tree's root.
SUPER HG to the rescue..
I grab the jack,brenton grabs the wheel brace and we prepare to get roger mobile again.. I learned one very important thing from this incident.
I gotta buy a decent jack.. the ones supplied with the JEEPs is a pain in the backside.
Anyways that was enough for us.. time to turn it around and
head home..we were nearly at the end of the tracks when scotto pulled over to the side.. WHATS UP MATE.. I asked.. Not sure.. just hear a rattle or something..
anyway we all get back to the top and start reconnecting swaybars and inflating tyres when its discovered that scotts destroyed his left upper control arm.. We looked at it and wondered if it would be possible for anyone to put a weaker piece of garbage into a 4x4.
I guess thats why we love our vehicles.. they are special.
ANyways we all get sorted and start to break away on our journey home.
It was a very enjoyable day and look forward to going out there again sometime in the future.. Was great to see the fellow club members as well as guests all enjoying themselves as well..

On yer HappyGutz,thanks for that..Great read..Did you guys see any of the old gold mine stuff..Diggings..Machinery?

yeah there is an old truck there well whats left of it

we passed a saw mill whivch looked pretty old.. and as roger said an old truck ..
unfortunately I wasnt really paying too much attention to that..
mainly because I like to hear those historical stories from old folk that experienced it. and there werent any old folk among us..

Thanks guys..My brother had a sheep station in Cypress pine/Iron bark country..His mate had a portable sawmill..Brought it out,hooked up a belt to an old Fordson tractor..They cut enough pine to build him a good sized shearing shed and with Cypress,no white ant problems.Got some great pix of the boys in action..Even had a little railway track to run the logs along to "introduce"them to the circular saw.Total cost for shed..Labour.Nails.Petrol.Iron.

H.G you were to busy listening to Jesica Simpson on your radio

wasnt me mate.. I had tasteful stuff playing..
pantera metalica Jerk and slipnot to name a few

yeah sure you did HG