baby_troupe
22-09-2003, 11:22 AM
Part 1
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
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 Oziexplore & 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” brifly from Overlander Foum. 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.
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
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 Oziexplore & 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” brifly from Overlander Foum. 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.