Janowen Hills 4WD Park

November 13 & 14

For a start, I’d like to say a big thank you to all of those who came, all 23 vehicles of you, despite the scare of rain during the preceding week. It made for a much more enjoyable weekend to have such good company, and for all who came to obviously enjoy themselves as much as they did. Thanks to Daryl P and Christo for helping me run the trips. Sometimes I felt like I was herding cats but, with their help, I managed to stay sane.

My father brings to my attention that people in the club have told him & Mum to stop putting up my tent. I am here to make it known that I strongly discourage saying anything that might stop this practice. It forms part of my birth rite for shelter to be provided, whereever I may be. This includes camping. Let not the fact that I am now 32 years of age enter the debate! [read as: if they are silly enough to do it, please don’t get in their way or discourage them!]

I must say that Mum picked my campsite well as it was on that bank above the creek that was an absolute picture, and one from the masters [not some dodgy one I threw together at pre-school with my fingers and a few glued on pasta shells], as the creek was filled with water and flowing. The Eastment’s grandkids, though, had other plans and set about filling it with rocks.

Owen came down in the morning to sign us all in and get all the shower tokens out of the way. Once on the drives, we covered some new ground with new tracks having been put in since the last time we’ve been there. Also, those who came got their own colour maps of the park’s tracks to keep as a memento. On one of the newer hills, marked Extreme, one of the members blurts out (prior to their attempt at said hill) “ I was told by [my son, who’s lent me his car for the weekend] not to embarrass the car.”

The son in question was not there at the weekend but, I’m sure, by now, he knows that his father got really, really stuck when going up the hill. This was not to be this member’s only faux pas of the weekend, getting nicely bogged in the mud hole, having to be towed out. We’d hate to see what he’d do to his own car in these conditions!

We shared the park with the River City 4WD club for the weekend, having also bumped into them whilst we went down for the recce. We actually invited them over, to join us at the campfire, but we think the over-enthusiasm at “Happy Hour” may have been daunting. It seemed much more enthusiastic than usual. We didn’t care; we had the time of our lives.

Owen and Jan love a good campfire so we expected them to join us, and they did not disappoint. As usual, all the Ipswich connections came to the fore as we sat and chatted about who we all knew in common. I was the last up and still in bed a little before midnight.

Sunday brought us a whole new set of tracks, some we’d been on, some we made, and some we discovered. After lunch, though, and giving Mum and Dad uninterrupted time to pack away my tent, Steve S and I went off and found a couple of new hills to be attempted next time we’re down there.

All in all, another great weekend was had by all.
Cheers,
Peter M.