Corroboree 2006

29th, 30th Apr 1st May

Participants:
Neil & Desley Middleton Chris & Melinda Lenehan & boys Gary & Betty Chapman
John Lucas & Elaine Wilson Jim & Phyllis Williams Kaye & Glenn Taylor

Kaye & I decided to travel down to the site on Friday night to allow a bit of extra time to do some trips on Saturday morning. Turns out that everyone had the same idea. We met everyone except the Lenehans and Middletons at about 6:15 on Friday night and away we went. The road down was a bit narrow & windy for a convoy of caravans but not too bad.

We arrived at the campsite about 7:30 to see the others already set up and ready to direct us to the area set aside for Ipswich. There was just enough time to set up and have a couple of quiet drinks before hitting the hay.

As this was our fourth corroboree in as many years we were looking forward to this trip and hoping it lived up to the standard of the previous gatherings. On arriving at the campsite and seeing the set up we were not disappointed.

Each camper was allocated a “show bag” containing some advertising material from sponsors, stubby holders, car windscreen shade and a few other goodies.

Each club’s campsite was provided with one or two (depending on the size of the club) 44 gal drums cut in half for campfires. The drums included paper and some kindling to start the fires. There was a central campfire with a mountain of firewood and a good size tree already on fire. No problem with stoking the fire as there was a bobcat supplied to load new wood on the main blaze and deliver replenishments for the smaller cooking fires (Jeff Crane would have been drooling).

There was a central marquee set up for communal happy hours, meetings and tables for trip sheets. A selection of trips were available from scenic to extreme being run on Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings.

Add to this the abundance of portable toilets which were cleaned daily and it looked like being a well run weekend.

Saturday morning saw us up and ready for a morning trip around the property. This property is owned by a local farmer who is opening up new tracks with the help of the Gold Coast club. The club uses it occasionally for driver awareness and for weekend trips close to home.

The first part of our trip took us through the creek bed beside the camping area. The water wasn’t too deep but it was an interesting drive back and forth across the water. Unfortunately Neil popped his rear tail light (expected hazard for Nissans).

The second part of the morning trip led us up the surrounding hills to a very scenic lookout above the campsite, 540m above sea level in fact. The view was well worth the trip. Apparently there is a hang gliding club which use this area as a launching platform. You can see the windsock in the photo.

After lunch we attended the main reason for the weekend - happy hour. No, of course it was the Association meeting. No momentous decisions were made but there was an interesting report from the “Hearing Impaired club” advising us of the problems associated with driver training and running trips in general if you can’t hear what is being said. Very thought provoking. The association assisted with some funds for an interpreter.

On Saturday night we all sat around the huge campfire to watch the “no talent” night as some clubs presented their skits. A little rain arrived but not enough to put anyone off. A most enjoyable night was had by all.

We rose on Sunday to a frosty morning after a rather cool night. It wasn’t cool enough to dampen our spirits though as we set off to the line up area for our selected trip through Binaburra and another local property.

We were led on a very scenic trip through the hills overlooking the Gold Coast ending up at Dave’s place. Dave is a member of the Gold Coast club who owns a property in the area. He currently uses the property for horse riding but is putting in some 4WD tracks as well.

Of course the Gold Coast club run trips here but Dave is happy to talk to other clubs as well.

Once we were on the property, Dave showed us around. There was a cave to look at (he actually expected us to walk to it) and we managed to scramble our way up to it. Some good ferns and stags were to be seen on the way.

On the way back we stopped in at Hinze dam for a quick look. At 97% full it was a pleasure to see some water for a change. So it was back to camp to get a good seat for the mini Olympics. A lot of fun was had in spite of some heavy rain at the end.

The night time entertainment was to be a live band and one of the Gold Coast club members drove in an 18 wheeler to use as a stage for the occasion. Unfortunately the heavy rain in the afternoon and the certain prospect of more rain to come forced a cancellation of the entertainment.

The rain held off for long enough for raffles to be drawn. The were enough prizes donated to allow a better than 1 in 3 chance of winning something. Two Ipswich club members won something with Jim getting a generator and Neil winning a teddy bear (there was some inequity in the prizes on offer). It’s the small things in life which are appreciated.

The good thing about having a trip close to home is that we could do another trip on the morning of departure and we selected a drive through the Nerang State Forest.

There were a good selection of trips and having seen one of the hard trips on the first day, we stayed with medium trips for the weekend. The Nerang forest was interesting after the rain of the previous day with a couple of good hills which were a little muddy. There wasn’t too much trouble though and no recoveries were required.

It was interesting that the trip leader allowed time for everyone to deflate their tyres and pump them up again at the end of the trip. Apparently this is standard procedure for the Gold Coast Club. We arrived back about 1:00 and were on our way home by 3:00. All in all it was a great weekend.

A word about next year’s event. This will be hosted by the Mackay club and details can be found at www.mackaylandroverclub.com closer to the date. The event will be held in the Pioneer Valley between 5th and 7th July 2007. Costs will be similar to this year ($60 for the weekend plus $5/person/night) and the venue will be the showgrounds. The showground facilities will be available so showers and toilets will not be a problem. The Mackay club will be placing the emphasis on trips and ½ and full day trips are planned.

At this stage, the 2008 event will be hosted by the Bundaberg club

By Glenn Taylor