New and Prospective Member Sunday Drive
The trip was organised by our very own Trip Coordinator Stu.
The purpose of the trip was for us to share club trip protocols and give new and prospective members hands on experience driving as a group. We kept the member numbers to a minimum to keep the convoy tight.
We all met at the very popular Dayboro Bakery. Arriving early to get our lunch supplies for the planned midday stop. The Bakery is well worth a visit, the food was lovely.
Once everyone arrived we went through the pre-trip briefing which included reading the waiver, going through the risk assessment and viewing the map and ensuring everyone knew the club UHF channel. Visitors and Members all signed in, and thanks to Stu and Hollie we also had the opportunity to pickup some home grown lemons and limes.
We set off in formation led by Stu and Hollie and supported by Murray and Julie-Anne as Tail End Charlie.
Before entering D’Agular National Park most of us let our tyres down so that we could drive to the conditions and protect our tyres. The track has lots of sharp rocks so this approach is recommended.
D’Agular has a range of tracks to explore. We started on the green easy tracks and as our confidence and sense of adventure increased Stu talked us through more daring options.
We stopped a few times to enjoy the stunning views of Lake Somerset and surrounds. Both McAffee’s Lookout and Jolly’s Lookout were particularly beautiful with views over Moreton Island, the Glasshouse Mountains and the Brisbane Valley.
Before lunch Stu gave us the option to take on a challenge. In front of us was a mound of dirt with deep ruts or a nice smooth track around it. Stu and Andrew made it look easy with their lifted 4x4s so Becca decided to give it a go. As an novice 4×4 driver I asked Bec to explain how she was going to approach the challenge. She said ‘just put my foot down’! And that she did. We’re told that we bounced three foot in the air. It certainly felt like it. We made it safely to the other side full of laughter and with a new challenge story to tell. It wasn’t captured on video so did it really happen?
After lunch the consensus was that we were all ready to take on the A Break track, one of the more difficult sections of the park. Using Low Range (4L) and our radios to communicate we headed up the steep track section by section. Sometimes we had to navigate around vehicles coming down hill. It was a great experience.
On our way out of the park Murray had a spot of car trouble. Luckily it could be temporarily fixed with the forever useful cable tie (closer to 20 cable ties!) If you don’t have any in your kit do yourself a favour and get some.
A quick facilities break at the Gantry was in order before we ended the trip with a cold beverage at the Dayboro Crown Hotel.
This was a great day out. Thanks Stu for running it.
Reported by Louise