Moreton Districts Off Road Club

Coffs Harbour Trip Report

Well it was a nice early start for me leaving home a 3.00 am Friday to beat all the other traffic. I decided to go through the city as at that time I knew it would be a good run. Entering the Clem 7( all 4 wheels still intact)  with only two other cars in my sights was a great run and at the speed limit. With only a couple of brief stops along the way I arrived in Woolgoolga around 7.30 local time With John surprised to see me so early I set up camp with help from John and his family. Soon after Dean (visitor) and his friend Craig arrived and got set up as well. We all got together at lunch and discussed plans for the weekend. So after lunch we headed off to find some tracks Soon we left the bitumen behind us and I led the guys up to look at the track called the Widowmaker to give them an idea how the tracks can vary. From there we down a nice downhill track with a few little challenging spots to where wheel placement came into play. All got down safe After a nice flat run we came across the strangest crop we have ever seen. As this region has a lot of farming We came across what appeared to be a powerpole farm (these ones were still young) only about 8ft tall with the metal caps on top ready to grow into Powerpoles. We learnt later on that it is a test spot for different tree species for white ant resistance A bit further along we came across our first mud hole I putted through not to dig it up for everyone on less aggressive tyres having to drive the next hill while straddling a deep washout we all made it to the top (well almost) John calls on the radio (I’m Stuck) With Matt being the car in front of him was a simple snatch recovery. We then decided to make tracks back to camp ordering fish & chips at the local shops for dinner seeing it was Good Friday After dinner we all got together for a couple of drinks before calling an end to a long day.

Saturday morning we had a couple of more cars join the group. Simon & Amber and our local guides Clint (who we met on the cape trip last year) & Peter. After airing down we headed off now with 6 cars to find some tracks. On the way we drove past this small farm house next minute Amber gets on the radio saying that it was the house she lived in when she was younger. Soon on the tracks we started to climb up a track that had a nice steep climb at the end of it. Then we worked our way back to the widdowmaker to let Simon have a look at it. After a quick inspection he gave us the thumbs up that they would have a crack at it. Thinking he was going to drive it But no Amber took to the drivers seat and proceeded to conquer the hill with everyone else looking on.  Once at the top we took the easy way and met them up the track just a bit further along. After stopping for a quick morning tea we made our way to Glenreagh. After a look around and Lunch at the local Pub hit the tracks again for the afternoon run back to camp. Stopping along the way at a lookout over looking the whole valley and seeing Russel Crows (ranch) in the distance. After a short play in a quarry Amber says. Now I want to drive back down the widdowmaker. The rest of us raced back to the bottom to watch her come down. Slow and steady with a couple of crunches she makes it safely to the bottom. After that they left us and headed back to Nana Glen where they were staying and we all headed back to camp after an enjoyable day.

Sunday  was decided that we have a bit of a relaxing day with a couple of guys wanting to head into Coffs Harbour to have a look around while Matt and I went back to the quarry for a bit more of a play. After Lunch back at camp we all decided that we would do an afternoon Beach run. Once on the beach Matt goes I’m going to get myself bogged I want to see how the Maxtrax work. Finding a soft spot in the sand he dug himself in before a nice simple recovery using John’s set of Maxtrax. After continuing down the beach getting to the next headland we got back onto the blacktop pumped our tyres back up and headed back to camp. Next morning after breakfast everyone packed up ready for the trip home. Knowing the highway was probably going to be busy we headed home the scenic route via Casino along the Summerland way and the Lions Rd that’s cuts through the Border Ranges and back into Brisbane via Beaudesert.

A great weekend was had by all and Look forward to heading back down that way to explore more of the tracks that the Coffs Harbour region has to offer. A special thanks again to Clint for his help guiding us on the tracks.

This is the second time we’ve gone on this trip, having going last year with the club. We left home about 10 minutes after I wanted to, shortly afterwards I got a call from home “you left the ham on the kitchen counter”. No worries, I’ll get some at the servo. The servo had no ham, other than between slices of bread so a quick trip to the deli across the road sorted it out.

We had a couple of missed turns due to old maps on the GPS, we got ourselves back on track and arrived at the meeting place, Yomanto McDonald’s 2 minutes after Simmo. Simmo just missed out of doing trip report!

All up 13 vehicles turned up, including a couple of visitors. With everyone topped up with fuel for the cars and McFood for the occupants, we headed off towards Boonah as the convoy fought for air time on the UHF. It was queried why the meeting place isn’t at Boonah, but alas, it has no McDonald’s.

Driving through Boonah we headed south to Teviot Falls. The steep, narrow, winding climb required low gears as we ascended above the valley below us. We managed to park the convoy at the lookout for the falls. The views were spectacular being a beautiful clear day, unlike last year which was overcast and raining for much of the day.

We continued on until we reached the Condamine River Road turnoff where half the convoy took a quick detour via the “nearby” toilets. This trip report is from here on is the “toilet break” convoy. We switched to an alternate UHF channel, and after some time had passed and many kilometres travelled, we reached Queen Mary Falls for a quick loo break, were we were due for lunch. Rather than head back to catch up with the others, we continued on the do the 14 river crossings in reverse to the “holding on” convoy.

The tracks were very dusty, and the convoy had to spread out to avoid the dust. Every now and then however, the dust settled after a splash through the river. We eventually met up with the other convoy and passed them by. Peter told Lynn we can say anything we want about Nathan and his Triton because he was on a different channel on the UHF. Nathan replied “that is why I have two radios!”

We reached a hill climb that a couple of vehicles had a play at. Peter started to have a go, but as he had yet to break anything, decided he’d leave it this day. After we had crossed most of the crossings, we turned around and did it all again and head back to Queen Mary Falls for lunch, instead of doing the whole loop back around.

With the hot summer day, many of us deferred the walk to the falls, some venturing to the lookout at the top, some doing the whole walk, and some sitting in the shade with a cool drink.

After lunch we drove back passed the turnoff for Condamine River Road we had split at earlier in the morning, and turned into Head Gate Road and into New South Wales. We changed our clocks and continued through Koreelah National Park. Having lost an hour we quickly made our way back up into Queensland, changing our clocks and putting ourselves back on track.

We drove on past Lake Maroon and back up to Boonah where we stopped for the kids to play in the playground, and the adults sat around with more cool drinks and ice-creams, before heading home.

Dave Meier and ourselves stayed back to find a few caches we found with Peter last year when we were introduced to geocaching, before we also headed for home. Thanks to Peter Bowen for organising and leading this trip, and thanks to all who turned up for a great way to enjoy the wonderful places our country has to offer, on Australia Day.

Report by Brent J. Brian

Stormy weather had been hanging around for a few days leading up to the trip which had me worried that I may have to cancel. However, Saturday proved to be fine and the night drive went ahead. Bellthorpe was dry and dusty, as the cars behind me can testify. A big advantage to being trip leader in conditions like this!

The steep hills of Bellthorpe provided some challenging driving. On one long and very steep decent someone even asked if we were below sea level yet. After a few quick stops to retrieve some sticks caught under the cars, we were on our way again.

Negotiating a steep rock climb required some skilful driving as we contemplated wheel placement to get passed some large rocks on the track. The poor visibility of a night drive makes it that little bit harder. Everyone successfully made it through without too much drama.

As our journey continued we confronted the last decent of the trip, which was definitely the steepest. Loose stones and powdery, dry dirt allowed gravity at times to drag the car down without driver control. There was not much we could do but hang on for the ride and try to steer the car in the direction we wanted to go. It felt like being on a ski slope.

We all headed home satisfied that we’d done some tough four wheel driving and had challenged ourselves and our cars.

Thank you to Jason, Warren and Sylvia, Marcel and Rick, and John, Lorraine and Ellie for facing the adventure of a Bellthorpe State Forest night drive.

Gary Eickenloff

After a very tiring and enjoyable weekend, the MDORC team managed to rank second overall at the Logan Challenge.