Inpromptu Emu Creek exploration

[Psimpson7]

As mentioned at the pub meet last week a few of us decided to go and have a bit of a look around Emu Creek extreme retreat near Tabulam in NSW.

Rod headed down Friday afternoon and the rest of us left after work on Friday, either meeting on the highway or at BP Chinderah for some food!

We didnt end up leaving Chinderah till about 8pm Qld time, meaning we rolled into camp about 1030pm.

We had a pretty uneventful run down, although lismore and casino at night are an experience!

We headed to bed about 2am!

The campsite:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1002.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1003.jpg

The tracks havent had a lot of traffic for about a year so they were pretty overgrown. They are also almost all quite hard. Even the main ring road track isnt really what you would call easy.

We headed out for a bit of an explore.

Guy dropping into a small creek early on in the morning

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1004.jpg

They had 11mm of rain on the Thursday / Friday so the tracks were very very slippery.

one of the first climbs:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1005.jpg

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https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1007.jpg

This track turned a corner and went up a very rutted section. Grimace and we made it up, but Guys rangie didnt and started to get a bit warm so he went back to camp and Presto (Grant) went down with him and then came back.

Rod heading up:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1008.jpg

The track didnt get any easier, as at the top of the rutted climb we were faced with:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1009.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1010.jpg

Grimace had a good go, but couldnt make it up.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1011.jpg

With no winch he moved over and we had a nudge with the Disco.

That didnt do any better but the winch got us up.

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Rod was the first of the locked cars to have a go:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1015.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1016.jpg

Unfortunately the cdl wouldnt stay engaged and front wheel drive wasnt enough!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1017.jpg

another winch!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1018.jpg

John very nearly made it up

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1019.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1020.jpg

Grimace then had another go and made it:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1021.jpg

Grant then had a go and made it too! A victory for the newly formed 'team white'

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1022.jpg

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After this we decided to head out for lunch but the track still had a really nasty, slipperly long climb in store for us. I nearly made it up, but got held up by the traction control being too harsh. Even launching it as hard as I dared, the revs dropped to under 1000 within a few seconds.

A quick winch got us through and everyone else drove up.

We went out again after lunch but I dont have any pictures.

We only took 4 cars, and that was probably lucky as the 'easier' track we took was actually a very steep descent with some nasty holes.

We eventually got to the bottom, but then had to get back out. We took the only real other option, the black 44 track, but this was very overgrown and tight.

Grimace lost a rear brake line and Grant damaged a tyre.

We eventually got back to camp about 530pm

We then grabbed some firewood and sat down, all of us were pretty knackered!

Sunday morning we headed out again. Grimaces and Guys cars stayed at camp.

Nice creek crossing:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1024.jpg

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We headed onto track 33 which has some really nice sections:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1027.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1028.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1029.jpg

And some easy ones :D;) sorry John:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1030.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1031.jpg

We then headed back down the alternative track to camp:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1032.jpg

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https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1034.jpg

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one more crossing of the creek:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1036.jpg

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https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/1038.jpg

After that we all packed up slowly and had a pretty easy going drive home, stopping for pizza and coffee at Bangalow.

We had an awesome weekend. Thanks to everyone.

We will defintely go back there, but the tracks are pretty hard. We also only covered a tiny percentage of the tracks really.

There was a bit of damage. We damaged a tyre, some deep scratches, and lost a wheel centre cap.

[disco_thrasher]

looks like fun can be had there on a longweekend G4 trip:twisted:
do you know if they alow un registered comp trucks there as looks like could have some good tracks for us

[Outlaw]

Nice report Pete [thumbsupbig]

[Grimace]

Great report Pete. Got some good shots too!

I was traveling solo for this trip and hit the highway at approx 6pm, 25 minutes later I was at BP Chinderah fending off all the woman that wanted me.

Shortly after I was joined by Pete & Sam in the Disco, and Grant with the Disco and camper in tow. We decided to head inside and got a bite to eat while we waited for the Rs to arrive, grab a feed and have a chin wag.

By the time all the above had happened, over an hour and a half had past and it was 8pm :eek: Time travels fast when you're having a good laugh!
So we all decided that it would probably be best to make a move otherwise we would have ended up throwing our tents up in the car park!!!
We had a good easy run down the coast road, filling up at Casino and heading to our final destination.

Arriving to a rather humble looking camp sight consisting of the Big Dog, dimly lit, sitting in front of his tent absorbing the piece and quiet. It really was a magnificent camp ground and by far my favorite of all the parks.
We all settled, found a spot and set up camp while Grant erected his mansion.
In the mean time I gathered all the apparatus needed for a superb camp fire that kept us illuminated for a number of hours.
Some time around midnight we heard the sweet sound of a rover V8 entering the park and were greeted by Guy who had traveled solo down the inland road at a later time.

Saturday morning struck and we heading off for a morning run. We learnt very quickly that the park was probably not a place for beginners, I thought for a moment that for our maiden voyage we might have bit off a bit more then we could chew, but I was mistaken and we all did very well. The tracks did start off very wet and slippery in the AM, but as the day moved on and the heat set in they became more manageable. It would have been a real mission in the wet!!! Everyone put in a good drive and pushed their limits.

We headed back for lunch and reflected on the mornings adventure. Then decided to head out for a quick easy run. Well that turned out to be a bit of an event.
Pete jumped in with me in Reggie leaving the disco at camp due to the TC issues, Guy in with Rod, and Sam climbed aboard with Grant, the entire R family including the dogs piled into Sirius Black!
Descending into our first adventure off the main track, signed '4 EASIER' we then learnt that the grading and signing of the park could probably do with an overhaul. Even for an avid enthusiast this was a challenging decent, slightly slippery, rutted, and very off camber in sections. Proceeding down at the slowest possible pace, we all negotiated the decent with great care and again I was impressed with the well mannered driving of all.
Once we reach the bottom we took a moment to reflect on our underpants :D

Now to figure a way out... you see Pete and myself failed to notice that the only true marked 4wd exit was a black rated track 44, and after the black decent we had just traversed we thought this may be to much of a challenge so headed out into the motor bike section only to be overwhelmed by the many intersecting tracks and lack of anything that had been driven by a 4wd in recent times. It was at this time that I decided to make the call and we all headed back to track 44 as from the bottom it looked driven recently... well boy was I wrong. I got up the first climb and came to an intersection. To the left I had scrub that probably had not been driven in over 2 years. To the right I had more scrub that looked like it may have been driven in easter last year :eek:
With little light remaining we decided to battle the scrub on the right and boy was it scrub. I tore the rear brake line from the tpiece above the rear differential and somewhere along the track Grant was unfortunate and staked a sidewall. We also got ambushed by a pack of leaches :eek:
But we made it to the end of track 44, after a bit of a climb we were back on the main track and feeling very relieved. Not as relieved as Bobby & Katie thou :D

Back to camp for a beer and more reflecting on our adventure. Then we took 'Team White' for another quick run beside the camp ground to collect firewood.

The night came fast and we enjoyed a rather calm fire, that struggled to produce flames but was rather enjoyable IMHO. The moon was bright and we were met with a bunch of Fireflies that were actually quite amazing to see.
I won't say anything about little miss potty mouth drunk iced bum as it was agreed what happens on tour... :p
That was the close of Saturday night which ended early but well!

Sunday arrived and our adventure was rather enjoyable today as we were armed with the knowledge of not taking anything for granted, hence we decided to be very cautious for this little wheeling adventure and even then we found some great sections of track that were in excess of the maps grading system.
We tackled everything with ease and although the drive was short it was well worth it, and I think we will do it in the reverse direction next time :)

We got back to camp and commenced dismantling our homes away from home, and then did a bit more reflecting before heading home.
We opted to stop off at Bangalow for a coffee break, and lucky we found a nice little cafe that was not just open (we failed to consider daylight saving), but also served magnificent pizzas which I am sure was thoroughly enjoyed buy all!

I must say I found this weekend both enjoyable and challenging!
I want to thank Pete personally for instigating this trip and everyone who attended for the great company.
Emu Creek has a lot to offer for the 4wd enthusiasts. I often thought that Eric and Justin would be in their element in a park like this, I could picture Eric disappearing into the scrub only to return a day or two later.

I am very keen on heading out again. I spoke with Blair (owner) on Sunday morning while repairing my busted rear brake line and the topic of a free 4WD weekend was mentioned. Blair understands that the 4wd tracks are seeing little use and extremely overgrown, and is very keen to have a number of 4wd enthusiast negotiate and clear the tracks and return feedback on the map grading. I am following that up and will keep everyone posted.

I just noticed how much I have rambled on and am apologetic for all the text and no photos.

[Grimace]

looks like fun can be had there on a longweekend G4 trip:twisted:
do you know if they alow un registered comp trucks there as looks like could have some good tracks for us

They do allow for modified vehicles Kelvin, this link describes their requirements - Emu Creek Extreme Retreat Modified 4WD Driving NSW & South East Queensland - (http://emucreek.com/content/view/46/60/)

The general park section would not be all that great for full blown rigs, but they do have a competition area that would be a lot of fun :cool:

[Presto]

Great reports guys! ...not sure how I could possibly follow that, and without a camera all weekend, my contribution is pathetic! :(

Some main points:

Pete found an awesome new potential Trip location
Emu Creek own a very brave Rat/Dog (who calmly strutted past the R's dog's at full noise)
Never take the camper for a weekend when there's only me (I did get to dry it out though) :)
Rod's Rangie can drive some fairly challenging tracks with only front wheel drive :eek:
The Goodyear Wrangler "Sidewall Anti-Puncture Technology" needs further development.... :mad:
Pete + D2a -> John +110 = smoothest snatch I've ever seen
Keep Sam sober
Grimace thinks all women want him (including their dogs)
Team White Rocks.....

[Grimace]

Great reports guys! ...not sure how I could possibly follow that, and without a camera all weekend, my contribution is pathetic! :(

Some main points:

Pete found an awesome new potential Trip location
Emu Creek own a very brave Rat/Dog (who calmly strutted past the R's dog's at full noise)
Never take the camper for a weekend when there's only me (I did get to dry it out though) :)
Rod's Rangie can drive some fairly challenging tracks with only front wheel drive :eek:
The Goodyear Wrangler "Sidewall Anti-Puncture Technology" needs further development.... :mad:
Pete + D2a -> John +110 = smoothest snatch I've ever seen
Keep Sam sober
Grimace KNOWS MOST women want him (including their dogs)
Team White Rocks.....


Fixed

[dungarover]

Looks like you had fun there Pete and Co. Emu creek is a pretty full-on place trackwise if you're not careful. We did the Logan Challenge there a couple of years back as you all know and the tracks are very unforgiving on man and/or machine. Would have liked to have been there but the big move is near and had a bit to do here at home.

Grant, good to see that bloody Disco getting used, was getting worried it was becoming cemented to your garage floor :D:D. Just need to **** that Disco body off and put a Rangie classic one onto it then it would be prefect :twisted::twisted::twisted:

Trav

[Presto]

Thanks Trav! ....good to get some use of all that time and money I've spent!! :angel:

Not likely to see a Rangie body though! :p

[THE 109]

That park has some very nasty tracks hidden in forgotten corners that would be a challenge to find now, I used to go there quite often but the damage to my vehicle every trip made me lose interest.
Still keen for a G4 trip sometime though, thinking twin locked, winch and 35's a bare minimum for what I have in mind.

Eric

[JohnR]

Yep as everyone has said, a great trip, great park, some fun tricky tracks!
And now for some photo's

Big climb that challenged me and the car :)
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/918.jpg

Grimace smok'n it up on the same climb :twisted: That boy can drive :(
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/919.jpg

Benny looking on and enjoying the antics
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/920.jpg

Pete stepping down
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/921.jpg

Us on the same step
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The gang stopped for a regroup
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/923.jpg

Grant wandering through the undergrowth
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/924.jpg

Grant pretending to be a submarine :p
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/925.jpg

Us doing the same :o
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/926.jpg

Fun water crossing :D
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/927.jpg

The kids had a ball swiming and throwing rocks :cool:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/928.jpg

So did the big kid :D
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/929.jpg

And Bob and Kate just watched :eek:
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/10/930.jpg

Once again thanks to Pete & Sam for organising this weekend. We had a ball!

Cheers,

[disco_thrasher]

i will be up for that should have the the coil overs for Greg and my trucks this week

That park has some very nasty tracks hidden in forgotten corners that would be a challenge to find now, I used to go there quite often but the damage to my vehicle every trip made me lose interest.
Still keen for a G4 trip sometime though, thinking twin locked, winch and 35's a bare minimum for what I have in mind.

Eric

[Presto]

Thanks for all the pics guys! ....will try to remember to take the camera next time and contribute!! :(

[Skiboy]

Thanks fore the reports - looks like a neat trip - I thought Emu Creek was still shut so surprised to see this post.

Might make a point of a trip there some time soon

SKiboy.