Newcastle Defender owners

[Jimmyhxc]

Pretty keen to get involved in a land rover club, can anyone recommend any around the newcastle/hunter region? Or are is anyone keen to do some day trips and hit the bush, not a huge fan of going solo.

[Cammo]

Jimmy,
There's a few of us in the Newcastle area. We are grossly under-represented in the Newcastle Land Rover Club; last time I enquired there were 4 I think. The members tend to own 'cruisers and pootrols and bag Land Rovers out like most owners of other brands tend to do. The atmosphere on a whole is welcoming and family oriented, but I struggled finding a like minded soul to talk to when it came to vehicle choice.

That experience has postponed me from further enquiries. The Sydney club is meant to be good, but I have yet to have any first hand experience, and its a way to travel.

There is an unofficial "club" organized through this forum and facebook. Mainly defenders, sometimes a disco or somesuch. They did a trip to the Watagans a while back that I was a part of and there's a trip running this weekend down to Hill End/Sofala way. Search "Defender 4WD Group - Sydney" if you're on facebook and interested.

Hope that's helped you somehow.

I think people are deterred from starting official clubs due to insurances and such these days.

Cheers
Cammo

[Foxspell]

Hi Cammo,
Another thought would be for a group of like minded Aulroians to get together for a BBQ or such, decide which local existing club best suits our needs; then all join that club.
That would resolve the issue of insurances etc. while giving us a sub group of like minded people in that forum.

Cheers,
Lee

[Cammo]

Foxspell,
This is a great idea.
The most appealing thing about the Newcastle club is their club lease, IMO

Cammo

[Toxic_Avenger]

The lease at the barringtons is a good setup.
I'd be keen on a catch up one weekend with enough notice. I grew up in Newcastle and still have family there.

[Cammo]

TA

At least one of us has to join the club first

:-P

[Toxic_Avenger]

Or we can all join en masse and reclaim what is rightfully ours :twisted:

[Dinty]

There is a club in Newcastle for Rover owners, it is called The Newcastle Rover Owners Club, I was a member about 15 years ago, it was a good small bunch, you could try 130man here in AULRO I'm certain he is a member, cheers Dennis

[Foxspell]

The things you learn, I did not realise that there are 2 clubs in the Hunter;

The Newcastle Rover Owner Four Wheel Drive Club, Inc; which is for people with a registrable Land Rover vehicle, http://www.newcastleroverowners.org.au

The Newcastle Land Rover Club which is open to anyone interested in 4wheel driving, this is the club with the forest lease in the Gloucester area, Home | Newcastle Land Rover Club (http://www.newcastlelandroverclub.org.au)

Have a look at their web sites; I am happy to go along to a meeting of each and give some feedback, of course if someone on this forum has recent first hand knowledge of both then that would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Lee

[Mjt084]

Hey Guys,

I haven't been on the forum for a few weeks and missed this post.

I'm located in Newcastle as well and know of at least 4 other Defenders that live within my area (Tighes Hill/Islington).

Would be interested in a meet up sometime and have a chat about joining an existing club.

Cheers,

Marc

[Mjt084]

Out of interest how old are the rest of you Novocastrians?

I'm 31 and the majority of guys I see in Defenders around Newcastle tend to be around the same age.

Cheers

Marc

[The Cone of Silence]

Jimmy,
There's a few of us in the Newcastle area. We are grossly under-represented in the Newcastle Land Rover Club; last time I enquired there were 4 I think. The members tend to own 'cruisers and pootrols and bag Land Rovers out like most owners of other brands tend to do. The atmosphere on a whole is welcoming and family oriented, but I struggled finding a like minded soul to talk to when it came to vehicle choice.

That experience has postponed me from further enquiries. The Sydney club is meant to be good, but I have yet to have any first hand experience, and its a way to travel.

There is an unofficial "club" organized through this forum and facebook. Mainly defenders, sometimes a disco or somesuch. They did a trip to the Watagans a while back that I was a part of and there's a trip running this weekend down to Hill End/Sofala way. Search "Defender 4WD Group - Sydney" if you're on facebook and interested.

Hope that's helped you somehow.

I think people are deterred from starting official clubs due to insurances and such these days.

Cheers
Cammo

Hi Jimmy,

I've been away on three trips with the 'Defender 4WD Group - Sydney' that Cammo mentions and it's only just started so the numbers are still small but we're hoping to change that.

Last weekend it was a great trip up to Hill End and Sofala, 2 nights camping on the Macquarie and Turon rivers respectively with a bit of gold panning (successful!) and some extremely pleasant driving in breathtaking scenery.

4 Defenders were present from this site including Brett (Bushman83) who is doing his trip around Australia at the moment. The other two guys brought their kids and everyone had a blast, even when the weather front came though as we were cooking dinner!

As a general rule it's about touring and visiting awesome places. Occasionally we might go away just to hit some tracks and tackle something really tough so there's a mixture of touring and more extreme 4WDing but it's entirely up to the individuals what they want to tackle. We didn't really find anything that needed low range last weekend other than one steep descent.

The company is excellent, the camping areas we've been to are all really fantastic and I am already looking forward to the next one.

I'm keen to get a really big group together - a convoy of Defenders rolling into a wee country town for a pie and a pint would be a sight to behold!

Perhaps we should do a trip up your way next time - maybe hit the sands and do some exploring up that way?

[Cammo]

26.
Married.
6 month old son.
2 beagles.
1 2011 130 dual cab hcpu.
1 1982 isuzu stage 1 truck cab (first car and resto-mod project)

[cal415]

I would be interested in some newcastle catch ups, i to tried the newcastle land rover club many years ago but was put off by the fact they just kept making jokes about my land rover.... i didnt realise they had a land lease at gloucester though?

Ive got my own property at stroud, while its not that large(500 acres) i certainly have a few tracks on it and some serious terrain.

[tomatoes4all]

Yes, I would like to join in a Defender catch-up in Newcastle.
Cheers, PJ.
MY2015 110 Indus Silver

[n plus one]

I'm floating between Canberra and the Hunter at the moment - with a possible relocation (return) to the Hunter on the cards.

Would be up for a catch up/day trip at some stage.

I'm in a modded silver 110 Puma - maybe I'll wave at ya' at some stage!

[voltron]

Let me know if you guys have room for a ex defender owner. I'd love to tag along
in the Iveco.

[janmad]

Would like to catch up with other Defender owners in Newcastle, bought my 110 tdi Defender 2 weeks ago:), and had to leave for work 3 days later:(, at sea missing the Defender, never had a Landrover or a 4WD before so need to start learning - also any good Defender mechanics in Newcastle/Hunter want to get the D checked out, when I get home, before going on any serious trips.

[Foxspell]

The next meeting of this club is Wednesday 12th August at Kotara Bowling Club @ 7pm; thought I might go & have a look.

Cheers,
Lee

[bryco]

Would like to catch up with other Defender owners in Newcastle, bought my 110 tdi Defender 2 weeks ago:), and had to leave for work 3 days later:(, at sea missing the Defender, never had a Landrover or a 4WD before so need to start learning - also any good Defender mechanics in Newcastle/Hunter want to get the D checked out, when I get home, before going on any serious trips.

I can recommend Triggs Motors at Toronto. What Dennis and Gordon Trigg dont know about landys isnt worth knowing!
Think I might come along on the 12th as well. Keen to meet sone more defender owners to do some trips with.

Sent from my GT-S7580L using AULRO mobile app

[Photodude]

Hay Guys.
At the beginning of the year had the same problem, i wanted to join a club or at least a group of people to take my Defender out with.
I found that most clubs were to formal and had other agenda's rather than just trips. So i started
Defender 4WD Group - Sydney (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/Jeehun Kim 14100 Linden Ave N Apt 118B Seattle WA 98133-7155 United States) on Facebook.
We are a group of people with no memberships or hidden agenda, the only reason for the group is to bring like minded Defender owners together for trips. The group page is set up so you can either join other trip and lead your own and ask for people to tag along.
We try to do one trip each month ranging from day trips to full weekend away.
I am even in the process of planning a week long trip in and around the NSW High Country in early November.
Please click on the above and see what we are all about.

[Photodude]

Sorry guys forgot to mention in my last post we have a trip
Planned for this weekend meeting at Dungog and hitting Chinchester SF.
See Facebook page for more info