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GuyG
31st July 2016, 08:40 PM
A group of 4 cars and their passengers braved the chilly Darling Downs for a couple of days camping and 4wding at our regular winter park being The Springs. Keith and Rachel chose to have a bit of luxury before the weekend and stayed in a motel in Warwick on Thursday evening before continuing the leisurely drive out on Friday morning towing Bumblebee. Pasi and Rachel set out at 9am Friday morning from the Gold Coast heading via Condamine River Road for a bit of sight seeing before eventually arriving at the park around 4pm. It was the first time either of them had driven a car through water and the first time Rachel had driven on the correct side of the road. My aim of arriving late afternoon yet again failed eventually getting to the park about 10pm having stopped for Pizza in Warwick - this seems to be becoming a habit for trips. Tim arrived slightly after 9am due to a fuel issue coming up the range. We did however wait for me him to arrive before heading out for the morning drive.

Even though there were only 4 vehicles we had an interesting range of different setups, a rangie/series based hybrid with lsd rear and locked front, a twin locked disco, a short wheel based series with open centres - these 3 vehicles all had mud tyres, then a 130 tray back dual cab with open centres on at's but with a keen driver who is learning quickly.

Keith and Rachel had a bit of an explore of the tracks on Friday afternoon while Pasi and Rachel headed up to Love Hill to watch the sunset.

First drive for the Saturday was along the creek from the rear of the main campground and then up a short loose corner with a couple of wombat holes. Keith made it easily. Tim had a few dramas due to the slope and there being a hole at the rear inside of the corner. Keith jumping in as ballast didn't really assist Tim in making the hill apart from scare Keith regarding the strange angle that Tim manages to put the series on. We decided that it was safer to winch him up the hill. Then it was Pasi's turn, but first a bit of a tutorial regarding reverse hill starts. After several attempts on different lines he successfully made the climb. The maps only give a rough indication of where the tracks are and the tracks signs in most places are either unreadable or completely missing. Some of the tracks are one way but this wasn't really clear on the maps, so it was probably good that there weren't a lot of people out as reversing up Cruiser Climb would not have been fun. We did however cover quite a few tracks of varying degrees of difficulty that challenged all of us on some occasions. The 130 managed to get beached on the playground due to the longer wheelbase. Tim discovered that the larger wombat holes really aren't a good place for the shorty but with the application of some right foot brake was able to reverse himself out. The disco was much more comfortable to drive off road with both sway bars now removed although a bit more guard trimming is required.

The campfire was burning both nights, probably not a Trav fire but still provided lots of warmth. Apparently I forgot to mention in the trip thread that it might be cold out there and take lots of warm blankets etc. So Pasi and Rachel were cold the first night, but we were able to provide lots of blankets etc for Saturday night to keep them warm. The next people who camp in the main campground will be happy as we left a decent amount of firewood for them.

We went out for a short drive on Sunday morning checking out both Love Hill and Bald Nob with a variety of other tracks including some decent off camber which was too much for Welly and the dogs in the shorty, before heading back to camp for lunch and pack up before heading home.

Thanks all for a great weekend.

There are lots of photos and a few videos taken which I'm sure will be posted soon.

Skiboy
1st August 2016, 04:41 PM
Thanks Guy for creating an excuse for a solid weekend away.After travelling the deserts to the Indian Ocean (Broome) and back (15,000 kms)I was keen to spend more time in our local outdoor areas.
We got up there early, had a play on all the tracks,collected firewood and settled into a camp oven cook out! Given it was going tobe cold we decided to do camp oven's both nights to make the most of the fire.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1149.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0144_zps6kklnhxt.jpg.html)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1150.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0146_zps4zx9115n.jpg.html)


First Track

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1151.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0148_zpsinslgmns.jpg.html)


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1152.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0160_zps5id5fj2y.jpg.html)


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1153.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0168_zpsscrcdonk.jpg.html)


Disco did it easy

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1154.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0175_zpsr8mnit5p.jpg.html)


Well some wheel spin

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1155.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0181_zpsumppypcw.jpg.html)


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1156.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0187_zpsjn697w3x.jpg.html)


In Play area

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1157.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0197_zpsl0q82zr5.jpg.html)


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1158.jpg


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1159.jpg


Guy on a hill climb

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1160.jpg

Up to lots of cacti

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1161.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0229_zpsjtssnow0.jpg.html)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1162.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0232_zpsx1gbflod.jpg.html)

And some wildlife

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1163.jpg (http://s835.photobucket.com/user/austskiboy/media/DSC_0234_zpsbmpnevxh.jpg.html)

More GoPro video will come if I get a chance to edit it

Skiboy
1st August 2016, 05:16 PM
Some Tim and Guy video from my SLR

Timj
2nd August 2016, 07:21 AM
Was a great weekend, thanks Guy. It did get pretty cold but the fire and lots of warm bedding took care of that :).

A few photos -

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1114.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1115.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1116.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1117.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1118.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1119.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1120.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1121.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1122.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1123.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/1124.jpg

pasi
2nd August 2016, 08:35 PM
Thanks to all for a great weekend - especially for providing the extra bedding for saturday night. It should have been a no brainer to bring warm stuff, but I must have had a brain freeze even before the trip. Rachel had a blast camping (well, glamping really, with my minimalist, but oh-so-stylish approach to the mod cons and gourmet meals), and at the wheel and wanted you all to know she had a super Aussie bush experience!

Getting to the Springs for us was as much of an adventure as the park itself. We drove through Condamine Gorge on the way down and back through the Falls Road. The first one is amongst the most impressive and scenic roads I have travelled, highly recommended. We took a leisurely seven hours (including gourmet noodle lunch breaks and numerous kodak moments) for each trip.

As far as the wheeling went, it was interesting to approach and meet the limits of the 130. I am quite concerned about not hurting the old lady on purpose and each track that we managed was a confidence builder. Some lines felt ridiculous to even try, but finding the courage to give it a go surprisingly brought along a thirst for more crazy stuff. As a complete novice it is really great to have the guidance of experienced drivers, thanks to which one easily gets the feeling of improving one's driving skills.

Riding shot gun with Rachel was interesting, seeing how another person has kind of an intuitive feeling for the tracks. Driving a 4x4 for the first time she did extremely well. Allthough, afterwards she did admit her grand dad used to drive a Land Rover, so I suppose it's in her blood;).

Skiboy
2nd August 2016, 09:24 PM
Some more video from go pro - TURN SOUND DOWN


My GoPro rattles in the case and this sound drowns out most of the actual sound. I have found the old case is tighter and does not rattle the camera like the new case.



http://youtu.be/tm71Gdp2Uzo

GuyG
6th August 2016, 12:28 PM
Some pics from The Springs

GuyG
6th August 2016, 12:30 PM
Sunset, campfire and the camp site

GuyG
6th August 2016, 12:55 PM
uphill, downhill, side slopes