Thread: Flannigans Reserve Easter Trip

G'day all, many thanks to the organisers of this great event
I enjoyed the back-roads trip with other classic Land Rovers. Hector, discharged from 'hospital' relished being out country again (he hates the city), and his post-op recuperation seems to be doing him well (probably the country air).
After enjoying a delicious afternoon tea, I strolled down to Gary and his son Adam's camper, where I was given a box full of 4wd magazines. Upon my return to the classic Land Rovers site, I was astonished to find that the Series Landy's had all disappeared.

Today, ANZAC Day, Hector enjoyed the camaraderie of the old diggers whilst participating in the parade. He looked resplendent after an early morning bath, and delighted in the fact that there was not one Jeep to be seen in the event.

Sadly, following his outing, 'Hector' is hemorrhaging (clutch master cyl is leaking hydraulic fluid) necessitating his return to intensive-care in hospital (our workshop)....

Harry jnr

I have started a thread in Qld reports as this where the series trip was originally posted...please feel free to add some photos there everyone

Very nice shots there Harry jnr


We did ask your mum if you were coming back with us, but as you were heading to the GC she said no...sorry for not saying bye

Good work Shepp.. was good to see you around a fire (or was that me? )

A big thank-you to Dave (Busman) for organising a great spot and weekend. Was great to get out and about even if only for a night. A brilliant turnout by all and despite the masses up in the general areas, the area Dave secured was secluded and wouldn't even have known anyone else was there.

The creek was beautiful for a swim, although a bit fresh. A great spot. I will be back again

Great weekend with a big thanks to Dave and Louise for all the organising. The both if them didn't stop with everything running very smoothly. All the kids got along very well which gave some relief for the parents.

Also good to see members from the other LR clubs attending.

Cheers
Pete

Okay, where do I start. At the begenning (DUH )

Was planning a Thursday arrival but with work that was goiong to happen so I had to reside in a early Friday start instead. Got the Rangie packed on Thursday night after a bit of a check over the bullet (hasn't been driven for a while) but all good. Friday arrived, got going but after fighting with the tailgate as the vertically mounted 33 inch spare is the culprit, must think of a better way to mount it, drives me up the bloody wall . Anyway a detour to McDonalds at Beauey for a bit of a caffene fix I was all good and the rest of the trip was uneventful.

Arrived at the reserve, never been here before. First impressions was how busy it was but eventually found the campsite that Dave had reserved foe the club. Drive down to the campsite and found a small spot for my lonsome camping setup to fit in as it was already a full house. I was greeted by Roland, Lesley and co then dave arrived and forked out a whole $16 for 2 nights (cheap camping area, that get the dunga kings seal of approval ). After seting up the tent which took bugger-all time in my case it was off for a quick walk around. The creek looked inviting but the water was bloody cold though so I gave that idea a miss plus whailing was out of season .

About 12PM, it was beer time although I did start about half an hour before that. Greeting more people arriving as the day went on was the adgenda for the day apart from a wood run. Since I was here, it was decided by Dave to get a few trailer-loads of wood to get the big-arse fire going and I as usual gor the fire marshalling duties. Filling up the bullet, Philcos 130 and a couple of trailerloads there was plenty of wood to go around plus for people 'seperate' fires (will make a observation later on this).

The day came to a close and got the big-arse fire going. The turnout was a bit dissapointing but I'm sure poeple had there reasons. I lasted til about 10PM and I was off to bed, tried to stay up a bit later but afyter the early-ish start it wasn't going to happen

SATURDAY- Today it was drive day, although I had a few too many beers and had a ripper hangover (autopsy material ). The drive today was Condimine gorge road, nothing too hard but still better than sitting around doing **** all Dave rallied the crew at around 9:45 but like all trips this can take time (some people just **** around too much ) so it was 10:10AM was the time we departed Falannagans. The trip today was the Condimine gorge road, pretty straight forward and a high-range affair. Still a pleasnt drive. This is a simple drive but even with 20 odd cars can take time and be as painful as removing teeth without anasthetic (think that's how you spell it ). I understand why people may drive a bit slow but this can be agravating for the rest of the convoy but I'll leave it at that as I was up the front with Dave and Pete (brownrangie) who were going along and to the best of there abilitiees to keep the convoy moving.

After that excersise, it was off to Killarney for lunch. The lunch stop was moved forward as it took longer to do the Condimine road as it was originally going to be at Queen Mary falls. Lounch took about an hour or so and then off to the falls. Went for a walk down to the falls, been a few years since I done this walk and it's good to see that water was flowing with abundance (was pretty dry last time I was there). It was a short walk, even I did it and I'm not one for walking at the best of times .

Back into the bullet and off we went again, took the easy road back. Only issue is that the rear brake disc pad had worn down to the point that the reainder of it was latheing itself away on the disc, have a spare set if discs and pads so another job to do on the bullet. The drive back to Flannagans was uneventful and time for a beer even after the hangover I had (a few panadine fixed that issue ) and the fire was off and going again. The wood was diminishing rapidly and thinking that we had enough for the whole weekend (I didn't have to get too carried away with the wood, it was good slow burning gear). Campfire time was had and once again was dissapointing people rather being in there own 'cliques' and I contribute this to the seperate fires. I understand that people need to cook there tucker and have time to themselves, but for me sort of put a dampner on the trip which lacked that social aspect our club has always been good at for the 5 odd years I've been a member. Felt that at times we were just a buch of Land Rover owners that just congregated on our own seperate devices but I'll leave it at that . Once again, 10PM was as late as I could muster and off to bed for me.

SUNDAY- No hangover this time around but it was time to go home for me, had a few things to do at home on the remainding 2 days including fininshing off the road worthy items for ex-ho-hars D1 tdi. I packed up camp and was off on the road at around 9AM after a see-ya to the people on the track out of the camp. The bullet's trip home was uneventful and made it back to Jimboomba at around 10:15AM. Unpacked the Rangie, cleaned all the gear and was sitting having a quiet beer at 12PM all done and dusted.

Thanks to Dave for the trip, who made the effort to get the area excusivly for the club and the footwork to get the weekend sorted out. As mentioned, the lack of social interaction was dissapointing but overal still an enjoyable weekend. 2 nights was enough for me. I don't do easy trips well and get toey to get out and play hard so bring on 'Cruiser park

Trav

Yes thanks to Dave for setting this event up for us all

All you need now Dave is to wear a Easter bunny suit as the amount of childern you had following you around for glow sticks and then the easter egg hunt was amazing. You truley did do a great job.

Yet again the people in the club all contribute to making this event what it is.

Thanks to all, we will be back next year for sure

Well another Easter has passed, and a great turnout for this trip.
We ended up with 109 people, including 43 children.
Flanagans was packed to the rim, but we had the luxury of our own secluded camping area, set aside from all the other campers.
We spread the camp sites out well, with no complaints about noise
Most campers arrived on Thursday having taken an extra day off, with the remainder arriving Friday.
The river was flowing well, aside from it being quite cold, however a few decided to go for a dip just the same.
We had mostly families with kids on this trip, and based the Campout on this.
Some members decided to have their own campfire, for cooking and to sit and relax, but keep within an ear shot of the kids, whilst they slept.
This however did effect the main campfire numbers on a couple of the nights, as mentioned by Trav.
We headed out Thursday & Friday to cut some wood, with over four trailer loads and 6 cars worth.
There was certainly no shortage of wood for everyone.
Most of us stayed away from the main reserve congregation, and chose to laze around our secluded site and relax and take in a good book or what ever.
Saturday was our day trip.
This trip was 22 car strong, and travelled along the Condamine Gorge Road to Killarney for lunch, then on to Queens Mary Falls and back through the mountain rim back to camp.
It was a great day and very scenic, but the convoy was a little slow at times due to one of the convoy cars having issues.
Noz (Mark) & Pete (Brownrangie) were a fantastic help throughout the drive.
The Condamine River was flowing more than usual i was told, and made for careful consistant driving.
One pass in particular had water a thrid up the doors of our cars
Aside from that a great day was had by all.
Sat evening was a little quiet, as everyone were tired from the long day out, but some ventured down to the office area with the kids to see the Easter Bunny, and then stuck around for the entertainment.
After that glow sticks were handed out to all the kids, which was a great hit.
Mark (Noz) came up with the idea to bring his DVD Tv outside to have a sort of DVD night for the kids.
After a bit of electrical set-up we put on a movie, and the kids were silent for nearly 1.30 hrs. Yeaaaaa (Great Idea Mark), and at one point quite few kids sitting around watching.
Rest decided to sit around the fire, or hit the sack for a hard earned rest.
Sunday was a lazy day, with some hanging around camp, whilst others decided to head to the Heritage Festival in Rathdowney.
I conducted an Easter Egg Hunt in the morning. and scattered 145 easter eggs around camp.
It was a mad rush, but the kids loved it and added to the experience for the children.
The series group arrived around 11:30am, and had lunch with us.
Nice to see the cars out and about. Thanks Carolyn for putting the trip together.
Sunday night brought Grimace almost doing an all nighter session around the campfire with Shepp providing the tunes, from the Commodore and a few willing participants staying up until 3am.
Matt (Shepp) ran the battery flat on the SS, but worth the effort for a great night around the fire.
Monday most campers departed, with only Wayne (Wink) leaving Tuesday.
The porta loos certainly worked well, but l have never clean the toilet some many times.
A few things can be bettered for next year, as we learn from each experience, and make it better and better.
With the permission of the committee, we hope to conduct another Campout for 2012.
A few of us are talking about hiring our own singer/entertainer for the Sat night, and have our own easter bunny etc.

Well until next years Campout, its Busman signing off, and hope everyone who attended enjoyed themselves, and for those who did not attend, maybe consider it as your Easter trip for 2012.




Bright moon over the camp


Convoy gearing up for the days drive






22 car convoy (Impressive sight)








!st of 14 river crossings on the Condamine Gorge Road.


Queen Mary Falls


Group having a break at Queen Mary Falls Park.


Valley view from lookout


View of the Condamine Gorge Track from the lookout.