I arrived around 5'ish Qld time and found Sue, John and Jo Squared already set up in the camping ground. So after a quick chat I set up the Oztent and the rest of my gear, I think I took way to much for just a weekend but I was going for comfort rather than a speedy setup. Then I grabbed a drink and headed up to chat to everyone. The host Mike dropped by for a chat and not long after that we got the fire going and then the Triton man came by with even more firewood, so we were well and truly set for the weekend. He stayed for a chat and Shane finally rolled in. Didn't really eat dinner just munched on some nibbles and Sue made a nice little pizza. We sat around chatting for quite awhile and after Jo and John and Jo went to bed it was almost like Shane and Sue and I were back on the Canning trip as we sat around the fire chatting. Finally headed off to bed and I found the new stretcher I bought (Oztent Gecko) was very comfortable with the swag layed out on top of it.
Next day we were up reasonably early and Mike dropped around to see what we wanted to do for the day, however we needed a bit more time to wake up so he headed back to his place and we would meet him there. After a bit of Brekky and some coffee (or International Roast for Shane) we headed off to do a bit of driving. Jo was worried about Ron so she went for a drive into Kyogle to ring him. Because Mike's Sierra was a bit sick he rode with a friend, Ross in his modified Patrol, then there was John and Jo in their Navara Ute, Shane and Sue and Arthur and Abby in Shane's Patrol ute and me in the Paj. The early part was in very good condition and quite easy, there was some pretty spectacular views including the panorama near the hippy farm.
Then it was on to see the log cabin which is a great little place to camp, right on the shore of a dam.
Then it was off to view some new rainforest that Mike had found just recently and it was here we had the first problem when a large stick flicked up under the Navara and it required the use of the trolley jack so that John could get under the car and remove the stick. Then Ross misjudged a little bridge and got stuck. After a few tries Shane managed to snatch him out backwards and he made sure he was lined up properly for the next crossing.
While we were waiting a quick stroll into the forest turned up some wonderful fungi and moss.
Then we drove through some wonderful rainforest that probably hadn't been visited for the last 50 to 60 years. At one of the creek crossings the Navara became a bit stuck, due to it having fairly worn highway terrain tyres and it's long wheel base didn't help either. I gave John and the Navara gentle snatch out and we continued on.
Then it was down into the play area where there were some interesting challenges, John had already ruled himself out but I was willing to give it a go until Shane, with mud tyres struggled to get through a section and I realised that the poor Paj with All Terrains was not going to make it. So I retired and watched the fun. Shane finally made it up the other side of the gully with some good application of the right boot. In the meantime Ross had got stuck in a muddy bit and he had to winch himself out before doing a masterful three point turn to get pointed in the righ direction. Then he couldn't quite make it up out of the gully and Shane had to give him a gentle snatch to get up and over the top of the hill. After all the excitement we then had a leisurely drive back to camp for lunch.
Mike came around a bit later to see if we were up for another drive but the consensus was that a restful afternoon around camp was what we needed. After chatting for awhile the breeze died down enough for me to get the quad copter out for a quick fly. I hadn't flown it for awhile and was quite rusty but there was only one major crash and luckily it survived intact. The dogs seemed intrigued with it and followed it around for awhile. After exhausting a couple of batteries I then got to try out charging the batteries via an inverter running off the cars's battery and everything worked fine with them charging only marginally slower than they did at home.
Then a quiet hour or so of reading before the camp fire came back to life and we sat around it for a few drinks and a chat. The view of the stars was even better this evening as there was no clouds around and the moon didn't rise until late. After the really tough day :) we all headed off to bed relatively early. Once again we took our time getting up and having Brekky and the consensus was that we would have a lazy morning and pack up and head home. Shane and I headed up the hill behind our camp site for a walk to take a few photos. The climb wasn't too hard and the views were spectacular. The next valley over was still clouded over and a time lapse of that disappearing would have been pretty good but neither of us took a tripod. Mt Warning was also visible with a bit of wispy cloud around the top.
Then it was a nice easy walk back down the hill and around the dam before heading back to the camp ground.
While Shane and I recovered from the walk by sitting around the camp fire, the others all began to pack up and get ready to head home. As my tent was in a shady spot it wasn't going to dry out for quite awhile, so I decided to test out a set of 120 W portable solar panels that I had bought for my upcoming Easter trip to Lawn Hill national park. I was initially confused as they seemed to be putting out 20 volts but once this was connected to the car and it was under some load this dropped down to approximately 12.7 volts which what it should have been
Then after everyone but Shane and I had left and we got bored of sitting around the remnants of the camp fire, so we started to pack up. Shane was finished and off quickly but I had to wait for the tent to dry off a bit so I repacked the car while this was happening. I headed off about mid morning back towards Murwillumbah but turned off to have a look at Mt Warning. After winding my way uphill to the parking area and seeing millions of cars, I realised that a lot of people must have headed up to the mountain very early in the morning. Some of the fit ones were already back and leaving. I saw Shane's Patrol in the car park and as I went to have a quick look at a short walk that is there I ran into him on his way back from the short walk. He had stopped in to look at the Clarrie Hall dam on the way. He headed off again and I walked approximately 300 metres to a little platform in the middle of the forest.
Then it was back to the car to head home. I decided to go the back way through Tomewin to Currumbin Creek road and who should I see but Shane who was going to climb up a bank beside the road to see if he could get a photo of Mt Warning from this side. Then I headed home, unpacked the car and caught up with all my normal weekend chores.
All up it was a very pleasant and relaxing weekend and it was great to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones.
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