I hope that you are all well and have avoided this dreaded Covid 19. I also hope that your extended families and friendship groups have been spared as well. For those that have family overseas or interstate it is a truly worrying period.  There are so many new phrases that have appeared such as, Social Distancing, Self-Isolation, Border Closures and non-essential travel, no camping (WTF) to name a few. 

However, it is times like this that we Australians stand up and make the nation that it is. We help those that are less fortunate than us, we follow Government advice and we stay positive (hard at times). 

So how does this affect us as a club?  

You would have seen the posts and emails that have been put out there from the committee. In a nutshell it means: 

• The committee will remain in their current positions until we are able to conduct an AGM (maybe later than normal). The committee will continue to meet monthly by electronic means. This will allow us to continue to administer the club's affairs on your behalf. 
• There will be no General Meetings until further notice; 
• The Special General Meeting that was planned for the 1st of April 2020 has been postponed to a later date. This will be decided by the committee when things return to normal. 
• The Annual General Meeting due for the 5 August 2020 is also postponed until things return to normal. 
• There is to be no social gatherings. Pubs, clubs and restaurants are closed anyway. 
• All driving trips have been either cancelled or postponed.  
  
  

Members are advised to be mindful of all the new restrictions that the Federal and State governments have imposed in the past couple of weeks. Namely: 

• The social distancing of 1.5m or 4m2 per person; 
• No socialising/ house parties; 

• No non-essential travelling; 
• Stay at home except for essential needs; 
• No camping; and 
• State borders are closed.  
  
  

I know that there are lots more but as a club those are the ones that I can think of that affect us. 

As there are no trips/ events planned for the coming months I ask that if you have anything interesting that you would like to share with other members, send them into the magazine so we can have content to put in the magazine. Things like: 

• Tips on packing/ storage for long trips, cooking in camp ovens, Knick knacks for camping. 
• Good after-market accessories for car, caravan, camper and tent, and where you can get them. 

• Great camping/ holiday locations. Including off road tracks etc. 
• Bring back the member/ car profile. 
• What was your best trip with the club and why. (include photos if you can) 
• Jokes or anything funny (keep it clean)  
  
  

I am sure that this crisis is affecting every one of us in some way. Reach out to those within the club and see how they are coping. Let us stick together during this period and I am confident we will come out the other side in a better position. 

Until we meet again, stay safe, stay healthy and STAY AT HOME (if you can). 

 My last Presidents Report! 
 I have been honoured to be the steering wheel and chair person of the meetings for over the past two years with the support from members and committee. I believe as a whole the committee that I work with has put grounding and    structure back into the club for future years I have enjoyed my time and I have personally developed skills that I previously did not have.
 
 I’d liked to take my opportunity to thank the whole membership of  Morton Districts Off-Road Club past and present and wish the club the best with the new leadership of a new committee.
 
A safe family four-wheel-drive environment is what this club stands for fun   laughter and enjoying our off-road experiences and social events. And for the last time from me, “Keep The Shiny Side Up!”
 
M Grimstone

Hi all happy EFY Tax time and the AGM is ahead of us like to welcome everybody interested in joining the committee to run the club into 2019 there are still some positions to be filled so please do not hesitate to make sure you have filled out the nomination forms and get them back to the Secretary in time. 
 Just a few social trips this month and a trip to Double Island Cooloola . The Christmas party committee is hard work organising and being ready for promoting the event open invitation to all members to please come and enjoy and celebrate another year with club There will be camping overnight so for those who like to drink and Camp can do so. In a safe environment.
 
And also like to take this opportunity thanking the whole committee for everybody for their support over the last two and half years and wish them all the best in the future . Keep the shiny side up!
 
Tiny Grimstone President

Well it was a quiet night around the fire at Simon and  Emily’s. Only a few members attended the   casual camp oven cook off and I must say the menu was delicious !!! The fire was red hot and so was the food. Shane and Tracey made some yummy damper for everyone to try, followed by some lamb roast and vegetables and even made an apple crumble for dessert. Simon and Emily put on a beautiful roast beef with vegetables. My chicken curry and rice was also delicious but I cheated a  little and prepped it at home and finished it off in the camp oven. Ben and Laura joined us for a few drinks and departed early before the banquet came out. A few more drinks and some laughs around the fire ended a little bit earlier than we expected as the weather was a little brisk and bit too cold to stay any longer. All in all a great night again with the MDORC family.

Ladies day is a chance for all the ladies to take control, have a great social day, hone their skills and      experience. They also get a chance to see any willing men to strut their stuff in a Tootoo.
Meet up point was McDonalds at the Sundowner Hotel for an 0830 departure, after some formalities and Tootoo fitting (also time for Leighanne to thaw out after driving topless on a 11-degree morning even Blankie didn’t help much), we were on our way to the air down point before heading onto the beach.
We started our journey leaving Woorim and heading north along the beach to Fort Bribie, we had the luxury of great weather for the drive, very little wind if any, you could even stand up paddle board in surf.
We arrived at the fort for morning tea, we had an assortment of scones and cakes, also some coffee to warm up. Some went for a walk into the water, some went sight seeing around the gun batteries at the fort and Michael even got a chance to let the drone loose. 
Trip After morning tea, we headed of for the toilets before taking the inland track to have lunch.
Just as we were about to turn into the inland track there was a bit of a traffic line up due to two people getting stuck, so Marcel was of to the rescue only to find that of them was stuck for the fourth time and another that thought 40psi and high range was the right way to go driving on the beach. After Marcel gave his speech and got them free we could finally head off.
The inland track was a very scenic drive and very firm, not difficult to drive on at all after we arrived at White patch we all aired up and headed to lunch at Col Fischer Park and to our surprise the calm side of Bribie island was not actually calm at all with a westerly blowing at what felt like 30knotts if not more and white caps as far as the eye could see.
After some hit and miss cooking at lunch and a short gathering we all started to break off and make our way home. Thanks to Ellen and Leighanne I think we all had a great day.

Saturday morning seven 4wds left the Cabo Roadhouse and headed for Tewantin, bound for adventure and full of excitement. A good run with highway traffic had us boarding the Noosa North Shore Ferry by 9 am.  Aired down & hit the beach. The colours in the sand were amazing and definitely something to see.  With the tide quickly coming in on us we successfully maneuvered our way to the end of the beach for lunch, a chat and a few laughs.  Afterwards we headed for King Boars Road, the scenic way of course. This drive was definitely longer than anticipated but well worth it and gave way to beautiful scenery and many different driving surfaces, sand, gravel, rock, dirt.  By 3:30 we had finished our drive and we headed to camp for more chatter, a few refreshments & dinner. After dinner Eddie & Laurraine headed home and we settled in for a night of fun.  Sunday morning was a relaxed started to the day where we farewell Trent, Josh & Joe and drove towards the lighthouse at Double Island Point. We enjoyed amazing views and were spoilt with watching dolphins frolicking in the surf & a whale.  Our trip ended with lunch together at a local pub. 
 
Congratulations to Matt & David (but mostly Matt) for running their first ever trip with the club and thanks to everyone else who helped out during the weekend to make it a success