1. Peter Bowen in his Cruiser – Trip Leader
2. Colin, Robyn and Ashley in their Toyota Hilux
3. Ryan and Felix in their new 9 day old Rubicon (Visitors)
4. Brent and Amber Brian in their Patrol
5. Amanda and Dave Johnson in their Cruiser (Visitors)
6. Gary Eickenloff in his Toyota Hilux
7. Stewart and Jean in their Cruiser
8. Craig and Michelle, Cooper and Callum in their Patrol (Visitors)
9. Helen and David Duncan in their Patrol – Trip Report
10. Peter and Lilly Armstrong in their Patrol – Tail End Charlie

We all met at 8am and BP Caboulture north bound for the start of a great day. The weather was wonderful which was a fantastic change as we have had so much rain in recent months.

The first and only fine for the day goes to Peter Bowen who realised as he was reading the clubs code of conduct that he had left the clubs’ 2 hand held radios at home sitting on the charger. Oops.

The convoy travelled to Wamuran where we unlocked the gate and aired down at the 4 big Mango trees. Peter had been in the previous day doing the Driver Awareness Training with some new members but most of the tracks we drove on today were well overgrown and many had trees down across the tracks which required moving/clearing.

Morning tea back at the Mango trees saw some of us have a go at the 2 big hill climbs there – Fun!

On the move again exploring different tracks with more trees to be cleared. I think at one stage Peter drove over a big tree (and nearly got stuck) then after about a dozen snatches finally moved a huge tree… only to go down the track a bit further to find about 8 more trees across the road… so we turned around and found another way. At one stage the bow saws came out to clear the track.

It was suggested that we do a short loop before lunch… But this turned into more of a challenge with 3 snatch recoveries being needed. The track was very soft in some places and it was getting softer with each passing vehicle. Stewart requested a snatch up a short soft hill, and I drove blindly into a very deep erosion rut and had to be snatched out backwards. A short distance on and I was sucked into the very soft deep mud on the small hill (that Stewart had trouble on) and I needed to be snatched again! Icky sticky gluey mud!

Back to the Mango trees for lunch and then Peter, Ryan and Colin headed home early. Brent stepped up as Trip Leader and took the remaining 7 vehicles on another explore around some more tracks with the excitement being a very wet flooded hole. He and Dave turned around but both had to be snatched up and out of this one. Amazing mud! We found our way out to a gate and aired up. Brent took the opportunity to take off his front 2 wheels to scrape out some of the sticky mud before the run home.

A big THANKS to Peter for organizing a great day and to Brent for leading after lunch. I think we all had a great day with great people and great weather.

In the past 2 years we had many conversations at club meetings about limited access to national parks and some of our favorite 4wd destinations within an hour’s drive from Brisbane. With this in mind I was pleasantly surprised we could drive around in the Bellthorpe area without any of the usual paperwork and permit preparations and have a great day in a beautiful area. 
I think this really reflects on the good work of 4wd Queensland and others to keep areas accessible for responsible 4wdriving.
Good news travels fast and no less than 17 cars (members and visitors) called in at the BP Caboolture.  As usual the countdown of cars at the motorway merge was as challenge but 17 cars were a mitigating factor. Also I will spare you a 1 page listing of all people present.

When we arrived at Bellthorpe to air down, the trip leaders Gary and Drew took some time to practice the hill start procedure with the visitors. And after a short break we drove into the rainforest. The trip was picture perfect. It was very scenic 4wheeldriving with a good variation in tracks. There were some steep hills and descents but nothing extreme or sill damaging. Gary and Drew took extra care at the more challenging parts and guided those cars that needed extra instructions. When we hit a track signposted as extreme we turned to take the loop road back but Simon and party decided to explore the track. The track turned out to be very rutted and a real diff catcher, but since getting stuck is even more fun, I guess they had a ball and in the end they beat us to the day use area.
The drive back to the day use area turned into an unexpected (really?) night drive and gave everyone a feel for driving in the dark. For some it was the perfect moment to explain to the household minister of finance that the $600 investment in a light bar made perfect sense.

At the end of the trip we regrouped at the Stony Creek Day Use Area and had a sausage sizzle. It was great to see that people brought some treats to share and by 7.30 most were ready to head home.
This trip really sums up why is it so much fun to be back in the bush around Brisbane. I have enclosed the tracks we explored and hope to see more of Bellthorpe in the months to come.