GLASSHOUSE MOUNTAINS TRIP REPORT

For a lucky few, including myself Friday was the perfect day to start this trip. John Lipman arrived prior to lunch and chose a nice open site with some fantastic afternoon shade for the usual array of BOC camping styles as usual comprising Swags, Tents, Camper trailers and a caravan.  He was looking mighty relaxed by the time Sally arrived, followed by myself, Graeme, Michael and Belinda all before sunset.  I must say that fantastic views of the Glasshouse Mountains at dusk was a spectacular sight.

With a bedtime of 9:30pm, we were all very refreshed and ready for a great drive on Saturday.  The morning saw Peter and Roland arrive followed by Phill and his newly lowered shorty, visitors Andrew and Luke/Family with Garth in tow completing the bunch.

With the formalities completed, we set off past the golf club to the starting location midway in the Glasshouse area. Whilst deflating our tyres a group of trail bike riders turned up and surprised us by picking up litter left by others and disposing of it properly – thumbs up to these guys!  From here we were ready to set off!

As you are all aware tracks change and unfortunately after no rain a lot of the slippery tracks had disappeared making the driving far easier than expected, after traversing some tracks and giving up finding a scenic lookout, Andrew and Luke discovered a small side track, not to be one to be shy Phill pointed the newly lowered short at the track showing Roland in the passenger seat how you can get ¾ of the way in two wheel drive!

I was asked if I was going to give it a go and all of a sudden Sally started to give me peer pressure, “Go on give it a go”…. Gone are the days she used to say before every five minutes “Don’t forget this is our daily driver!”.

So I faced up at the bottom had a quick look and thought I’ll take the left hand side of the track….um no.  Screeching tyres on slippery rock in first low, hmm.  Ok, take two – try the right. That little drive can be seen in the video on BookFace so I won’t bore you here but it was a fun little drive.

For excitement of a different (and more stressful kind), the tracks lead us to the carpark of the Beewah forest, where we came upon a young man carrying his partner on his back.  The young lady was suffering significant heat exhaustion after running out of water during their steep mountain hike, plus they started during the peak of the days heat L.

Sally, John & I jumped into action and subsequently assisted stabilising her before arranging an ambulance as she needed an IV for fluids.  She was a very lucky girl with a very shaken partner.

At this point as the day trippers decided it was time to leave the group as they were looking forward to attending the Mariah Carey concert at the entertainment centre, and as we were struggling to find the challenging tracks that we promised our club mates, we decided a change of Trip Leader was in order.

From this point of the trip Peter Forsyth took the lead and boy…did he find us some great tracks!  As you are all aware this man knows his stuff and as usual was able to cater to the abilities of all vehicles and drivers. We traveled down what I thought was a mountain bike track (now very aware that it is a 4X4 track) with some great two wheel in the air action for most vehicles.

As we reached the bottom we came to a lovely looking water crossing, upon checking the depth Garth got some mud on his boots and proceeded to wash it off with some of the puddle water. Who does this right?! A small portion of ridicule may have followed from Yours Truly. Big, BIG mistake as Karma took the opportunity to sink my left boot calf deep in the most sticky Glasshouse mud and required the high pressure hose to clean after the trip!

Upon finishing the drive we returned to camp to enjoy cheese and biscuits to celebrate a great drive with no panel damage.  It was discovered that the next day was also John Lipman’s birthday.  Happy Birthday El Presidente!

Overall, it was a brilliant weekend and we thank everyone for their company, fun and good humour for the weekend.

Till the next undulating hill, camp well and stay safe.