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Mitsubishi 4WD Owners Club of Qld (Inc) |
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Sand Driving - April '08 |
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SAND DRIVING TRAINING WEEKEND 5-6 April 2008Participants:
As the majority of the group had arrived on the Friday, the weekend got off to an early start. Unfortunately there were a few members who cancelled; I think the weather predictions were a contributing factor. However that didn’t stop the rest of us from having a good time and a lot of laughs. Beach Front Caravan Park at Cooloola blends itself well with the beach. There are areas within the grounds that allow you to feel like you are the only one there and the kangaroos give you the feeling of being in the bush. Considering it was school holidays the park was still reasonably empty and for that matter so was the beach. Once camp was set up, we set out to find our Trip Leaders who were sitting back enjoying the sunshine and the smell of the surf with a wine or two. Don had brought along his new pride and joy, his red NS Pajero, which stayed, parked and locked up all weekend. Even though he didn’t take it on the beach, the new toy was certainly the talking point all weekend. If John Veling has his way, Don won’t be the only person in the Club with a red Pajero. A unanimous decision was made to have tea at the pub, where the food was great and the conversation flowed freely. Saturday morning saw the arrival of Lisa and her son Damon along with Steve Beamish. Once they set up camp, it was straight into the theory of sand driving. Along with the written information, Dave and Don told us of some situations which can occur on the beach and how to avoid them in the first place. By 10 am it was off to the beach. Due to the weather of recent months, the beach has been washed away exposing rocks and high sand banks. After a few practices of entry and re-entry onto the beach and trying to get the Pajeros bogged, it was off for an enjoyable drive to Red Canyon and back to camp by 1.30pm for lunch. Freshwater track would be tackled on Sunday. After lunch the Dohertys and Mr Veling decided to check out the highlights of Noosa and do some people watching. Back to camp by 4.30 to find Peter and Elaine Warren had arrived for the evening. A community tea under the Young’s awning was had due to the rain. The weather Sunday morning was not looking promising so we decided to pack up camp early so we had a dry tent. It was just as well for when the heavens opened up it didn’t stop. During the night or early morning, someone got to Don’s car and decorated it along with his swag or was it because it never moved from that spot, it just grew weeds. It was decided that there would be no more beach driving for the weekend due to the inclement weather so we headed off home in the driving rain and strong winds. Thanks to Don and Dave for a great weekend and teaching us all some of the finer points of sand driving. I am sure that we all have a lot more confidence when tackling the beach in the future. Debbie Doherty Back to Top
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