Yarraman Reccy Trip

[boxxy]

Attendees: D.J.K.L, Wombat (minus Mrs Wombat), Tat2edking (minus wife and kids), Kris (with cyclone Dexter), Louie0 2(minus hubby but with mother and 5 very well behaved kids), Boxxy, Truckie, Joyboy, Team Grandpa and Ady88

Our weekend started Friday night, Bronny and I stayed with DJ and Kerry for an early Saturday departure . A great night, a great feed and a few beers watching the cricket set the tone for a good weekend. DJ let me sample some of his home brew spirits, some Hungarian concoction that warmed the inside like you wouldn’t believe. Now I am not saying that I didn’t enjoy it BUT if I had of passed wind and lit it, they would have been able to meet me in Yarraman the next day. Cheers DJ and Kerry for the hospitality.

Up early for the necessary caffeine fix, we organised ourselves for a 7am departure.
Kris swung by and we were off a bit before 7 to meet tat2edking and ady88 just around the corner from DJ’s. Beauty we thought when we were all together ready to go early, we can get going earlier than planned but NO, tat2edking had forgotten his pillow, poor little princess had to duck home and grab it, so we waited for him to get back. 15 mins later we were finally on our way to our next meeting point BP Blacksoil where we were to meet Joyboy and Wombat.

The trip to Blacksoil was uneventful and as we were the first there, decided to grab a coffee and a bite to eat while we waited. It wasn’t long before Joyboy arrived but come time to go wombat was nowhere in sight and he is usually the first to arrive at any meeting point. Now as everyone knows, Wombat having a mobile phone is like having an ashtray on a motor bike (if you have ever tried to ring Wombat on his mobile you will know what I mean) so after a quick call to Jay to find out where he was we headed off because he had decided to stay at Neil and Jeanettes place Friday night to leave from there – thanks for telling us Wombat LOL

Our next meet point was just outside Fernvale where Team Grandpa and Wombat now joined the convoy. Nice leisurely drive along the Brisbane Valley Highway where we were to meet up with Truckie and Louie02 at the junction with the  DAguilar Highway. Didn’t have to wait long so now we had all 10 cars doing the trip we set off for the last leg to Yarraman.
Up the Blackbutt Range was a bit of a slow slog, road works still going on and looks like being a massive project.

Around 10 o’clock we managed to roll on into Yarraman so proceeded to head straight for the caravan park and check in. Lovely people here, was great to get the impression we were welcome to be there and not a pain because we wanted to check in. Kris had a yarn to the manager there and got some rough directions of some tracks we could go and explore.

After everyone had set up we decided to have some lunch and then head off on a 15 min run to Maidenwell for a look see. Our destination was to be Coomba Falls for a swim as the weather was stinking hot and the kids were getting fidgety and bored.
The car park at the falls is pretty small and 10 cars turning up at once didn’t help at all but somehow we all found a spot and after a short descent via a walkway we came across an oasis in the middle of the bush.

What a way to cool off !!



What a great spot, there was shade (if we had got there early) and a great place to cool off. It would be a great sight to see it in full flow.
No one wasted anytime in getting wet either, with the adventurous among us heading over to the falls area to do some rock jumping, while the rest of us just got wet and relaxed.

Wombat Going.......


Going......


Gone !!!!!


What was going to be a short visit turned into a 2 hour stop it was so good, I reckon you could spend a day there just cooling off and even a BBQ if you took the time to carry one down. The return walk back to the cars is a bit of a bugger though, steep climb back up the stairs, us oldies struggled a bit LOL.

On the way in we noticed the pub had a sign offering free camping so as well as taking the opportunity of finding out more, what better way to cool down than having a nice cold beer so once everyone had cooled off enough we made an easy and unopposed decision to visit the pub on our way out of Maidenwell.

We checked out the camping facilities and were informed by the publican that the Easter weekend they have a rodeo on. The campgrounds offer no shade at all and me thinks the kids would get bored real quick. Majority opinion was that although the offer of free camping would appeal to a lot of members especially at Easter, through in some smelly cows, drunken cowboys and cramped camping, this probably wasn’t the place to base our camping at Easter.
The idea of a rodeo suits some of us so we may throw that in the mix at Easter and take a run up just for that.


MORE TO COME WHEN I CAN..................................

[boxxy]

PART 2................

Heading back to Yarraman Kris guided us through the State Forest, there seemed to be tracks off everywhere but not knowing where they would lead us + we had Linda (louie02) with us who hasn’t done any 4wding we decided the best course of action was to stick to the main track and slowly ease her into getting the feel of dirt driving. Plan is we scare the crap out of her on the second trip LOL.

The track took us through hoop pine forests that had recently been logged and according to local sources it is all natural recurring forests ie. They log it and it regenerates and grows back by itself without having to re plant. It soon became evident of exactly how dry it is out in that area with the dust flying around we had to spread out a little but the vehicles soon became dust collectors. I am so pleased Bronny got a Hoppys car wash the day before, NOT.

White dust……..




Red dust………




Towards the end of the track Kris spied a sign for a day use area so we decided to pull up for a look see for future reference. Nice little area, well grassed with a couple of BBQ’s dotted around AND we stumbled across something we were not quite expecting.

Now, picture this, you are young and stupid, out for the day with the lust of your life and feel an amorous tinge coming on. You figure, what the hell we are in the bush, no one is around, lets go for it.
What you didn’t figure on was 10 bloody 4wd’s pulling in to the car park just when you didn’t want them to.
It must have been hot in that car waiting the whole 15 mins we took to have a quiet laugh at their expense and just hung around for the hell of it.

Day area – watch out for the nature lovers…..




It was getting close to 4 o’clock so we decided to head back to the caravan park for “happy hour” and a swim before heading out for tea. An hour or so around the pool, a couple of refreshing ales and some nibbles chucked on the table by everyone provided a nice relaxing end to the day.

Someone was too tired to walk to the pool area….



Before heading off for showers we said goodbye to Loui02 and the kids who were heading home. Hopefully we made a good impression and have a new member champing at the bit to be part of “The Crew”

We headed out that night to Shrek4x4’s pub (Yarraman Hotel Motel) for a meal. The beer was cold and the meal was huge. Considering they had only just re-opened their kitchen after a fire before Xmas I would say job well done. Highly recommend we go there at Easter one night for a meal. Shrek has been there just over two years now and has yet to be able to get out of the place and do any 4wding so maybe Good Friday when he is closed he may join us on a drive.

Group shot on the verandah at the pub – Shrek4x4 at the back



Sunset over Yarraman taken from the pub

 


After a couple more beers and a chin wag back at camp we headed off to bed around 10 with the plan being we be up and ready to go on our next drive by 8am. The night was not as hot as predicted as the storms all around us brought in a cool change halfway through the night. We were only in our tent and the breeze coming through kept the night temp very bearable, in fact at one stage I had to pull my sleeping bag over me.

Sunday morning everyone was up fairly early but our 8am departure time was not looking good. No one was in a hurry (certainly not me and Bronny). By the time we all were breakfasted and packed up we were ready to hit the road at about 8.30, van and campers were staying put as we would be back after our drive to pick them up.

Back into town, turning left took us on a short bitumen drive until we hit a dirt track that the park manager had told us about. If you look on the map Kris posted up Saturdays drive is on the left and Sunday’s on the right. The road borders properties and I actually thought we may have been on private land but the map shows it as a road, didn’t really have to get in 4wd much here but just had to take it slow. We could have spent more time exploring in here as there were quite a few tracks leading in different directions and even someone camped in here. We took a route that didn’t allow us to explore the camping opportunities but we will do more when we go back at Easter. We wanted to make sure we had enough time to make our destination of 7 mile diggings.

Tat2edking didn’t get through this one, good thing he had reverse


Showing a little flex (just a little…)


Wombat wanted to go the hard way….. coming down


Nearly there ………..


Down….


After spending an hour or so pottering around in there we decided to head out and find the so called 7 mile diggings. Kris had a rough idea of where to head and a short 15 min run had us at the entry to where we wanted to go. Took the opportunity to do a group photo here while Kris went ahead to check out the track we thought was the right on.

Group at 7 mile diggings….


And Bronny was not happy when she noticed me pointing the camera in her direction
Nature calling…………….


If you check out the group photo you may just see the lump of wood in front of Ady88’s fourbie, 4th from the left next to the tree. As we were taking off Ady ran over this length of tree and the result was not pretty, straight into his sidewall. D.J kindly offered to try a tyre repair rather than have to change the spare in the heat and the result first up was quite impressive. We know it is not recommended to plug the sidewall, we were merely hoping it would hold until we got back to camp.

All plugged and ready to roll


The track into 7 mile diggings was not overly steep but low range was suggested as it was pretty rocky. I don’t have many photos of this location so perhaps others can put some up.

A few of the boys tried some of the tracks while the rest of us sat back and watched. Going by the map of the area there are quite a lot of track we can explore in coming trips, we just didn’t have the time to do it all. According to the park manager they used to use this area to practice their winching.
Kris decided to have a run down the dry creek bed and lo and behold got stock between two sets of rocks.. couldn’t go forward and couldn’t go back so as always the trusty Nissan in the form of Wombat had to rescue him and yes Kris – I do have video that will make the movie next Xmas LOL.

Wombat to the rescue….


The boys had a little play for about another half hour and as it was getting on we decided to head for Nanango, grab a quick bite to eat and head back to the caravan park
Around 2 we all said our goodbyes and started the journey home. For me it took two hours from Yarraman to Auchenflower just to give you an idea of distance. The trip was certainly successful and worthwhile with everyone agreeing that it would be worth the trip back at Easter, so if you want to join us and explore the area check out the trip thread Easter Option 2 and get your name in.

Thanks everyone for an enjoyable time, great company as usual.

[Kris]

Just another of the day use area.....



Plus Map of where we went when up there

http://goo.gl/maps/042QQ

[boxxy]

Trip Report completed

[Cheiffy]

Good report, certainly sounds like the go.

If I am not working at Easter, count me in.

Cheers

Cheiffy

[Ady88]

Top trip report boxxy , a great read and great pics (except for the tyre) lol!!!

[Hangman]

Great report, mate.

7 mile diggings has heaps of tracks.

I want to do the Old Coach Rd, I only went as far as Yarraman Ck at New Years.

Yarraman is a great spot.

[boxxy]

Great report, mate.

7 mile diggings has heaps of tracks.

I want to do the Old Coach Rd, I only went as far as Yarraman Ck at New Years.

Yarraman is a great spot.

Kris has mapped out a trek to do the old coach rd at Easter, this track apparently has a road closed sign at one end only, if anyone enters from the other side there is no way of telling the road is closed

[Kris]

Well written Boxxy

Couple more pics courtesy of Tat2edking



Driving into a Wombat hole......