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Mitsubishi 4WD Owners Club of Qld (Inc) |
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DAP - March '07 |
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DAP - March 17-18 2007Check out Lloyd's photos from the DAP weekend at http://picasaweb.google.com.au/geoblask/DAPWeekend Advisors:
Students:
After an early start on Saturday morning we all met up at the Urbenville general store between 8.30 and 8.50 for a 9.00 am sharp departure in convoy to Brooklyn. The Slade family were worried that “Oh no, we’re going to be late on our first trip, and we’ll get fined or worse have to do the verbal or written trip report”. But, we made it on time, and not last! But, I’m still doing the written report – so how did that happen, Alan R???? We all quickly set up camp, then met up for introductions and a pre-briefing on the weekend’s activities. We were introduced to Terry, and boy is he a “character”. Where does he get those fireworks from? Our advisors, most of who had arrived on Friday, and apparently managed to solve all of the problems facing the free world today, on Friday night, then drew short straws to see who got stuck with the Slade kids, sorry Graeme. We were off to practise our Hill Stall Recovery. That’s when the fun began, Sue’s Vitara got stuck in the first “creek crossing”, something to do with hubs not being locked in, and I blame the advisor! Sue’s white joggers were looking a little worse for wear after sloshing around in the mud for a couple of minutes. Sue wasn’t the only one having problems, I had forgot to remove the off road hitch for the camper trailer, and was doing some great plough work for Terry. Once removed, we were quickly back in action. We wanted to have a go at those other hills, where that Triton was having some trouble. How good are those Tritons, Graeme? Yeah, real good, especially when they are in 4WD!!!!! Stephen, I would blame the advisor. Some of us (me included) were doing things that we thought we would never be able to do in our vehicles, which is the purpose of the DAP course, to educate novice drivers like myself, what these vehicles are capable of. We were then off for a scenic drive around Terry’s property for some foot print training and more challenging driving situations. Terry had made some changes to the quarry since the last DAP weekend, so the optional quarry climb was not as challenging as previously. Moving on we came up onto a steep decent were you had two options, left or right side of the track. I chose right, everyone else chose left, all I can say is that we had two out of three kids asleep, and Jody was busy reading Better Homes and Gardens, no worries we made it down in one piece. I still think I made the RIGHT choice. Back to camp for Happy Hour, followed by dinner, and a few drinks. Not to mention a few more firecrackers. Once again, most of the world’s woes were discussed and sorted out before everyone turned in for the night. Up early Sunday morning for an excellent demonstration on how to use a hand winch, and how to pack it away!!!!! All I will say is have a look at the photos on the website!! Allan Puckridge also gave us a demonstration on the latest in Warn winches. We were then off for a tour around another part of Terry’s property that not too many of the advisors had been to before, truly breathtaking scenery and some steep hill climbs and descents (well I thought so). Everything was going fine great scenery, great company, then we saw it! ‘The Ledge’…..OK you want me to put my car up there? That’s when the advisors really came through, asking questions, offering advice, giving you confidence, and guess what it worked! Once again I chose the right hand side of the track and made it up! The boys in the back loved every second of it, “Can we go back again and do it faster”, they yelled. Everyone made it up, eventually!! How good was that Triton, Graeme!!!! After the adrenaline rush that was ’The Ledge’ it was a sedate trip back to camp. How many times did Terry take us back and forth across that dry creek? Back at camp, we had a quick de-brief, packed up, and headed for home. What a weekend! I am still amazed at what we all achieved over the weekend. On behalf of all the participants on the weekend, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Terry Pascoe, Alan Rowe, and his team of Advisors – Jeff McLean, Peter Ward, Graeme Clarke, Eric Newmann, Russell Kennedy, Alan Hughston, and Brian McKenzie. The fact that you all gave up your weekend, and time with your families speaks volumes for the club and its members. Thanks. Scott Slade PS Thanks to Debbie Doherty, and Lloyd Akeroyd for all the photos of the weekend. Back to Top
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