BEERWAH STATE FOREST ECO TRIP    -    Sunday 12 August

 Trip Leader:   Adrian Mc Donnell

Participants:  Rudy Adrichem, Russell Dezwart and the kids

Craig and Karrina Robson and kids          Tony Richardson with Mel and Mark

Alan Hughston                                       Stephen and Debbie Doherty

Rory and Liz McDonald                          Jeff and Jamie Sparkes

The group met at the BP service centre along the Bruce Highway at 8.15 for an 8.30 start. After having coffees and introductions we headed for our first rest area on Steve Irwin drive so we could let our tyres down and have a further discussion on the trip ahead. Adrian opened the trip up and we began in an eight vehicle convoy down the tracks of The Glass House Mountains but little did we know that the next few hours would be jam packed with climbs, slow down hill runs, wet and muddy boggy encounters (go figure considering Queensland’s in a drought) and dust and lots of it.

The first few kilometers were enjoyed by tracks that were pleasant enough meandering through the forest with dry creek beds, slight undulating hills and dusty conditions. We drove around on these tracks for an hour or so till we arrived at the Beerwah Look Out for morning tea. What a stunning place this is with having the valley backdrop of the Glass House Mountains and the Beerwah NP forest on the other. After our cup of teas and cake we all bunched up together with the Glass House Mountains as a backdrop and had a group photo taken, no one knew at that point that our bonding would have started then.

After leaving the look out we turned left and 100 yards ahead we hit a dirt road. Some ten minutes later a familiar voice came over the CB saying ‘don’t follow me I have taken the wrong line’. Yep, just up ahead there was Adrian up to his door sills in the first water hole, unable to move forward or backward. It took some very well placed foot movements by Tony on the rear bumper bar so he would not fall in to connect a snatch strap to Adrian’s tow bar so we could pull him out nice and gentle backwards. Adrian added further angst to his predicament when he opened his doors and it looked liked his Mitsubishi swallowed half the pond as water continued to gush out for what must felt like an eternity. After that we all decided to walk the remaining water holes, and seeing that Adrian was already wet to his knees, we volunteered him to find a line that would work for all to pass. After that, we negotiated some more water holes which added the excitement to my little passengers.

Some 30 minutes later whilst enjoying the meandering forest tracks we encountered another mud pool. This time the Triton ute driven by Stephen and Debbie was stuck fast in the mud. Debbie became the queen of retrievals when she donned the ‘fisherman’s waterproof pants’ (whalers) and it became apparent, and everyone agreed, that her task for the remainder of the day was to attach the strap to any of the vehicles that became stuck. It became clear that having a vehicle that was low sprung meant that you would become stuck more often than not and that was the case in certain situations and it was also at this point that every one of us hooked our straps to the cars for the remainder of the trip so they were easily accessible. We cruised along some more, came across a nice hill climb with some deep rut crevices that led us to the top of a ‘marking station point’. With five water crossings and five bogs it was a pleasant sight to have everyone making it to the top and it was decided to have lunch here and enjoy the backdrop of the forest and ‘The Glass House Mountains’ once again. At the end of lunch we had a choice of doing some down and up hill runs around the marking station and in the spirit of the moment we all took up the challenge. Some enjoyed it so much that they did a couple of extra runs and there was plenty of laughter and the ‘Mitsubishi salutes’ to go round.   

After lunch we commenced further down the tracks and we came across a fork in the road. I believe this to be the “Ho Chi Minh” track and there was a lot of discussion about which way was the best track to go. This area must have been a dumping ground for stolen cars because there were three or more cars of various ages down an embankment. This in itself created discussions about parts should we need it. Adrian decided to take the track on the right and everyone else took the track on the left. Half way down the left hand track it became quite apparent that the further we went in the chances of us getting into trouble were high, so after a walk and some careful consideration we decided to turn around and follow Adrian. Quite amusing seeing 7 four wheel drives pulling a U turn on a one lane track. We reached Adrian some time later and came across a group of drivers that were negotiating a mud bath/pit and a tree stump. They were not progressing well and struggling to get traction and got deeper and deeper in the mud so we decided to take another track and being late in the day headed out of the National Park. On the way out Tony saw an opportunity to get his Pajero dirtier and decided to tackle this water hole that was around 100 metres long. He was going well until he got in sight of the finish line when his car just fell into a deep pit and buried himself to his rear bumper bar.  Debbie to the rescue with her whalers and we got a strap connected and pulled him out. The damage that Tony suffered was not only a bruised ego but a warning light on his dash that said his alternator was not charging the battery. (This was founded later when we pulled into a service centre to have tyres pumped and a group of us had to push start him to get going.) The trip out of the National Park was very dusty, so much so that you could not see the car 100 metres in front and all windows had to be closed or you would be eating dust for a life time. We came to a T section of the road and that marked the end of our day trip.

This was a great day and we certainly enjoyed it, mud and all.  Thank you Adrian for a full, well organized day with lots of fun, mud and dirt. Thank you everyone for your company and a big thank you goes to Debbie for bringing your whalers, without it someone would have been wet and dirty all day.

Rudy Adricham

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