Benarkin State Forest             14 -15 June 2008

Participants –

It was an early start for the weekend with most people arriving on Friday afternoon and why not, what a beautiful place to camp and spend a weekend away.  Even when I arrived about 8.30am Saturday morning, it was still very crisp and fresh.  Once the tents were set up by the late arrivals we headed out for the recce through the State Forest.  At first I thought it was mainly a scenic trip but then we did start to get into some nitty gritty and a few challenging tracks.   Eric took us to the Fire Tower which Helga, Greg and I climbed much to the amusement of the others who stood there as onlookers.  The views were spectacular; unfortunately the legs were still suffering for a few days afterwards.

As the Club tradition seems to be to find a pie shop on virtually every trip, we drove to Blackbutt for a bit of sight seeing and you guessed it, found a pie shop.  Once we refuelled both car and body we headed off for some more play, and play we did.  One particular track I think still has the boys talking weeks after the trip; it was very challenging and had Lantana the size of crowbars. Greg, Alan and Graeme drove it with ease while the rest of us listened in on the radio.  The boys seem to enjoy it because they went up and down it many times.  We decided to call it a day after that and made it back with plenty of time to have several games of Bocce, at which Ross was a clear champion and Happy Hour where the diving Kookaburras had to be watched due to their persistence in trying to steal the food off the table 

After a late dinner we sat around the camp fire and chatted about the events of the day and other world matters.  Eric found a bottle of port given to him by a friend and shared a small portion of it along with a couple of Tim Tams with those around the fire.  Having drunk his port and demolished his Tim Tams, everyone decided to have a reasonably early night, leaving poor Eric to sit by the camp fire by himself with an empty Port bottle and a crumpled Tim Tam packet.

Sunday most members were up early chatting and trying to keep warm as the night was very cold, I believe it did go below zero.  After breakfast and warming up we headed off for the tracks again for a morning of revisiting the scenic sights of Benarkin.  There was a brief visit to the tough track of Saturday where Ross, who not concerned about the door handles remaining on his vehicle gave the track a go.  After lunch most people packed up and headed home while Eric and Helga stayed for another day, simply because they could whilst the rest of us returned to a life of toil and servitude at work.

Thanks Eric and Helga for a fantastic weekend and everyone present for their great company and friendship.

Debbie Doherty

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