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Mitsubishi 4WD Owners Club of Qld (Inc) |
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DAP at The Springs - Feb '09 |
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Dap at The Springs - 21/22 Feb '09Participants: Peter Egan, Phil Keenan, Eva Turek, Phil Day, Naomi Ritchie, Brad Keegan, Alan Budge Advisors: Alan Rowe, Jeff McLean, Graeme Clarke, Alan Hughson, Greg Conlon, Peter Ward, Richard Murphy The biggest shock to the system on the weekend was having to get up at 4.45am to be able to get to The Springs for the 8.30am arrival time! It was well worth it though, a fantastic sunrise, sunflowers blooming on route saying hello to the morning, and a very welcome (and desperately needed) coffee in Warwick just before arriving and setting up camp and joining in for the debriefing. The campgrounds were great, with good facilities. We had set up in about 15 mins and were ready to roll, admiring the hills and greenery surrounding the campsite. Our first challenge of the day was to perfect our hill stall recovery. Amazing what happens in a manual 4WD if you do what comes naturally and put your foot on the clutch. I had to really concentrate on this as I have been driving manuals since I could drive – in fact, I concentrated so well on not using the clutch that I stalled the car everywhere else, much to everyone else’s amusement. Even on a fairly straightforward hill, Alan in his red Pajero and Phil in his Jeep each managed to get a wheel in the air. Our next lesson was use of the snatch strap, where each of us pulled out the car behind as we came up the hill. See Alan (one of our very patient advisors) demonstrating how to test that the snatch strap is attached correctly. This is due to the fact that when I went to pull out the person behind me, the snatch strap came off, and I merrily drove up the hill amazed at how little tug I felt in a snatch. I thought man, this stuff is easy… Our next hill was a little more challenging as I found out when I stalled going up in 2nd gear. This meant we practised what we had previously learnt, both the stall recovery and a proper snatch when one of the cars had a little trouble getting up the loose rocks. It did provide some dramatic driving as demonstrated by Peter in his Challenger and this particular hill did get the adrenalin going. I may not have completely woken up after my coffee in Warwick, but I did now. One of my favourite exercises of the day was practising our wheel placement on yellow blocks as you got to drive over fun mounds – similar to a trail bike track. One of which I bottomed out on and had to do a bit of wheel spinning to get off (yes, it was fun). I never considered myself short before, but there was some calculated guessing about where the left front wheel would go. Have to sadly now sit on a pillow if I want to do more 4WD in future. Not quite the tough 4WD image I was aiming for. Naomi did the ladies proud by successfully completing our log crossing exercise. Having had some rain over the past week, it was not only a test of skill, but of what the cars could manage as it was quite muddy and slippery. I am still not sure whether the noise of the car crunching over rocks or logs is worse in the car or out of the car whilst watching – I suspect it is worst for the partner sitting in the back seat having to keep quiet the whole time. Brad also had a go in his white challenger and did a fabulous demonstration of how to get to an appropriate place whilst your tyre is deflating having driven over a log with a small sharp stump providing a very noisy puncture. We then had a an impromptu presentation on how to change a tyre on a hill – providing good example as to why you would require a jack plate and need to have the spare tyre sitting under the car whilst working on the flat. Brad worked harder than most on that day. After traversing some more tracks, we ended the afternoon admiring the view and heading back down to camp for the evening. Toni, Iain and Jordan were our hosts at the Springs and while some opted out, a few of us headed to their house for dinner. It was incredibly mellow watching the sunset by the campfire, having a few drinks, chatting about the day and listening to Greg’s intricate guitar playing. And if that wasn’t enough – humungous portions of steak and homemade dessert made an early night a very easy option for some, particularly having started at 4.45 that morning. We would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Graeme, who celebrated his 50th and was serenaded by our hosts as well as the entire table, in a very raucous rendition of Side by Side. We headed back to camp admiring the starry night and falling unconscious until the morning to a very civilised 9am start for the next day of activities. Another beautiful day and it was time for winch practice. We all got to have a pull and understand how much easier it is doing it with 2 people or putting a snatch block on. Here I am realising just how out of shape my muscles are. Graeme looking rather bemused at the winchings going on. It was then time to get wet, walking the bog to learn how to make a safe river crossing. Many jokes about snapping turtles later, a few went ahead and had a go and discovered exactly where the holes in their floor actually are. Phil enjoyed the water crossing in his Jeep so much he did it twice. Again one of my other favourite activities of the weekend was driving through Ben’s Crack, (I am not making up these names). A gulley where our wheel placement training from the day before was put into very good use. A major brownie point to Charlie, who sat in the back and did not say a word when our bash plates received a good working out. Peter certainly seemed to enjoy getting at least one wheel well in the air. Our last exercise was a hill climb up some challenging rocky terrain. Again, Naomi led the way, showing the rest of the group how it should be done. I opted out, as our clearance is somewhat compromised in the front by our electric winch…. I can see $$$$ signs running away from me. All in all, DAP Training makes for a great weekend away. I learnt a lot about what our car can do/not do (springs and a lift are coming next), as well as invaluable skills that will come in handy for future trips. It was lovely meeting other people from the club and thank you to Greg who did a fantastic job of creating a photographic record of the weekend. I would like to give a big thank you to all our advisors, all of whom were extremely patient and taught with a great sense of humour. They certainly made me laugh! See you on some future trip. Eva Turek Photos by Greg Conlon.
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