March sand dunes trip is always interesting driving wise and weather wise, this year it was hotter than we have had for the last couple of years so the sand was very soft in places, we also had a couple of rain showers which made no difference to the sand driving.
Most member arrived on the Friday some in the afternoon and some very late in the night.
Our normal camping spots we take when we arrived at 3-00pm so we moved around to the southern end near the entrance track, we all managed to fit in.
Friday night was quite warm so we did not have a camp fire (no wood had been collected) that’s one reason. A few of us managed to get in a short drive while others went fishing, no fish were caught, good thing I brought food!
Saturday dawned a great day, so by 9-30 everyone was ready for a drive on the dunes, we broke up into groups and head out onto the dunes some going to the right and the others going to the left, most of the dunes were flat on the top but a little soft as it must have been windy during the week. So after the newbies had got the idea we headed off down to the second beach, great drive and after arriving the view of the water close up was fantastic very clear the best I have seen it for years. Time to head back for lunch, after playing on a few dunes on the way back we arrived back at camp to hear that the Pajero Sport was not well.
See the other part of the report.
Saturday after lunch we went off to the forest to collect fire wood for the evening as a few members wanted to cook over and beside the fire, it didn’t take long as we had lots of helpers and we were back in no time.
After returning a few went off to try their hand at fishing again, but the reports were that it was too choppy and the tide was not right. Good thing we all brought back up food.
The rest of us went driving down to the North and called into the Bowl it was really good this year as there was no sharp edge at the bottom just a nice gentle curve, most members that tried made it over the top, even though one of the jeeps made it over the top but go stuck in the soft sand on the top, very tricky in some places.
After some time we decided to go back and visit the fishermen and a few members went paddling and swimming there was no signs of any fish but they seemed to be enjoying the experience.
After some time we decided to go back and visit the fishermen and a few members went paddling and swimming there was no signs of any fish but they seemed to be enjoying the experience.
While everyone was enjoying themselves Russell & I slipped off to set out the plot point for the navigation event that we have been running for the last 12 years or so on the Sunday morning. We returned to find everyone having fivezz’s and the camp fire going well, lots of coals, a couple of groups cooking there dinners, one spit roast and lots of potatoes in foil and a camp oven with dinner not sure what it was. After dinner everyone gathered around the camp fire for a few hours till people started to drift off to bed.
Sunday morning around 9-45 after everyone had had breakfast we got together and broke up into teams to complete the navigation event, Tony and his daughter Kerry and I went off to set up the task area check point. We had only just got it set up when the first team arrived. All the team members carried out the tasks and moved on when the next team arrived and so on we were keep quite busy for a couple of hours.
One the 4 teams had finished we packed up and headed back to camp for lunch.
Sunday afternoon was for most people relaxing and fishing and walking/playing on the beach, I decided to take a group out for a drive and visit some of the good track dunes after a few hours it was time to back for fivezz’s. Another great day was had by all as they say.
Monday
Most people packed up an returned home, a couple of members stayed for another day.
As trip leader I would like to thank all the members that attended and got on so well together and helped out during the weekend.
Barry Walker (Trip Leader) 652
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