Cracking stories from our Group Trips - Part 4 - stories from trips to NSW destinations:

Cracking stories from our Group Trips, is a series of journals about our time leading group trips all over Australia.

"You couldn't make this stuff up!"

It's a place where adventure and discovery are constant companions.

All these stories have become folklore in our groups and get regularly trotted out over campfires some of which tend to get a tad embellished over time. The richest memories are often about relationships and the group dynamics rather than the destination.

The stories are not so much about an event but rather a time, an attitude, a way of life.

Why tell stories?:

Story telling is an essential human need that has been used, for ever, for entertainment, education and cultural preservation. Compelling story telling is the path to imagination and people are hungry for stories.

Memorable travel turns you into a story teller.

Story # 1 - The Pudding - "it was mesmerising" - Operation Thunderbolt:

"Sometimes someone does something so selfless and kind it is never forgotten".

So it was on our group trip to Barrington Tops, 'Operation Thunderbolt', which was our favourite destination on the Australia Day long weekend.

Most of us were out 4WD'ing all day on the Friday enjoying the thrills and spills of this great 4WD playground in the spectacular Barrington Tops National Park.

Our base camp was at Riverwood Downs which was our groups preferred site at the Barrington Tops. Our largest trip on the Australia Day long weekend was 100 people.

On the Friday night we had our big traditional cook up with all the roast dinners cooked in camp ovens with all the trimmings. Unbeknown to us, our dear friends John & Esma had spent the day cooking a mammoth plum pudding while we were all off playing. Put simply, this was the mother of all puddings. I guess you would need a big pudding to serve our huge group.

No one new about the plum pudding until everyone had finished their feast of a main course and started to kick back and relax. By now it was dark, and we suddenly noticed a bright light approaching our communal area. It was very intriguing even mesmerising. As it got closer, the crowd all fell silent and then we could see it was Esma. The the bright light was the moonlight reflecting off the glaze on her mammoth plum pudding.

At this incredible sight, our stunned crowd went absolutely berserk followed by long feasting on the plum pudding, including seconds, which just seemed to create an unforgettable celebratory experience in the group that night.

Something special happened that night and the group considered it such a significant event that we held a reenactment (with a smaller scale pudding) on every subsequent Australia Day long weekend trip where the story became group folklore. The full story was immortalised in the attached poem. Reading of this poem preceded each re-enactment.

The Pudding.pdf

Download PDF • 48KB

Story # 2 - '“the fastest paradigm shift I have ever seen in a person” – Operation Life of Riley:

Steve had convinced Georgina that she would love the weekend away at the Shoalhaven River despite camping not being her thing and not being 4WD'ers themselves.

Georgina’s body language suggested that the whole notion of camping in the rain with a large bunch of crazy 4WD'ers was really pushing the boundaries and she was there under some level of sufferance.

Steve was far more relaxed and was lapping up the whole experience, even the ordinary weather didn’t bother him at all however his level of enthusiasm seemed to be pressing a few buttons for Georgina. In hindsight, it was probably poor timing for Steve to suddenly get all inspired about the idea of buying a 4WD which seemed like the last straw for Georgina who gave a rather clear response to the idea with “Over my dead body”.

The next day was a different scene altogether with sun shining and an awfully big adventure in store at Yalwal. A little rain the day before made the tracks very interesting and the track near the old cemetery was just the ticket.

Steve & Georgina traveled with Chris in her Prado. Chris was one to give anything a go but baulked at this steep slippery track which clearly was a thrill seeking experience. Wayne M, being one to throw himself into things enthusiastically with very little encouragement, came to the rescue and jumped behind the wheel of Chris’ Prado. Wayne powered up the track slipping and sliding with mud going in all directions. Plenty of mud even found it’s way into the cabin due to Wayne leaving his window down thus attracting huge globules of mud all over Chris’s dashboard which got a reflective “Oh bugger” from Wayne. The excited chatter on the radio sounded like a WWI dog fight.

As soon as Wayne got back, he got into his own 4WD and said “I’m going around again”. On hearing this, Georgina flew into Wayne’s vehicle which some say was at a speed barely detectable by the human eye. Georgina then stuck her head out of the window and yelled passionately '‘Steve are you coming around again?” Steve at this point was a little disorientated with Georgina’s enthusiasm and just nodded with his jaw open “Well what are you waiting for?” yelled an impatient Georgina.

The second trip around this track was equally if not more spectacular with great cheering from the crowd as Wayne brought his vehicle over the crest of the hill conquering a formidable challenge.

Then suddenly, the excited crowd all fell silent as Georgina burst out of the vehicle, before it even came to a stop, and yelled “I want one, I want one”. The intensity of her enthusiasm seemed even greater than what we witnessed from Tony at Pineapple Flat back in 1998. I let Georgina catch her breath, waited until her eyes returned to their normal size, then casually asked her what sort of 4WD she had in mind. With clenched teeth and eyes transfixed on the next vehicle roaring up the track, she said “Something with a bit of power, something with a bit of grunt” all said with bent powering arm gestures.

Now any behaviour even slightly toward either end of the normal band never goes unnoticed with this group and is always well churned over around the evening campfire.

I thought Chris might mention her mud encrusted radio buttons but instead reflected on Derek’s tendency to make his own tracks despite the many little saplings just popping up after the recent bushfire and said “If the bush fires don’t get ‘em, the poor little buggers, Derek will”.

Everyone also saw the funny side of Wayne M having to change a wheel only to find that his jack handle was left at home which saw him turning the jack with a pair of pliers. The funniest part of this scene was how he just carried on and continued chatting from under the vehicle as if everybody did it that way.

Needless to say, the subject that was most entertaining that evening was the incredible transformation in Georgina which was recounted word for word complete with body language. Rosemary said "that was the fastest paradigm shift I have ever seen in a person”. Steve just lapped it all up enjoying the only time he had got Georgina to change her mind without saying a word but perhaps David K summed it up the best when he said “There is nothing like a woman who knows what she wants”.

Story # 3 - "tough but fair" - Operation Razorback:

"Often the most amazing things happen when you least expect them".

Rosemary, had such an experience whilst driving at night on a windy dirt road near Wee Jasper on our way to our group campsite on Operation Razorback.

We were only about twenty minutes from our destination, where our friends were awaiting our arrival, but the journey was about to become a tad more exciting than expected.

We were towing a camper trailer behind our Landcruiser and approaching a sharp bend on a downhill section. Rosemary was driving and said it was a very sharp bend indeed.

Rosemary took this bend a little too fast, an explanation which Rosemary still disputes, and we found ourselves over the edge clinging to the face of the bank with only the camper trailer still on the road to stop us rolling over. A shout out to the benefit of a Treg coupling.

I was just waking up from a nap as our rig soared over the edge into the abyss like poetry in motion with stunned silence inside (other than some loud gasping). We all had the thought flash through our mind 'what would become of us?'. Fortunately, the vehicle only went over six metres and avoided much more dangerous cliffs further along this road. Yet, we were left precariously hanging on a distinctly uncomfortable 40 degree angle, in both directions, and had almost rolled.

I had a job getting out of the car to survey this ghastly scene and things now seemed at their worst. Yet, a vehicle coming the other way, which fortunately had not been coming a few seconds earlier, stopped and saw our plight. As it happened, this was a 4WD full of young lads on their way home from pig shooting and found the thought of undertaking our rescue the highlight of their day.

With relative ease, their Landcruiser winched our rig back onto the road and after thanking them profusely we were on our way again which was probably a total of 20 minutes after running off the road. We were also gobsmacked to find that we were completely unscathed. You really can only describe this incident as a miracle.

At this point, Rosemary was a little shaken by the whole ordeal and advised the family that she was would not be driving any more that night, to which our son Stephen, (then 16 yrs old), replied "tough but fair".

On the way home, three days later, we stopped to survey the scene in daylight. Rosemary found the scene somewhat sobering and felt the need to leave a momento, written in texta on a guide post, "Oh what a feeling!"

In the telling of the story, we celebrate the inevitable challenges that go with 4WD'ing, mateship to another in need and the 'can do' resilient response of the human spirit.

Story # 4 - “What’s wrong with Special K?” Operation Sygna:

"Breakfast on a group trip is not a meal, it’s an event".

The menu has no regard for diet or healthy eating. It is a full on cooked breakfast awash with recounting of events from the previous days adventures.

However, on Operation Sygna to Stockton Beach, Lee & Danny joined us who were new to our group, unfamiliar with camping & 4WDing and unfamiliar with how things go at the morning breakfast event.

There were 15 families on this weekend expedition and the leisurely Sunday breakfast event followed a big day of thrills and spills on Stockton Beach the day before. Our plans for Sunday was to kick back and relax.

As the other families were cooking up a storm, with sizzling galore, Danny looked around and, with great anticipation, asked Lee what she wanted him cook on the BBQ.

Lee’s idea of a holiday was eating out for every meal with 5 star accommodation, so she was looking rather puzzled at this event and felt somewhat unprepared. Lee was even more perplexed by Danny’s question and said “What’s wrong with Special K?”.

Danny, who had very different expectations, was devastated and by now the cooking smells were permeating throughout the whole campsite. To make matters worse Lee had envisaged eating the Special K with no milk. There was not even a slice of bread for toast. Lee could see Danny’s disappointment but she wasn’t having it and asked again, more intently, “What’s wrong with Special K?”.

“What’s special about it?” asked Danny. Of course, we felt sorry for Danny & Lee and ensured they got very well fed.

The group, hearing this story unfold, immediately found the funny side and the other blokes offered much moral support to Danny. In fact, it was considered such a great story it became immortalised in the attached poem.

Whats wrong with Special K.pdf

Download PDF • 41KB

David & Rosemary Allan – the faces behind:

May adventure & discovery be your constant companions.

Reflection:

For me, a trip is memorable when I am enriched by a deeper sense of connection to a place which triggers an emotional or spiritual response. This comes from feelings of Awe when I feel part of something bigger. Such as, seeing dramatic landscapes, being caught up in the history and sensing the passion of the human spirit.

A memorable experience will cause me to day dream about the next trip even more than the last trip.

Remember: Your adventure begins the moment you decide to go.