It is hard for me to believe that ten years ago,that I an 18 year old inexperienced four wheel driver joined the LAND ROVER OWNERS CLUB.
I was a third year apprentice boiler maker who after three years of saving, paid cash for his first car which was a Toyota Landcruiser FJ55.Wanting to try out my car I went on a day trip to Mount Donna Buang which was covered in snow.On the way up my mate spotted a Lyre bird so we pulled over to take some photo's.After the bird vanished into the bush we tried to get going but to my shock the Tojo had slipped sideways into the roadside gutter.Not knowing what to do we waited till help came.Help did come and it was in the form of a series 2 LWB,after he freed my car the driver said "Do me a favour and join a club".
A week or so later someone told me there was a 4wd nut working in one of the other factory buildings and might be worth talking to.After some searching I came across him and he convinced me to go on a club trip which was on the following weekend.I asked a friend if he would like to tag along and off we went.He warned me it was a night trip but forgot to mention it was also a navex(car rally).Equipped only with thermos and a C.B. we headed off trying to follow the directions.We were lost before we got off the blacktop(Bitumen).Ten minutes later we found our way and was answering the questions so we knew that we were on the right track.Rain fell during the evening which made the going a bit slippery.John,my navigator,was getting nervous when he looked out the passenger window and saw nothing but a cliff face dropping to no where in the darkness.We were still getting the questions answered when we started to notice green and gold ribbons tied to trees along the track. Knowing the club colours we assumed that they were markers for us so we followed them and got completely lost and had given up,(It turned out that those ribbons were for the logging trucks and had nothing to do with us),when a red LWB Landrover came over the hill we were tying to get up.I recognised it as being at the meeting place so I turned the car around and attempted to stay within eye sight of it.Now the owner Keith naturally did not want any one on his tail during this event so he took off like a mad man,not knowing that I had all but thrown the paper work out and was only trying to get back to civilisation.Thankfully Keith was able to follow the directions and through him I made it to the finish,where there was a nice warm camp fire going.It was about 1am when we pulled up and poured ourselves a cuppa.After finding out the results,(I came last,but who cares I was safe),we headed off home.Next day when the nerves had settled I realised what a great thrill it had been.I joined the club at the next meeting.
Now having a Toyota in the Land Rover Club turned out to be an interesting situation,because it allowed the landy owners someone to pick on,but it also gave me the chance to have a go at them when ever the occasion arose this made getting to know people a lot easier,therefore going on trips became more fun.
After several day and weekend trips and the purchasing of some recovery gear ie.snatchum, tirfor and highlift jack,I felt confident enough to try an extended weekend trip.On the Melbourne cup weekend my work mate ran a club trip into the Grampians, an area I had been into many times with my parents.With Dad as my co-driver we thought we had seen every thing there was to see in this mountain range,but was pleasantly surprised on numerous occasions when we came to an area we had not seen before.Sitting around the fire and listening to stories of "Drop Bears" and "White Bulls" I began to understand why people enjoyed the great out doors,and wanted to try and run some trips of my own.
My first trip that I was to run turned out to be a joint venture with another first time trip organiser.We decided on running the trip in the Mt Disappointment area North of Whittlesea.The surveying took some 4 weekends before we felt we knew the area well enough,problem was we new it to well and decided to make the trip a night run instead.This proved to be a great success with some 9 or 10 vehicles participating on the Saturday night.The official finish time was about 1.30am but like myself most people stayed the night in the quiet of the bush.
Ken and I ran several more trips together,including trips into Wombat State Forest and Toolangi areas.Having bought a Series 1, I felt like running a Series 1 trip into the Wombat Forest area, Ken was unable to help with the planning so I had a go at running the trip on my own.This turn out to be fairly easy and the trip was a success with 5 series 1's, 1 series 3 and Ken in his 110.With me in a roofless series 1 taking the lead and Ken as T.E.C. we made an interesting convoy.
Now having ran one trip, more followed in quick succession,Mt Cole (west of Ballarat),Blue Rag Range (to see Hailey's Comet),cross country snow skiing(near Licola) and a Hut trip which was to proof a big success were only a few of the many trips which I enjoyed running.
Now you may have noticed a theme to my trips.If not it's easy,I've tried to run unusual or different trip types.One such trip happened because I was unable to go to the Gulf country on a club trip, so I ran a Golf trip to Olinda Golf course.It took the other lot 3 weeks to complete their trip where as mine was finished in an afternoon.
Last year I had a go at running competition events the first was a Motorkhana,and was a joint effort with Richard on his property just outside Bendigo.A dried dam proofed to be a great place to have such an event.The second was a Navex through the Eastern suburbs starting in Heidelberg and ending at Churchill Park,and trying not to go through any traffic lights.This took a lot of planning but in the end it proofed to be quite satisfying.
I would like to thank every person I have ever shared a camp fire and Port with.Also to those who have run trips and allowed me to be part of the group.To those people who have made the trips that I have run, work smoothly and with a great feeling of enjoyment,thankyou for attending.I also like to thank those of you who have given me hell when ever my vehicle,for what ever reason,may have gotten stuck and allowed me to do the same when the rolls were reversed,for this made it all the more enjoyable.
I hope to be able to share the next ten years with the club and enjoy it as much as I have the previous ten years.I also hope this may encourage the newer member into both going on trips and running them.
ROB.
© 1993