So last weekend marked the annual meeting of the Usual Suspects for me.
A group of 20 or so likeminded souls met on a 4wd forum similar to this one (Overlander if anyone remebers that) over 20 years ago, and subsequently have wheeled and travelled and toured together and kept in touch all that time. And for the past 15 years I’d guess, we have all met up every year around Christmas at one member’s home property to camp, sit around the campfire, talk about our lives and generally talk bullshit and tell lies as mates are want to do. 12 made the trip this year.
This means for many of us traveling well over 500km to get there. For me it’s 750km each way to get there in a straight route, and so these days I’ll make it a 4 day trip. I tend to go in a straight line down the coast, and then do a different inland trip home over two days to check out the NSW bush and see how the country is.
This year I headed off on Thursday after work and did about 350km to Coffs Harbour where because it was raining heavily and stormy and I couldn’t swag it, and too late to book in anywhere, I “slept, didn’t sleep” in the back seat and then front seat of the IG. Strong recommendation - don’t try that, it sucks. I have to say I was very impressed by the 20” Narva twin lightbar on the trip down though. A good bit of kit.
Anyway, the Friday morning I headed off just before sunrise, found a coffee, and did the rest of the journey at a leisurely pace poking into the coast from the main drag here and there to arrive at lunchtime at Tea Gardens.
A great Friday and Saturday had by all, as is always the case catching up with mates you haven’t seen for 12 months.
So Sunday morning came and I decided again to head west.
Last year I went home via the Newell Highway, and the year before that I took the New England Hway, so this year I split it up the middle and took the scenic route to Tamworth via dirt roads and mountain country, and then north via Manilla, Warialda (overnight stay at the pub), then back into Queensland via Yelarbon (a painted silo destination) Millmerran Toowoomba and back to Brisbane.
The country is really quite lush at the moment along that route, particularly as I’ve heard from mates who have been further west that the country out there is very dry. Amazing how a few hundred kilometers west can make all the difference. The early morning start from Warialda was delayed until the sun was fully up to avoid skippys on the side of the road, who are usually plentiful at dawn and dusk, but less present once the sun is well up. Not this trip. There was wildlife on the road until the best part of 9am (sun up at 6am NSW time) and came across at least 6-7 lots of roos (grays, wallabies and those squatt little wallaroos I call stinkers) that I had to brake heavily for, and almost collected a couple of good sized grays who bounced around the car after a complete stop, as well as birds all over the road. One bird wasn’t so lucky and I got him high on the windscreen but fortunately the only damage was to the bird. R.I.P.
About 1,800km all up, (like driving around the border of Ohio or Portugal) the IG performed faultlessly as you’d expect, and it really makes a trip like this a pleasant drive. The only design downside was the windscreen. It really is a problem in the country when the bugs are out. They very quickly turn an opaque white and yellow with bug guts. Worse than any vehicle I’ve had before.
A great trip, and looking forward to next year.
This was the track from Wingham to Nowendoc - about 65km of washed out ruts and potholes big enough to hide a sheep in, but beautiful country.
And a couple of pics heading north to south western Queensland.
Anyway, a great few days away and I hope I haven’t bored you with my ramble.
