BIG Valley Camping Duke of Orleans Camping Loo Literature Brookton Night Trip Tyre Trouble!
February 2012
From the Secretary’s Desk
Committee of Management Elections will be held at the Annual General Meeting on 7 March. All members are encouraged to consider whether it is time for them to offer themselves to fill one of the vacancies on the Committee. Nomination forms are available on the webpage and I have already sent an email to all members with details. Nominations close on 29 February. Entertainment Books. As a fundraiser for the club these books will again be sold this year. Please let me know how many you would like and they will be reserved for you. Cost is $65. Books will be available in May. Please make payment to the club account at Bankwest BSB 306 089 Account 2840244. Don’t forget to detail payment as ‘Entertain. Book and your name. Every purchaser’s name will go into the draw with a chance to win two bottles of wine. Policies and Procedures. The Committee has decided that in future this document will not be printed as a hard copy but instead will be available on the website. Future amendments and additions to the document will not be printed. Please return your printed copy to me as soon as possible as they are now out of date. Guest Speaker. If you know of an organization or individual with a message, an idea or a product that will interest members you should think about asking them to speak at a Club Member’s Meeting. Check with me for available dates and have as look at Policy 30 for more details. From John secretary@mitsubishi4wd.org.au
Kim Epton
co-founder with Peter Bridge of the Western Australian Explorers Diaries Project, www.explorerswa.com spoke to the members about some of the more than 200 men whose diaries have been found recording their journeys thought this State. The members of the project group are volunteers from all walks of life who have a keen interest in the preservation of the early records of exploration. Modern mapping techniques have highlighted discrepancies in the position of hills and springs made with nineteenth century measurements. The project members when undertaking field trips have been able to verify or clarify information on previous maps from these diaries. Exploration in the first twenty years of the colony was done only on foot as there were too few horses available to allow them to be used for exploration transport. Later horses or camels were used when exploration progressed into desert areas where it was necessary to carry more food and water which may have been less available. Exploration was considered a gentlemanly activity to investigate the availability of good grazing land and when Hunt and his party were exploring east to Southern Cross (Hunts’ Track), they did not consider minerals such as gold in their search. Kim has authored four books, including one on English grammar and word usage. As part of his involvement in the WA Explorer Project, he has been the Series Editor for seven Volumes and has edited more than twenty books for Hesperian Press. Those interested in reading more about the history of Western Australia will find www.hesperianpress.com has a comprehensive book list of publications that includes the diaries of explorers. These books are available from Hesperian Press in Carlisle or from the Alexander Library Bookshop in the city. Members may like to read about the first motorised (Continued on page 12)
Camping and Caravanning can often necessitate the use of portable toilets or inbuilt cassette toilets in the case of some vans. Various chemicals are used in the holding tanks in order to assist in waste breakdown and in the removal of odours. Formaldehyde was the only original toilet chemical and some of the later alternatives also break down to formaldehyde which is harmful to the environment and does not increase bio-degrading of waste. In some circumstances it can lead to the formation on nitrosamines which are carcinogenic. There are a number of safer commercially marketed products such as Bio Magic, Odour-B-Gone tablets, Aqua Kem all of which work to a degree but we have found that none are 100% efficient in waste degradation or odour control. Having trolled the camping and caravanning forums I have discovered many campers extolling the use of Sodium Percarbonate in their holding tanks. We have subsequently used it and find it a lot more effective than the more expensive brands. It is the main ingredient in nappy soaker powders and hence is available quite cheaply from most supermarkets. Woolworths Homebrand Nappy Treatment Plus and Coles $martbuy Napicare Plus are the two most commonly available, although other outlets may sell some other brands cheaply. The important ingredient is 34% Sodium Percarbonate. Sodium Percarbonate is considered safe to use in septic tanks, pit toilets and even in a hole in the ground when the hole is dug with the usual bush safeguarding dimensions.* To use mix approximately two tablespoons of powder in a litre of water and add to the holding tank – if
travelling before first use then I add the powder and water directly to the holding tank and the vibrations of travelling does the mixing for me; if the loo is static then it is best to mix thoroughly before adding. Because the powder is relatively inexpensive more can be added after a day or two if needed, and it also encourages more regular emptying. If the cassette has been used with other chemicals then it should be thoroughly washed out before first use of one of these nappy soakers using a stronger solution than for regular use and soaked for 24 hours. No need to add it to the flushing tank unless you want to remove any traces of previously used flushing chemicals that sometimes leave a clogging residue. Some people like to add a drop or two of eucalyptus oil in the flushing tank which in addition to smelling pleasantly is also supposed to add a little lubrication to the rubber seals and gaskets of the toilet. Emptying: Many caravan/ camp sites now have dedicated dump points. If a site does not have a dump point it is worth enquiring whether they will allow disposal of cassette contents in the usual ablution blocks. Many will allow this, especially as Sodium Percarbonate is not harmful to septic tanks or other waste systems. *If burying the waste, ensure you dig deep, at least 100metres away from any water course, a kilometre away from any habitation (rural or town buildings) and well away from a road and not near a rest area. Burying is not permitted within a National Park, Conservation or Nature Reserve. Useful sites: http:/ / www.toiletmap.gov.au/ National toilet map http:/ / www.cmca.net.au/ pages/ motorhoming_information/ public_dp_listing/ index.php Public dump point listing http:/ / www.dumppoints.com/ Motorhome Dump points Thanks to PETER BELCHER for this informative article.
Editor comment. “I’m not saying anything but….. this popped into my inbox recently!”
Why not lead a trip in 2012. Plenty of help available from your fellow club members. You just need to ask. Keith Parker the club Trip Coordinator would love to hear from you. trip@mitsubishi4wd.org.au
Club members enjoying the beach on the Duke of Orleans camping trip. Did you take this photo? Email editor@mitsubishi4wd.org.au Left: Duke of Orleans
crossing of the Australian continent following the Tropic of Capricorn which was lead by Kim in his Mitsubishi Pajero. He has had extensive 4WD experience over the past years including a Cross Country Rally in India with Niaz Ali. Later this year he will be competing in four events in India , including the Raid de Himalaya, the highest motor sport event in the world. Some of his adventures can be read on www.adventures.net.au Stella Weldon
Big Valley camping weekend was held November 18-21. Big Valley is a working sheep farm off Rosa Brook Road about 7 km east of Margaret River. The farm is owned and run by Kevin and Shelley and their daughter. Shelley operates the caravan park as a support business for the farm. I wont go into describing the facilities because you have to go there to understand how relaxing and enjoyable the location is. It is sufficed to say that we are well looked after as a club by the Silverthorne family. This year we had 23 vehicles booked to attend, of which, after a few late withdrawals, 19 turned up. That still presented quite a crowd for Roger, Jan, Karen and myself to organize trips and activities for. Some of the members drove down to Margaret River a week earlier for an extended stay. Karen and I arrived Wednesday with Grandson Locky in the back seat. Our intention was to get there a day or two early so that we could pre-trip the intended day run planned for the Saturday. Everyone else turned up in drips and drabs and by Friday afternoon the Johnsons arrived to complete the role call. The Kingston’s kindly offered to assist Karen and me in the pre-trip on Thursday. The intention was to follow the Blackwood River keeping off-road as much as possible to the coast at Augusta. I had earlier located an interesting track to the coast, north of Augusta, on Google Earth. I had plotted this on OziExplorer, so we decided to go and check this track out first and backtrack the route to Big Valley. The coastal track lived up to expectations with some bum clenching steep washouts that needed a lot of pre-walking and decision making before negotiating them in the vehicles. Karen, sitting in the death seat,
voiced the odd objection. However, fully aware of my own, and the vehicles, capability (no hesitation whatsoever Huhummm) I continued down the steep winding tracks towards the beach with the Kingstons not far behind. Unfortunately upon reaching the last dune before the beach we found that the access has been washed up into an insurmountable mound. We could have got down there, but getting back out would have been extremely difficult. So finally common sense prevailed and we decided to scratch this location from the itinerary. Recent rains having dampened the sand tracks aided the climb out and as
a result there was nothing the Pajero’s traction control found too difficult. A couple of spots needed full momentum to clear dug-outs. So we found an alternative location at a civilized grassed beach near Augusta to use as the trip target. Disappointingly though, we discovered that the tracks I had plotted along the Blackwood south of the Vasse Highway had all been fenced and gated. This was not going according to plan! Perhaps the tracks north of the highway would prove useful? So we continued north towards Margaret River turning into the Great North Road from the Vasse Highway heading for the Blackwood River crossing at a location called Hut Camp. The tracks were good off-road forest driving with nothing more challenging than the
odd washout. But things soon turned against us when we reached the crossing. Recent rains had turned the Blackwood in white water and the crossing was about half a meter deep and running fast. This is where you must listen to your gut instinct. And my
gut was saying no, even though the rebel in me was saying ‘yeh go on, do it!’ I had Richard and Karen standing next to the water’s edge with me also saying ‘no way’. So after an enjoyable day scouting the South West we decided to scrap the trip plans that we had for Saturday and look for something else. Meanwhile, Roger and Jan had been planning a second day trip in order to split the group into manageable convoys. They discovered that their planned route to Joey’s Nose north of Prevelly had also been blocked. This time it was a barrier erected by DEC who had recently taken over the area from Margaret River Council. It was apparently to stop people camping on the beach and leaving their mess behind. Despite this minor set back, the Freegards continued with there trip planning which was to finish up at historic Ellen Brook Homestead. After a few days relaxing, Friday evening soon came which was the official commencement of the club weekend. Keeping up the tradition, Friday afternoon (Continued on page 22)
It was a fine Boxing Day for driving the full day to Duke of Orleans Bay which is situated about 70 km east of Esperance on the south coast. The Duke of Orleans caravan park is located near the very picturesque Wharton Beach which is a popular surfing, quad bike and fishing location. We had reserved a section of the caravan park’s unpowered area suitable for the 12 campers and caravans from our club. Most of our members arrived within the first 2 days of our 2 week stay. The club’s 2 gazebos were erected in a central area of our camp. The gazebos side panels proved their worth screening the cold southerly winds during some of the less desirable evenings. With 22 members in our group, the two gazebos were just big enough to cosily accommodate everyone. We also hired a fire drum from the caravan park for the two weeks. At $20 per day, which included all the firewood you could burn, it worked out to just $1 per person for each day of their stay. If you are thinking, ‘that doesn’t add up?‘, some members departed sooner than others which balanced up the costs. With this trip being the second subsequent visit to this area, we had a leisurely 2 weeks visiting the locations that impressed us the previous year. There was little need to travel far as Duke of Orleans Bay is surrounded by an array of truly wonderful bays. And with each of them facing in various directions, a bay could always be chosen that was favourable for the prevailing winds.
Every beach is skirted by dazzling white sand and deep turquoise clear water. We did a number of day trips to beaches further east and west. One of which was the coastline around Cape Arid National Park. This area can present a variety of driving conditions depending on the tide levels and recent weather. The beaches can be difficult if the tide is up and vehicles have churned up the upper beach strip. Or it can be as easy as a bitumen road if the tide is out. Navigating between the many bays requires some good wheel placement over rock outcrops. Cape Arid has two managed camp grounds or a number of secluded bays where you can escape from other campers. Our day trip visit to the area before New Years Eve discovered that most of the bays had been claimed by lucky campers. But there was miles of magnificent beaches for us to pull up and have lunch and a swim without interfering with others.
“Every beach is skirted by dazzling white sand and deep turquoise clear water.�
Last year we had missed just one beach in our exploration of the coast between Cape LeGrande and Cape Arid. That gap was filled this year with a day trip to Kennedy Beach which is the last stretch of coast before reaching Cape Arid. Bushtrax.com and other trip notes suggested that this beach was inaccessible following wet weather. This was a concern because the day prior to running this trip it had rained quite heavily. Sure enough, as we left Merrivale Road onto the Kennedy Beach track there was a sign warning that the track may be impassable. But we soon discovered that the swampy areas had been filled with road base and the only difficulty was the soft sand dunes closer to the beach. These were easily navigated with reduced tyre pressures. Once again we were not surprised to find yet another beach from heaven. Lunch stop was on a flat rock outcrop overlooking crystal clear seas, which proved so relaxing that some men folk fell asleep in their chairs. After lunch we tried to bay hop back to camp, but one particular hill climb proved quite a steep sand climb with a difficult rock (Continued on page 21)
Five vehicles, some with guests, met at the designated meeting point. - Petrol Station – Corner Canning Rd and Brookton Hwy. After Trip Leader Pat went through required procedures 5 vehicles departed on time. Leisurely drive – on bitumen – to Brookton Hotel for dinner. Upon arrival, and to his dismay, Pat was made aware that they had overlooked his booking. We didn’t let that worry us. We all ordered dinner and waited, waited, waited. Mind you when the food arrived it was scrumptious, even if the quantity of salad wasn’t it’s normal pile up. We left the pub and retraced our steps approx 20 Klms and then commenced our adventure IN THE DARK into the unknown. We turned onto dirt tracks and headed off towards Albany Highway. Oh no!!! Horror! Horror! The farmer had padlocked the gate! We all backtracked and Pat and his trusted computer found another route. Oh no!!! Horror! Horror!! This gate was also locked. We didn’t let that deter us. Pat immediately returned to his trusted computer to find another route! Meanwhile we were all enjoying the drive as the countryside certainly takes on another dimension in the twilight and as darkness gets deeper. We even managed to stop for an Echidna. The stick used to prod it off the road was finally thrown away with the comment ‘Fetch’ and the Echidna immediately turned around and went the other way. We certainly didn’t train him right. The roos behaved and didn’t jump into any vehicles. The roads were relatively easy to manipulate until the end section which was a bit corrugated. Only Rick can managed to get bogged when there’s been no rain! It’s alright though, he just put the vehicle into 4WD and drove out of it. A great social evening and we look forward to the next one. Oh by the way - Lesson for the day –Farmers shouldn’t lock gates. Sue Irvine Editors Note: Sounds like another fun trip! Gee Rick will do anything to put his Cruiser to the test! Rick assures us that the pile of chips his cruiser was on top of at Gnangara proved no problem second time round! Onya mate your always willing to give it a go, and that’s what it’s all about!
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outcrop near the top which brought us to a stop. Everyone else was patiently waiting on the beach for the ‘all clear’ but we decided the challenge too difficult and dangerous without chancing damage to our vehicles. I had to reverse out of the track which was steep and curving with equally steep drop aways on the side. This is where you learn that vehicles reversing down steep curving sand hills do not necessarily go in the direction you want. Eventually, we all backtracked and exited the coast the way we came.
Thanks to Troy who organised a couple of fishing trips which resulted in the odd catch of herring and whiting. The best catch of all was provided by another camper who offered our group a couple of bags of abalone. Troy spent some time bashing and tenderising the abalone after which I trimmed off the gristly bits before throwing them on the hot plate for a happy hour feast. Although they were tasty and enjoyable, I fail to see why they are so expensive and sort after. One of Troy’s fishing adventures included an enjoyable evening on the rocks watching a picturesque sun set. Thanks also to Michael for offering to run a day trip. However, I think he would have been better off at Walpole where the ‘locked and lifted’ members were hanging out. Because after posting the trip as a level 4 he found himself in a convoy of one. Some of those that didn’t want the challenging drive decided to opt for coffee and scones at Condingup Tavern. Not taking rejection to heart, Michael and Marion headed east to explore more coastline and tracks.
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saw a fresh lamb placed on a spit by Farmer Kevin and cooked over flames for about 6 hours. Six hours goes reasonably fast watching the spit go round and round with one or two beers in hand. Some of us did break up the time with a round of 9 pin paddock golf. With everyone eager to get stuck into the lamb, as soon as the lamb was carved and John K had cooked the sausages, an array of salads was presented. John remained at his station to serve up the meat, but as always there was plenty to go around more than 40 hungry people. By the time Saturday arrived we had decided on an alternative day trip route. I ended up with 7 vehicles in convoy and headed south with Glen as TEC. Our first off-road track was called Boulter Road, which runs between the Bussell Highway (at Sebbes Drive) and Caves Road. The track was closely grown in providing a few more hairline scratches to the sides of vehicles. It was otherwise an interesting find with the track being cut in and built up to make it reasonably level. It was thought to have been an old logging track, hence the levelling for either a railway or a horse drawn logging trolley. We exited the track on Caves Road and then continued south to another forest track, which ran toward the beach of Hamelin “The trip leader intentionally didn’t let his tyres down enough so that he would get bogged immediately and have to demonstrate a recovery (It is trip leader’s privilege to make the story up as he likes).”
Bay. This track proved to be mildly challenging with sand stone outcrops and the odd washed out and dug out descents. We eventually let tyres down before heading onto the beach. The trip leader intentionally didn’t let his tyres down enough so that he would get bogged immediately and have to demonstrate a recovery (It is trip leader’s privilege to make the story up as he likes). Obviously 20lb was not low enough. Despite eager calls to snatch the vehicle out, I followed the instructions learned from our Training Officer who has always said to try every other avenue of recovery before snatching. So with shovels in hand we began to excavate the beach beneath my car. After which a couple of Max Tracks and several members pushing failed to move the Pajero out of the hole. Did I mention I let a further 5lbs out of the tyres? Pierce suggested we use his exhaust air bag to lift the car off its’ belly. And I was suitably impressed when the air bags began to lift the rear end of the car beyond the suspension travel enough to slip two of his ‘waffle’ boards beneath the rear wheels. After which it was a simple matter of driving off, and with tyres down to what they should have been the rest of the beach was a piece of cake. Cake was also consumed after we had stopped for lunch when the beach ran out. The second group had headed in the opposite direction from Margaret River towards Joey’s Nose. The group had stopped prior to the barricade at Joey’s nose and walked down to the beach, only to find that the barrier had been removed. There were no other stories emanating from the group so Roger and Jan must have led an incident free and enjoyable morning run which ended up with lunch at Ellen Brook Homestead. Following dinner that evening most people congregated in the camp kitchen for several rounds of Karen’s Quiz Night. It was decided to charge a nominal fee for participation in order to raise money for the Cancer Council. Tables were also charged a dol-
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lar per person if they wished to take a chance on doubling their scores each round. As a result we raised over $130 from the evening. This was later added to the money over from the lamb spit to make a $200 donation. A certain life member had forgotten to bring change along to the evening and produced a $50 note to pay a $3 IOU. He was duly handed a handful of loose change, which is not that easy to count after several bottles of red wine. He was last see trying to walk to his caravan with one pocket dragging him around in circles. Sunday morning was spent with everyone doing his or her own thing. We took Locky to see his first cave. Unfortunately I think we picked the one with the most stairs. It was a good workout before our planned meeting with everyone for lunch at the Woody Nook Winery. Once again the Woody Nook put on a wonderful meal that was enjoyed by everyone. It’s pleasing to find a restaurant that will service a group as big as ours with a smile and efficient service. During our lunch, Roger presented the winners of the Big Valley Golf tournament with their respective prizes. Some members returned to Perth directly after lunch, while the remaining members returned to camp for another relaxing evening at Big Valley. Thanks to all
that attended for being an enjoyable bunch to camp with and we hope you join us again next year. A big thanks to Roger and Jan for their help in organizing the weekend. Karen did a marvellous job preparing and planning the quiz night, not to mention standing firm when inebriated individuals disputed answers or questions. And a final thank you to Kevin and Shelley at Big Valley for looking after us every year. Martin
Really! HOW Big!
The Condingup Tavern once again impressed our group with a wonderful dinner on New Years Eve and another dinner for Jan’s birthday several days later. The Tavern is a family run business and they provide excellent meals with very friendly and accommodating service. The Gibson Soak Hotel was re-visited this year for a lunch stop during our visit to Esperance. This year we found the tavern quite busy with a number of large groups in for lunch. The tavern allowed us into the main dining room as there were no tables left in the casual meals areas. Another hearty lunch was had with an over abundance of food that many could not quite get through. This was followed by a drive back to camp along the beach from Wiley Creek to Cape LeGrande. This run covers about 30 kilometres of hard white sand which can be easily driven by a 2 wheel drive car. Throughout the 2 weeks we came across a number of snakes. One of which, a carpet python, was found by Roger inside his annexe before going to bed. Luckily Jan was visiting the ladies at the time and did not discover it herself. The skirt of the annexe was raised and the snake coerced out into the open. It was then broom handled into a bucket and taken back to the bush and released. We had other visits from snakes into the camp, one of which was a dugite which soon found its self on the wrong side of Troy’s shovel. Despite several days of strong winds and wet weather the 2 weeks was very enjoyable thanks to a great bunch of members to enjoy it with. Having spent the last two New Years Eves in this area, Karen and I have decided to try something different next year. However, the Duke of Orleans Caravan Park will welcome our club again should anyone else wish to organise a club trip for this coming end of year. Please see me and I will pass on the contact details for the caravan park.