There will be a full report in the manxclub magazine, and all of the photos will probably get posted on the manxclub website, but here's a brief run down and some pics.

We met at Gatton macca's on sat morning. Some people had left a little too early that morning, and spent a while waiting around. We left at 9:00 as planned, and headed into blackduck. We had a slow run behind motorbike and horse trailers, and it was peakhour trying to sign in and pay the money. We eventually headed towards the camping area at 10:00. We found dubcab's camping set-up and met-up to introduce ourselfs and set-up camp.

The attending vehicles were;
My Baja
Heather's ($2.63) Baja
Andrew's Towdster
Daz in his manx
Mick in his Max FX
Mike M in his manx
Dyno in his supasports
Ash in his Patrol

We also had a guy called guy from the gold coast tagging along in his baja. They happened to see us, followed us, broke down in the middle of our group, we fixed it, then they left us.

So anyway, thanks to dubcab (and family) for the hospitality to let us join them.

So first off we went off for a scenic tour of the park. The scenic tour was mainly beginners tracks, but if you took a soft-roader 4wd on them it would hit stuff and get destroyed. The tracks were quite rocky in places. The track took us on a nice tour of the hills, with plenty of scenic views of the valley below.

As mentioned the tag along baja broke down on a narrow one lane track, stopping our convoy. All 3 of it's spring plate bolts had fallen out, letting the rear wheel go for a little bit of a walk backwards. Andrew seemed keen to jump and get dirting fixing, with the rest of us offering tools and moral support (as well as stirring guy about the cost of call-out, and weekend labour).



The damage could have been worse, but luckily only resulted in a bent rear shock

[img]http://www.offroadvw.net/bajawes/manxclub/blackduck/bent shock.jpg[/img]

So after that the convoy continued...



After the inital tour, the rest of the arvo was spent eating, talking, and stuffing about on play tracks. The play tracks were fun, heaps of cool little hill climbs, and a weird in ground rocky test track. Playing on those drew a large crowd of spectators.

And Daz and Andrew tried a rocky challenging track. The towdster couldn't could the front wheels on the ground long enough to steer, and Daz found out his tyres don't live-up to the hype either. A rock managing to puncture the side-wall. The photo below is ironic and funny. The puncture couldn't have been in a better place for the photo.

wes,

any more pics on the yellow buggy?

who owns it?

[Edited on 23-5-2004 by 3.5ltr buggy]

andrew is mister fix it hay andrew nice shirt

Yeh always drop in for a beer(alright well mabey a few ) there when i'mm at home. Keep a look out on this post and the manx club site for more full on go hard towdster photos from this week end plenty of front wheel in air action!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO THE TOW'D

more pics;


$2.63 homebrand baja


me, you can see how chewed out this track is by how high the front wheel is in the air




The orange spec in the middle is daz in the obstacle course, with a crowd of spectators


andrew wheelstanding as always


dyno with ronnie passengering


daz










mick


mike M


the obstacle course

hay andrew so what trip should i come up 4?? u2u me u said 2 me when u were down cant remember tho

The ONLY way to spend a weekend!!

AGGGHHHHH!!!! F**K!!! Damn you stupid army training making me miss out on this in my own backyard! ARRRGHHH!!!! *throws chair out of window* NOT FAIR! *sets fire to computer then burns hands trying to put it out and type at the same time*


Sorry guys I only got back on the 23rd and would've loved to have been there. I'm really pissed now.:cry:cussing

Hey Cam my Manx is sitting there anytime you(and mabey Scott) want to come up and go on a Manx Club Offroad or Beach trip ,so hey check out the calender and book a flight. Your garenteed a good weekend let me assure you. PS you and who ever comes will only need to bring clothes and a sleeping bag,all other camping gear and food ofcorse can be supplied up here.

thanks andrew trying 2 get scott back in the bug sen he stil got a cheata kit under house u never know looking at moveing up qld way if i can get a" job "it sems 2 b the buggy capital and need a change but if not il b up 4 a trip with club b 4 the end of the year

Glad you all had a good time. I am starting NOW to get ready for the next run.

Looks great guys wish I wasn't working. Good to see you all having fun

next time I will follow convoy..... so many townships in the district to discover... so little time... I appeared to be everywhere but Blackduck!lol.

was a pleseant evening! But once I actually saw in daylight wat was on my diagnostic,,err bash- plate, I decided to head home and change the boot! Spent rest of today finding and fixing all the bits that had come loose! Festy kindly asked me (after a quick tune), not to do that to him again!lol.

after seeing how well wes's baja goes I think mine is a little more suited for beach driving in its present state! pmsl! (mmm bushbashing my daily drive :o )

ahh so much driving! and bouncing! and sliding! and knee shaking! but my hand brake did work!

:thumb

Well my family and I had a great weekend and it was good to meet you all.We are especially grateful to wes,ashley and andrew for taking 'Bajaboy',Matt and myself on the tracks and in the middle of the action. Considering we aren't even in your club(yet) you were all most welcoming. I'll post some of matts shots when he sends them to me.Thanks again.

Hi Everyone,

Well Finally got home, the buggy died on the trip home, the reason unknown at present, appears to be electrical as we have nil spark.

I think it was Ronnie who said the famous line,
"Drive Hard and trailer home".
Well I was driving home, thanks to a few donations of a front wheel and tyre from Andrew, Wheel Nuts from Wes, Jack from Mick and lots of I told you so's from Mel. Then shortly after filling up on fuel, air and McDonalds the Buggy coughed and spluttered and then died. With everyone well ahead of us, we went to plan B, Hire trailer and drag it home behind the Patrol(Thanks Ash).

All in all a good weekend, thanks to DubCab and family for their hospitality, Wes for organising the weekend.

If anyone has any pics they can send me of the weekend, I just downloaded mine and I have a grand total of 4. Damn, need to stay still and take pictures of other people doing stupid stuff.

That would be great.
Thanks
Darryl
darryl.hall@motorline.com.au
or
darrylh@bigpond.cam

I've got a total of 57 photos. I find the trick is to give the camera to anyone who will take it and let them take pics. I think most pics were taken by dubcab and ronnie.

I posted some of the better ones above. I am just grabbing some action shots off the video camera now, will post soon.

[Edited on 23-5-2004 by Baja Wes]

I wish someone got a picture of my stupid husband hitting the tree!!

here's a few more;

me taking Heather for a wild ride up a steep track. We later watched a landcruiser ute unsuccessfully attempt this hill.


Dyno did a cool wheelstand up a hill, unfortunately a bit close to the camera


Mike M proved he'll risk his life for good footage


and bajaboy going for a joyride in the towd


I watched the footage of Daz's puncture again. I made a little gif animation of it, about 600kB. Judging from the position of the wheel relative to the rocks, I'd say the tyre actually punctured on part of the car. The tyre got force to full lock, and may have cut itself on the front arms or limiters. Not sure, have a look at your car Daz.
Here's a link to the animated gif, wait for it to load.
http://www.offroadvw.net/bajawes/manxclub/blackduck/daz.htm

Fun Fun Fun, Me want a weekend off, Love my buggy hate workin retail

need my baja NOW so i can get that damn tree back for jumping in front of mic,s car
great time i had thanks to you all
terry

Quote:
I watched the footage of Daz's puncture again. I made a little gif animation of it, about 600kB. Judging from the position of the wheel relative to the rocks, I'd say the tyre actually punctured on part of the car. The tyre got force to full lock, and may have cut itself on the front arms or limiters. Not sure, have a look at your car Daz.

Wes,
Having looked at the slowmo, I think your right. upon closer inspection of the front right corner, I discover my tow hook keeper is bent out of shape!!!!! Damn, I should have forgotten to put that one on the same as the otherside. Damn....... Oh well, maybe I will have to set up some sort of limiter to stop them hitting there altogether.

Hmmm, what can I add that hasn't already been said. I had a great day, and I need a tougher buggy.

The Towd rocks... but we already knew that, maybe it's the driver
Daz's Manx.. Tough, goes anywhere, or dies trying.
Dyno's Dyn04.. Makes stuff look way to easy
V6 Baja... Comfort, power, ability. This thing rocks.

Then there's the rest of us with mer mortal cars.

I hope Wes got some good video footage with my life risking filming, I think in future I'll stand a bit further out of the way.

I'd love a CD with the piccy's of the weekend, I will supply $ to cover cost. I would also love to see the Film footage everybody got, maybe even get a dodgy pirated VHS copy.

Thanks to everyone for a great day.
Mike

[Edited on 23-5-2004 by MikeM]

hey daz, re: electrical blackout... if its any consolation,, was driving back from brizvegas tonight... last 14k's were with dim candlelight.... festy just made it home...... looking looking... aha... my wires had fallen off the voltage regulator :cussing ........... was wondering why it was hiccuping and pharting this arvo!

ahhh the bigbaja... hang in there terry!

:bounce wat a luvly bunch o peeps! Ducky,, get some time off need more fem drivers:P

I am planning a trip to Levuka one weekend all welcome will post dates etc soon

not pretty but very tough

no use following us we are lost too.....:thumb

[Edited on 26-5-2004 by dubcab]