Goomburra Valley Campground

SE Qld members meet

The weekend of Saturday & Sunday, 5th & 6th of March 2005

Who needs five star accommodation when you can have five million star accommodation!! As quoted by Erin Skinner.

       As a first timer to a Queensland Division of Australian CamperTrailers outing you can imagine how enthusiastic I was to have “volunteered” to record our weekend at Goomburra State Forest?

       After Rob having discovered the Web site and discussions back and forth between our organizer Les Webb, Rob and Rob (husband) and myself – we decided to “give it a go” – never having gone camping in a group (we like our own company).  A great weekend was had.

       Friday dawned and promised to be another sunny Queensland day.  We set off just after lunch in the company of another couple of first timers – Richard and Helen. We arrived around 2.30/3.00 to see two other camper trailers so we figured we had the right place! 

       Goomburra is about 25km off the main highway out of Allora and the camping area is quite lovely, with extremely good amenities.  Flat grassy camping areas with towering gum trees providing ample shade.  If rain had fallen there would have been a creek flowing past the camp sites- as it was we had a few small waterholes – ideal for the children to play in, keeping them occupied for quite some time.

       All our happy campers, bar a couple had arrived by Friday night and my hat goes off to those who assembled their camp at night.  After completing our meal that night – Wim had the fire started and soon there was a gathering for a chat and a couple of drinks.  How late some sat I do not know as I was quite pooped and hit the hay early. 

       Saturday morning was another fine day and the balance of our little band arrived making a total of 8 trailers. After breakfast our Tour leader Les gathered everyone together – handed out name tags for us all and then we all proceeded with a show and tell morning with all of us trooping around to everyone’s trailer to hear their story along with all the idiosyncrasies and innovations unique to their trailers.  Some useful ideas were collected by all.

       Les who hails from Toowoomba and knows the area quite well took all who were energetic enough, on a drive showing some of the interesting points to be seen.  For those of us who chose to stay – relaxation and chatting were the go with a bit of light entertainment from Helen and Richard (brand new trailer) putting up their shower enclosure!!

       Les had organized for a roast meal that night (cooked and presented by Dean the proprietor).  Saved cooking and again gave those who partook of it the chance to get to know each other a little better.  Wim again had the fire going so after dinner an even larger group gathered around with more than a few red wines being consumed.  The evening came to a close around 1am.

       Sunday morning and after a latish breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage and toast – again provided by Dean some of the more adventurous took off to the local 4WD Park led by John who has had some experience in that department. For those not experienced in this there were some White Knuckles. Wim put his new Cruiser through it’s paces while everyone looked on waiting for the mistakes (none came). Trees had to be bent so that Richard and Les could get through without damage to vehicle and pride while John just kept the adrenalin pumping through Rob’s vein’s. Great way to spend a Sunday Morning!!.

       All too soon the weekend had to end with all but one couple (lucky Alan and Kath) packing up that afternoon and making the journey home.

       Our troup of happy campers were –

Les (tour leader) and Sue - in an Aussie Swag towed superbly by a Jeep

John (4WD leader) and Penny - in Trackabout towed by a fat tired Pajero

Alan (who had a few electrical problems( and a gas lighter explosion!) - however who saved the day for Gus with a jump start) and Kath - in another Aussie Swag towed by a Navara

Gus (who we have given the Bravery Award for doing it alone with 3 children!! And from south of the border around Moree as well) in a “unknown make” towed by a HiLux Twin Cab

Paul (the man who has almost rebuilt his trailer) and Kate (previous tour leader) and their Babies (Bella and Minky?? - the Papillion Puppies ) - in a Highlander towed by a Cruiser

Richard (who helped entertain us with his rendition of how not to put up a shower tent) and Helen - in an Odyssey (brand new) towed by a Nissan Ute

Wim (the firelighter) and Judy - in a Tough Country towed by a (new) Cruiser

Keith (with the swollen foot) and Lorraine (who “walked 500 miles” with 7 children and two other adults - to feed a donkey!!!) - in a Coromal Offroad 420 Poptop towed by a Patrol with friends Tony & Margaret Aggett in an Castaway Offroad camper towed by their 2ltr Pajero.

Rob ( married to the scribe) and Dianne (scribe) - in a Camp-0-matic towed by a Jackaroo.

Di & Graham Hollens-Riley & friends Sharon & Herman Teunis in “unknown make” campers towed by Nissans.

Not to leave out the others on camp with us - Gus Skinners children - Erin, Clancy and Jaydn and our granddaughter Jordan who all appeared to have enjoyed the weekend as much as we did.

We were joined for the day by Melinda & Steve, Rex and Ann Adamson (from Ulysses) and Paul & Sue Purcell.

Highlights of the weekend 

1. Feeding the Donkey was a favourite with the children .
2. Your GPS and Laptop setup should rate a mention - solves the problem of balancing notebook on navigators lap.
3. The massive cables from the Car through the Anderson plug, to the camper of one attendee was a talking point (looked like 3 phase power to the CT).
(While a talking point, it was in accord with many articles recommending such thick leads to minimize power loss - congrats to the owner).
4. The Marine LED (Light Emitting Diodes) in one camper as a night light was excellent.
5. The range of different couplings (Car to camper) was an eye opener. We never realized such variety existed.
6. Gus the Grain farmer from NSW used an ice box, with a large block of ice, for refrigeration.
It lasts 4 days & no hassle or cost as there is with fridges, solar panels, controllers, batteries, cables etc.
For those with young families, the cost of refrigeration can be a major hurdle re camping.
7. The cross-over safety chains to stop the ball digging into the bitumen road, in the event the trailer hitch released, looked very interesting.
8. Using a elastic strap, taped to the wire of the trailer plug, and hooked over the hitch, solves the problem of the plug being destroyed/damaged in the event it comes out of the socket (or the owner forgets to plug it in).
9. Several owners had installed IVEC - In Van Entertainment Centers (CD/Radio + speakers).
10. The Lace Monitor { Varanus varius }, or common Goanna, explored several campers CT's and posed (naked) for photographs.
 

Thanks go to Les and Sue Webb for their organization of the weekend and looking forward to the next one to be arranged by John and Penny Heath.

thanks to Dianne Norris for the weekend report

photos Alan Grant>>
				photos by Les>>

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