TRAX 4WD Fellowship

TRAX 2022 Christmas Gathering
Crosslands Reserve Hornsby ‘Heights’(?)
Saturday 26th November 2022

Wow! What a day!
• As regards weather: perfect. Just right. Just enough cloud to stop the sun from being too hot, yet enough sun continually breaking through to make it pleasant.
• As regards to shelter: Thanks to President Matt Smith we had the advantage of a brand new 6 metre X 3 metre Gazebo. (Brand new and really good.)
• As regards to a great time: Couldn’t have enjoyed it more.

Now, read on…. (as ‘they’ say!)

• Neil arrived first at 7:30am to hold a decent spot, but unlike most years there were almost no people there and by 9:00am there were still only a few groups there meaning that we had a very ‘uncrowded’ reserve.
  By 8:30am other TRAX members began to drift in, firstly Matt followed by Alex Levshin which meant enough people to quickly erect the gazebo.
  That done (all the hard work and setting out of chairs etc!) others began to arrive!

Who came?
Altogether 21 people… being:
Matt & Alison Smith
Phillip & Linda Favaloro
Shane & Kylie Beetson, Olivia, Joel & Isabel
Neil & Jane Flower
Jane & Sally Parfitt
Ron Paton
Ron Owen
Alex Levshin
Danny Lee
Roger Riley
Richard Thompson, with Maud & Reggie
Also, a fair swag of apologies from those not able to make it.

But what did we do? Well, what do you think? Remember, this is/was the easiest trip of the year! Lovely bush, great water for canoeing or just watching, Lyre birds, (Alex and some others saw 3, Scrub turkeys, (ugh) too many to count, and…. Wait for it… (drum roll please Mr. Editor), no flies or Mozzies!!! Yep, didn’t count 1 fly all day.

Then of course was the ‘catch-up’ chatter, exchange of 4WD details, tech. things, the places-to-go-and-where- we’ve been topics, and of course, personal and family news.
Then came Lunch! Now there was a variety of goodies and all things delectable and edible, followed by the Chaplain’s annual Christmas message.

After this we had one special job to do. At our last General Meeting our speaker from Polaris Instruments had donated a beautiful and quite expensive dash cam and committee decided to have ‘draw’ of those who were present to see who would take it home. Ron Paton’s (corrected by Webmaster) name ‘came out of the hat’ as the winner.

But then came the sounds of whirring, buzzing, and grinding – like an army of gnats or blowflies as the owners of radio-controlled cars wormed their vehicles up for the TRAX 3rd Annual Radio-Controlled Car Races. Only 3 competitors this year (Francois couldn’t make it back from Perth on time, and a couple of other hopeful entrants were still recovering from the dreaded Covid.

But what a sight, and what breath-holding excitement as the competitors tested their vehicles before the races! Two types of races were being contested, namely the straight sprint race to see whose vehicle was the fastest over the measured course, followed by the off road, slalom and obstacle course. That was a test not only of the car but also of the driver’s skill.

Results:
Sprint course – Phillip Favaloro’s ‘Subaru Special.’
Off road, slalom & obstacle course – Joel Beetson’s ‘Land Rover Defender’.
(Special mention must be made here of Shane Beetson’s ‘Off road-Bitza-Wollargorang-‘thing’, which although fast, seemed to have a mind of its own. It did however manage to finish 2nd in this event! We believe that the ‘Subaru Special’ is still out there somewhere in the bush, bravely trying to find its way home.

After the races it was ‘skill time,’ when our valiant Trip Leader produced his wooden ‘cup & ball’ game and offered a prize to anyone who could get the ball into the cup. Everyone, including all the children, had about 3 tries but only one person succeeded, and he fervently claimed that it was ‘just a fluke’. But a lot of fun and laughter was enjoyed. We’ll try it again next year!

But then it was the turn of the culinary experts. This was the 3rd Annual Afternoon Tea Bush Bake-Orf!
Things were grim this year – only 2 entrants, but what a competition! On one side Kylie Beetson and
Daughters, versus Linda Favaloro. The Beetsons with their crumbed biscuit pancakes and Linda with her
Chocolate crackle Pikelets. What a competition!
The judges were equally divided. What to do? It was a dead heat! No worries mates, your intrepid trip leader had one prize left but could it be divided into two? The prize was two pens in a cardboard box. Problem easily solved. Cut the box into halves (longways of course) and hey presto, 1 pen to each of the two contestants. (Next year I think that I will bring a slight surplus of prizes!

Well, that was just about it. The day was drawing on and members began to make ‘going home’ noises. So, with a farewell prayer from the Chaplain we concluded another TRAX Christmas Gathering.

You missed out? Pity, but never mind, wait another year (if the Lord has not returned by then), and it will be on again.

May you all have a very blessed Christmas, and a joyful new year.

Neil Flower
Trip Leader

Trip Report:Orange National Field Day
20-22 October 2022

The day dawned…but not bright and sunny! As has been the case for the last few weeks it was overcast and threatening to rain. indeed, the Met. Bureau, BOM or whatever they want to call themselves these days, had forecast rain, possible thunderstorms, and even perhaps some hail. With this in mind, outside and overhead, three vehicles set off for a long-awaited trip to Orange in central western NSW about midday on Thurs. 20th October.
Originally, we had 6 vehicles and groups coming, but what with the forecast downpours some decided that they didn’t want their camp gear to get too wet, one had to withdraw because of illness, and another had some electrical/mechanical problems and so we finished up with only 3 vehicles and 4 people. But hey! We had a great time!!!!

Participants/Vehicles
Phillip Favaloro and his well-known Nissan Patrol;
Ralph Radovan and his famous Jeep Grand 6.4 litre Cherokee;
Neil and Jane Flower and the trusty old Landy Disco 2;
(A motley band of cut-throats (Jane excluded) if ever there was one!)

Everyone had booked into different accommodation and so after an early night on Thursday we assembled on the Escort Way just out of Orange ready for a 9:00am entry on Friday.

Friday 21st Look at the clouds in the next pic. All the locals and everyone coming through the entrance gates thought that the skies were going to open at any minute. It looked like numbers were going to be very low! The car park was slow to fill up and it really looked like everyone was staying away.

However, the crowds did come – although slowly, and by mid-day the crowds were starting to come in and the 3 car parks were getting reasonably full. At least the TRAX contingent had come early, and we were able to park right at the entrance gate.

“There is always much to see at a
show like this”.

Although the majority of exhibits and display stands were featuring Agricultural machinery there were still many other exhibits and displays. For instance, this display of fire pits and
camp???fireplaces along with garden decorations made from old plough and harrow discs, tractor wheels and old railway fishplates and rail spikes.

This one really ‘took the cake’
Railway line plates welded around a large tractor wheel.

But it was not only a show for the men of TRAX, but there were also many exhibits of arts, crafts and trades as well. One craftsman had an extensive display of wood turning. Jane found this bowl made from Camphor Laurel timber and very reasonably priced too. We were very blessed. The predicted deluge did not come. Only one very light shower for about 3 minutes and bringing hardly enough rain to worry about putting up an umbrella. End of day and we all adjourned to Orange and a great dining room at ‘The Royal’. Thanks to Ralph for his generosity – the ‘T-Bone’ steak was delicious!

Saturday 22nd Still very overcast, but no rain had fallen overnight. We had planned to make this day a ’recce’ day to try out some tracks in the nearby state forest and to visit the Borenore Caves. Now these caves (largely unknown to the vast majority of people) although small in size and number really make up for everything in regard to their beauty. They are only about 3-4 km from the Ag. Show grounds and are part of a small National Park. Really worth seeing and…. Free to enter as well!

A very small set of caves, but really magnificent in their shapes and formations. Not to be missed if ever you go near the city of Orange!

But time rolls on and it was off to do some recce-ing before the rain. We made it to Lake Canobolas but the very misty clouds the were rapidly lowering precluded us going to the top of Mt. Canobolas which is the highest point between Sydney and Perth. We enjoyed the foggy views before wending our way back home.
Phillip and Ralph considering whether to take plunge in the waters of lake Canobolas.

We thought that we had met the local MP but it just turned out to be an ordinary Goose.

Neil Flower

Driver Training and BBQ

Saturday 15^th October 2022

About 15 people gathered at the Flower residence at Hornsby for our recent basic driver training theory course.

Neil had prepared a power point presentation of what needed to be learned.
But first things first! It was a good afternoon and evening of fellowship together club members getting to know one another better and enjoying the barbecue and food.

We had two barbecues going, one with a real fire and one Webber BBQ. This was useful because we were able to have people sitting around sharing and discussing some of the concepts and things that we had learned in the first session of the PowerPoint presentation before we came back to do the second half to delve deeper into Driver “helps.”

We decided to start at the bottom and work up so we began with the tyres looking at tyre pressures types of tyres, and the necessity of bagging or airing down tyres as the need arose.

We didn’t have a late night but those who came certainly said how much they were helped by what was presented and from the discussions that we had together.
A few members of TRAX have said how sorry they were they were not able to come and to this end we will be repeating this course most probably on the January 21^st same place – the Flowers residence, same time – 3 pm till 8:30 pm. If you missed the first presentation, make sure you don’t miss this second one.

TRAX Trip:‘Ameroo’ Mudgee
October long weekend 1st – 3rd October 2022

Shane, Kylie, Olivia, Joel and Isabel – Nissan Patrol
Michael Richardson – Volkswagen Amarok
Phillip and Linda – Nissan Patrol
Rex and Susan, Harry and Amber – Toyota FJ Cruiser
Alex Levshin – Ford Ranger
Peter and Jan Frick – Toyota Hilux
Ralph Radovan – Jeep Grand Cherokee
Diane and Eric – Toyota Prado

It was a cold bleak Saturday morning arriving at Capertee. This was our meeting place and morning tea stop. After many long discussions we decided to take an alternative route as Eric felt that some river crossings could be too risky to cross due to the fast flowing and depth of water of the Turon River. Instead, we turned off the highway at Running Stream and travelled along Mt Vincent Rd to Ilford and then onto Sofala for lunch. It was very busy and crowded at Sofala, so Eric decided to take us to Green Point campground and checked out the first of the river crossings. We all had a good look around and Jane tried her luck in fossicking but unfortunately didn’t find any speck of gold. Our lunch time entertainment was watching those crossing the Turon. After lunch we visited the historic township of Sofala before heading off to ‘Ameroo’. We travelled the back roads mostly gravel to the property through Sally’s Flat, Aarons Pass Rd passing the Crudine Ridge wind farm, Campbells Creek Rd and onto Queens Pinch Rd to ‘Ameroo’ and set up camp. We all enjoyed some good fellowship and relaxation by the campfire before bunking down for the night as tomorrow hopefully would bring us another exciting day and it’s the first day of daylight savings. Yeah!

On Sunday, James Daymond from Mudgee Parish came out and after a cuppa, caramel slice, chocolate fudge and a long yarn we got down to ‘Ameroo’ for our bush service only about an hour late or so. James and his wife moved to Mudgee to continue their evangelistic ministry and informed us of his work, involvement with Bush Aid Australia. After a long morning tea and good fellowship, we finally made a move and headed off to Hill End via Pyramul. After a late lunch at Hill End Rest Area, we preceded down Hawkins Hill to Turon Crossing campground (Bridle Track).

The water had receded significantly since we did the recce and once again, we had the entertainment of watching those wanting the thrill of taking on the river crossing. The campground was busy with one group what I would call taking camping to the extreme with a hot tub set up. The other group around fifty-odd had quite a set up with lounge chairs, a bar, satellite TV all set to watch the footy. Apparently, there’ve being doing this for last twenty-nine years. We headed back up Hawkins Hill stopping at the lookout and by the time we aired up it was after 6.30 so Hill End pub was on the dinner menu.

After brekkie on Monday, we spent some time 4WD’ing on the property. Eric explained the history of the property pointing out the mine shafts that are covered with heavy foliage. Then back to the campsite to pack up and head off home.
Diane Liney