Gorden Country

It was a typical rainy pre-Easter Queensland afternoon; I was traveling on my own through some very heavy rain squalls. 

When I got to reception, I checked in, having been lucky, the reception was still open, supposedly it should have closed at 4 pm, odd opening hours for a business that relies on weekend patrons.

We were staying in the upper section of the Gordon Country Retreat camping area, which was at the end of the estate and involved travelling up the gravel road and crossing two streams, one having a reasonable amount of water flowing over it. 

When I arrived, I selected a sight near Heather and Rollie (Glen) who had select their sight, it was near the campfire, so a top location.  I set up putting out the awning to keep out of the light rain, which stopped as soon as I was set up.  So, after a nice dinner of Banger, Mash with Baked Beans, I joined the nightly chat around the fire.  The talk was varying subject and other dumb stuff but enjoyable, the main decision was if the 4WD track are closed we would go for lunch at Chris & Ruths, Royal Hotel Leyburn for lunch. 

Saturday morning started well, no rain and a warming sun.  After breakfast I headed down to reception to contact Anne to arrange to meet at Leyburn, the rain having closed the tracks, this added a Hybrid GWN Jolion to the trip. 

We had a pre-trip briefing at 9:30 and were about to head off when Helen realised she had a problem; a bolt had come off drive shaft to suspension connection, so this puts Helen in contention for this month Rude Rod.  After some bush repairs done by Lance, Rollie and others, most of us headed off to Leyburn, some decided to have a quiet day reading and relaxing around the campground. 

We got to Leyburn around 1:15 after traveling along some nice country roads and on the gravel road though the Leyburn State Forest, passing the Thanes Creek 4x4 Park the site of the 2025 Christmas weekends extended pre-view tour.

We had a good lunch followed by an easy drive back to Gordon Country in time for the traditional Happy hour, followed by dinner, and another evening of relaxing chat around the fire.

The trip consisted of 14 vehicles, and 21 members with all staying for the night except the Clausen family who made it a day trip, leaving after dinner.

In conclusion although we had planned for a 4x4 driving weekend it resulted in a very comfortable social one, thanks to Helen for stepping in as Trip Leader. 

Written by: Kieran (No handle) Cahill

Trip Leader: Helen Danalis