Sundown National Park - January 18/19

[DSS150 Find all posts View Profile Close DSS150]

Thanks Craig.

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

Go the Zook.... I've never had the chance to see a vid of the little Zook b4..... great little vid

[DSS150 Find all posts View Profile Close DSS150]

Craig

[gumboot Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close gumboot]

Excellent pictures Dan and Rob. Thanks for sharing

[LargeInAPrado Member Find all posts View Profile Close LargeInAPrado]

thanks guys for the pics, here's a couple where the PradoPoint fairy wasn't on the lookout for Richo

[Rogerthatv2 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Rogerthatv2]

I was going to ask if Richo was doing the side step dance but thought no, they are TJM steels so could not be - that photo above explains it, ouch alright.

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Sundown National Park - My trip report
(in addition to the great photos and info above from the others. )

A small group of us organised a camp out at Sundown Nation Park over the weekend. Rob_Macca and myself put together a rough plan for the weekend. Sundown Nation park is about a 3 hour drive from Brisbane. The park contains spectacular gorge country and a number of peaks higher than 1,000 m.

It is also the source of the Severn River , which is the starting point of the Darling River. Before it was a national park the land was mined for molybdenite, arsenic, tungsten, copper, gold and tin. You can still see the disused mines and as some of the area is contaminated, access in these locations is restricted and fenced off.

The park has very limited facilities in the form of long drop toilets at a few of the campsites and you must bring in your own water and take out all rubbish. Permits are required.


The group consisted of DSS150, CraigM, Rob_macca, Richo, LargeinaPrado, Fozzy and myself.
We had 3 x 120 Prado’s, 3 x 150 Prado’s and a little Zook in the group. We met up Saturday morning at the Aratula BP before continuing on to Sundown.

On the way the distressed call went out over the UHF by Craig that were missing a bottle of “43” and the thought of not having mini beers resulted in a quick detour and the first photos of the day was taken… Unfortunately said location did not stock the required alcohol so were to make do with Beers of the world and some hearty port….



Around 930,ish we arrived at the turn off and we left the bitumen for the weekend.




We stopped to air down as once inside the park gate the road turned bumpy , dusty and rough. It was not long before we were into it, with Macca being the scout in the Zook.

Craig negotiating some fun ruts.




Exiting this he had a small touch of the rear bar as did many of us as can be seen in the video below.

Continued 2

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Richo was to follow next, and after viewing Craig’s line decided on a slightly different one by straddling the large rut







His cunning plan of straddling the rut almost paid off, almost, as one wheel slipped in.
Cue “The Incident”

Richo , Those TJM sidesteps aren’t much chop....……
Much good hearted reference was made to his new found clearance due to his raised sidesteps all weekend.





Fozzy flexing over the same ruts










The scenery really opened up as we climbed the hills




Continued 3

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It was long bumpy going on tracks like these




We stopped up near one of the mines to have a look










On our way down to “The Burrows” campsite





We picked the end of the burrows campsite with plenty of shade near the waterhole.









Continued 4

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As it is national park you have to bring your wood in, we did that in cardboard boxes so we could burn them as well and not have to take anything back out.





Some pictures of The Burrows Waterhole. It was rather shallow and dry due to the lack of recent rain







It was about this time Craig went off to one of the two long drop toilets not far for our campsite. He retuned somewhat pale and mentioned that there was a large brown snake emerge from under the toilet slab right next to his foot while he was on the toilet.

This effectively made the toilet out of bounds except for those in a desperate need. A true friend is one that carry’s the long handle shovel and stands guard at the toilet while his mate does his business….. but for most it was take a shovel and dig a hole instead of facing Mr Brown. As Michael pointed out it was most likely to bite you on the ballsac....

Now in thinking about this, we may have been hustled by Craig. As no one else saw the said snake and it had been embellished into a 5 metre monster after enough beers. It may have been that Craig wanted sole use of the long drop to himself and not having any else smell it up, so he created the myth. I guess we will never know….(* see postscript)

On a more serious note, there is no mobile phone coverage where we were camped, you are over 2 hours away from help , so you need to be careful especially with kids and snakes.


The Boys admiring the waterhold , Michaels first out of the gate with a coldie….




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Richo went off for a fish and drop a pot in for some RedClaw. We heard him call out to look at his catch. Never have I seen a fish so ……small
Unfortunately they were not biting that day




After setting u camp, it was time to crack open a few coldies and relax. We organised for everyone to bring different beers along and we ended up having a great selection of beers form around the world. I think Richo summed it saying “Now this is camping.”

We fired up the webbers and butane stoves to cook up a feed and relax to the sound of the bush, great food, ice cold beers and great company . Doesn’t get any better than that.
The kids were the fire wardens having a ball and keeping it tendered all night. Craig got the Kids favourite award, for bringing bubble guns and sparklers to keep them amused . Top job mate!. This was followed by a big bag of marshmellows that the kids toasted over the fire until they could take no more sugar…..

Then Craig the pulled out piece de résistance. , Some say…..it is a rare and dangerous chemical from a secret chinese powerplant and that it keeps away angry snakes , all we know is it is called Mystical fire and it makes pretty colours….

After the kids fell asleep, the adults kicked back around the fire late into the night with beers and a couple of bottles of port.

Later when all had hit the sack, I awoke to what only could be called an evil sound never before heard by human ears. It was a cross between a Bear giving birth, a screaming banshee and a chain saw. Armed with the trusty torch I could determine the direction of it coming from Dan and Michaels tents. The thought of shaking their tents came to mind but in the back of my mind Craigs ballsac biting brown snake was no doubt on duty out in the darkness… So the duelling snorers continued on throughout the night.

We awoke to a brisk morning with the kookaburras and birds singing away at about 5am…. The said snorers were unaware of the nocturnal activities. It has only confirmed the notion of Dr Jeckle and Mr Hide in my mind now…

A hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs ( thanks for the use of the butane stove Dan) with a ice cold pressed lattes. They are the same ones we and brains took to Fraser Island. Fantastic when you need a coffee wake me up.

About this time, I just had to go but I had a cunning plan, further down the camp ground was the second long drop toilet near where four others were camping. Ahr my ballsac biting brown snake, I have out smarted you. I thought So I drive down there and just as I open the door, I notice right next to the toilet the big hole under the slab just like the other toilet.
Indeed something lives under here as well. With the thought of ballsacs brother ( lets call him Barry) sinking his fangs in I crept in as quietly as I could and with a stick guarding the precious parts I did the quickest no 2 in history. I am sure I heard hiss but I wasn’t hanging around. So maybe just maybe Craig was telling the truth…. ( * see postscipt)

We packed up the tents and went up to look for Mr Burrows Grave site which our campground was named after. Fozyy the eagle eye, found it over the other side of the river and got a few photos as posted above. Hats off to a man that worked that very harsh landscape a long time ago. A tough life.

From there the rest of the day was to do the Rats castle loop and runs down along the river. Macca got the mighty little zook out front, and this turned out to be some great 4wding




The dry creekbed.




Continued 5

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This lead on to what we have called “Zook Hill” in the other posts. A great hillcimb, that gets stepper as you climb. It is also a lot steeper than the photos suggest. The little zook went up first ( it has some excellent articulation in that little beast ) , then no being able to be outdone, all the 120s went up. All the 120’s had TC and at least a rear locker and got up fine in the end. The pressure was on for the 150s to give it a crack as they knew some ribbing was at stake. The 150 with just Traction control climbed performed brilliantly and it shows you how good the TC is.

Richo getting into it in the 150.




Richo lift the wheels over the ledge.




Michael next up.




Dan making it look easy as well






Richo having fun comign down.





Rob_Macca found a great little lagoon to stop for lunch and have another fish.







Continued 6

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After lunch we had to a few river rock crossings to do. This one caused a few scrapes. Thanks to everyone for guiding each other through. Have you looked underneath the 150 yet Dan?.








Over the weekend there was plenty of wildlife to be seen including wallabies, kangaroos , snakes? and birds.





Fantastic views





Last stop was a group photo before we drove out of the park and aired up for the trip home.




I truly had a great weekend with my boy and a great bunch of mates.
It does not get much better than that. Thanks to everyone that came along and made it so enjoyable. (especially Rob _Macca)

Until the next trip…

(*Postscript. I spoke to the ranger upon returning home to tell him about Barry the Ballsac biter , and he said the other campers up the other end had rung to tell him that they had seen a brown snake under the toilets as well! No………..
In true ranger style he said “ Well , I guess better go and do something about that then ...”)

[prado2004 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close prado2004]

great shots and vid's guys. Looks like you had a ball. Next time you head out I will be keen to come for a play and meet you all. Cheers

[rob_macca67 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close rob_macca67]

Well Done Rob..... Great Trip Report.....

Looking Forward to the next

Just got to do some Maintenance on the little Zook as I've noticed a leaking rear axle seal....

[DSS150 Find all posts View Profile Close DSS150]

Some great shots and vids guys and excellent trip report Robert!!