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(QLD) Bellthorpe SF - Kenilworth SF - Wrattens SF & Mount Mia - Kilkivan Explore Trip
(Note: No Toyotas were involved in this run due to the "Zook Friendly" tracks that were driven)
The Plan of this "Mental Health Outing" was a recce for our future Suzuki Club run. It was going to be a BIG day as I wanted to work out what would work and what would be too much in a Day. We headed off at 6am and made our way up to Bellthorpe SF via Woodford and followed the road past the Old Bellthorpe Sawmill (which has had a bit of a face lift since I was there last). From here we cont'd along Bellthorpe-Jimna until we got to then Kenilworth T/O via Grigors Rd. This section I wanted to checkout as last time there was a section of the road that a larger 4WD would struggle to get past (major washout), but it had been fixed. This is nice little through some Rainforest sections and then eventually meanders down into cattle country where we came to our 1st little obstacle. A major washout at a culvert, but luckily there was a little way around. Not sure if that will be the case in the next major rainfall as it won't take much for it to wash away as well.
Reached the main road and turned left and headed towards Charlie Moreland which is going under some major renovations and the road twds the creek has been blocked off. Headed up the hill then took the new T/O back down twds the creek where we stopped for smoko. With all the recent rains/floods, the creek had changed a bit along with the track that follows along the creek with some new entry/exit points and tight turns.... Followed and crossed the river as far as we could until we came to a road closed sign where we had to backtrack across the river and then turned onto Black Hut Rd which again had changed a fair bit from the floods. We pushed onwards nth and towards the Borumba Dam Lookout where we stopped for a early Lunch.
After lunch we headed down a track that I hadn't been on before and almost had a bit of a pucker moment b4 reversing and taking a better line down a bit of a rock ledge on a corner. Cont'd along this track b4 turning onto a another new track and eventually coming out just downstream of the Borumba Dam wall. From this point we headed east then north towards Kandanga then west and up into Wrattens SF where we turned off a little forestry track nth that I had been on b4. The track was a little overgrown with tall grass which had me a bit concerned about the radiator being blocked and overheating the engine... Fortunately, the engine Temp remained constant and we cont'd nth until we hit out next obstacle - another washed out culvert. This is where having the small Zook comes into its own and we were able to manoeuvre around it. It was at this point I noticed that the distance was starting to wear Dave down, and after seeing the seat he was sitting on, I could understand why !!!. This is where I starting thinking of a exit point but unfortunately we were in the middle of no where......
We cont'd nth until we finally reached the next little side-track adventure that I had wanted to explore since I was there last. Last time I was in my ute and there was no way I was taking it through there..... Once Dave had caught up we had a little chat and then it we were into it.... It wasn't long b4 I was starting to think that it was even too much for the little Zook. The Track became VERY enclosed and all I was hearing was Lantana rubbing down the side of the Zook, giving me some MAJOR pin-striping. There was little to no areas to turn around and we had no choice but to continue along and thankfully the track started to open up with the change in vegetation. From this point the track started climbing with some nice little sections where wheel placement was important. We eventually got to the top of Mount Mia Lookout where we stopped to take the views in.... From here it was decided to cut the trip short as time was running out and make our way down and out along Black Snake Road and into Kilkivan and Home via Gympie, finally pulling into the driveway around 7pm.....
Distance Covered: 468kms
Driving Time: 9hrs 10mins
Stopped Time: 3hrs 43mins
Total Time: 12hrs 54mins
Tracklog of where we went: Bellthorpe SF - Kenilworth SF - Wrattens SF Explore - Queensland, Australia
Photos located here: [http://s217.photobucket.com/user/mac...worth-Wrattens SF outing[/url]
Here's a little footage of the short cut across to Mount Mia Lookout and what Bush Striping is all about:
The Beginning: Blazing a Trail in the Vitara-1
The Middle: Blazing a Trail in the Vitara-2
The End: Blazing a Trail in the Vitara-3
The Plan of this "Mental Health Outing" was a recce for our future Suzuki Club run. It was going to be a BIG day as I wanted to work out what would work and what would be too much in a Day. We headed off at 6am and made our way up to Bellthorpe SF via Woodford and followed the road past the Old Bellthorpe Sawmill (which has had a bit of a face lift since I was there last). From here we cont'd along Bellthorpe-Jimna until we got to then Kenilworth T/O via Grigors Rd. This section I wanted to checkout as last time there was a section of the road that a larger 4WD would struggle to get past (major washout), but it had been fixed. This is nice little through some Rainforest sections and then eventually meanders down into cattle country where we came to our 1st little obstacle. A major washout at a culvert, but luckily there was a little way around. Not sure if that will be the case in the next major rainfall as it won't take much for it to wash away as well.
Reached the main road and turned left and headed towards Charlie Moreland which is going under some major renovations and the road twds the creek has been blocked off. Headed up the hill then took the new T/O back down twds the creek where we stopped for smoko. With all the recent rains/floods, the creek had changed a bit along with the track that follows along the creek with some new entry/exit points and tight turns.... Followed and crossed the river as far as we could until we came to a road closed sign where we had to backtrack across the river and then turned onto Black Hut Rd which again had changed a fair bit from the floods. We pushed onwards nth and towards the Borumba Dam Lookout where we stopped for a early Lunch.
After lunch we headed down a track that I hadn't been on before and almost had a bit of a pucker moment b4 reversing and taking a better line down a bit of a rock ledge on a corner. Cont'd along this track b4 turning onto a another new track and eventually coming out just downstream of the Borumba Dam wall. From this point we headed east then north towards Kandanga then west and up into Wrattens SF where we turned off a little forestry track nth that I had been on b4. The track was a little overgrown with tall grass which had me a bit concerned about the radiator being blocked and overheating the engine... Fortunately, the engine Temp remained constant and we cont'd nth until we hit out next obstacle - another washed out culvert. This is where having the small Zook comes into its own and we were able to manoeuvre around it. It was at this point I noticed that the distance was starting to wear Dave down, and after seeing the seat he was sitting on, I could understand why !!!. This is where I starting thinking of a exit point but unfortunately we were in the middle of no where......
We cont'd nth until we finally reached the next little side-track adventure that I had wanted to explore since I was there last. Last time I was in my ute and there was no way I was taking it through there..... Once Dave had caught up we had a little chat and then it we were into it.... It wasn't long b4 I was starting to think that it was even too much for the little Zook. The Track became VERY enclosed and all I was hearing was Lantana rubbing down the side of the Zook, giving me some MAJOR pin-striping. There was little to no areas to turn around and we had no choice but to continue along and thankfully the track started to open up with the change in vegetation. From this point the track started climbing with some nice little sections where wheel placement was important. We eventually got to the top of Mount Mia Lookout where we stopped to take the views in.... From here it was decided to cut the trip short as time was running out and make our way down and out along Black Snake Road and into Kilkivan and Home via Gympie, finally pulling into the driveway around 7pm.....
Distance Covered: 468kms
Driving Time: 9hrs 10mins
Stopped Time: 3hrs 43mins
Total Time: 12hrs 54mins
Tracklog of where we went: Bellthorpe SF - Kenilworth SF - Wrattens SF Explore - Queensland, Australia
Photos located here: [http://s217.photobucket.com/user/mac...worth-Wrattens SF outing[/url]
Here's a little footage of the short cut across to Mount Mia Lookout and what Bush Striping is all about:
The Beginning: Blazing a Trail in the Vitara-1
The Middle: Blazing a Trail in the Vitara-2
The End: Blazing a Trail in the Vitara-3
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