Otway weekend joys

Three families have just spent a wonderful weekend exploring more of the Otways in South Western Victoria and thouroughly enjoyed the expreience as they just thought they should.

Camped at Dando's Campground on the Gelibrand river basic facilities but plenty of flat camp sites. Glenn's great organisation of Christmas dinner for the near last function for the year, with five roasting ovens round last nights camp fire. We were a small group amongst member of the Landcruiser Club near by.

The traks are graded from very easy to quite difficult with washout tracks and occasional bogholes. Tripping round lots of logging tracks to see the scars of the Otways as described by many a traveller - logging of pines and eucalypt woodlots. Lots though of magnificent heathland in the lighter soils, great eucalypts and superb beech forests and fern gullies provide a great backdrop to all trips.

Our intrepid leader Glenn was very keen this afternnon on the Noonday Track to show the ability of the 80 series 'Cruiser to get stuck on the centre of wheel tracks. Mr Diamond's Jack showed lots of endeavour and succeeded where near all else failed. Except of course the Nissan Moses which proved a worthy rescue truck in all needy conditions. Good on ya Moses!! Heather and I thought better of the Noonday track in April and decided to turnabout. I am glad having looked further that we did, as the full reconaisance showed we were ill-equipped then with no company for such a testing track. Pity Glenn you had left the winch handle at home and you couldn't show the prowess ;-) We were quicker to back up and have a different line.

Thanks for your company Glenn and James, Jim, Tab, Penny and Princess Diamond....... It was a fun weekend we very much enjoyed. Fortunately Moses is washable. ;-) Thanks for putting the thoughts before us Glenn and organising it all.