Driver Training at Lake Lyall

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Once again we headed off to Lake Lyall to put some of our new members through their Driver Training. It was an early start meeting at Glenbrook at 6.00am and then we headed off for our breakfast stop at the BP.

It didn't take too long to set up. Keith had bought a new tent and it was up in no time .....although he did miss Gerry's help I'm sure. Once everyone was ready, Mark went through some of the basics in driving off road while Ian, Keith & myself set off to clean up some of the tracks and look for some new ones.

By the time we returned to camp it was time for some lunch and Paul fired up the barbie to cook some sausage sandwiches for his family and ended up offering them to everyone. Next it was time to put some of the training into practice. The first hill climb is always an eye opener, but looks worse than it is and everyone made it too the top with not too much effort. Nathan apparently got some good air in one part but unfortunately no one had a camera at the time to capture it......bummer

Once again there was plenty of water in the creeks to get some good practice at water crossings. We even found some fish along the way. Ian opted to do the walk to pick the right line and then positioned himself to get some pictures. Of course it was too much temptation for Keith who had to get up a good bow wave and almost drowned Ian on his way past..............just can't help yourself can you Keith!!

We were back to camp early for a nice cold drink before dinner as Mark had to head off home. We all shared the Club BBQ and Charlie & myself not only cooked our meal but also kept check on some of the others' as well. Nathan sure eats well and had cooked himself up a feast. He made Ian jealous when he brought out his 'Engel' gear - plate, serviette, cup, cutlery and placemat but he kindly offered Ian a serviette to use.

Once dinner was over we sat around the camp fire and had a good chat. The kids had a lot of fun with some glow sticks that Ian had brought for them and before long the bush was aglow with colour. Soon it was time to turn in and it was lovely and peaceful except for the music in the distance coming from a camp fire over the mountain.

Morning arrived and everyone joined in to cook up breakfast that the Club provided before we were off again with Ian taking over the recovery side of the training. He went through a single pull as well as a double pull to show the new members how to snatch a vehicle out of a situation.

With all the training over it was time to take to the tracks and get some more driving practice. Keith once again took 'tail end charlie' and we were off along some challenging terrain. Everyone drove well and put into practice what Mark had told them about negotiating an obstacle and wheel placement etc. We drove around for a couple of hours then back to camp for lunch, pack up and off home.

Thanks everyone for making it a fun weekend. Thanks for your imput and we look forward to more weekends away in the month's to come