New 2019 Robe Trip September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

Trip Planning and Trip Reports

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christover1
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Re: New 2019 Robe Trip September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

Post by christover1 »

Beng wrote: Thu 19 Sep, 2019 8:44 pm As I am sharing a van site with christover1 what time are you expected to check in at Sea Vu so I can adjust my arrival time with yours as the booking is under your name. Ta, Beng
I should be there late Saturday afternoon, 0407 538 963 SMS preferred
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Re: New 2019 Robe Trip September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

Post by Beng »

Thanks for that. I should be there just before sundown ...
Ta, Beng 0401048081
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Re: New 2019 Robe Trip September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

Post by Beng »

Also if it is not too much trouble when you have checked in and been given the van site and settled down if you could maybe text me the site number so I can find you would be fantastic. Ta, Beng
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Re: New 2019 Robe Trip September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

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OK mate will do
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Re: New 2019 Robe Trip September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

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Re: New 2019 Robe Trip September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

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My following Paj Club pix will appear here too
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Re: New 2019 Robe Trip September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

Post by Damo »

Hi Crew

Well that was an epic trip to a truly amazing part of the country.

Trip report to follow

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Re: Robe Trip Report September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

Post by Damo »

So for this trip we ended up with a group of 5 cars, none of which were Suzuki's unfortunately, But I would say the spirit of the trip was all Suzuki...

The team:
Damo and Emily - Mitsubishi Challenger. Trip leader and co-pilot
Jack and Jacinta - Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. Jack was nominated tide watcher and Jacinta is an Archaeologist and great to have along with her knowledge.
Christovr - Mitsubishi Pajero. Recovery truck and sand driving expert
Beng - Toyota Prado. Nominated medic and video/photographer
Shane and Kailyn - Nissan Patrol. Second recovery truck and mechanical support crew.

We all met up at the Sea Vu caravan park at Robe as everyone arrived on Saturday afternoon.

We went for short drive on the main beach out the front of the van park(Long Beach) to get a taste for the coming days driving.
This beach was pretty soft and as it was getting later in the day it was decided to head back to the van park and hold off on our enthusiasm for the days ahead as there was plenty of sand driving to come.

Sunday the 22nd was really the proper start of the trip and we headed from Robe down the highway to Beachport (about 50mins) to get on the beaches and head back to Robe via Nora Creina.
Nora Creina is a small, isolated beachside community of fishing and holiday shacks literally right behind the dunes on private land. The beach access road runs through Nora Creina. The weather was reasonably cold and windy with a fair bit of rain during the day which was actually an advantage as it seemed to hold the sand together a bit and made for easier driving to an extent. The beauty of the coastline in this area cannot be overstated. It is truly an amazing part of our great country. Wild weather, Aboriginal middens, stone tools, fossilised tree roots, seals, and Emus were just some of the highlights of the day. The driving was fantastic with a few recoveries needed throughout the day, but overall, just great fun. We also found some big dunes and had a play for quite a while in the cars. The tracks we drove for all of this trip were a mix of coastal dune and beach driving, weaving our way back to base over the course of the day, arriving back in Robe late afternoon. A great day, bring on tomorrow.

Monday 23rd (Day 2) saw us head from Robe down to the Canunda National Park via the bitumen for another great day of driving and dune action. Together with the driving, views and wildlife etc, today was all about the ancient history of the area when I look back on it. Jacinta's knowledge of the Aboriginal artefacts was amazing and really added to the whole trip. She was able to point out and explain the things we were seeing to give a really thorough understanding of the past history of this area. Noting stone tools, flint cores (used for making stone tools), evidence of fires used for cooking and the like. The abundance of Aboriginal middens, stone tools, fossilised plants, tree roots and artifacts was amazing. One spot worth a special mention is an area within the dunes called The Kyber Pass - as you climb a small rise in the dune tracks, the entire landscape completely changes to a large windswept area that was described as otherworldly. Remnant fossilised ancient coastal trees etc as far as you can see. More middens and stone tools etc etc. Awesome. On the way back to Robe we stopped at a place called Woakwine cutting. A local landholder made a massive cutting through the rock to drain about 300 acre of swampy land he had. Just 2 men, a dozer and a ripper and 2+ years of work. Worth a look if you're passing through.
Back to Robe reasonably early to get ready for day 3.

Tuesday 24th we had considered going up to see the caves at Naracoorte but I had not realised quite how far it was so we gave it a miss and decided to get onto the tracks at Robe and drive the previous days tracks in reverse back towards Beachport via Nora Creina.
Today was the best for weather and I think the best days driving. We found an area called 9 mile sand dune and played in there for a good couple of hours. Sandboarding down dunes, driving in big sand bowls and just generally having fun. We met another car that was travelling solo and offered to let them tag along for safety and they were great company and got to see way more than they planned having the security of back up if it went to crap. Finished the day late afternoon near Lake St George to air up for the bitumen run back to town.

An awesome trip with a great crew and I thank you all for coming. I had a ball and hope you all enjoyed it too.
I plan to make this an annual trip and so get in early for next year which I may run from near Millicent with a couple of days camping in the dunes as we weave our way toward Robe.

Here is a few photos for anyone interested: https://imgur.com/a/vkfWwgZ

Damo
Last edited by Damo on Sun 06 Oct, 2019 1:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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christover1
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Re: New 2019 Robe Trip September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

Post by christover1 »

Brilliant write up, Damo. I had a ball.
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Re: New 2019 Robe Trip September 21st-Wednesday 25th 2019

Post by Beng »

Excellent Trip Report Damo! Excellent Trip Leader too! Great bunch of people along this trip. Truly had an awesome time!
Thanks again,
Beng
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