2010-06

June 2010

SUBARU 4WD NEWS

Meetings of

THE SUBARU 4WD CLUB of WESTERN AUSTRALIA INC.

are normally held at

7.30pm on the second Tuesday of each month at the

Wembley Community Centre (Joan Watters Building) 40 Alexander Street, WEMBLEY W.A.

Subaru 4WD Web Site: http://www.subaru4wdclubwa.asn.au

SUBARU 4WD CLUB of WESTERN AUSTRALIA INC

P.O. BOX 434, SOUTH PERTH, W.A. 6951

SUBARU 4WD CLUB NEWS

2010 COMMITTEE

(Home Phone)

PRESIDENT: John Cahill 0439 922 338

[email protected]

SECRETARY: Robert Hurst 0434983011 [email protected]

TREASURER: Keith Wilcox 9344-6830

[email protected]

SOCIAL ORGANISER: Tom Minto 9382-4678

TRIPS CO-ORDINATOR: Josan Moss 9341-1446

EDITOR: Joy Unno 0429473709

[email protected]

COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Jim Wilcox 9306-8222

Keith Low 9459-3358

Tony Richards 9386-7705

Alex Barnsley-Hurst 9447-5552

Ian Johnson 9448-5419

MERCHANDISE: Tony Richards 9386-7705

WEB MASTER: Karl Boeing 9341-5087

[email protected]

4WD ASSOC DELEGATE: Tony Richards 9386-7705

M’SHIP CO-ORDINATOR: Keith Low 9459-3358

[email protected]

PROPERTY OFFICER: Peter Andruszkiw/Simon Newton

Club member of the year 2009: Tony Richards

LIFE MEMBERS

Fred Offer, Keith Anderson, Jonel Householder, Ray Stewart,

Ian Johnson, Peter Andruszkiw and Ron Caunce.

SUBARU 4WD CLUB of W.A. INC

President’s Report June This month has proved quite full with a number of social events, a day trip and a team effort in our support of the Karaakin cleanup day.

As it turned out the Kaarakin cleanup did not have any cleaning in it at all! About 15 members turned up very early on a foggy Mothers Day (which I had not realised when we planned the event!) to the home of Glenn Dewhurst, of Black Cockatoo Rescue, to help disassemble a large 6x18m cage for relocation down the hill at Kaarakin (which, as I should have known, means Black Cockatoo). It was a great pleasure to see such a large number of members willing to provide service to the society. There were battery drills aplenty (some flat!), ladders, wire cutters, and people all over the sites. The whole disassembly and reassembly took all of 3 hours! Glenn commented that if he had to do it on his own with only a helper or two it would have taken a week. Well done everybody that attended. After we had completed the cage assembly at its final location and had a bit of morning tea, Glenn gave us a tour of the site and the cages and showed how to tell the difference between the various black Cockatoos that he had there. Overall an excellent day for the club which will further enhance our reputation.

Tom has also been arranging the social events for May and June. All reports on the meal at the Seven Mile in were positive with all attending commenting that they enjoyed it. The other event that Tom is organising is the Christmas in June up at Kaarakin . All that were up there on the works day were impressed with the site, the facilities and the view. Unfortunately though, the number of people who have said they will attend so far is inadequate to warrant the effort required to run the event. Consequently if by the June General meeting we have not received positive commitment from at least 20 people that they will attend plus a number of helpers to help prepare the venue, we will have to cancel the event. Consequently give Tom a call soonest to confirm your support and attendance.

Regards - John Cahill


TRIP CO-ORDINATOR’S REPORT June

Trips = journey, tour, excursion , expedition, outing, voyage, jaunt, spree, visit! What would you choose to describe the many variety of “events” that the Club enjoys? They all seem apt to me, except perhaps “voyage” which conjures up images of the sea!

We have recently enjoyed an “excursion” to Kaarakin where our great team spirit of the club shone through as we decommissioned and then quickly re-commissioned a large avairy. We also had a “tour” through the property and learned the difference between Baudin’s and Carnaby Black cockatoos.

In May we had an “outing” to the Seven Mile Inn and a “jaunt” around the Gnangara to Pinjar Pines. Later this month we have a “party” to celebrate Xmas in June, subject to more party goers putting their name down, as it might be cancelled if we don’t have sufficient numbers.

And on we go, with a “Gymkhana” and “movie night” in July, a “gourmet tour” with Simon in the Swan Valley in August and a “wildflower spree” in September.

Whatever your tastes we have it (we hope!), so please do come along and enjoy the winter programme.

If any one wants to lead or has an idea for a trip please feel free to let me know.

June 26th - Christmas in June at Karaakin -Tom Minto

July 20th – Aug 20th ish! – Coastal Cruz – Adrian

July 24th/25th – Toodyay Gymkhana and Camp Oven Cook out – Trip Leader, John Cahill

July 31st – Movie Night, Innaloo

August 14th-15th – Mt Lesueur and Sandy Point

Aug 28th – Swan Valley tour – Date of this event is still to be confirmed

LWE Sept 25th-27th Stirling Ranges, Nina McLaren

See promos for further info, and see you out there….Josan


LOCHADA LWE trip Sat 5th to Mon 7th June

Still some room left on this trip for last minute additions.

Contact. Jim Wilcox 0419040969 or 9306 8222

TRIP PROMOTIONS / INFORMATION

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

ROBSON BROS 4WD IS NOW AT:

3 KALGAN ROAD

WELSHPOOL, 6106, WA

T. 9358 1441

F. 9358 1440

E. [email protected]



REMINDER

Please check to see that you have paid your membership fees so that you will continue to receive your Subaru Magazine

Membership Co-ordinator is Keith Low ph: 9459-3358

[email protected]

COASTAL CRUZE July 20th to ~Aug 20th

Leaving Perth and stopping at a

variety of holiday destinations be-tween here & Exmouth, then coming back & stopping at any that were missed on the way up.

Destinations include Wedge, Jurien, Kalbarri, Geraldton, Grenough, Nin-galoo, Monkey Mia, Steep Point, Shark Bay, Coral Bay, and a few other places, in no particular order.

This is a FANTASTIC opportunity to see WA’s amazing coastline and do some fishing, kayaking, boating, & AWDriving.

Any questions or enquires contact Adrian on 0424 723 558 (mob)

9279 8993(home) 9375 5000(wk)

Photo Top right:: coast near Steep Point, Shark Bay

Photo Bottom left: stromatolites, Hamelin Pool, Shark Bay


XMAS IN JUNE Saturday 26 June !! MORE PEOPLE NEEDED !!

Fantastic INDOOR venue at Kaarakin (old Cohuna Wildlife Park, Mills Road, Gosnells) . Come see the Black Cockatoos!

Those who wish to bring camping gear can pitch tents, unfold camper trailers etc and stay overnight (no worries about driving home tired or potentially being asked to blow into a breathalyser).

The concept is for an advance party to arrive by mid afternoon, fire up Webers etc and get various roasts underway. We will have ac-cess to the site from 3 pm. Everyone else should aim to be there by 5 pm for pre dinner nibbles and drinks. The Sun sets at 5.20 pm so it would be wise to allow some daylight to set up camp.

Dinner will include a range of roast meats (beef, pork and turkey), vegetables and accompaniments. Dessert will be suitably Christ-mas oriented.

The big guy in the red suit is expected. If you wish to take part in a Secret Santa/Chrissy Kringle please bring an amusing (but not of-fensive) wrapped present to a maximum value of $5

Cost: $15 per adult to cover food. BYO drinks and nibbles to share. We have the use of some Weber BBQ’s lined up already. If you have one we can borrow for the day please let us know.

Any questions or issues contact Tom Minto on 93824678.



Toodyay Gymkhana and Camp Oven Cookout

July 24-25, 2010

In the past we used to have a regular Gymkhana style event at the Mooly-abeenie air strip near Gingin. Since that became unavailable we have been keeping an eye out for a venue where we could conduct the same sort of event - playing in the cars in a safe environment. The venue we have selected promises to be as good as Moolyabeenie and then some.

It has a large flat area where we can try our skills reversing and driving through witches hats in manners which do not bring too much embar-rassment to the drivers, plus it has a whole range of hills, valleys, streams and tracks of varying degrees difficulty where we can see what the cars and we as drivers are capable of doing. On top of that there is a large camping area (with flushing toilets not far away) and a campfire pit that will be fully stocked with wood for us to enjoy a win-ter’s night camp fire.

It will provide an opportunity to try out those favourite Camp Oven reci-pes, sample each other’s offerings and to share the famed good com-pany of the club. Should it not be so hospitable for camping out there are sheds around for us to take shelter if needed. The idea is to go up to the site at about 4pm on Saturday the 24th to set up for the Camp Oven Cookout and camping overnight. On Sunday morning the 25th at about 9:30AM we would start the Gymkhana events and trips around the property.

The cost of the event is $15/car overnight Saturday and $35/car for the Sunday events coming to a total of $50/car for the full event. The ad-dress is 430 Bindoon to Dewars Pool Road, Toodyay. For those wish-ing to travel in convoy we will leave at 3:30pm from Cnr Toodyay Road and James Road near Jane Brook Estate. If you would like to partici-pate in any or all parts of the event please register your interest on the trip sheet or call or email me direct. John Cahill 0439922338 or

[email protected]


MOVIE NIGHT Saturday 31st July

AT: Innaloo Megaplex (a decision by the committee)

We will be catching an evening session – hopefully a recent re-lease that has broad appeal and which doesn’t involve vampires or chainsaws.

Based on past experiences, we will need to book beforehand to ensure we can actually get in to see a movie. I’ll consult with others based on website information so we know by the July club meeting which movie is involved.

If you are attending the film you will need to commit and pay by the club meeting on July 13. We will organise an advance booking.

Those wishing to eat at the food hall before the movie can organise themselves.

Any questions to Tom Minto on 93824678



Come join us for a quick weekend trip, just 3 hours up on the brand new Indian Ocean Drive, past Lancelin and Wedge Island to camp in the recently discovered DEC camping ground at Sandy Point which is just north of the North Head of Jurien Bay.

We found this camp when we were exploring up around Green-head last year. It has about thirty well spaced bays available plus toilets and rubbish collection. (The caretaker says if you want a place there on a long weekend then get there on Wednesday!) Getting there on a late winter normal weekend should ensure plenty of space. The camp ground is very well placed for access to the world renowned wildflowers surrounding Mt Lesueur, plus there is Stockyard Gully, Drovers Cave and for the hardy there is swimming and snorkelling in the bay at North Head, (or paddling in the sea), or fishing.

The plan is to be at the 10th Light Horse trail car park on Wanneroo Rd, Carramar, at 7:45AM Saturday 14th for an 8AM de-parture.

If you would like to come along give me a call or email call me direct or register on the trip sheet at the meetings. John Cahill on 0439 922 338 or email

[email protected]


Mt Lesueur and Sandy Point August 14-15, 2010


SWAN VALLEY BUS TRIP SATURDAY

28TH AUGUST

This event is based on a very successful Swan Valley trip in May last year. There are some differences which reflect both feed-back from past attendees and the commit-tee’s wish to manage costs for participants whilst still having a good time. We are fortu-nate to have the same driver as last year-

the inimitable Simon has very generously donated his time.

The provisional itinerary includes 3 wineries, a chocolate factory, a distillery and an ice creamery so should cover all the major food groups.

The biggest difference is that rather than having lunch in the Valley itself, we will visit a few locations, have lunch at the Rose and Crown in Guildford then will visit 4 more locations in the afternoon.

The Rose and Crown Lunch menu looks very appealing and the envi-ronment is a most pleasant setting for a convivial lunch. The cost of Mains varies from $24 to $36.

Other costs include winery tasting charges ($3 to $5), possible pur-chases, etc.

Bus hire and fuel charges are $12 per person

(based on a full bus of 21 passengers)

Meet: Saturday 28 August

Time: 10.00 am

At: Lake Monger Reserve Car Park, Powis St., Wembley

Contact: Tom Minto 9382 4678


STIRLING RANGE LONG WEEKEND 25, 26 and 27 September

By popular demand, we will go back to the Stirling Range where, as you may recall, life is unexpectedly different to Perth: the smokebush is blue, the lechenaultia is red, and even stressed city dwellers can be seen to relax and unwind!

We have reserved a group camp at the Stirling Range Retreat exclusively for Subarus, which our hosts say is the best one – because they remember us from previous visits, and also because we are the first to book for the long weekend! The Retreat is well set up for base camp regardless of the weather, with a shared camp kitchen with BBQ, micro-wave, electric jug, toaster & gas burners. Communal braziers are sup-plied with wood. The Retreat office will supply a daily weather forecast, sunrise/sunset/moon rise times; mud maps of flat walks & mountain trails and conservation information. Bird lists, wildflower, orchid and mountain walk guidebooks are available for sale.

Stirling Range Retreat is an accredited ecotourism business, and as such has a number of activities that are available to us: Floral Secrets Walk/Bus Tour ($45), Flora and Fauna Slide Evenings ($3), Dawn and Dusk Bird Walks ($20), and more. Those who register for the trip will receive a full listing so that they can make a choice.

Ian and I will lead some nature walks and other activities – free of charge! – including a climb of Talyuberlup (not too difficult but still chal-lenging, and best views of the Stirling Ranges) as well as some flatter and easier wildflower walks.

To confirm bookings I will need the first night’s camping tariff for each vehicle to pay in advance. The balance is payable by each vehicle




upoarrival. There are also cabins available which you may book your-selves if you wish through the Retreat on 9827-9229 or [email protected].

When: September long weekend (25, 26 and 27 September).

Where: Meeting place for convoy or separate arrival arrangements to be confirmed when first night’s tariff received.

Cost: $13 per adult per night (unpowered camping). Please arrange to pay the first night’s tariff (non-refundable), preferably by the August meeting.

Queries: Nina McLaren 9448-5419 or 0427936566

————————————————————————————————-

ANNUAL DINNER Saturday 23 October 2010

@

Greenhills Inn, just off the Quairading York Road east of York

Limited accommodation of 9 rooms available at the Inn but when it is booked out York is not too far away. Rooms at the Inn are $85.00 per room per night, with a $40.00 non refundable deposit payable 7 days before arrival.

Rooms are: 5 rooms with queen size beds, 4 rooms with queen size beds + single beds. 4 of the rooms have balcony access. There are 3 bathrooms and 3 toilets are at the end of the hall.

Caravans camper trailers & tents are welcome at a cost of $5.00 per person for usage of camp showers (camping area is not powered).

Get in quick and ring Pauline at the Inn on 96414095 to book your own accommodation.

Menu is still to be determined but budget for around $40/ head. Break-fast will be available from $7.00 to $15.00 pp.

Keith Wilcox


CLUB CALENDAR

June 2010

S M T W T F S Tue 1st Committee Meeting

Tue 8th General Meeting

Sat 5th-Mon 7th LWE Lochada (page 5)

Sat 26th Xmas in June (page 8)

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30

July 2010

S M T W T F S Tue 6th Committee Meeting


Tues 20th → Coastal Cruze (page 6)

Sat 24th-Sun25th Toodyay Gymkhana & Camp Oven Cook Out (page 9)

Sat 31st Movie Night (page 10)

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 28 30 31

August 2010

S M T W T F S Tue 3rd Committee Meeting


Sat 14th– Sun 15th Mt Lesueur &

Sandy Pt (page 9)

Sat 28th Swan Valley tour (page 13)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 10 11 12 13 14

15 16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31


Potential members are most welcome to come along on any Club activities before joining. Please phone the Trip Leader for further

information.

Register with the trip leader if you are wanting to join a trip or social. Also contact the trip leader if you have to cancel, as we don’t want to wait for

someone who does not turn up!

Some trips are ideas only and may be subject to change. Some of the

later trips need trip leaders – volunteers please.

SCHOOL AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

School Holidays: July 3-19, Sept 25-Oct 11, Dec18—Feb 2, 2011

Public holidays: June 7 Sept 27, Dec 27, 28

September 2010

S M T W T F S Tue 7th: Committee Meeting

Tue 14th: General Meeting

Sat 25th– Mon 27th LWE Stirling Ranges

(page 14)

1 2 3 4

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30

October 2010

S M T W T F S Tue 5th: Committee Meeting

Tue 12th: General Meeting

Sat 23rd: Annual Dinner (page 15) 31 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 10 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30


TRIP & SOCIAL REPORTS

Still Not Another Bight. Day 2 (3rd April)

We were awoken at 3.30 with claps of thunder and lightening. Shortly after it started to rain. Not being happy with my tent in the storm that would be coming I hurriedly packed up and bundled everything including the tent into the car. There were other torches and lights around the camp as others scurried to secure things. For the next hour the rain and lightning was pretty spectacular with some lightning directly overhead. It ended with a small hail storm before heading off to wet somewhere else. I did not sleep much sitting in the car and was happy when it became light around 6am and there was no rain. Others had harrowing stories of the night and also sat in the car during the storm but went back to their tents when it stopped. Ian and Nina’s new tent turned out to be not very waterproof and they were bailing it out before being able to get back in.

We headed off at 8.30am to Norseman, about 80km down the road. The road was wet but in the main fairly firm, being a mining haul road, until we got around 10 km out of Norseman where the trucks turn off and the road was much less compacted and be-came more slippery.

Arriving in Norseman some headed for the supermarket for

last minute supplies before meeting at the Caltex garage and refueling for the trip ahead.

The problem now was where was the trip ahead going??? Plan A was the Bight. Can’t go there, there is a bushfire and the track is closed, and now also wet. Plan B, go out to Balladonia and head north up to the trans railway line and wander around. Can’t go there the storm has made everything too soggy and according to the forecast there is more to come today.



Enter plan C, head north and try to get away from the rain. So we headed north towards Coolgardie. Some of the area was dry and in other patches flooded with water across the road. We stopped for lunch at the Kambalda turnoff be-fore turning off to go thru Kam-balda to Kalgoorlie. Kambalda had been hit by the storm, 76mm, and there had been lots of water over the road but luckily most had drained away. Keep an eye out in the trees on the road to Kalgoorlie as people have put teddy bears and other stuffed animals in the bushes along the road.

Stopped at the Super pit and had a look at the amazing large hole in the ground. The huge trucks look like little Dinky toys as they buzz around dragging ore out of the hole.

Our destination tonight is now Goongarrie station which is a DEC property which has camping.

Amazingly my daughter and family turned up to camp the night with friends from Kalgoorlie. They had only decided the night before to come here and we were meant to be 500km away on the Bight. We settled in and tents were put up to dry. Our group had spag bog for dinner ably made by Jason with prompting from Nina while the other group had honey mustard chicken very capably prepared by Keith. We sat around the fire for a while but after the early morning most were happy to retire for a hopefully less eventful night’s sleep.

Jim Wilcox (TO BE CONTINUED)



24 April 2010 (Day 1) - Karroun Hill/Bimbijy/Paynes Find

I was first to arrive, but it wasn’t long before the others turned up, Keith W, trip leaders Keith and Jo Low, and Simon & Anne. Jon and Val were to be “collected” at Goomalling.

We got away at the appointed hour (8.30) heading for Toodyay. There was lots of radio chatter as we drove, covering hail damage from the storm, cars, trips and other things. Time passed quickly and we were at Toodyay before we knew it, taking the Goomalling turn off just before we entered town. On the outskirts of Toodyay, it was interesting to note that a new subdivision had sprung up, with a few new houses on it.

It wasn’t long then before we reached Goomalling where Jon and Val were waiting. Morning tea was called. After morning tea, we headed off through Dowerin (also with a subdivision on the outskirts) and Wyalkatchem and then north to Koorda. We arrived at Koorda at 11.18am. We had hoped to get fuel, but the unmanned BP fuel outlet only took BP cards. Keith L had a BP card, but it still wouldn’t work, It seemed to us that the card reader was simply not working. Keith used the emergency radio on the BP console to contact a BP person (somewhere) to report this fact, but his only advice was simply to keep trying the card! Needless to say, this advice fell on deaf ears as Keith had tried the card many times before making contact.

We carried on to Bencubbin, arriving at 12.00. Fortunately, this time, we were eventually able to get some fuel at the local fuel outlet, which was also a card affair. Thankfully though, it took some ordinary credit cards, although not all. [My fuel 31.6 litres for 280.41kms = 11.27 litres per 100kms]. We had some lunch at the local park. Opposite the park, the local hotel looked a little worse for wear, with the front verandah sagging noticeably.


From Bencubbin, we travelled to Beacon, stopping to look at an old water tank and passing a ‘fence of bikes’ on the way. The fence was literally made out of old bikes stretching about 50 metres – extra-ordinary! Arriv-ing at Beacon, the town seemed deserted until we got to the football oval, where we found them all!

Next, we took the Bimbijy Road heading for Bimbijy Sta-tion. About 25 kms on, we turned off to Crimpy's Tank Built in 1966, Crimpy's Tank is a rock catchment tank with a stand-pipe. It was worth the stop. It collected water from a local granite outcrop which had a low “dam” wall on it (like Wave Rock) that funneled the water

into the tank via a large pipe.

Then we went into Beagley’s Breakaway, arriving at 2.44pm. The Break-away is an interesting rock formation dating back millions of years. It is on private property and adjoins the Tampu Well reserve. After a decent look around, that included admiring a stand of salmon gums (with their bronze trunks) and inspecting a couple of caves that had been hollowed out of the rock, we then travelled a short distance further on to Tampu Well, arriving at 3.30pm. It is an old Government well that was used by Sandalwooders, prospectors and shepherds This well appeared to have been excavated with a back hoe. It was dry. It did not look like the pic-ture on the Beacon website.

Our final stop before camp was Mt. Churchman, which was a granite out-crop. It is 390 metres high and was named by A.C. Gregory in 1846. We walked to the top to take in the views. The exercise was good, as were the views. Then back to the cars and a few kms further on saw us arrive at our camping spot for the night, which was just inside the Bimbijy Station boundary. Just before we got there, we thought we saw a mallee fowl take flight. Unfortunately, we missed out on a picture.

As usual for bush trips, after setting up camp, we sat around a camp fire that night admiring the location and the stars.

Tony Richards. (TO BE CONTINUED……)



The Black Cockatoo (Kaarakin) Society Works Day

Mission: To help in the conservation of the Black Cockatoo

By Richard le Serve special correspondent embedded with the Subaru

Club of WA

Like most modern armies who like to manoeu-vre in the early hours of the morning, the troops from the Subaru Club had a very early start on the Sunday morning of the 9th May at 0500 hours. Packed with tools and ladders, there were no cliffs to scale, but cockies to save!

Nine Subaru Foresters and an interloper in the form of a Nissan Patrol tray-back made the trek

up to Mills Road East and the hills area near Roleystone and Gosnells. Their mission: to pull apart and then re-erect, some five kilometres down the track, a large steel aviary to house Black Cockatoos on the old Cohunu Wildlife Sanctu-ary site.

To understand the mission, it is important to understand the work of the Black Cockatoo Society. The mission of the Black Cockatoo Rehabilitation Centre is to care for and reha-bilitate and then release Black Cockatoos to their families in the wild. These birds have been the victim of hit and run accidents or have been shot or injured in some other way. This work is important as these cocka-toos are on the endangered list and the aim is to stop the extinction of the Black Cocka-toos in Western Australia.

The four species of Black Cockatoos are unique to the state of Western Austra-lia. They are listed by DEC as schedule 1 “Fauna that is rare of is likely to be-come extinct.” This is due to declining habitat and food sources, both in quantity and quality, as well as declining numbers of individual birds.

The aims of the Society could be stated as follows:

Arranging immediate care and attention for injured Black Cockatoos Rehabilitating injured Black Cockatoos for release back into the wild Educating governments and the public on the importance of saving the nest-

ing and feeding grounds of the Black Cockatoos



Traditionally the arrival of the flocks of Black Cockatoos on the coastal plain of Perth was seen as bringing the rain, after long hot summers. Records from bygone years reported flocks of hundreds of birds, calling and looping through the skies around Perth. The birds still arrive with the same mission, but in much smaller num-bers. It has been estimated that their num-bers have halved in the last fifty years.

The troops set about the task of pulling apart the steel aviary with some vigour. A large flat bed trailer that looked as though it could transport a main battle tank was enlisted to help in the job. New skills were acquired or old ones brushed up on as the job went ahead quickly. There were no casualties! A drive through the rolling mist that could well have hidden an advancing horde, the advance party started putting up the aviary as half the troops stayed back to finish the cam-paign at the original site. Soon both groups rendezvoused at the former wildlife site and finished the job.

Glen Dewhurst from the society directed the campaign. He was a fount of knowl-edge of all things cockatoo and was passionate about his cause. A tour of the facilities followed and Glen explained the workings of the site. We saw bandi-coots, emus, kangaroos of all persuasions and a roughhousing deer called Betty who acted as a security guard along with keeping the grass under control. A brace of dingoes was also sighted and fussed over.

Over coffee and lunch, Glen answered questions and told us that this passion came from working up north as stockman from the age of 14. It was obvious that his passion and enthusiasm were a driving force at the site. Some interesting trivia: Glen told us that the cockatoo’s beak was capable of 2 ton per square inch of crushing or cutting power whereas a shark, for instance, has 1.4 ton per square inch of power to exert on some hapless victim.

A very enjoyable day was had and a worthwhile one. It was nice to think that our efforts had helped these marvelous birds and a plaque is to be put on the cage declaring that the Subaru Club had helped in the cause. An interesting footnote in the operation was that prisoners, not from the campaign itself, but from Karnet prison farm were to complete the job by squaring up the aviary and putting the wire roof back on. A glorious campaign, with the cockies as the winners!


GNANGARA TO PINJAR PINES Sunday 23rd May

It was a slightly soggy morning as we all assembled with Joy up at Jim Wilcox’s residence just opposite Lake Gnangara (more like Paddock Gnangara at this time of the year!). We had a fairly full representation from the club with 10 club members present and one guest who had had a heavy but was driving his wife’s Forester to see how the car performed. Long lost Martin Southwood and his son Dane were along for the trip as well. Martin was back from his sojourn in the South Seas for a little while before going back again for one more week of hard-ship till the end of his contract. We hope to see him more frequently on club trips in the future.

Joy provided us with an excellent briefing on where were going and the times we expected to be at each venue. We all knew that it could be very boggy where were going but with the rain we had the previous couple of days we all believed that it would make the sand a bit firmer and easier to get through. Ho Ho Ho!

Off we went at the appointed minute further north along to the end Sydney road where we turned off into the aptly named Turkey Road., which looked like a very secluded hidden little corner with Turkeys probably running around the back yards of the properties out there. We entered the plantation tracks going past mountains of rubbish, burnt out and or flattened cars, vehicles with trailers and trail bikes everywhere. It appears the reserve is the free tip for anybody that does want to pay tip charges. It would be a good area for a major cleanup event with the combined membership of all the WA4WD clubs along plus a few heavy trucks!

We get a few k into the planta-tion and turn south again to a point which is only about 800m north of Gnangara road before heading west through a newly pushed bush track to the Gnangara bowl which is a small very sandy hollow a few hundred metres across. Eve-rybody thinks this will be good fun and off they go. Martin was first out there doing some exploration on the surrounding dunes and promptly became



bogged at a very tight turn on top of the dune. A bit of digging and a snatch from Simon soon turned the car enough to go down the hill again. It turned out that Mar-tins experience was the order for our time there with three cars getting bogged up on top of hills on the other side of the bowl. With a bit of snatching and digging they all got out. Not so for us down in the hollow for Thea’s first time behind the wheel in the sand. We approached a hill with less than full throttle and promptly sank to the floor pan! So much for the firmer sand due to the rain! After much digging, destruction of Toms milk crate tracks, snatching and more digging, Peter Andruszkiw came to the res-cue with his accurate pressure gauge to bring the tyre pressure down to 12lb all around and the experience of many bogs to assist with getting out. He introduced me to the trick of starting in the opposite direction back and for the a couple of times for a metre or so to create a small compacted track to drive back along. So after about 20 minutes we all out again in the middle of the bowl.

After the bowl Joy took us north along Centre Way underneath the power lines toward the power station. Right next to us was a limestone track but because it was a bit boring we all hopped off onto the sand track under the power lines. With a little bit of bitumen we went east to join the gas pipe line track which again was sandy but nowhere near as bad as the bowl.

As we went along it there was a bit of side slip over the 80m high hills overlook-ing the vast roof scapes of Ellen-brook towards the Darling range. After going past the Rocla sand mine, which was still working even on the Sunday, just before the power station we turned left along the RAAF Boundary Road. Now it had some soft sand! However after the instruction of the bowl and the urging to “keep the speed up!” Thea finds the metal under the pedal and we fly along the track with no worries. Everybody enjoyed


that bit of track, even those not used to the cars bouncing on their own from side to side a bit following the earlier tracks of cars. The final re-ward of the boundary fence was a quick drive past the power station, which did not appear to be on line at the time, before having a stop for lunch on the edge of the Pinjar planta-tion.

As we headed to our stop we noted some of the pine stumps that had been bulldozed out and could see how very firmly rooted that all were, with main root bowls up to 3-4 metres deep, not like the large broad trunk systems of euca-lypts.

After lunch, we make our way to the quadruple track dune where most of us try our metal at the centre track which most get up fairly easily with judicious use of throttle and picking tracks through the holes of the heavies. Matt even went down the far right track which has a very large hole about 2/3rds the way up. All good fun!

After the dunes Joy took us over to lake Bindiar via a little unplanned detour along Yeal Swamp Track where Joy gave us all a little talk about the work she had been doing in the area monitoring ground water levels and showed us the all the diatomaceous earth, created by aquatic algae called diatoms, that formed the lake bed. Very interesting to learn how that lake area was very different to other lakes in the area and how it is a testimony to the effects of climate change, (over very long timescales). After the nature lesson we were all ready to head back.

As it turned out we had done nearly 100km off road across a wide range of tracks which were all varied and interesting. Joy had done an excellent job of pre-paring for the trip and I am sure I speak for everybody in saying it was very much enjoyed! Well done! I am sure you will have lots of attendance at the next trip you lead! ;-)

John and Thea.


GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

The Subaru 4WD Club of Western Australia Inc.

Minutes of the General Meeting held on Tuesday 11th May 2010

at Wembley Community Centre.

Present: As per Attendance Book.

Meeting Opened: 1930 hrs

Apologies: John Cahill, Jim Wilcox, Peter Andruszkiw.

Previous Minutes: Proposed by Tony Richards, seconded by Carl Carey – Accepted.

Business Arising: None.

Correspondence in:

Expo Invoice (magazine) – $328.00 Suba News – Subaru 4WD Club of Queensland Magazine. ARB 4x4 Action. Bullsheet Magazine. Town of Cambridge invoice. WestPac Statement. Taylor’s renewal form. Returned mail – Rob Robson. Dept. Of Food and Agriculture mailout. Emails Motorised Recreation Review Programme Ranger Outdoors Trade Night (5/5) President’s Meeting invite April minutes Cockatoo’s info sheet EcoEd News April 2010 Planning Diary April 2010 Free nature walk (4/5) Advanced First Aid course.........all from 4WD Association. 4WDWA Job opportunity. Volunteer Learning and Development grants. DEC info (Millstream and Chichester National Parks). Lancelin Live Firing Dates (19-20 May and 24-28 May). Business Arising: None.


Treasurers Report: $5,611.34 in account. Bolstered by $1k from Subaru Australia. Proposed by Dave Peck, seconded Rob Griffith. Membership: 50 + 7 life members. Some expressions of interest lately. All members now have a name tag. Magazine: Please include photographs with submissions. Merchandise: Polo shirts without pocket = $23.00; with pocket $27.00. Jackets = $35.00. Beanies = $11.00. See Tony Richards re. availability and for or-ders. Don’t forget club fleece jackets as winter approaches. Trips and Social: Keith Low’s Payne’s Find trip was enjoyed by those participating. Look out for the trip report. Black cockatoo society day was a success with all jobs achieved. Cut off date for Christmas in June is the June meeting. If insufficient numbers this will be cancelled. Tony’s Holland Track trip fared better with mostly fine conditions and little outside traffic. Trips as per Magazine. 4WD Association: 4WD Association – TR attended the May meeting: a) Guest speaker from DEC (this month, not last month) – she dis-cussed the new Motorised Off Road and Track Adoption proposal. In-stead of Clubs finding Tracks and then asking to adopt – DEC will go to District Managers and ask what areas they require assistance with then pass on to Clubs for assistance and encourage District Managers to ac-


GENERAL MEETING MINUTES

cept the assistance. There is planned to be a Track Adoption Workshop in Sept/Oct. b) CSR trip completed – signs up. c) 4WD Show next month – haven’t heard a lot. d) Bush Dance still happening – 20/21 November - $25.00 e) President’s Meeting – noted 4WD Clubs getting older! f) President’s Meeting – discussion about Presidents being dele-gates – it seems some complained they did not know what was going on. Meeting agreed to send minutes to President by email. Presidents can always attend any meeting whether a delegate or not. g) Proposal to hold Delegate Meetings at Kaarakin. Motion put. Vote at next meeting. There is no rent/fee paid to hold meetings at No-randa. What do you think? I do not want to go to Kaarakin – much fur-ther. General Business: John Cahill met with Mark Edmonds and agreed to continue the subsidy of new members as before. New forms are required and an agreement to supply 1200 was reached. Mark said that Subaru staff may be interested in joining trips, linking to our website (new one) and possible loan of a marquee and display cars for shows. All agreed that this shows a promising future relationship. Keith Low volunteered to review management plans sent to the club from DEC. Priority will be given to those areas affecting the club and our trips. Indian Ocean Drive is 6 months ahead of schedule; the actual route may affect future trips. Matt is selling 1” Liberty lift springs if anyone is interested. Ranger Morley is now in Malaga (corner of Malaga Drive and Beechboro Road) 15% discount vouchers will be forthcoming. Don’t forget that Club members also get 10% discount at any time. Thanks to Adrian for ar-ranging.


THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE NOT

NECESSARILY THOSE HELD BY

THE SUBARU 4WD CLUB OF W.A. INC.

Please send articles to the Editor by the Thursday before the end of the month (earlier is better). Email: [email protected] in Word format or plain text;

Subaru 4WD Club WA Website:

http://www.subaru4wdclubwa.asn.au

Environmental Officer meeting was attended by Josan:

Eco caravan park at Wedge when Indian Ocean Drive complete. Clubs will soon be asked to take part in a cleanup at a location to be de-cided. TLCC have recently planted 1,000 trees. All Tracks Club recently planted 2,000 trees. Assoc. Will get safety vests for roadside work. Tree planting is favoured over cleanups. DEC staff are overloaded and slow to respond to requests. Mundaring Pipeline track has been adopted by 3 or 4 clubs for repair. DEC work has been going on at Fish Creek for dune protection. CSR signage trip Apr/May Track Care WA. Meeting Closed - 2010hrs.

BLACK COCKATOO LINKS:

Black Cockatoo Rescue/Rehabilitation:

www.blackcockatoorecovery.com/

This is located at Kaarakin (see page 22)

Carnaby’s Cockatoo Roost Survey

Volunteers contact Quinton Burnham

[email protected] or 0428 762 292

2010-06

Documents

wd club news

wd club of western australia

wd web site

wd news meetings

keith low

keith wilcox

committee members

wd assoc delegate