Tuesday, November 27, 2007

SES 4WD Package

On the weekend just gone I was fortunate enough to couple 2 of my passions, 4WDriving and SES when I attended a 4WD trainers endorsement workshop. Approx’ 15 SES members from all over Sydney attended the 2-day weekend workshop, which was held in bushland around Menai.

The workshop was a rollout of the new SES 4WD operations package to new and current trainers. After a short theory session we took our vehicles into the bush where all facets of the package and training techniques were undertaken.

All participants took turns in being the ‘trainer and candidate’ while continually becoming more familiar with the ability of their vehicles. Various driving techniques included off-camber and undulating rugged terrain along with sessions on stall recoveries, water crossings and some winch operations.

After much practice with the emphasis on wheel placement and speed the weekend culminated with a trainer and assessor assessment where all participants were deemed competent.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Camp Quality Convoy

Last Sunday was the 3rd annual Camp Quality Convoy hosted by a local radio station here in the Illawarra. The convoy is a truck and bike parade all about raising funds for Camp Quality (kids with cancer).


I took my kids down to a vantage point on Master Rd where we were surprised to see upwards of two hundred other people, just at this one point all wanting to do the same thing. The convoy which starts at West Cliff colliery at Appin snakes its way down to Stocklands in Shellharbour. As the first of 200 motorbikes rumbled past us the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, the crowd cheered and clamped, horns were tooted and a sense of awe swept over the place. It wasn't till the trucks arrived at our location did we realise how big this convoy had become. 500 trucks from all over the region took part this year, with the lead truck donating some $20,600 for the privilege.



50 minutes after the first truck went past us the final truck completed the convoy. My kids had ball, the kids in the trucks had ball, the noise of 500 air horns was deafening but it was all for a great cause, with nearly $180,000 raised on the day. I look forward to next year.