Easter Sunday & kids

Easter at our house has always been one of fun times, however the past 2 Easter’s have been filled with incident. Last year Leonie fell and broke her arm. This year wasn’t much better. The day started fine, the kids were all extremely excited having received their Easter eggs, to which they spent the day devouring.

Late in the afternoon I was getting ready for a trip out to Penrith, the kids were happily playing in their rooms. When one of the rooms was filled with screams, I found Sam on the floor holding her left arm, telling Daddy how she’d fallen from the bunk bed ladder.

After some reassurance and basic first aid it was off to casualty where after a long wait and no x-ray it was decided that the arm wasn’t broken. This was only the start of our concerns. Ethan, who had been a bit off-colour for a few days was checked over and a chest x-ray was done on him. He’d had a bad cough/virus, was running a temperature, not taking fluids and in general didn’t look too well. After another lengthy wait (8hrs) he was finally seen to by a doctor who admitted him to the children’s ward.

In the meantime I had taken Sam home where she continually complained about her sore arm. Needless to say the whole family had a restless night, spread all over Wollongong. In the morning it was back to the hospital to visit Leonie & Ethan. Both of them were well established in the children’s ward. Ethan’s condition had slightly improved, he was on a ‘drip’ and resting. We then took Sam back to casualty where finally an x-ray confirmed she’s broken her arm (near her wrist). This resulted in a half cast being applied, as the swelling was too great for a full cast.

Back in the children’s ward the staff joked with us stating ‘how both of our kids could be admitted to beds side-by-side’. Thankfully this didn’t happen and as the day progressed Ethan’s colour and enthusiasm slowly returned to a point that some 30 hrs after arriving at casualty he could be discharged.

Its now 2 days later, Ethan is slowly on the mend. Sam goes to the specialist tomorrow where a full cast will likely be fitted. Lets hope next Easter isn’t marred with the same drama.

Macquarie Pass Canyon

Its not Claustral or Empress or one of the many other canyons in the blue Mts. It is however the closest and most accessible canyon to the Illawarra and one the SES often like to go and play in.

Today was the first time this season we’d been down this canyon, a recent planned trip had to be called off due to high rainfall. Today’s trip however was bathed in full sunshine with a tinge more water than normal. We had 13 in our group, some hadn’t canyoned before while others had done plenty. With a group this size our speed through the canyon at times was slow, but all the time enjoyable. The water was refreshing and clean, however those recent rains had washed and dislodged so much debris into the canyon that you were constantly checking jumps or clambering over fallen trees.
With our travel time slowed we opted out of some of the abseils thus hoping to make up some time. We eventually stopped for lunch, not at our usual spot but one downstream further and one that was bathed in sunshine. As we enjoyed lunch one of our party stumbled upon a diamond python who too had just feasted on some animal. Its torso was easily the size of a mans lower thigh and due to this the snake was happy to rest while we all marvelled at its size.

Pressing on after lunch it wasn’t long before we’d come to the end of the canyon and the largely popular ‘jump rock’. This spot has a huge rock while towers over a seemingly bottomless pool. We all took it in turns to ride the slide, ride our bike or jump from the heights into the pool.

Unfortunately from this point there’s the dreaded walk out, but for those of us that canyon know, this is part of the deal. Thanks to all who made this an enjoyable day.

Brindabella/McIntyre Hut Trip

It was 2003 when I was last down in the Brindabella’s. Back then I was with the SES and we were supporting the RFS and the residents of Canberra who’d just been through hell as a bushfire rained down on them. A few of us back then said, we must come back here and have a look around.

It took 5 years of planning but last weekend we finally made it down to the Brindabella’s for a weekend of 4WDriving and camping. A group of us from SES headed off to Cotter Dam on the Friday night. This would be a good starting point for an early getaway on the Saturday, besides our last experience of Cotter was of melted traffic lights, burnt buildings and charcoaled trees. Remarkably the landscape has come back pretty well; there are still scars on the earth of just how bad it was back in 2003.


Saturday dawned and by 9.30am our full party of 4WD’s were assembled. An acquired track file was the bases of our route. We were quickly off the black top where we encountered numerous joggers and MTB’s, all out for a bit of exercise. The tracks, and there were plenty to choose from as this is a logging area, were hilly but all in good condition. We were up hills and down dales countless times. A punctured tyre had us stopping for our first view of the vista. Onwards we went; eventually we were driving into the town of Brindabella. In 2003 this was a command post full of firies and smouldering trees. Today it was our stop for morning tea and quick dip in the river for the kids.

Northwards we headed, into some rugged mountain ranges. The tracks were steep, the scenery breath-taking and everyone was having fun. We stopped down on the Goodradigbee River for a cache and some lunch. The river was flowing well, from recent rains and most of us had a relaxing swim. A few of us par-took in the nearby cache Vertigo. Onwards again, this time, up up and up we went. The track followed the ridge line, taking us to a height of approx’ 1300m. Eventually it was time to drop back down to the river. This time we were heading to our camp site at McIntyre’s Hut. I’d heard so much of this place that I just had to come and see it.


Again on the banks of the Goodradigbee River we made camp for the night. With refreshments in hand it was time for another swim in the river. Some chose to do a bit of fishing, others floated down the rapids. All of us enjoying the peace of being out in the bush. As the sunset and with everyone refreshed, our bellies full of good food we sat around the campfire enjoying the banter and a few ales.

Sunday started with a fresh breeze letting us know how cold this place can be. Packed up we were on the road again. We picked and chose our tracks carefully and eventually we were at the base of Mt Coree. A holed sidewall on one vehicle slowed us temporarily but we were quickly making our assault of the impressive pinnacle nearby. 1421m later we were on top of Mt Coree. A 360 deg’ spectacular view greeted us. Canberra in one direction, Tumut in the other and rolling mountains all around. We had lunch atop here, you couldn’t have ask for a better backdrop.


Eventually we had to head back down the hill and our weekend was slowly coming to an end. As we hit the black top for the first time in 130km we bid farewell to few of our party. The rest of us went on to grab a few more local caches before putting closure to the weekend.
Thanks to the Cheekyfrogs, Odee McPodie, HK Rat, Big Matt & Shell and few muggles for making this an enjoyable weekend for the Rats.

Australian Day weekend

Being a proud Australian I thoroughly enjoy Australia Day and the celebrations that take part on that weekend. This year we split our time between a day at Wollongoong harbour and then a nights camping.

On the Saturday I helped with the SES celebrations as they unfolded around the harbour foreshore. The day started early as we assited stall holders setup, this at times proving very frustrating. Later in the day we manned our own static display, encouraging people to join the SES before finishing the day watching the fireworks.

On Sunday we headed down to a place called Yadboro Flat for a nights camping, this area lies between "Pigeon House Mt" and "The Castle" on the Clyde River. We'd never been to this place before, but had heard alot about the area. Well upon our arrival we were taken by how many other people had come to share this beautiful place. 2 small camping areas border the river, the river had plenty of running water which we later swam in. The camping area only has pit toilets, but its free and peaceful. We spent our time relaxing by the river, under the shaded areas and going on a couple of drives further into the bush.

What a great way to spend Australia Day weekend

Hang Gliding

I’d been given a hang gliding gift voucher for my 40th birthday. So with the warmer months coming on I thought it was time to put it to good use. I was booked in for last Saturday @ Bald Hill, Stanwell Tops.

As it turned out the weather wasn’t too good. It was an overcast sort of day, but from an experts point of view the wind conditions were ideal, about 15km/h out of the SW. I met my tandem partner in the carpark where we went over all the usual safety stuff and some pre-start tips and checks. Being use to wearing a harness I thought putting on the required outfit would be simply, sure it’s a harness, but it has a tail, a pouch and array of other compartments which all make you feel a bit strange.

We were soon all hooked up. Then left, right, left, right faster faster, we were running towards the end and with no effort we were airborne. After a few in-flight adjustments and some running commentary from my tandem instructor we started to take in the grandness of the moment. For something so simple it so easily gave the feeling that you could fly. We made a few passes of the family back on the ground before we climbed to heights where the people on the ground were only the size of pin-pricks.

My instructor (Tony) gave me some basic instruction and then said, “its all yours” and presto I was flying the hang-glider, which I must say is basically a shifting of weight to which the glider responds. We made some back and forth passes over the top of Bald Hill before slowly descending to Stanwell Park beach. A smooth landing and I was back on terrafirma. A half hour tandem flight was gone in 60 seconds.

I thanked my tandem instructor for the experience and ticked another thing off the list of “things to try before you die”.

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.

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.