The purpose of this tour is to raise funds that are important in supporting several medical research charities that are crucial in advancing cures and living standards for some life-threatening disease and circumstances, which are facilitated through Drive4Life (full details on charities supported are on the Drive4Life web site drive4life.com.au).

To date we are proud to advise that we have raised $966,100 since the launch of Drive4Life in 2006.

The tour group met on Sunday 26th March in the afternoon at Riverglade Tourist Park in Tumut, where a briefing on how the tour was to be run, introductions, a meet and greet and rego and licenses were checked, and then groups were arranged with their respective Group Leaders and Tailend support vehicles. Each participant was provided with a goodie bag containing free merchandise, group notes/information and stickers representing the sponsors to be placed on their vehicles. Thereafter, indulging in a dinner at a local Ale House.

The tour commenced on Monday 27th March departing Tumut, it was to be a fun filled 5 day trip of visiting unique locations, heritage landmarks, remote tracks, Murrumbidgee river, and travelling the Brindabella & Mount Kosciusko National Parks Ranges testing man and machine.

The tour was kicked off on Monday morning with a special guest speaker from the Snowey2 Hydro Operation, Mr Kent Allen who gave a very informative slide presentation show about the construction and overview of the project. All who attended were amazed at the level of infrastructure and operations that went into this project.

After Kent’s presentation the participants lined up in their respective groups and left the Tourist Park at 30mins intervals bound for Wee Jasper. Some of the sights included on our visit were The Hamlet of Bungle once a large Aboriginal settlement, following the Tumut River passing beautiful grazing farmlands, with picturesque scenery. Changing direction, we started to follow the mighty Murrumbidgee river with old growth red gums on the far bank, the colors set against the blue sky were picture perfect. Nevin Holland had per-arranged with the owner of the Stonehedge Property Farm located alongside the river, for our group to have lunch on their property, a truly serene location. From here we continued through prime farming land with great views for as far as the eye could see down to Wee Jasper, then settling into Micalong Creek Campsite for our next two-night stay, where day trips were on offer.

With NO FIRE BAN in place a make-believe fire with freshly fallen red and orange autumn leaves were placed in the center of the circle on top of a headlight touch creating the ambiance of a fire, which was to be our makeshift fire for the evening, we all sat around and had introductions on past travels, and then further chatter and jokes flowed, then followed by a brain teaser activity introduced by one of the participants, Whip (Wayne) Joliffe where we were arranged into groups of 5, and we all got a lot of laughs out of the game (it wasn’t as easy as most thought).

On Tuesday we had some reasonably difficult 4X4 driving over to McIntyres Hut. The tracks that we used were suggested by National Parks, but we have to say they were fairly steep and tested some abilities which certainly got everyone’s attention. Heading into the late afternoon it started to rain but luckily the track was firm enough, and all made it back safely to camp. At night the rain did not let up which meant we had small groups forming and rotating under each other’s awnings to keep dry and socialise.

Unfortunately, the tour was cut short due to severe bad weather, road closures on the tracks we were travelling on, and as per warnings under the National Parks. Therefore, a meeting was held with the organisers and the Parks Ranger regarding the weather, and the decision was made to pull the pin on the tour as a duty of care and guidance from Parks. Thanks to Phil, he found some exciting tracks for the group on the return to Tumut that still made for an interesting day.

The final awards and presentation night had to be brought forward, from Friday to Wednesday, and let’s say it went off without a hitch.

However, although the weather was not on our side mid-way through the trip, thanks to some locals, namely David Fletcher and Anni Anderson, albeit not the original trip, but they were happy to propose a newly revised trip that was set up for the following day for those who wished to continue with a guided scenic excursion around the mountains, and where lucky enough to be able to visit other townships and areas around Mount Kosciuszko.

Many thanks were on offer, to Kent Allen for his time, slide presentation and insight on the Snowy 2.0 project,  Nevin Holland for the Batesy award for being a true advocate to Drive4Life, to all the Group Leaders and Tailend Vehicles, Phil Barton, Shaun O’Sullivan, Micky & Maxine DeGraff, Noel Skimmings, Brian & Kirsten Sommerville and Dave & Jan Stewart for their expertise and guidance in leading the groups, and finally to those who gave their time and knowledge in assisting in putting this trip together, a big shout out to Nevin Holland (for suggesting this location for the charity drive), Shaun O’Sullivan, Phil Barton, Trevor Munn, Mick Whitehead and Kel Spiccia for making it all possible by conducting numerous reconnaissance’s.

Finally, finishing off the night with a paid dinner to all on behalf of Drive4Life, raffles, giveaways, laughter and more, ensuring everyone was left with a smile and enjoyable memories of a fun filled 3 day adventure that was had.

Until the next trip…travel safe!

Mick Whitehead

Drive4Life Director