Wilbinga Shacks Cleanup
Trip Leader: Bruce Brinkley
Co-Trip Leader: Murray Hudson
When: 24th November, 2013
Location: Wilbinga, WA 6041
Participants: Flora Munro, Tony Farrugia, Kim and Gail Graieg, Murray and Alison and children, Bruce and Judith Brinkle
Well prepared vehicle.
All systems ready….fuelled, mornos, water, sunscreen, rubbish picker-upperers, volunteer car magnets, orange bags, trailer arranged to be collected from one of the Visitors Day crew at their meet site.
On highway heading north….tow ball? Aaaaaah
Came up behind Murray heading north so quick delegation for him to meet up with our group at Wilbinga Turnoff and we stopped off at the Visitors Day kick off point to collect the trailer.
Wilbinga Rd corner is not what you’d call ‘obvious’. I stood on the corner for one Mitsi couple who had already missed it on the way north (they were looking down at maps and missed seeing the cars off to the left in the pine forest) and even then saw me only as they shot past again on their way south. So for anyone ever looking to go to Wilbinga to enjoy the area….slow down the moment you see the sign to the Gravity Centre to the right and look for the track off to the left only about 200m further north. Signage is a green painted word ‘Wilbinga’ on a tyre imbedded in the sand. It helps to know what you are looking for.
With cars coming and going at the air down site, Murray’s car ended up in pole position, and since he’d also been briefed by Trackcare’s organizer Geoff Couper, he led, with Bruce doing his typical ‘leading from behind’ with the trailer. The trailer borrowed from a friend, who borrowed it from a friend, had tyre pressures needing adjusting…from 66psi and 54psi. ! Airborn?
Our group of 7 club cars had reduced to 4 on the day but then increased again as individual cars joined our little convoy.
First big corner was manned by Shacks Crew to aim us to the track. But when we, and the many others following up behind us, arrived at the small meet site, we found our seven were then directed to go back south, against the traffic, down that same narrow track (with minimal passing spots) we’d just come up. All good fun.
So with our cars, those following, the added congestion of some day trippers, and another couple of vehicles who picked that particular junction to appear from up over the sand dunes behind us … it looked like 8am city traffic… but without the stress.. or traffic lights.
All was sorted as only a group of 4WD men can do.. with trailers reversing, and multiple traffic controllers, and hand waving, and juggling cars.
We headed south to collect rubbish.
I think , listening to others having been there before, the quantity of large rubbish items is diminishing. Usual bottles and cans and waste, but there was still the odd tyre or two, some super 6 corrugated sheeting pieces, a barbecue, a double seater lounge chair..which to her dismay , Alison found to be the home of a swarm of bees..!! But that’s her story of the day. I hope she’ll submit it… but check out the photos… shows just how well established that hive was.. and then imagine how many came out at her…and with a couple stuck in her hair.
The lounge was left at the side of the road for the Shacks Crew to… harvest?
The Busy Bees at Wilbinga
By Alison Hudson
A late morning tea tucked away in a little hollow was in company with others from Trackcare and a lone Rockingham 4WD Club member who’d joined us. We’d had enough to keep us occupied collecting along just that particular track to the south.
Though all in all, with so many vehicles and trailers at hand, the task was not as onerous as we anticipated. Well.. apart from Alison’s bees.
Then when we heard that there were 14 vehicles heading back up our track, from the area where we were still aiming, we figured that area would be cleared and perhaps sensible to beat a retreat to the Shacks for lunch…. before they neared our corner.
Where do DPaW buy their meat for their barbecues? Or was it the skill of the chef! Good!
An ‘all you can eat’ BBQ and salads and soft drinks set up in the shade of the Shacks area and a cooling breeze to keep flies away.
Pleasant discussion with shacks members and DPaW people.
A raffle for SIDS was held and drawn… and Murray won a prize.
We headed back in convoy to the air up spot near Indian Ocean Drive to empty the trailer…and home. A satisfying day and now a cleaned area perhaps to find a future overnight campsite for us?
Update from our Trackcare delegate Bruce.
Geoff Couper who has organised the last 3 years of cleanups, reported that although covering a larger area, with more cars and more trailers, there was less rubbish to collect!
In other words… it’s working.
Judith