Members generously brought gifts for the Wollongong Lord Mayor Giving Tree.  This week, more than sixty new presents for all ages under 16 will be delivered locally to a collection point. These gifts will then be distributed to those who matter most at this time of year.

Giving joy to someone you don't know and may never meet, and knowing they are thinking about the kindness they have received from a caring person is very powerful. The Black Diamond Recreational 4WD Club member's community spirit is at its finest at this time.

Black Diamond Recreational 4wd Club recently held its Christmas function for the year. Members enjoyed a fantastic weekend of entertainment & festivities. It's an excellent way to catch up and reminisce about all the trips and events of the year and plan future adventures.

Lavis Lane, Worimi Conservation Lands (Stockton beach) was the site of our pop-up inflation station and information stand.

NPWS had Discovery Rangers setup and a marque alongside ours to educate the public on shore birds.

The aim of the day was to engage with the public and educate them on the benefits of being in an incorporated club. Also to help them understand correct tyre pressure for beach driving.

For those new to beach driving, we offered some tips to help make their first time more enjoyable.

To engage with those that have experience or think they know, we had an inflation station setup, to make airing up easier.

Members of four Hunter region clubs: Central Coast 4WD Club, Gold Eagle 4x4 Club, Newcastle & Districts
4WD Club, Port Hunter 4x4 Club volunteered on the stand.

The beach was busy and the Four Wheel Drivers that we engaged with, were evenly split between Newcastle & Sydney residents. The furthest coming from Orange.

The event was a huge success, with future events a very real possibility.

The concept had the full support NPWS & WCL board.

Coates Hire & Signwave Newcastle helped with compressor hire and signs.

We identified the area in need of a clean up (the site of the former State Forest Depot) in Wallaroo State Forest which adjoins Wallaroo State Conservation area, this lead us to reach out to NPWS to see if they would like to participate and allow us to clean up a greater area.  Through meetings between the Hunter Region 4WD Council and NPWS the invitation was taken up.

The troops were provided with maps and the location for 3 metal scrap bins, the vehicles, trailers and trucks were off and running. They come and went bringing the waste to the central general waste depot, this included tyres, lounges, metals, tiles etc. Smaller items were placed in bulka bags that could be lifted from the trailers by the trucks Hiab saving on double handling.

The waste continued to roll in until it was time to feed the troops the traditional sausage sizzle. This was provided by Forest Corp. The estimate of waste removed by volunteers is 6 tonne, about 70 tyres and 3 tonne of steel. From 2017 to 2023 we have collected 55.49 tonne and 607 tyres. Recovered car bodies and steel are not weighed as they are picked up directly by scrap dealers.

Port Hunter 4x4 club celebrated its 40th anniversary with the iconic Nobbys Lighthouse featured on its logo as the backdrop. Almost 100 members & guests attended a catered dinner, the highlight being a Silo Art inspired cake.

Starting in 1984 as the Crossroads Mitsubishi & L300 4 Wheel Drive Club, the club has remained true to its original goals focusing on trips, friendships, driver education, and community service.

The weekend was a highly social occasion with games, kids activities, catching up with former members & reliving past trips with an extensive display of club memorabilia. New plans for future trips were hatched!

On 20 November, about 40 members of the Wagga Wagga Four Wheel Drive Club Inc visited Altina Wildlife Park at Darlington Point to present around 180 straps and slings to benefit the animals of the Park as part of the state-wide 4WD NSW and ACT Straps up High  project.

The straps and slings (weighing about 450kg) were obsolete ones kindly donated by Rodney's Transport Services, The Riverina Co-Operative Society Ltd and club members, with club members John and Brenda Moore co-ordinating the effort.

Not only will these straps benefit the animals and the wildlife park, the environment will also benefit because the straps will not end up in landfill. A certificate, which is now on proud display in the Altina visitors centre, was presented to Altina to mark the occasion.

In 2010 a rockfall at Monaghans Bluff cracked the road and made it impassable. The NSW government provided $2m to Bathurst Council to see the road reopened. Some land needed to be acquired to divert the track the 2km around Monaghan’s Bluff. This diversion will avoid future rockfalls and make the road safer.

After so many years closed, there is much excitement generated by the work in progress and the anticipated reopening date. This is a huge win for residents, families, adventurers, anglers, campers, riders, and 4WD enthusiasts. This will grow tourism in the local area and provide a much needed economic boost for the region.

The Bridle Track has officially reopened today, finally re-linking Hill End with Bathurst. The official reopening on the track was attended by the Hon Paul Toole (State Member for Bathurst), with invited guests Craig Thomas (President) and Roger Pollett (Lands Projects) from 4WD NSW and ACT Inc.

• Members from Newcastle & Districts 4WD Club, Port Hunter 4x4 Club,
• Gold Eagle 4WD Club,
• Land Rover Owners Club of Sydney,
• and the Central Coast 4WD Club along with members of the public took part in the annual Clean Up Australia Day event.

Four Wheel Drivers set about
cleaning up local forests. 

Every year our clubs work with Forestry Corp, Illegal Dumping Investigators & Lake Macquarie City Council Area Rangers to clean up the mess left by others.

This year’s result were;

• 7.4 tonnes of mixed waste removed.
• 141 tyres removed.
• Asbestos found not included in total.
• Vehicles not included in total.
• One matter investigated – no formal action.

CWF 4WD Club gave up a lazy Sunday at home with the kids to clean up mess left by others. It's important to do this quickly because if left, others with add their "tags" to it.

Club members brought rags, brushes, buckets and carted up the water to clean the orange paint left behind by selfish people. Our clubs promote "leave nothing behind" philosophy.

Doing this teaches our children to be better than the people that left the orange paint. The Lost City is a beautiful area on the Newnes Plateau that is there for us all to enjoy. 

On March 1st, Clean Up Australia Day, the Black Diamond Recreational 4wd Club Inc and the Illawarra Suzuki 4wd Club joined forces to clean up Towradgi Beach and Fairy Meadow Beach through to Puckeys Reserve Wollongong.

The two clubs were granted special permission to drive the beaches for the registered Clean Up Australia Day Event. A long day in the sun cleaning up two beaches with 10 vehicles and 17 people signed up to help.

Rubbish collected consisted of the usual bottles and plastics but they also came across 4 lounge chairs dumped up high in the dunes that they removed. Once again these beautiful beaches are safe and rubbish free.

One large group headed off to an area of Wyong State Forest along with large trailers and the Forest Corp truck while the two other groups headed off to Curtis Road and Tobins Road with their trailers. It is amazing the amount and type of rubbish people dispose of in the bush. Everything from bike frames, tyres, kid's toys, building materials, car parts, clothes and a large plastic swimming pool among other things were extracted and taken to the tip. 

By lunch time workers and loads of rubbish began to trickle in to the BBQ area.

The superbly prepared sausage sandwiches were gratefully demolished and the cold soft drinks and water hit the spot.  A silent auction which raised $50 for Camp Quality was held for a 2.3 litre pail of honey donated by a local beekeeper who turned up and praised our efforts. 

45 people, including 5 kids, 8 trailers, 1 truck, removed 6.2 tonnes of rubbish including approximately 100 tyres from the bush.

3 Four Wheel drive Clubs attended: Forest Corporation provided a truck and driver. The Report Illegal Dumping Squad sent two investigators. Well Done Everyone!

The Telegherry Camp Ground within the Chichester State Forest had sustained significant damage through an inconsiderate act of vandalism from irresponsible people on a recent weekend of destruction at the Telegherry Camp Ground during a wet weather event.

After lunch, concreting the bollards took place and the continuation of flattening out the campground using a vehicle doing reverse circle work slowly towing around a makeshift leveller to flatten out the wheel ruts then spread the grass seed as evenly as possible.

Clubs from 3 regions responded to the call. Port Hunter 4wd, Black Diamond 4wd, Triple Diamond 4wd, Era Recreational, Crossed Up 4wd, and CWF 4wd.
There was also a local resident, Jamieson Reading who wanted to assist in the rehabilitation of the area.

Maintenance Day - March 31st 2019

The homestead was established around the 1850's, one of the first routes from Glen Innes to Grafton.

The Grafton & Districts 4wd Club has been working with National Parks and Wildlife Services for over 15 years to get this piece of Clarence Valley history to where it is today. Another cracker of a day to attend to Cunglebung Homestead.

Twice a year club members attend to mowing, whipper snipping and tidying up around this homestead.

The Club has most members registered as NPW&S Volunteers, they give freely of their time and equipment to perform this task, this is also behind locked gates as are other huts that the club helps to maintain. The drought has gripped the area, many of the creeks & springs have run dry, the country is hurting.

These days are a great opportunity for our members to get out, especially after an extreme fire season that has prevented the club from traveling many of tracks and trails that we like to frequent.

Written by Jon Kenny, President of Grafton & District 4wd Club.

Thank you to the members of the Grafton & Districts 4wd Club for your time and your effort.