GORDON COUNTRY, GOOMBURRA QUEENSLAND AUSTRALIA

GORDON CONTRY

If you love camping then Gordon Country is definitely one place worth considering. Located only 2 & ½ hours from Brisbane, it makes  the perfect spot for a camping holiday to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. We recently spent 3 days there and its one place we’ll definitely be visiting again in the future. There’s over 4000 acres to explore with  12 different camping sites and 6 cabins that can sleep from 4 to 8 people.

We arrived late night and pulled up at Black Cockatoo site and began to setup the camper.

After setting up and the  obligatory drinks, which as usual disappeared very quickly the 

conversation soon turned to the proposed 4wd adventures the next day. The plan was to spend most of the day mapping the tracks around Gordon Country.

The next day we awoke to a glorious sunny  morning. After a leisurely breakfast we set off to explore the "old" tracks around the property. The old tracks are  well signed, and incredibly scenic. This part of the day was relatively straight forward offroading with easy alternatives if people didn't want to try some of the harder tracks. Even the ones listed as steep were not overly difficult although a proper 4wd with reasonable clearance  is needed for some of them.

Arriving back around lunch time we had a brief break  and then were back off into exploring the "new tracks" on the other side of the property. These were recently cut by dozer  and were not marked at all so we had no idea what was in store for us.

Most are very pretty and scenic runs (although with many dead ends)  but be warned some are extremely steep  with limited turn around locations.

All was initially going well as we proceeded up one at a time through the steep climb but nearing the top, things got trickier.  We soon  found ourselves committed to heading up a very loose and steep ridge line. Reaching an extremely steep section we radioed to the others to hold up and commenced the run in 1st low.

The Navara had the power but not the traction as we approached the top the rock was too loose and then I could see massive holes in the track up ahead.. 

The forward momentum slowed and the Navara disappeared in a cloud of dust. There was no option but to back down. I told the rest of the group not to attempt the climb while we figured out next move.

The group did an amazing job of getting us backed down till we reached a small ledge which was flat enough to attempt a turn around. After a very slow and tentative multi point turn the Navara was pointed down hill and slipping and sliding down in 1st low and we rejoined the group. Given the difficulty we decided on proceding via some alternative tracks.

Some warning signage like on the older tracks would be good

here as inexperienced 4wders could get into real trouble on these new and very loose ridge tracks. The  long climbs and limited turn around options make a long and steep reverse back down your only option and its not one  to be taken lightly .

Drinks were flowing that night, and being the next day was going to be 35 degrees,

Kim and I decided to head to the town of Warwick to explore. Nestled on the banks of the Condamine River lies the "Rose and Rodeo Capital' of Warwick, and host to the annual October hoedown of Australia's elite bull riders. We walked among the main street where Kim was able to check out some shops and had a nice lunch at the local pub.

That afternoon we checked out some practice area within Gordon Country, woke up early the next day packed up and headed back to Brisbane.