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NSW & QLD X-TRAIL Challenge Trip Report (Woolgoolga 7-10 of October, 2011)
The trip started with us hitting the road on Friday morning at 5:45am and it was a smooth run on the Newcastle freeway with very little traffic.
About half way to the Hexam turn-off, I saw a white T31 in my rear vision mirror and as it started getting closer I told everyone in the car to brace themselves as I noticed that the T31 behind me had a “rocket launcher” on the roof but the fear for our lives was soon replaced with relief when I realized it was Rescue1 (Alan & Philippa) in their T31 catching-up with us. 
Alan passed me pretty fast in his T31 diesel, so I knew that my Series 4 Ti must be travelling slower at the set cruise speed and I soon realized that it was travelling at around 6-7kms/hour slower compared to the reading shown on the GPS (which was spot on), so I quickly re-adjusted the cruise control and set it based on the GPS speed.
Alan and I kept passing each other along the way and we arrived at the Lorikeet Caravan Park around 2pm or so.
Some of the guys were already there from the previous night or earlier in the day, so we said a quick hello and started to unpack our things.
Willem (from Nissan) then called me and said that he was waiting for me at the BBQ area which was chosen to be the X-TRAIL display and meeting ground and we started putting all the banners and flags in that area and it quickly turned into an X-TRAIL and Wanna Live marketing ground
Pics of the BBQ area can be seen HERE
More guys started to arrive one after the other and the last to arrive was Andy with a fitting ornament on the bonnet of his exy 
A list of those who made this trip as follows:
We had our first meeting and introductions at around 6pm and decided to head to the local RSL club for dinner as I already booked us in there. John also arranged for the RSL to send us their courtesy bus which picked us up from the caravan park (thanks John).
Willem provided everyone with a free Nissan X-TRAIL t-shirt and an X-TRAIL cap which were gifts given to us by Nissan Australia and we all agreed to wear them the next day.
We spent a nice evening at the RSL chatting and sharing stories and Willem was being involved in the discussion around possible improvements for the exy and expected new product releases like the Nissan LEAF.
Dinner Pics can be seen HERE
We met at the BBQ area the next morning and decided on the activities for Saturday and agreed on Scot leading the convoy of 15 cars with Alan being the tail end car with flashing emergency LEDs on the roof and what a display that was on the road!!
We first headed to Woolgoolga for a quick breakfast and to grab quick lunch supplies, so when we parked in one of local streets near the shopping centre, people started to come out and ask what was happening, as all they could see is X-TRAILs with Forum Flags everywhere
After explaining to people what was going on and handing out more freebies, Nissan t-shirts, caps and fridge magnets to the local community and the bakery staff I reckon we managed to convince quite a few of them to seriously consider the exy when it comes time to shop for a car
Pics of the XTRAILs invading one of the local streets can be seen HERE
The convoy was formed and we made our way to the Sherwood Reserve as our first off-road destination. Before too long we arrived to a very popular spot called “The widowmaker” and you can see many videos showing this section, so HERE is one of those videos to show you.
Anyway, Jamie was the first to try and prove that the exy was worthy of concurring the Widowmaker Hill and can even do so in REVERSE. Hahahaha 
 
We then decided to splash around in the same location and I took some great pics showing the great splashes by various XTRAILs, so am gonna include the low resolution version of them here, but you can send me a PM if you want the high resolution version of your photo and I can email it to you.
Pics of the X-TRAIL Mud Splash Bonanza can be seen HERE
This was the spot where the Red Bull turned from Red to brownish red after entering its very first mud bath...the kids were very happy to see that too 
  
More group photos on location can be seen HERE
We continued along the track and stopped at a couple of magnificent lookout spots, one of those was our chosen lunch spot.
Pics of the lookout, lunch spot and the tracks leading to it can be seenHERE
We then made our way back out of the reserve through awesome tracks and views and I took more pics along the way which can be seen HERE
We entered Woolgoolga and stopped at the local Driver Reviver stops for a quick coffee break. We were now ready to explore the beach track Scot managed to find, so we made our way there and it was very close to where we stopped for the coffee break. Scot went in first to check the track conditions and traffic and then radioed us all in, so in we went one after the other as the video from Peter shows below...again I took some great pics of the xtrails making their way across water and we then lined up all the xtrails and the 2 red banners I had along the beach for a group photo.
The Beach Run Photos can be viewed HERE
Am not sure why everyone was complaining about the Red X-TRAIL flags pointing in the wrong direction, as my Canon camera seems to have shown them correctly in the photos
By that time a couple of xtrailers decided to explore the beach area and also see how their exy performed on sand, I stayed behind watching the kids play around in the sand and then the call came on the radio that Rescue1 required a “resuce” as he was fully stuck LOL
That was the story he told us, but I reckon he wanted to demonstrate how the Maxtrax are used and how handy it is to have in the car when you venture off to the beach, which is a good idea indeed. I am sure the guys will post pics and vids of the recovery operation, as I don’t have any.
We decided to head back to the caravan park at around 4:30pm to prepare for the BBQ dinner bonanza which was to start at 6:30pm. I filled the fridge with the drinks I promised to provide for this party and Jo and Michael from the carvan park started up the BBQ along with 2 other staff. By 6pm we were almost set for the party to start but Scot and Wendy got delayed a bit as they fell deep asleep from the big day and having only slept 3 hours or so the previous night due to the late arrival.
Saturday Night Forum BBQ Dinner Pics can be seen HERE
Anyway, the food prepared by the carvan park staff was plenty and it was awesome indeed. Jamie & Vicky handed out the trivia questions to all families to keep them busy and guessing the answers and I handed out the colouring pages for the kids who were also excited to be involved in a challenge colouring a T30 and a T31 X-TRAIL pages 
Thanks a lot Jamie and Vicky for organising these activities
Sunday morning we all took it easy and took our time waking-up, so we gathered in the BBQ area around 8:30am and some decided to relax, other decided to explore areas closeby, but the majority of the group headed to Coffs Harbour to visit the Big Banana
Big Banana Coff Harbour Photos can be seen HERE
A HUGE thanks to all those who attended this trip, it was lovely to meet you and your families and it was nice to put faces to usernames, especially those whom we have been speaking with for years on the forum. I hope you all enjoyed this trip like I and my family did and we can't wait to do it all again very soon!! 
Our thanks also go to Jo, Michael and the staff at The Lorikeet Tourist Park, it is an awesome caravan park indeed with very affordable and clean accommodation and a superb location. We would all highly recommend you book at the Lorikeet next time you visit this Coffs Harbour.
P.S. Make sure you visit their Facebook Page and say "Thanks"
Last edited by jalalski, 13/Oct/2011, 7:09 am
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9/Oct/2011, 7:14 pm
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Re:
Peter,
Rego plates showing in the videos are fine. It's too much of a hassle editing out the videos.
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9/Oct/2011, 8:23 pm
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Re: NSW & QLD X-TRAIL Challenge Trip Report (Woolgoolga 6-7 of October, 2011)
Hi Peter,
I have now uploaded your video on YouTube and it is MUCH clearer to view, even if full screen view. The most important thing is that there no crazy advertisement pop-ups jumping in your face when you try to view the video
Please use YouTube to share more videos in the future.
Thanks for your efforts mate
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10/Oct/2011, 8:25 am
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