Toolangi social day with family friendly short half day trips

Date and time:  9:00 am to 4:00 pm on Sunday 31^st January 2027.

Description:  We will meet at the Toolangi Recreation area (about 1 to 2 hours drive from the Melbourne CBD) at 9:00 am on Sunday 31^st January.  There will be one or more morning half day trips of varying standards, a fairly long lunch break back at the recreation area and then one or more afternoon trips.  We will plan to finish at the recreation area by 4:00 pm, allowing plenty of time for the trip home.

The format of this day will allow members to participate in a morning activity or an afternoon activity or both.  The recreation area has electric bar-b-ques, a shelter and toilets.  The half day trip format will allow families to participate in short trips that are more appropriate for young children.  The Toolangi Recreation reserve has an oval and surrounding bushland for family activities during the lunch break.

The club will provide a BBQ sausage sizzle lunch (sausages, bread, etc), but you are welcome to BYO lunch if you want to.  BYO table and chairs if you want to sit and chat with other members during the lunch break. 

On arriving at the reserve, we will have one or more trips that you can sign-up for.  After you have had a chance to selecting a trip there will be a driver briefing where you will then be introduced to a trip leader and then head out into the bush for the morning.  The same trip allocation procedure will be followed at lunch for the afternoon trip(s).  The number of trips will depend on the number of participants and availability of trip leaders. The planned routes will be subject to weather and fire danger restrictions.

For those that would like to stay either Saturday or Sunday night, camping is allowed on and around the reserve and the toilets will be open.

This should be a relaxed day and a nice social way to start the club year.

Weather:  Should be warm at this time of year, but this is Melbourne so be prepared and watch the weather forecast leading up to the trip and bring appropriate clothing and footwear for a possible short walk.

Equipment:  A well-maintained vehicle with normal road tyres are OK for this trip (All Terrain tyres would be preferred), UHF radio (or one borrowed from the club).  Recovery gear is not mandatory, but if you have it, bring your standard recovery gear including, rated snatch strap, shackles and a shovel.

We will have morning tea in the bush, do BYO thermos, etc and lunch at the Toolangi reserve.  There are no shops nearby, so you will need to be self-sufficient for the day. 

No pets or firearms

Trip Standard:  Easy/Medium - some steep, low-range hill climbs and some rocky tracks. but mainly easy forest roads.!

Fuel:  A full tank ex Melbourne.

Distance:  The half day trips will be approximately 40 - 50 Km each.

Duration:  1 day

Convoy limit:  Unrestricted

Meeting arrangements:  We will meet at the Toolangi Reserve, Cherrys Lane Toolangi (about 1:30 to 2:00 hours drive from the Melbourne CBD) at 9.00am (can be found on Google maps).  We will aim to finish about 4.00pm back at the reserve. 

Trip Leader:  Graeme Carter ph 0400 195 932 or graeme.carter23@bigpond.com

Club Guest Registration policy:  It is club policy in regard to insurance cover that if a member brings any non-members on the trip they must be registered and have paid the required fee as Temporary Members BEFORE the event.  i.e.  non-members can no longer register on the day with the trip leader. 

Temporary Membership information and ways to register can be found at: Temporary (Guest) Membership

Also if a non-member wishes to bring their own vehicle, the member inviting the non-member must contact the trip leader for approval to bring the vehicle. Such approval will take into account skills of the driver, suitability of the vehicle and whether or not a place within the convoy limit is available for a non-member's vehicle.