FRIDAY
We left bright and early Friday morning. We were aiming for 5am, but we didn’t get the WK2 fully packed and rolling down the highway until nearly 6:30am. After a quick stop at McDonalds for the traditional road trip breakfast we were on our way. The trip up was full of laughs and lots of ideas about which tracks we wanted to tackle with our new gear.

Once we got to Land Cruiser Mountain Park it felt good to get out and stretch the legs. It’s about a 3 hour drive North from the Gold Coast with a stop for petrol in Kilcoy. Land Cruiser Mountain Park is a beautiful 10,000 acre Wilderness Camping and 4wd Park with over 200km of tracks. The camp areas are large with basic amenities. Best of all they allow campfires all year round. We quickly setup camp and jumped out onto the trails.

It was exciting to be out on the trails, but it was also exciting to be testing our latest products. We’ve been working very hard over the last few months, sweating all the details, and it was finally time to have a bit of fun out on the trails. I especially wanted to know how they would effect the approach angle when off-road.

We criss-crossed our way across the park, tackling different trails and checking the performance of the products at every stage. It was great to see the products performing flawlessly. The approach angle was great and on the few occasions when we tackled something a bit too big, the WK2 Lower Front Guard handled it easily. We hit the Bolt Head Protectors on rocks a few times, so they are definitely something we'll be including with the WK2 Lower Front Guard.

We rolled into camp just before sunset and Daniel downloaded all the photos from the days adventures while I got the campfire going. After a long day driving and 4Wheeling it didn’t take long before we were sitting around a campfire with a few cold beers. The sun was setting behind us and the sky’s colours began to change from pink and orange to dark blue, finally giving way to the first stars. It was a hot day and the cool evening breeze felt amazing. We wrapped a few large potatoes in aluminium foil with some salt and pushed them down into the coals of the fire. While our potatoes cooked, I pulled out a really nice bottle of Scotch and we watched the stars fill the sky. It took nearly 2.5 hours for the potatoes to cook, but we didn’t mind. There’s not many things better than staring at the stars and telling stories, while drinking Scotch around the campfire. When it was finally time to throw the steaks onto the grill, I stoked the fire a bit and watched as the flames put a few black marks on the steaks. Best steaks I’ve had in a long time!

Saturday we woke up early to find the sun was already up and starting to get hot. We cooked up a big Joshua Tree Breakfast on the gas grill and got the Jeep ready for a big day on the trails. We ran the trails for a few hours, getting some great shots of the WK2 Lower Front Guard & WK2 Nudge Bar in action. Sadly LCMP was the driest I’ve ever seen it. Where there were normally head light deep water crossings, there were now completely dry creek beds. The ‘Pig Pen’ normally a collection of deep mud pits, was completely dry with no water (or mud) to be seen.

Back at camp around mid day we met up with the handful of adventurous souls that decided to join us. We found our way all around the park, tackling Telecom Hill, Jim’s Jump Up, Frying Pan and lots of other great trails. Unfortunately while tackling one of the harder trails we had our first casualty. A nicely setup Rodeo broke the front CV joint and we had to limp it back to camp for some bush repairs. Luckily he had a spare back home, but for the rest of the day they rode with us in the Chief WK2. We tackled some tough tracks on Saturday and there were more than a few occasions when we saw raised eyebrows as our WK2 growled and clawed its way up the trails.

We rolled into camp after a long day out on the trails. Cold beers never tasted so good!! Burgers and Chilli Con Carne were on the menu for Saturday night and I couldn’t wait. Everyone pitched in to gather some firewood and then it was time to sit down and tell a few jokes while the fire grew. At seven years old, this was Chase’s first off-road and camping adventure with his Dad but he handled like an old pro. We threw a big pot of chilli on the fire and a few burgers on the grill. There was no doubt we’d all worked up a good appetite. After dinner and a few beers, everyone was talking about Telecom Hill and Jim’s Jump Up. At Jim’s Jump Up we’d tackled a line I’d only tried once before. To my surprise the Chief WK2 rumbled its way to the top fairly easily. I’m constantly surprised at how far these WK2s can go off-road when properly equipped.

On Sunday, we met up with Kelly Larson from ARB and the Sunshine Coast Jeep Club for a few trail rides towards the back of the park. I'd never been back toward Prado Parade or the Rain Forest 'Dry Weather Only' area of LCMP. It was a beautiful area and a fun trail ride. The Sunshine Coast Jeep Club are a great group of people that love their Jeeps and love getting out and having some fun. I’ve met many people from the Jeep clubs over the last few years, but I’ve been so busy launching Chief Products I haven’t had much time to join any of the club runs. I’m hoping that changes in 2015. They're definitely a great group of people that love getting out into nature and having some fun.

A big thanks to Daniel Snare from, (Daniel Snare Photography). He's a legend with a camera and the photos and videos he shot turned out great!

Some of the best off-road action from the trip was captured on video. If you love watching video of trucks tackling fun trails, lifting wheels and rumbling their way to the top of hills, I suggest you check out our youtube channel, (Chief Products - YouTube). I’ll be posting the videos up there soon. Be sure to check it out and tell us what you think.